Here’s one of the many off-season traditions that make Round Top so much more than a semi-annual Antique Show. Each spring, Round Top organizes a Wine Fest and it’s just what it says. A fest. With lots and lots of wine. Your ticket buys you an empty glass and a map, and from there it’s your job to visit the dozen or so participating merchant/winery partnerships for a pour of their best. You sip a little, stroll a little and sip a little more. Please say you’re in for next May.
There’s music all day, from mellow saxophone in the afternoon to the town’s famous Black Cat Choirfor the loosened up evening crowd. The whole thing feels a little Edgartown, a little Beaver Creek & a little Charlevoix, with a hearty splash of gentleman rancher. And of course, it wouldn’t be a weekend in Round Top if you didn’t come across an outdoor wedding set-up in the works.
Isn’t it where everyone starts their Antiques Week shopping day?
Here’s something I didn’t know anything about: Tobacco felts, aka tobacco silks, aka tobacco flags. Apparently, about a hundred years ago, packs of cigarettes were wrapped in these little giveaways. Men did the smoking and women were encouraged to quilt the felts into blankets and coverlets.
Seems like a fantastic revival opportunity for some company that markets to craft-crazy maker-y hipsters. Are you listening American Apparel? PBR? Vilano? Dr. Bronner’s? Imagine free vintage-styled felts with every purchase. Then watch the backyard quilting clubs spring up. Then the acoustic grooves-to-quilt-by playlists. And the inaugural Felties Convention in Kreuzberg Berlin…
If you know me, you know that rug hooking is my hipster craft of choice and that I’ve lovingly created a few mediocre pieces over the years. So one of my favorite reasons to shop Clutter is because of its support for Charlotte Bell’s non-profit group, The Rug Hook Project. She helps folks from a village in Mexico market their hooked rug artworks. Don’t you need one for the back of your jean jacket?
The good news? You've discovered The Crush List. The not so good? I haven't been actively posting here for a few years now, which means the never terribly reliable details about my crushes are even more unreliable. Antique vendors have switched venues, shops in town have moved or passed on, donkeys may or may not be in the same front yards... In spite of the risks of massive misdirection I've left the site up in hopes that it still achieves its goal - to inspire you to visit Round Top for the Antiques Show or any time you have the time.
With that said, I leave you to explore this random list of my very favorite things about my very favorite place. I’ve tried to capture the area’s special pieces and parts. Some are big deal, some are small gestures, some are legendary and some are just tiny pip and squeak.
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