the village part i

Part I is for those of you who are interested in textiles :) I was thinking of you as I walked through the village, finding little nooks of fabric interest and delight. Enjoy:

This house, the Firestone Farm, was our first stop. If you read my blog often, this is probably rather predictable :) We stepped into the family room, as opposed to the parlor (i always hate the parlors) and I gasped. The entire room was carpeted, yes carpeted, almost wall to wall in long strips of rag rug weavings all sewn together and laid down. Amazing. I never would have thought to carpet an entire room in, essentially, big long rugs! I'm seeing this as a really cool way to do a kid's room. Oh, and isn't that little nook so sweet?

Look at all of the colors!

This is the village's jacquard loom. Well, not the loom itself, but the cards by which it operates. I've only seen modern computer controlled jacquards, so this was pretty cool.

I would love to know what kind of weaving pattern this is (Susan?). Up close, it's very geometric and intense, but from far away it kind of blends together. I think it would be beautiful in subtle shades, like unbleached linen and white linen or cotton.

Isn't this the coolest knitting machine? I love all of the tiny tiny needles. And the little knitting. I can't believe they have an intact piece.

Eric and I really liked this house. It was a plantation house and so it had the obligatory parlor and fancy dining room, which I glanced in, saw a couple neat things and moved on. But this room and the kitchen were, as is usual in these old houses, what really caught me. The dressed-up person in this room was working on hand sewing a quilt. She was pretty cool. I think these squares were waiting for the next quilt, because the one she was working on was already basted onto the batting and the squares/strips were all sewn together.

This little basket of hand dyed (with natural dyes, of course) yarn was in the same house. I love the light from this window falling on the wooden table (which was really beautiful in person) and the fibers. They are handspun, too.

Eric and I bought a membership to the Henry Ford/Greenfield Village. It's an incredible deal! So, you'll probably be seeing more of these places. I'll try not to get fascinated on all the same things each time! Tomorrow, I'll post the photos from all of the other things. Many from the same houses as these are from, but not with any textile interest.

So, I now am determined that I will become a guide here. I would love to sit in the farmhouse or the little plantation house and iron/quilt/plant in the garden/talk to people all day. And get paid to do it! I talked to a woman there and she said that they recruit mostly in the fall. Presumably so they can train you during the couple months they're closed in the winter. So, come this fall...