Vintage Indigo!

I want to show you what I've been working on, but first I have to share what I lucked into at our quilt fair's Bargain Garden a few weeks ago.

A big pile of vintage indigo scraps!

  Check out the dates on these!

Lots of variety, too. They are what appear to be scraps from garment making, all bunched and somewhat tangled together, but still very usable for a "small quilt" maker such as myself. I think I'll be able to get a lot of 3" to 4" pieces, a few larger ones, and a ton of smaller ones. Many pieces are long and narrow, perfect for sashing strips. I'm visualizing doll quilts, wall hangings, possibly even a lap-size quilt although I wouldn't want to use it as such.

In the same bin were these rolls of vintage shirtings. How perfect!

And these other pieces, tho I'm not sure they're all as old as the indigo. Does it matter? I think they'll all play together quite nicely anyway.

I'm itching to get into these, but I'm a little overwhelmed and intimidated. Should I try to wash them first? It would have to be done very carefully and by hand. Or just press them before cutting? There's so much potential here, I'm not sure where to start. Probably something pretty simple with the smallest pieces.

I'm not sure who donated these scraps, but I'm pretty certain I'm the only one in our guild (or anyone else) who had any interest in them. I know this because I only took a few of the scraps the first night (we open the Bargain Garden to shopping during our Preview Party the night before the quilt fair itself opens) as I didn't want to hog them all for myself. But by Saturday afternoon, after about a thousand women (and a few men) tore through the various piles for their own "finds", the rest of the indigos were still there, pretty much untouched. Well, what's a girl to do? They needed a home, right?

for now....

Sandy