Would you ever throw out a quilt?

Beth's post about a sad quilt sighting, and the comments she got, especially the one about rescuing the quilt and driving away with it, started me thinking -- why do we always assume that the quilter, or knitter, or whoever made the object that we think is being abused would be upset? What's with the need to rescue those handmade items we find at Goodwill and yard sales, even if we don't love them ourselves?

I don't think I've gotten rid of a quilt yet, but I've sure tossed enough sweaters into the trash. Including all three from my accidentally ugly sweaters post. And yes, I do mean the trash. Those were so awful I felt the need to remove them from the world. Other, less icky sweaters have made their way to the thrift shop because they were outgrown and no one else in the  family was ever going to wear them. And they weren't special enough to keep forever and ever.

When I donated them, I assumed that they might get worn by someone else who liked them. It never crossed my mind that another knitter might feel obligated to rescue them from the racks just because they were handmade and she was imagining some poor grandmother who slaved away and had her hard work rejected.

I made them. My family used them. I made the decision to get rid of them. And I can't believe that I'm the only one who's done this.

When my father's parents died, everything my mother had ever made them found its way back to her. It makes sense that my aunts wouldn't be the ones to get rid of it, but Mom certainly didn't keep it all. A lot of the things were duplicates of ones she'd made for herself and her own mother. I adopted a few things and the rest got tossed out into the world. Honestly, after twenty years, tastes had changed and no one wanted them! A lot, but not all, of Grandma's ceramics were absorbed into our households.

We can't keep everything that every woman in the family ever made -- although sometimes it seems like I'm trying! And we definitely don't have to keep everything we've made ourselves.

Weekly Stash Report

Nothing in and nothing out -- but I'm working on things that will change that soon!

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 2 1/4 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 7 yards
Net Added for 2013: 4 3/4 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 0 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 200 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 200 yards
Net Added for 2013: 200 yards

This post is linked to Patchwork Times.

Free Cozy Mysteries for your Kindle!

It's a good day for free cozy mysteries over at Amazon... I found several that are new to me, and downloaded them all. I haven't read any of these myself yet, but if I wait until I've found time to read them, they may or may not be free anymore. They may not be free by the time you read these (Amazon prices change quickly, especially on ebooks) so make sure to check the prices before clicking that order button!

Murder by Syllabub--
A ghost in Colonial dress has been wreaking havoc at an old plantation house in Virginia. The house is owned by Elizabeth Smithwood, the best friend of Ellen’s Aunt Mary. Mary is determined to fly to the rescue, and Ellen McKenzie has no choice but to leave her real estate business and new husband to accompany her. Who else will keep the old girl out of trouble? When Ellen and Aunt Mary arrive, they find that Elizabeth’s “house” comprises three sprawling buildings containing all manner of secret entrances and passages, not to mention slave cabins. But who owns what and who owned whom? After Monty—the so-called ghost and stepson of Elizabeth’s dead husband—turns up dead in Elizabeth’s house, suspicion falls on her. Especially when the cause of death is a poisoned glass of syllabub taken from a batch of the sweet, creamy after-dinner drink sitting in Elizabeth’s refrigerator. Monty had enemies to spare. Why was he roaming the old house? What was he searching for? To find the truth, Ellen and her Aunt Mary will have to do much more than rummage through stacks of old crates; they will have to expose two hundred years of grudges and vendettas. The spirits they disturb are far deadlier than the one who brought them to Virginia. Murder by Syllabub is the fifth book of the Ellen McKenzie Mystery series.

Murder Half Baked--
A dead man in the cemetery, another in the bakery. Ellen McKenzie has to find the killer soon ... before another death puts a stop to her wedding. The groom is Dan Dunham, Santa Louisa’s Chief of Police. The guest list is growing and Ellen’s dreams of a small, intimate candlelight ceremony are rapidly disappearing. A major distraction is Ellen’s quest to find a new building for Grace House, a halfway house for needy women. Then she finds old Dr Sadler dead in the cemetery, his head bashed in by the arm of a marble angel. Every suspect is connected to Grace House. After it goes up in flames, all the residents, including one new-born, move in with Ellen and Dan. Will Ellen and Dan ever solve the murders and get their lives back?

Deadly Magic--
A night of magic turns into a night of murder.
It's Halloween night and the normally unhappy co-workers of the Straker Toy Company are eagerly looking forward to the celebration of their tyrannical boss' fiftieth birthday. None more so than Grace Holliday. After all, it's not every day she gets invited to the annual costumed bash at the Dragon's Lair, the premier magic theater in Manhattan.
What promises as a night of magic and mystery, quickly turns into a night of mayhem and murder when the boss' equally tyrannical wife dies on stage.
According to the police, it was an obvious suicide. Now it's up to Grace to discover which one of her co-workers pulled off the trick of the year before she becomes the killer's next victim.

