Buried Treasure

Yesterday was my reunion with my good friend, Marcia, who was back in Raleigh for a few days. The weather has turned rainy here, but our leaves are still pretty. All these trees are near the State Employee Credit Union on Wake Forest Road.

Marcia had her mother's fabric stash, minus a car load that another quilter drove away with in Greensboro to donate to their guild charity. What was left were five or six of those plastic boxes that fit under the bed, all full of fabric. And a few baskets and tote bags...Marcia's mother was an excellent hand quilter who can no longer sew due to medical problems.

The main goal was to find the fabric that they bought in Paris and other places in Europe, so I could make a quilt for Marcia's daughter who is living in the Netherlands. These look like the colors and prints of Provence...

It looks like there is about eight yards of this paisley, which could make most of the back, although I took a lot of coordinated pale yellows to piece into a back if needed.Marcia gave me some things I was interested in...like this lovely selection of velvets, grosgrain, and a shiny lining fabric in red, blue, and green. And this lovely piece of lace.

My guess is that these were intended to become Christmas stockings. And here is a rabbit fur stole (feels like the real thing) with one section cut out that definitely was used for a stocking top!
Marcia found a beautiful embroidered linen tablecloth that she did not know existed, and pulled that out to take home. But here is the treasure of the day...
which she also did not know existed!

It is a beautifully pieced, completed Around the World quilt top, in lovely shades of rose, brown, and blue. Tiny, perfect little squares!

I have this home with me to quilt and finish for her. No deadline. :)

That is good, because I have several customer quilts waiting for me and projects galore to complete. And look what just arrived at my local library branch with my name on it:

It is the latest in the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon. I was number 252 on the waiting list, and it arrived right when I am so busy! I am longing to get into it...all 832 pages! This is the seventh novel about a time-traveling British nurse who is transported into the 18th century when she visits a Celtic stone circle on the eve of an equinox. The love story of Claire and Jamie, a highland Scot, and their journeys through historic places and events is fascinating. In previous novels they have moved from Scotland to America, and end up in the mountains of North Carolina---which sounds like the general area where our cabin is located! If you read these, start with the first, Outlander, and read them in order. They are long, but well worth the effort. I might have to request the audio version of the latest if I can't get it read.

Our library branch in Wake Forest is barely adequate, but it is part of the larger Wake County library. You can go on the Internet and request the books or audiobooks you want, and they will send them to be picked up at your local branch when they are available. Listening to great novels while sewing is a way to double my pleasure! The latest book I "read" while sewing was Shannon, by Frank Delaney, about an Irish-American priest who is shell-shocked upon his return from battle in France during World War I. He is sent to Ireland to "trace his roots," and recover from his post-traumatic stress, a disorder that no one knew how to treat back then. His adventures through Ireland, the wonderful and odd cast of people he meets who help him, the corruption of the Catholic church in Boston, civil war in Ireland...all make this story memorable. I just checked out another Delaney novel, Tipperary, because I loved this one so much.

That's all...I have projects calling my name!