This is the first, and so far only, quilt I have ever bought. Ever since I started quilting - though goodness knows I have seen and coveted lots and lots of absolutely wonderful quilts, my mantra has always been that "I make quilts, I don't buy quilts." And I've managed to stick by that.
But I have always wanted to have one of these old thirties strip quilts. My BFF Michelle bought several tops like this at the Lakewood Flea Market in Atlanta, but I only went there a time or two and never knew enough about what I was doing to get into trying to bargain for quilts. Plus I am terrible at bargaining anyway. So I just coveted Michelle's tops.
Since I've lived in Kentucky, I've been very involved in volunteer work with the Humane Society, and that is actually how I came to buy this quilt! We were having a fund raiser for the Mutts With Manners program on a very, very hot Saturday afternoon. I had promised I would come by to help out, and so I came by with Steve and my Little Sister. But as things turned out, there was nothing for me to do, and it was way too hot for me to stay. I made a quick swing by the silent auction and placed several bids. Since it was still early I had no idea whether I would actually win anything. But I actually, and very surprisingly, won the one thing I was genuinely interested in, this quilt, for the opening bid of $25.00.
The quilt is in pretty good shape. Very few and only very minor stains, only minimal wear, and not even very significant fading. I'm no expert at all and have no experience in or knowledge at all of how to evaluate or judge the age or value or anything else of quilts. But my guess based on the types of fabric and how the fabric is used would be that this actually is an old quilt. Regardless, I really like it quite a bit and am very happy with my purchase.
I gave this dog bed away to be auctioned off at a benefit for rescue dogs in general and our Mutts With Manners program in particular. As I was out of town on the weekend of the benefit auction and fundraiser, I have no idea who ended up with it, I just hope some dog somewhere is enjoying it.
My dog, Jesse, got the very first dog bed I made. It was made of a white canvas with a light colored print and actually not very practical for the purpose. But it was what I happened to have when I started making dog beds, so the first several beds looked like that. After a couple of years, however, it was beginning to look quite dirty. And I finally just decided that Jesse deserved better and gave him a brand new bed!
