Trash and Treasures

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

It's spring in Wisconsin.  The robins have been back for at least a month, and this plump fellow likes to perch on a tree in our backyard just about every morning. 

With spring comes spring cleaning.  I've had more time for it this year, with less babysitting, so I am taking it more seriously.

Do you have one of these?  It's a yarn monster!

For the last 2 weeks, I've been cleaning out my basement stash, sorting out what to keep, what to sell or give away, and what to toss.  Above is a nest of yarn ends, from the bottom of a box.  It was easy to decide to throw the yarn monster out.  Other decisions were tougher.

In a box of embroidered linens, I found these vintage dish towels.

Most of these date to before World War II.  Cute little figures are outlined on towels made from flour sacks.

See the little bear on the upper corner of this sack?  All the little bear embroideries are done on these Sunnyfield flour bags.  I wonder if the maker thought the lettering would wash out.  Although the companies confidently promised this would happen, it often didn't.
At one time, I thought I might cut the embroidered bears, ducks, etc. out of the towels and make them into quilt blocks.  I could still do that.  For now, I've washed them all and stacked them in the pantry.

As I was sorting through things, I happened to set some little embroidered blocks next to these tiny scraps.  Hmm.  I loved both of them.  Could I put them together?

Well, yes I could!

On the back you can see the pinked edges of the little scraps.  The small size, pinked edges, and multiple colorways of each print make me believe these were swatches, sent by fabric companies to stores and seamstresses to assist in ordering yardage.

The blocks are rectangles, 5 in. x 6 in. before being sewn together.  The embroideries are kittens, puppies, one chick and one rabbit.  I bought them on Ebay many years ago.  The seller lived in the next town over, and actually delivered them to my door.  She didn't know anything about who made them.

I used a vintage bunny print for the border, also reclaimed from the basement stash.

Right now, I am debating how to quilt it.  I know it won't be a donation quilt.  Embroidery doesn't fare well with the frequent washings donated children's quilts need.  I may use it on the wall in our extra room.  It measures about 30 in. x 36 in.
There is still lots to do in the basement, but I was sidetracked this week by a different kind of project.

The United Way is sponsoring MaskUPMKE, an effort to assemble face masks for local use.  (Click HERE for more information.)  Each volunteer takes home a box like this.

Here's what's in the box--rolls of mask material, perforated for each mask, and latex-free rubber bands.  We assemble the masks in our homes, and return the box with the completed masks.

Here's what they look like.  The first one you make is yours, to wear as you work.
It's not official PPE, and not very pretty, but if it helps at all I'm glad to do it.

Here's what the box looked like this morning before I taped it up and dropped it off.  There are 692 masks in here.   If you live in the area and are interesting in helping out, they are taking volunteers at least through next week.  They deliver and retrieve the boxes from your car trunk to minimize exposure to the virus.

More treasures of spring--the rhubarb is up, and looking very healthy after all our rain this week.

And the tulips are blooming!
All of these are good reasons to keep going, and keep hoping.  Times are tough now, but there are better days ahead.
Stay safe this week!
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop
Angela at So Scrappy
Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday
Cynthia at Oh Scrap