Potholders and Linens

Be sure to visit our host of Vintage Thingies Thursday,Suzanne at Coloradolady. This is a potholder "holder". I was wondering what potholders it might have held. There is no obvious hanger. Was it pinned up or just on the table or hutch? Here's a few potholders close to the same age. I can see using the chicken but the yellow rose is more decorative than useful. This pink one could have been a sachet. The red doily has a edge or lip on the back side. Did it fit over a basket or pillow?

Sugar, Salt and Pepper.VTT

I found a sugar and salt and pepper that closely matches a teapot I already own. Brownware is pretty. I'm afraid I don't know much about it: I just like it! Please visit Coloradlady for more Vintage Thingie Thursday items. What is a tea without a pretty cloth underneath the service. This linen has 2 corners embroidered and is edged with crotchet.

Spring Green

This post is for all those still under winter conditions especially for Shari in Colorado. Here's some green! I have lots of hickory and oak trees in the yard. Here's looking up and one closeup of a lower limb. This Old Hickory is a real survivor. It has been topped by hurricanes and struck by lightning! Still going strong. More trees against the sky. Once they leaf out,I'm in the shade for the summer. Here's Murphy. It's the old metal desk that was suppose to be a potting bench. The evergreen that over hangs it has white flowers. Can't remember name. Some new growth on a boxwood An old wagon with birdhouse and sedum moss. Oakleaf hydrangea. A red azalea. Below are a few of the last remaining blooms. Red blooming dogwood was hit by a last frost. The Bridal Veil spirea is a old planting from my Grandparents day. The red camellia has a few last blooms. One wisteria has support of sorts. You see it with sky as background. The other wisteria had early and often pruning and stands free as a bush or small tree. My chickens enjoy sand bathing underneath and shade later in the year. Picture is one of 3 leghorns. I call them Faith, Hope and Grace. Can't tell them apart! The rooster is a Rhode Island red cross called Charlie Horse. Last I have the Lady Bankshire rose. She has struggled in my sandy yard but manages to survive year to year. This year is one of the few times she has bloomed.

Crazy Quilting, Blue Monday

This is a double blue post. Blue Monday is hosted by SmilingSally. Please check out all the lovely blue posts. It is also an update on my work in the Blue block round robin. Please remember to click photos for larger views. Skye's block for the Cobalt blue group in the Blue RR for CQ4Newbies is finished (my part anyway) and in the mail to the next lady. I am enjoying participating in this round robin. The question is 'what do I do next'? I am considering using a "silkie" as applique and trying some embellishment in and around it. A silkie is the modern day version of a cigarette silk. In earlier days cigarette makers enclosed a rectangle of silk imprinted with a image in each cigarette pack. Ladies of the Victorian Era used these images in crazy quilts. Today with the aid of inkjet printers and printable fabric sheets I can print my own choice of image or photo. For this round robin I am looking for blue or mostly blue. Here's a few possibilities. Most of these are from Dover publishing. Some I do not know where I acquired them. Will give credit if notified. The lady and the girl and dog were enhanced in photo editing to have more blue than the original. I have looked at lots of blocks on lots of blogs so forgive me if I don't give everyone credit for inspiration. Most recently it was at Connie's blog. She participated in a class and her block shows wonderful use of ribbon around the silkie of a lady.

Vintage Thursday Dachshunds

Suzanne over at Coloradolady is hosting Vintage Thingies Thursday. Drop on over and check out all the pretties! Here is a sample of my dachshund collection. The first is a salt and pepper with a toothpick holder. Each piece is labeled Centennial Novelty, Los Angelos, Japan. It is a paper label. On the back is embossed HI FRIEND. Not really the correct term. It is not applied but within the porcelain. Next we have 2 dachshunds begging . Salt and pepper. They are identical so I photographed one facing and the back of the other. The salt does have 3 holes while the pepper has only 2. They are marked Japan. Or rather the pepper has the mark. I had to use a magnifier to see it. Faded. While checking that out I see that at one time they had collars. Perhaps it was a bit of velvet? The figurine is not marked and has lost paint from the balls? or drums. My photos do not do justice to these pieces! The brown dachsie is almost nine inches and is marked 1901 Japan. This is a male dachshund. The red brown mom and pup has a silver paper label with National Potteries Co. Cleveland O Made in Japan. The next two dachshund figurines are unmarked. They are about three inches long. I think this is a ring holder. It is unmarked. I hope you have enjoyed my show. Please visit Coloradolady for more vintage items.

Cobalt Blue Round Robin

This is an update on my work on Skye's block for the cobalt blue group of the blue round robin at CQ4Newbies. I was inspired by Ing's work to try a butterfly in silk ribbon embroidery. For this round robin we are to stick almost entirely to blue embellishments. I began with some feather stitching to which I added beads, spankles and straight stitched ribbon. Then I outlined the shape with a running stitch in floss. I began on the upper wings to fill in with a looped wild rose, then spider roses and some folded roses made with wired ribbon and stitched on with floss. Between the larger roses I filled in with rose buds, folded and stitched: gathered bits, and french knots. The lower wings are covered in ribbon using the plume stitch and french knots. It is still not complete but I could not wait to post a photo. Oh! yes, I wanted you to know the block is 12 inches square and my motif is about 4 by 6. Do you put length or width first??

A New Purpose A New Project

Over on CQ4Newbies some of the girls were talking about using vanity wallets to organize their stash of threads and ribbons. Janet showed how she covered a wallet with crazy patch to give it new life. I really enjoyed the posts. I knew I had some things similar; so I have started a new project. Here are photos of the original items. I really don't like the outside of the red stripe cosmetic case by Cover Girl. It's plastic. It will definitely benefit from a re-do. Fully opened it measures about 8 1/2 inches wide by 16 inches long. It has 3 pockets. I have cut a rectangle of muslin and placed fabric patches to play with before sewing them down. The floral jewelry case is fabric and measures 9 inches wide by 14 inches. It is padded and has strips that snap-in. I'm not in to jewelry and do not understand their purpose for these strips. ?? At 14 1/2 by 28, the vanity is the largest. Pink paisley cloth with 4 zippered pockets. Made by Mary Kay, I guess it was originally intended for undies when traveling. It has a hanger attached. Not sure if I want to discard that or not. Might come in handy!