Tillie's Quilt Shop!

A little over a week ago, I was on my way home from our family reunion and a visit to my mother. I had this idea as I was nearing Fort Dodge (Iowa) that I would check out a local thrift store called "The Key" that my brother had mentioned. I drove up Central Avenue (couldn't help but recall high school days when we would "shag the drag" on a Friday or Saturday night) and didn't see the store but at the end of the street, there before my eyes was a quilt shop! Now my brother says he had told me about it but with all the comings and goings related to health things with my mom, I think I must have missed that. I was not going to miss it that day, though. I turned the corner and found a parking place. I figured that they might also know where "The Key" was. I walked in and I stopped in my tracks......really......and I said "Oh, my goodness!" Yes, I did. It was the most amazing shop. It reminded me of an art gallery. I don't need to say anymore. Just take a look at the pictures I took. Shop owner, Jo Seltz, gave me permission to share. 

Hope you enjoyed these peeks at Tillies Quilt Shop. I didn't find a website for the shop but if you are on Facebook just search "Tillies Quilts" for their address and store hours. If you are anywhere near Fort Dodge, Iowa, you really must visit this shop! I was in a bit of a hurry, so I only picked up a bit of batik fabric and some Iowa themed fabric (will be great for some mug rug gifts). I'll make sure to have more time to shop on my next visit........coming up in August.
And so...........did Jo and her staff know where "The Key" thrift store was? Yes, they did and they also knew that it was closed on Mondays so I wouldn't be able to visit. That can happen on another Iowa visit. I was just glad to find Tillies Quilts!  I found another favorite shop "Country Peddlar" on my way home to Minnesota and found some wonderful treasures for my friend, Sue and a couple of things for me, too. I love fabric, finding treasures, chocolate, friends, ah, life is good.  :-)
Happy Wednesday! The weekend will be here soon!
Sandi

Family Reunion Time!

Life has been a little busy lately. I know I keep saying that. And I keep thinking it will slow down a bit but it never does. Just days before our Linn Family Reunion, my husband had to go to the emergency room and ended up in the hospital for a bleeding ulcer. On the way to the emergency room with Steve, one of his worries was...."I sure hope this doesn't keep you from going to your family reunion". And my answer was that we just needed to get to the hospital and worry about that later. He told his doctors about the reunion and how he needed to get out so I could go......now do you suppose he was using that as his way to get out sooner? Well, if it was, it didn't work.  His doctors thought they might release him on Saturday but decided they needed to monitor him through Sunday afternoon. So, that meant that I might not get to the reunion. But our son, Devlin was planning to come out and visit his dad, so he said he'd pick up him up from the hospital and that's what worked. I was so thankful that Devlin had the day off and that it worked out this way. I spent most of the day at the hospital on Saturday, then returned home to grab my reunion stuff and pack a bag. Took off Saturday night and met daughter Collette and grandson Jacob in Fort Dodge. We all made it to the reunion on Sunday and I am so glad it worked out. We had 63 family members present and five family members that came from northern Minnesota for the first time. It was awesome to meet them and share family stories and photos! Here are a few photos from another great reunion......the 85th annual Linn Family Reunion. First one was held Labor Day weekend in 1929. Three family members present at this reunion were also at that 1929 reunion. They were all just tiny babies but they were there! 
Lots of visiting before we ate dinner...........

Good food is in abundance at every reunion............

That's my grandson, Jacob, on the left and my daughter, Collette, next to him. So much good food to choose from................

 And visiting goes on even when we're in the food line...........

That guy in the red hat, Bill Linn is one of the three family members present at the first reunion in 1929. He was just a few months old at that reunion. The other members present in 1929 were Bette Linn Wickwire and Shirley Linn Vanguilder. 

That's my cousin Patty chatting with one of our new-found cousins, Marion Linn, from Minnesota. It was awesome to connect with new cousins!

 Sharing photographs and family history......

 My helper and friend, daughter Collette. We had such a good time!

When all the clean-up was finished, I locked the door to the Golden Memories Club and took down the sign. 

We all enjoyed another fantastic Linn Family Reunion and we are all looking forward to next year! I am thinking we might go back to Dolliver Park, the site of that first reunion. 

I'll be back soon with a peek at a great quilt shop that I found on my way home from the reunion. You won't want to miss this one!

Sandi

What's on the line? It's the 70's and double knits!

Good Monday morning! Sunshine was in abundance this past weekend so I took a little lap quilt out to the line to get a photo.................

Two other items were in "abundance" on Sunday afternoon when I took this photo..........wind...........

and gnats! Oh, my, it was all I could do to hang the quilt and quickly snap some photos and get back in the house! The mosquitos are pretty abundant, too, but they must have been sleeping at the time I took the quilt out to the line. The windy conditions kept me from getting a good photo of the quilt "on the line" so I brought it inside and laid it on the living room floor. This lap quilt was made by my mother, Mary, sometime in the late 1970's. It's almost all polyester double-knits so basically indestructible. ;-)  The fabrics came from an interesting source. From 1972-1974, we lived in Dumont, New Jersey in a nice little brick apartment complex. I became friends with my neighbor, Barbara, who was also the building Superintendent. Her husband's job was driving a garbage truck and two of his main stops were these stores.....Two Guys and White Modell. If you are reading and are from the East Coast of the U.S., you may be familiar with these stores. Don't know if they still exist. Anyway, he often came home with "finds" and he knew I liked fabric so when he saw that "tons" of polyester double-knits had been tossed, he brought home at least a "half-a-ton" to me. LOL! When we moved back to Iowa, I shared my stash of double-knits with my mom. This is one of the projects she made with those fabrics. and it's funny how things go because when the quilt is "on the line", you don't notice the pattern as much as when you lay the quilt out on the floor. There was clearly a pattern here and I like it. I can tell just how she assembled this .......... top two rows and bottom two rows are identical, so are rows three and four/eight and nine. Rows five and six are the same and only the center row is different. Her squares didn't always match but that's okay. This was a lap quilt that was used a lot.

 The back of the lap quilt is this pretty flannel and the inside of the quilt? It's an old, soft red blanket.

So, is there a polyester, double-knit quilt at your house?  I have a couple of them. More to come on another day.
Currently working on Christmas blocks, wooly projects, pincushions and more. I have set up some groups on Facebook. There are already plenty of fun quilty groups there but I added a couple of my own. Here's the link to my pincushion group - Pincushions and Pretties. If you are on Facebook, check it out. :-)
Have a good Monday, a great start to a great week!
Sandi