Judy Sue's Dry Goods & More

Specializing in antique textiles, especially quilts and quilt tops, and other quality antiques & collectibles. I also sell a number of hard-to-find books, primarily about quilts and other textiles, and offer a small selection of books and other items I think other quilters will enjoy. In addition, I sell a number of preowned Bernina and other sewing machines. Recently I have also begun to sell some rug hooking supplies, books, etc. I research and document my items thoroughly and try to give buyers as much information as possible.

I grew up in the antiques business - my father was a well-known antiques dealer, and I worked with him from the time I was a teenager. Since I was also a quilter, I found myself drawn to antique quilts, quilt tops, fabrics, and blocks and began buying and selling in the 1980s. My background was in teaching college English and fund raising and PR for nonprofit organizations, but in 1999 I quit my full-time job and decided to combine my love of antiques, quilts, and computers into a new career path, selling on eBay! I have also worked as Coordinator of the former Pennsylvania Quilt & Textile Museum and assembled the museum's collection. Although I am now semi-retired, I continue to sell some items on eBay because I enjoy the experience and the online friends I make!

Since I currently live near Bowmansville, PA, I have adopted the "Bowmansville Star" quilt pattern as my logo. This is a Mennonite pattern found almost exclusively near this small village - most antique examples date from the late 19th century. This pattern is just tiny squares arranged to make a star design with a zig-zag border - antique examples are hard to find and highly prized by collectors! (The photo shows my very own antique Bowmansville Star quilt that I was lucky enough to find!) Lancaster County is viewed by many collectors as the source of some of the best antique quilts! 

I have also been a quilter for more than 25 years. I especially enjoy folk art applique (by hand or machine) and like to quilt my own quilts on my Hinterberg Voyager midarm system. Lately I have been spending more time hooking rugs than I spend on quilting! Check out the two rug hooking guilds I belong to (I maintain the web sites for both) - www.woolwrights.com and www.brandywinerughookingguild.weebly.com.

I always stand by my merchandise as described and am never rude or nasty to my buyers! (I buy some items on eBay too, and know that some sellers can be intimidating and uncooperative!) I believe the old adage "The customer is always right" (even if I have to bite my tongue), not "Buyer beware"! I try to be as professional as possible, sending emails to my buyers every step of the way, packing well, and shipping packages as soon as I can after payment is received. In most cases, I do not wait for checks to clear before mailing purchases, and I also accept Paypal. I want your experience buying on eBay to be a pleasant one so you will come back!

I spend a lot of time creating my descriptions and photos so that bidders know what they are bidding on. If you have any questions about an item, feel free to email me through the eBay system or to antiquequiltlover@yahoo.com.

The following links are ones that I think will be especially useful for quilt collectors and quilters. The Internet contains an amazing wealth of free information on any subject, including antique quilts!

• AQSG - the home page of the American Quilt Study Group, which publishes a newsletter and the journal Uncoverings with papers presented at the Annual AQSG Meeting
• Quilthistory.com - This site is filled with information for the quilt collector or quilt historian. It is also where you can sign up for the QHL mailing list, which is an active discussion group devoted to antique quilts (often critiquing quilts being sold on eBay!). There is so much on this site that I can't begin to list it all. Be sure to look at the list of Quilt Study Groups meeting throughout the country and browse photos of some of the quilts brought to their Show and Tells. Thanks to Kris Dreissen for maintaining this great web site!
• Antiquequiltdating.com - Kimberly Wulfert's excellent web site, filled with free information about antique quilts, fabrics, and more!
• Fabrics.net - a huge site on fabrics that contains some outstanding articles on antique quilts but it is not that easy to find them. The more I look, the more I find here! Here are some direct links within this site:
• Charm Quilts - excellent article and photos from Laurette Carroll about the ultimate scrap quilt
• 19th Century American Quilts - a nice overview, also by Laurette
• Album Signature Quilts - Laurette does it again with a great look at signature quilts in the 19th century
• The Vintage Fabrics List - this is where you can join Joan Kiplinger's email group on vintage fabrics and also read many fabulous articles related to antique fabrics and quilts! Look at the list of articles on the left-hand side of the page! You will find excellent information on feedsacks, 19th century fabric dyeing, building a reference library, and more.
• Womenfolk.com - You'll find all kinds of articles and references here on quilting history, a wonderful reference site! Thanks to Judy Anne Johnson Breneman for this great resource.
• Reproductionfabrics.com - just what it says, a great place to view and purchase reproduction fabrics online
• Vintage and Vogue - another web site that sells reproduction fabrics, swatch sets, and more

I use the Post Office for almost everything I sell and normally use Media Mail for books and Priority Mail for everything else, but I am willing to work with you if you prefer a different method. I provide delivery confirmation on all Priority Mail packages and free insurance on almost everything I sell. Media Mail usually arrives within a week to ten days, often even faster, although occasionally it can take longer, but it is much more economical than other classes of mail for books. I pack well and print my own postage - it is extremely rare for one of my packages to be lost or damaged in transit.

SEWING MACHINES: I ship machines only to the USA and Canada and use UPS Ground. If the original box is not with the machine, I have it packaged at the store which ships UPS for me - they double box and protect it well.

NON-USA BUYERS: I love to sell to buyers from other countries (with the exception of sewing machines, which I ship only to US and Canada). A number of my buyers like to accumulate purchases to save money on shipping, using a flat-rate Priority Mail box to ship quite a few items. I often use Global Priority Flat Rate envelopes to ship books, but the Post Office has told me I can use only one piece of tape on these, so I am reluctant to put more than one or two small books in the same envelope. Also, I fill out customs forms honestly and will not check "gift" instead of "merchandise" and will put the correct amount for the value of the goods.