Vintage Thursday Thingie: Bellow, book and cushion cover

Here are two flea market treasures that we found on a trip to California two years ago. This brass and leather bellows was purchased by my husband with the idea that he would use it to "fan the flames" when barbecuing.

This, of course, was my purchase. It clearly once covered something-a foot stool maybe. I've been meaning to turn it into a throw pillow.

The interesting thing to me is that the needlepoint embroidery does not cover the entire surface-only the design elements have been embroidered (more like cross-stitch embroidery). I'd never seen that done in needlepoint before. (This appeals to me- one of the things I hated about doing needlepoint was filling in the background.)

This trip we didn't spot an outdoor flea market but I did get a Mock Vintage treasure! This is a reproduction of the 1953 classic...

complete with aged pages (so said the blurb with the book and so it is-check out the left side)!

When I read that I just couldn't resist! and now I have another cookbook to add to my Mock Vintage/Antique cookbook collection.

For more VTT wonders and to join in the fun, click on the button.

Fabric Tags

This is the fabric that I got at City Quilter in NYC. I call the black and white on top my NYC souvenir fabric! The top three are for my Black and White Challenge quilt.

(I took this pix with my new camera and it isn't looking any better than with the old...this is not good.)

I got this fabric at Sturbridge Village-it was hard to choose...so many beautiful reproduction fabrics from their collection. Moda Fabrics is the manufacturer.

While I was on our trip, I got tagged by Maggie.

Here are the rules of the game:

1. When you are tagged you are asked to list eight random facts about yourself and post them on your blog for visitors to enjoy.

2. Tag eight of your blogging friends and leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to join in the fun if they have the opportunity. (If not, that's okay. They can still enjoy the random facts everyone shares :) Be sure to list a link to your eight friends in your posting.

OK, so here goes

1. I work out regularly with small 2 lb. weights. This is for upper arm strength because when we first got our new pots, I could hardly lift them.

2. I worked for years as an archaeological restorer-glued lots of broken pottery together and once I got to work on Roman glass.

3. I have no computer confidence and have angst attacks whenever I have to do something new.

4. I love baking, like cooking, and hate cleaning.

5. I have a good sense of direction but no sense of time .

6. I love bad movies but they have to be really bad...so bad that they are funny. No one in the family will watch them with me because they're so bad.

7. My taste in TV is as discriminating as in movies! I'll pretty much watch anything...I've even watched E! On the other hand, I rarely have "my" show-Gilmore Girls being the one big exception. I still watch reruns which drives my husband crazy-but then, he does the same thing with Law and Order. I call it "default TV".

8. This is the view from our screened- in porch...the water is the Sea of Galilee.

Tag: You're It: Eileen at Eileen's Attic Carrie at Oak Rise Cottage

Mildred at Nalley Valley Ulla at Kotkarankki

Suzanne at Coloradolady Susan at Homespun Quilts

Kelly at unDeniably Domestic Julia at Julia's Place

Vintage Thursday Thingie: Tea Cozy

This is a vintage embroidered tea cozy that I really don't know anything about. Its done in chain-stitch and I love the folk-art look of it. It looks Indian to me but that's just an impression.

Its good to be back for VTT. For more VTT wonders click here.

Happy Inauguration Day

Happy Inauguration Day!
Here are some pictures from Sturbridge Village-what a wonderful place...you really do feel like you have stepped back in time...especially on such a cold day when I think we were the only visitors! Question: How many sweaters can you get under a raincoat?

This is from the back path-it was so cold that when we came around to the Town Common, I was so glad to get into a building I forgot to take a picture of the Common.

Whatever are they eating? Lichen?

Isn't this window magnificent...its in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford...there are gems like this all over the building. Hartford is definitely worth a trip to if you are in New York or Boston-across from this museum is an old church with an even older pre-Revolutionary War graveyard.

The snow was light on the ground so we walked through-amazing gravestones including one that said that here lay the first white child (non-native American) born in Connecticut!

We're home

We're home! It was a great trip-we went to all the quilt exhibits that I hoped to get to-including the Baltimore Album exhibit in Baltimore-and saw many wonderful quilts. The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut proved to be a lovely small museum in itself (saw an Egyptian mummy and a Toulouse Latrec!) . The quilt exhibit was small but very nice with a wonderful Crazy Quilt that had the most embroidery I've ever seen on a Crazy plus padded work and even pom-poms. I loved this: the maker, Mrs. Signora A. May, willed the quilt to the museum!
Here are some pictures from one of the few places that allowed them: Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. I love the quilted bonnets... but this quilted petticoat is just too beautiful.

I haven't finished unpacking, laid low by jet-lag... I can't wait to get into my sewing room!