From whence I came.....

In CT we were chatting about when we started CQ and this is how I started...probably in the mid nineties.. When I look at it now I can hardly call it CQ... There is not one scrap of yardage in it.. it is ALL cut up vintage linens - every single patch...plus a lot a lace, some trims, no SRE and very little seam work... The technique is very similar to hanky quilts being done now...

It was a vest I made for DH when he manned the booth at garden shows... I had at that time acquired a new sewing machine that did the printing and as you can tell I loved it... Nothing like a new toy... I especially loved the label upper left. "I'm a fungi!" It doesn't fit him anymore (the vest as he is still a fungi) and thought I'd alter it... He said forget it... But if we are going to do a booth this summer (and we may) he's wearing it... We make a great team.. I talk and he takes the money!

Here he is at the end of a 12-hour day and looking pretty tired... Notice the jacket hanging on the right. It is made the same way.. I wore it when I was on stage and could just slip it off and use my denim jumper to work... It has been washed (by hand) many, many times and is looking pretty sad.. But it has traveled all over the US and even on speaking tours in Australia and New Zealand...

I show it here because I actually wrote up "Tips and Techniques" on how to make it. I am sure I still have some of those instructions in the barn and am going to put them on Esty.