Re-purposing...

Most of you know that my husband works for Habitat for Humanity and he manages a store that sells used and discarded home-improvement items- like kitchen sinks and cabinets- all perfectly good, just needing a new home. He even sells toilets- and they can't sell old toilets as toilets- 'cause they aren't water-conservation approved. So they are sold as "flower pots with bowls." I have been trying my best to finaggle a green one- really cool art-deco design to it- for my flower garden. Honest, it would look super-nifty with some vinca overhanging the bowl and lots of dianthus and alysum... he's not buying it either. sigh. But I figure my yard is a mess, anyway- what difference would a toilet make?? Hey, I already have a bathroom sink! Been trying to get that thing off to the rehab store for a while, now. Maybe he'll trade me. If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em.

This sweet little block has been salvaged from the rubbish bin. I found it at the Chicago quilt show, a couple years ago. One of the vendors had a tub full of old orphan blocks. I picked out this one and two maple leaf ones- for about $2 each. They were very cool, but I'm thinkin' probably no one has a call for a purple house... whatcha know?! My friend Audrey and her husband just bought an old house- their first, and guess what color their toilet, sinks and tub are??? Yep, just that same shade of purple. Maybe it's lilac. Anyway, they plan on keeping the old- 'cause it works just fine and the tiles in there match exactly... yeah, I wish I had that purple toilet in my yard! Busted! But anyway, I added a little border of Auntie grace repro and even hand-quilted it. Well, it was just such a small project and I couldn't imagine machine quilting it! I used Dream Angel batting in it and so it was a breeze- not too boring, but I shouldn't think that I'll being doing that again, any time soon. So somebody made a littlehouse block back in 1930 and now it's hanging on somebody's wall. Ain't that cool?