SWEET MAGGIE MAY: ...And then we found the "Old Quilt Room." our trip to Witmer Quilt Shop.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

...And then we found the "Old Quilt Room." our trip to Witmer Quilt Shop.

I have the best mom ever. She takes each new Grandbaby to Witmer Quilt Shop in New Holland, PA and helps them pick out a baby quilt. Today was the day for Mimi, so we drove down Rte. 23, through farms and town shops...past hardware stores, bakeries, and produce stands. I had not been to Witmers since we bought Max his quilt in 2005, so I was like a little tourist, checking everything out along the way.
We parked at the quilt shop which is located on a farm. Three rooms of a little house on the property (not the actual farm house, more like a little 50's house- a newlywed house or in-law home) are used as quilt sale rooms. We got out of the car and glanced across the street to the striking Amish house with the prettiest clothes line ever. Oh, the colors- the black Amish dresses and trousers mixed with the plums, blues, and aquas of their shirts- so pretty against their stone home.

This quilt in front of Witmers is hung on the line by the road and simply lets drivers know this house has quilts for sale...

Mimi (dressed in her French Clayeux cozy jumper onesie on this chilly morning) let Grandma hold her the WHOLE time. she showed a couple of shoppers her two teeth. One of them said, "she'll be able to eat corn!" I paused ("did she just say...corn?!") before I laughed out loud!

Mimi helped pick out her baby quilt. she really liked the red on white. we thought this could really be pretty hanging up later in her apartment or house. As I uploaded this photo I was taken aback by how gorgeous it is.

And THEN we found the OLD QUILT ROOM.
That's what the sign said on the door.
Thinking they'd all be crazy expensive we hadn't even peeked in there.
Maybe they were archival/museum quality.
Maybe regular people weren't allowed in there.
but we decided to check it out and we started (carefully) pulling quilts out of piles, and out of baskets, and off tables. and this is what we found....
gorgeous lovey dovey fabrics, from aprons and dresses, decorating magazine styling worthy, funky, folky bits of heaven.

it was at this point that i became aware i might have started to pant. And my mind started spinning. talk about a sea of vintage fabrics. an ARCHIVE of vintage fabrics. this one or that one would be so perfect on a wall. on a bed. pair with 2 vintage lamps. pow pow pow. Pant.
for prices like $275, $390...to me the pricing seemed to depend on the amount of hand stitching. and age. some had the age. with notes like: "early 1900's from Terre Hill"

this stitched quilt had birds. birds. red birds. (and oh how i love red birdie things) and words, and lots of other fun things. it was $795. splendid-ness.

And here was a small piece about the size of a small pillow. you could frame it up under glass, and hang it in say, your bathroom. i think it was $30 or $65...some kind of perfect-findy price.

this one i thought would be cool in my architect brothers apartment in Boston as his bed quilt. or on a wall. in a loft. behind your Eames chairs.

And then I found what would become my 38th birthday present from my Mom. A Queen size quilt with the best, funnest vintage fabric selection ever. and red edging. For the amazing price of $100. We actually went to the car to leave, and went back in to get it.