Vintage Finds in Unexpected Places

Hastypearl

Somewhere, in my DNA makeup, came a very strong gene for Vintage.

I can actually remember early “nerding out” behaviors as a child and it’s still going strong, decades later.

I like to think that my powers of observation are strong,

but let’s face it, with so much out there,

we have to have some built in filters or we will crumble from the overload.

What does that mean?

Well, for me, I can thumb through a hundreds page lighting book in a few seconds

and tell you if there is anything in it that I like. (can you tell we are in the middle of a remodel?;)

You just KNOW if it’s you or not.

Lets face it, just with Pinterest alone,

you can see thousands of images and a few will be

important enough for you to “pin”.

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Sometimes however, I can get it wrong.

Like the MANY TIMES I overlooked a store in Carbondale, Colorado called,

Out West Antiques.

I’ve seen enough western movies to know, that I don’t gravitate towards the “Western Scene”,

but wait…

Could I have been too judgmental just because of a Name?

Did I judge a book by its Cover?

Yes!

When I finally went inside, I was overwhelmed with my foolishness

and spent the next hour with my jaw dropped.

Foolishness had caused me to miss out on what I shouldn’t have.

Front to back, this Old, Victorian? building was chock full of delights.

Delights just waiting to be discovered!

Inch by inch,

the owners had me pegged, I was their customer and I could have just “lasso’d ” the

whole building and drug it home with me!

Lesson # 1million learned.

NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER 🙂

Want to see some of what I came home with.

OF COURSE you do ! 🙂

Literally under a stack of things, was a little whisper calling my name.

It’s name was…Victorian Runner and it’s nick name was Crazy Quilt.

Old.

Very Old.

Very Victorian.

Very Worthy.

Sooo many beautiful stitches done by someone many years ago that I KNOW, I would have loved 😉

Frayed in a couple of places,

I feared that the value had just gone up ;),

but no…a very fair price, and it was mine.

I’m sure that it was “discounted” because of its wear.

Priceless !

I tossed it into the freezer, as I do with ALL vintage fibers.

It gives me piece of mind that any free loading creepy crawlies,

won’t be transferred into our home.

Then placed in an honorable way for the world, or at least those that come into my world,

 we will honor the makers hands, for another lifetime.

My next discovery at Out West Antiques, was this little set of pillows.

I don’t know their provenance, nor how they were made.

I think it is the process where you stitch, and then cut open the

stitches to make the pattern dimensional?

Whatever… I LOVE Them !

All three of them, were done on some wonderful wool and

each pillow has a couple of Bakelite Buttons.

Truthfully, THAT’S where they had me.

Bakelite Buttons!

Being raised in South Central Texas, wool isn’t a word often used,

but these pillows are fantastic because of it.

I can imagine that the fabric was reused from some earlier life.

What beautiful little diamonds these are!

So, you know me…

I’m always going to have a little thought about my life’s experiences and today is no exception.

What is my thought?

*We have to get out of our comfort zones or we will miss out*

If I had continued to assume that this little shop was about

Western cattle brands, rusty stars and barbed wire, I would have totally missed out.

I have to do that concerning people, too.

There are so many people that WE NEED in our lives,

that we judge because of a variety of reasons.

What a waste !

If we make assumptions about people, WE COULD BE WRONG.

We could also be deemed foolish for not exploring new reasons to explore!

We could miss out on relationships, that could be the most important in our lives!

I feel like I’ve seen enough of that and I’m tired of it.

Humans are more than who they vote for, or where they worship or how much melanin is in their skins,

in fact none of that has anything to do with our Eternal value at all,

and to be truthful, I couldn’t care less about any of it.

What I do care about is who people are, Inside.

What do they love?

What do they sing?

What do they see?

What do they feel?

Often, the More different they are from me, the Better !

The Beauty that is Inside,

is what I’m interested in and I’m determined to explore that more and more !

In the end,

I want to have experienced Everything that I possibly can

and I don’t want to pass it by because of my careless assumptions,

like I did this quaint and quirky little store.

Life is full of wonderful and unbelievable surprises, if we will let it be 🙂

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As always, I’m so happy that you stopped by.

Enjoy your beautiful days!

Best…Laura aka Hastypearl

ps. I received no compensation for mentioning this business…I just Love to share when I find a great place !