the last door down the hall: threads

Small bobbins in rainbows of colors.They are around eight inches long.

Medium size bobbins.I liked the shape with the holes in them. These are around 16 inches tall.

A mixture of large bobbins with beautiful threads in them.

Large bobbins with different threads in them, from fine to quite coarse, almost yarn like. The largest is around 16 inches.

In my travels I have to make it a point to stop every three to four hours. My poor hip gets pretty stiff if I do not get out of the car and walk around a bit. I try to spice it up with thrift stores, antique shops, southern towns, main streets, and photograph sessions. It is not the destination but the journey my body reminds me.

I have left North Carolina and ventured into South Carolina and Georgia on my way to Alabama. An hour or two into South Carolina I saw a sign for a swap meet and decided to stop. Never found the swap meet, but did find this little out of the way antique shop. I could not believe my eyes when I spotted these shelves of old bobbins from the local textile mills.

Bobbins, bobbins everywhere. I had never seen some of the large ones before, except in pictures. The small ones you see floating around the south, made into all sorts of things [candle sticks,posies]. The large ones - no, I can not recall ever seeing them. Bonus points for still having thread on them.

Of course, I had to have a few! The prices were unbelievable -so I filled up a box and added them to my collection of goodies I am carrying around with me. They make such a statement from the past, I really could not walk away. Much of the South was all about cotton and the textile mills that supported whole cities. They are a reminder of that time. The fortunes that were made from these mills. My new sewing room will have a few new additions and I will have a few more memories of the past.

This is my favorite trade card of the batch. She is like a little thread fairy.

This weekend there is a large quilt show in one of the neighboring coastal towns. I ran into an old acquaintance yesterday while getting lunch who was preparing to show some of her lovely quilt work. We got talking and she asked if I had any old sewing images as she had remodeled her studio over the winter and wanted to hang and use for inspiration sewing ephemera.

I was going to do my freebies totally different this week, but after that encounter I went home and started going through things to see what I couldn't find. I thought I would share some of what I found with you. You might want to be find a place for some of these,also.

Do they make Merrick thread any more? and where is it located? They had very nice trade cards. I made this one into a book mark to use in my sewing books.

This is such a gentle trade card. I love how they call it temptation. What a cute child!

The quilting bee. A time for women to get together and share their love of color and pattern, catch up with each others lives, and come away with some incredible art work. If you haven't read the Elm Creek Quilt series and you enjoy sewing and quilting, you should.

This is such a strange trade card that I just had to include it. I think frog things were very collectible during this time frame....or....it is a great frog though.

No sewing room is complete without a thread holder. I am always on the lookout for one of those thread cabinets that I can afford. My mother has one that we all lust after. The one here is very cool, I also love how the dog is sitting so patient while the little girl plays with him.