Every quilter has felt the thrill of an estate sale. You walk past the china and the lamps, head straight up the stairs, and there it is: a sewing room left just as its owner liked it, with a vintage machine under the window and a basket of blocks nobody ever finished. Vintage Stitch & Sass is our walk through that house, where every old machine still hums and every room has a personality. Mind the creaky step. There is a lot to see.
In the parlor: portraits of the regulars
Painted like pages from an old storybook, the household's quilters hang in a row. Daisy Steadyseam, a golden retriever, guides a patchwork quilt through her machine with gentle concentration. Maude Broadloom is a moose in a tweed vest, antlers and all, piecing at a wooden table. Mabel Lapworth is a calico cat sewing beside a sunny arched window, Bess Buttonrow is a tidy tuxedo cat at her treadle machine, and Maisie Tuftworth is a long-haired tabby with a magnificent tail and a quilt pooled at her feet.
In the attic: something is stirring
Sew Spooky frames a gold vintage machine in a round crest of roses, bats, a crescent moon and friendly ghosts. This May Take A Minute shows a pink machine with a jack-o-lantern for a head, trying to thread its needle while two helpful ghosts offer advice, one suggesting mind power and the other suggesting blowing on it. It's Alive brings a patchwork machine to life with a pair of lightning bolts in true Franken-Stitch style, and Whooo's Stitching perches an owl on a machine beneath a big silver moon.
In the sewing room: the good stuff
Stitch your Stress Away sets the silhouette of a machine against a violet and rose sunset over quiet water, and Quilting My Escape tucks one into a round window of crashing blue waves and a glowing moon. Kitty Cat Quilts pairs a white cat with a white machine in lacy line work. Leave Me Alone fills the shape of a machine with little hearts and a polite request in script, Meow poses a red machine beside a cat and a glass of wine, and I'd Rather be Quilting and Quilt-A-Holic say plainly what this sewing room was for.
For the quilter with an eye for old treasures
These are for the friend who can spot a vintage machine from across a flea market, the collector who has named every one she owns, and the quilter who believes the best tools come with a history. Let her pick the room she would claim first. One last thing before the sale closes: the sign by the door says everything must go, but the machine under the window is clearly staying. It has made its opinion very clear.
Written by Judy. Thanks for reading.