Killer Cupcakes--
Things are going great for Lexy Baker. She's finally opened her dream bakery, gotten rid of her cheating boyfriend and settled into her grandmothers house with her perky dog Sprinkles at her side.
But her blissful life doesn't last long. When her ex boyfriend is found poisoned with cupcakes from her bakery, Lexy finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation headed up by her hunky neighbor detective Jack Perillo.
With the help of a gang of iPad toting, would-be detective grandmothers, Lexy decides to take it upon herself to find the real murderer in order to clear her name and get her bakery back in business.
As things heat up on the murder trail, in the kitchen and between Lexy and the hunky detective, it's a race against time to put the real murderer behind bars and get back to baking.
Will Lexy get her man?

{Whatcha Reading?} The Devil in the Corner

From Amazon: 

Penniless, and escaping the horrors of life as a governess to brutal households, Maud seeks refuge with the cousin-by-marriage she never knew. But her efforts to please Juliana are met with increasing levels of contempt as it becomes apparent that Juliana is jealous of Maud's youth and beauty. Further, Juliana quashes Maud's emerging friendships with the staff and locals - especially John, the artist commissioned to restore the sinister Doom in the local church. John, however, is smitten with Maud and makes every effort to woo her. Maud, isolated and thwarted at every turn, continues to take the laudanum which was her only solace in London (and which was commonplace in Victorian London). Soon she becomes dependent on the drug - so is this the cause of her fresh anxieties? Or is someone - or something - plotting her demise? Is the devil in the corner of the Doom a reality, or a figment of her imagination? And what is its power? Will Maud ever learn the truth of her inheritance and be free? Will she lose John for ever?

This one is wonderfully dark and gothic, with an unreliable narrator who kept me guessing until the absolute end.  Maud is in a desperate situation, without a penny to her name and completely dependent upon Juliana’s whims.  She’s haunted by her past, struggling to exist in her current circumstances, but her life is so close to changing for the better. 

In case you're wondering what it looks like, the painting in the book is inspired by a real work of art, the Wenhaston Doom.

Disclosure -- the publisher provided me with a review copy.

Let's Make Baby Quilts! {3/7/14}

I've got four baby quilt tops finished and ready to quilt, but now I'm dragging my feet. I want to stretch myself a bit and do something fancier than my usual meander, but I can't quite work up the nerve.

Here's this week's addition to the pile --

If you missed it last Friday, go over and read Keera's post about her baby quilt.

And have you seen the free pattern for the Road Runner Blanket?! Now I want to drop everything and start making little applique cars. The pattern is for a twin size quilt, but I think a few of the cars would make a perfect baby quilt.

Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules: 

Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned, but it's got to be about baby quilts. While we're still gathering steam, you're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button

Trying to work up my nerve..

This is a kinda sad attempt at Swirls and Twirls from the Inbox Jaunt. I'm not happy with it, but I zig-zagged the edges and I figure it'll make a usable mug rug until I have enough nice ones.

If you haven't seen Lori's blog yet, she has a whole amazing slew of free motion quilting tutorials. This is the kind of quilting I want to do. All of those gorgeous borders -- that's what I want to do with the baby bird quilt from earlier this week.

That's why I've got four unquilted baby quilt tops sitting here. I'm resisting the temptation to just do my usual meander.

I'm linking this post to Finish it Up Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, Get Crafting Friday, Pinworthy Projects, Freedom Fridays, Inspired Friday. and Friday Favs.

More Mysterious Vintage

That little antique needlecase that appeared in my living room has possible explanations, but these have us baffled!  Would you believe that they turned up in my parents' garage, in my dad's box of oil rags? Mom saw them, intervened, and passed them on to me. 

No one has the slightest idea where they came from or how they wound up with the oil rags. (Do I need to mention that no one in our family would do that to pretty needlework?)  I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but the embroidery is absolutely gorgeous.  I'll keep them safe until I figure something out. 

There's one piece with a monogram. That could be from Delores, my father's mother, but aren't monograms usually the last initial? I can't figure out what this piece of hemmed flannel would have been. Or even if it went with the other two pieces. 

This post is linked to Vintage Thingie Thursday, Thriftasaurus, Share Your Cup, Ivy and Elephants, We Call it Olde, Savvy Southern Style