Vintage Quilts, A Prayer and A Trip Down Memory Lane

Vintage Quilts and A Prayer. What happens when you end up with a sack of old, battered and tattered cutter quilts given to you by a friend while you are at her estate sale? Estate sales are wonderful places to pick up some great treasures and some things that will probably actually end up in the trash.

Sometimes purchases are made for resale or refurbish but a lot of times people are buying back their memories. “I had one of those when I was growing up.” My grandmother used to use one of these…”

When I first saw the sack of vintage quilts I was tempted but I resisted because they were so well loved or used. As we (Baby Bird and Lady Bird) were paying for our “stuff”, my friend put the sack old vintage quilts in with our other “stuff”. She said, “I think you need these.”

When I got them home and spread them out, my first thought is these are going into the dumpster. They were so tattered that they seemed beyond redemption.

Are these vintage quilts trash or treasure?

Can I use the quilts to make some more Vintage Quilt Snappy Bags?

Just in case you happen to have a cutter quilt lying around and you say, “I can do that”. I know how “we”  are.

If you need a little inspiration or instruction: here is a VIDEO and A FREE PATTERN.

I stacked them up with a few other not so shabby quilts and decided a photo was in order.

And then I took a trip down memory lane. Come along with me. This is a story of God providing in a very unusual way when there seemed to be no way at all. Come with me on this little trip

The part that is in italics was originally posted on MY OTHER BLOG January 11, 2013.

In the middles 80’s I had a shop in Rotan, Texas. It was called Nathalie’s You Name It.

Pray for inspiration.

The oil boom had busted and Joe was laid off. We were in a tight place, waiting on his severance package. We had no groceries and the water bill was past due and it was the last day before it was to be turned off.

I sat at my sewing machine and I prayed. I asked My Heavenly Father for inspiration, for an idea of something that I could make and sell that day. It neede to be something that I could make with the resources I had on hand.

What do you have in your hands?

I piddled on with whatever project it was that I was mindlessly working on. Then, I looked toward the rear of my work area and there, in a stack in the corner, were 3 very old, very vintage quilts.

The quilts were rescued from a house that Joe and I had torn down in East Texas. They were nothing special – worn and raggedy, neglected and left behind in the old house. As I looked at them there was a nudge in my heart.

Who knew that the tattered old quilts that had been abandoned and left in that house were destined to be an answer to prayer. Trash had become not only treasure but provision. And it was not just provision for one day. The idea and inspiration was provision for several years and eventually lead to opening a business in Snyder.

Make a collar. What? A collar? Hmmm! I’ve never seen anything like that.

Be obedient to the nudge.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. Proverbs 3:5-6

 

I dug through my pattern boxes and found a pattern for a dress with a round or yoke. “Hmm, I think that might just work.” I cut out the pattern pieces and taped the shoulders together, so there wouldn’t be a seam on the shoulders. I laid the pattern on a pretty section of the quilt and started cutting.

I had lace trim that looked like crochet and I had the satin ribbon. I had just pinned the lace and ribbon to the edge of the collar when a friend came into my shop.

She always wanted to know what I was painting, sewing or making.  (***I made all this stuff!)

I stood her in front of the mirror and put the collar around her neck. She ooh-ed and ahh-ed and asked the price and asked if she could take it (unfinished) with her to the beauty shop. About half an hour later she called me and asked if there was any way that I could make 2 more before closing time.

WooHoo! Thank you, God!

Praise Him for answering

Absolutely! Cut, cut, pin, pin, stitch, stitch. And at the end of the day the water bill paid and groceries were on the table!

That creation was the beginning of a fun ride. When Joe’s severance check arrived we took a chance a bought a one-inch ad in the back of Country Living Magazine. That proved to be a very good step.

A friend designed a label for me. Gotta have a label! Nathalie’s Country Wearables was the label name for the millions of hand cut and handpainted buttons and jewelry that we manufactured in the 90’s.

There are a lot of 15’s in this story. We bought A LOT of old quilts for $10-15.00 each. I could get 15 collars out of a quilt and sold the collars $15.00 for each.

Over the next 2 years thru the ads and craft shows we sold 1,000’s of collars. I actually had lost track of how many.

Those tattered and worn vintage quilts that my friend gave me turned out to be a sweet reminder that God is always faithful beyond our wildest expectations.

• What are you praying for?
• What do you have in your hands?
• Have you sensed that nudge?
• Are you being obedient?
• Don’t forget to praise Him.

 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

 ’til next time,

Nathalie