Old fabrics

We were going in to look at a dresser. Hubby had spotted it and the handles on mine keep coming apart, so he brought me to the antiques shop to look at it.  The dresser was already gone and instead I came home with this embroidered pillow top.  The grapes need to be stitched. I have two shades of purple flat silk that I hope I can softly twist to look similar to the thread used for the rest of the piece.

And in the mail yesterday I received a package from friends in England. It was full of wonderful fabrics collected by a really lovely woman who recently passed away. I wish I had gotten to know her better--we just met this spring and it was not enough at all.  I already have some plans for some of the bits.  They are of all types, eras, styles. Some of the pieces are quite small and others over a yard.  It's a treasure!

This is not an antique nor a textile, but I am really enjoying this replica of an early Twentieth Century map of London. It was created to encourage people to use the Tube to see the wonders of London and it's full of quirky places to visit and also some very interesting characters.  Every time I look at it, I see something new.

I've always liked maps and have used them as a basis for some collages. The last few years I've been seeing some map-based art quilts and I'm intrigued.  Then I realized that my hexagon quilt with fabrics I bought in London (most recently pictured here--I need to get back to it) is a map quilt of sorts.