daffodil vintage fabric quilt/salt lake city longarm quilter

daffodil quilt, a photo by nanotchka on Flickr.

This fabric has quite a history. I was involved in saving the only arts/crafts center in Salt Lake City. The Pioneer Craft House was about to be sold off and the contents being gathered up to be mostly given away or thrown in the dumpster. The historic arts and crafts cluster of small charming and historic buildings was founded in the early 50's by Mrs. Beesley who loved every form of the arts with a passion. Her puppet theater and puppet collection was extensive and priceless to those who knew of their value and had been confirmed when I took a few of them to the "Antiques Roadshow" when it came to Salt Lake. And yet it was all on the chopping block. the good news is that after 3 years of negotiating and getting a bond from the county we were able to save the buildings but of all her many art collections the only one that remains intact for now are the puppets. Everything else was recently sold off at a garage sale by Salt Lake County who obviously didn't know what they had! The buildings will remain but the charm and the history are all gone.

When we were first working to save the center, closets were being cleaned out and drawers that hadn't been opened became my job to clean out. Mrs. Beesley didn't throw anything away! There was even a box of shoelaces from the 50s that someone had donated and they say she used them to teach women at the prison how to weave. Weaving and textiles were another one of her passions so there were closets and drawers filled with cones of yarn and stacks of textiles. One closet was full of sample books and stacks of sample fabrics from a large local furniture store and interior design house that had long since closed it's doors. It was all labed for the dumpster and so instead of taking it to the dumpster, I filled up the back of my van and made multiple trips to my studio until it was out of their way!

This was one of my favorite pieces that remined me of the 60's and 70's years of the "flower child" and woodstock! The look was so very retro and I had been pulling it out every once in awhile just waiting to give it new life. There were two panels that I joined with bright orange ric rac and put it on the quilting machine and just started to play!

I used a high loft batting to give it dimension and to make the daffodils and butterflys pop! I think it will make a fun piece for the wall in a little girls room or as a bed throw! There will be more pieces from the "Pioneer Craft House" Collection in the future!