Vintage Thingies Thursday: Vintage Pillowcases

Hello Everyone! Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday.

Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone.

If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
All you have to do is:
(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in. Thanks so much.

This week I wanted to show you some of my wonderful new finds. I found these wonderful pillowcases at a couple of estate sales, they needed lots of TLC, but they perked right up with a little love.

These floral designs are really neatly done, and the lace edges add a sweet touch to the pillowcase.

Here is a close-up. The cases with the lovely dogwoods were so badly discolored, I did not know if they would come clean and white again. But they look wonderful. The hand work on these were definitely done by someone experienced.

I love these! The lady in the middle with the southern belle dress is really pretty. These are all pairs, I just showed one of each set.

My favorite is the little birds. Look how sweet they look. I have only recently developed a fondness for these pillowcases. I have seen them before and left them without not paying too much attention to them. Can you imagine that? Now, I have started noticing these at estate sales, and if the price is right, I am snatching them up! Go figure.

I hope you take the time to visit all the participants today, and look at all the goodies on display....Oh, and let me give you a heads up for next week. I am going with a theme for next weeks VTT.

Title: What was I thinking?

Have you ever purchased something and thought what am I going to do with that? Well, recently I did just that.....you will see next week! If you have one of these moments too, share them with the theme of next weeks post....this should be a nice spin to VTT and lots of fun!


OH. MY. I forgot all about taking a picture of my giveaway for my 200th post....I tell you my mind is going quick! I am giving away four coaster sets with RETRO designs! Trust me they are c-u-t-e! Just leave a comment to this post and I will use random.org to pick the winners....

Sometimes You Have to Take the Bull by the Horns

And I don't mean that literally.....taking the bull by the horns...but you will see what I mean.

When I started my blog last year, I never realized how much fun, joy, and entertainment I would get out of blogging. Likewise, I did not realize that some of my older relatives would get just as much joy out of reading my blog and yours too. However, they have been on the outside looking in for nearly a year now, and I thought it was time to do something about it.


I have mentioned before to my aunt and mom that they needed a blog. They are both seventy-ish and think I am crazy. I have gotten every excuse imaginable....I don't have anything to say...I am not a writer...I don't know how to do that....nobody would want to read what I had to say....I can not take pictures....on and on. I always replied with yes you can. I told them if I could figure this out on my own, then they could learn this too with my help. Still...after all my gentle nudging...I had no takers.


I decided to do something about that! I got the idea if I took the time to build them their very own blog, they would walk through the door of blog land and stop peeking in the window.

Let me introduce you to my Aunt Lavoice's new blog....Click Here to have a peek. My aunt posted a post today, it is her first one. Please stop by and leave her a comment to welcome her.

My aunt is a wonderful gardener, her yard in the summer is a showcase on our side of town. People are always stopping in front of her yard to comment on her beautiful flowers. She also collects antiques and has lots of vintage things. She also has weekly visits with her great grandson, and what better writing material is that? I know she will be a wonderful contributor to blog land.

Let me introduce you to Patsy, my mom's blog.....Click Here to have a visit. My mom has not took the step to post yet, but there is a test post there, so you can leave a word of encouragement in your comment to nudge her along.

My mom is an eclectic type of gal. She does a little bit of everything. She loves decorating at her church for functions and always does a wonderful job. She is always planning something for her ladies meeting, and she just does not realize she has lots to share. She is a avid snowman collector....she could write a book about that alone! She likes to travel with her friends and she has more stories to tell, she just needs a little nudge

Please take a moment to stop by and welcome these two seventy-ish ladies to blog land and offer a bit of encouragement. Maybe if they hear that all of us struggled with the same issues at first they will have their confidence built up and not feel so intimidated.

Thanks in advance everyone...I knew I could count on you to welcome them and make them feel welcome here in blog land.

The Signs of Spring ~ Floral Splendor

With my work schedule the way it is, I find it very hard to find the time to do things I really enjoy most in life. This week, I decided to just close my eyes to the unfinished housework, dishes, laundry...you know the things that are a must do...sigh.

I headed to two local garden centers in our area, and did I have a field day....a flower field day. I spend way more than I would have liked, but I think the money was well spent.

This red columbine is so lush and beautiful. This requires shade according to my Know all garden center man, so I am trusting he knows what he was talking about.

The plants have blooms in all colors and I think they are rather pretty. I planted these in my backyard, the part that is all shade, most of the day.

See what I mean about a great variety of color that comes from one plant? I have only seen columbines in Colorado and they have been blue/purple in color, so you can just imagine how excited I was to find these plants.

Inpatients are a must for my backyard as well. I love these plants..sometimes, I love them so much I tend to kill them with too much water. Sighs again.

But I will try my darnest to keep these alive this year. I have planted them in my front yard and they have really done well. I usually forget to water the front yard, so that might explain it.

Another addition to my backyard this year was some beautiful Wood Fern plants. I know these like shade, and under trees, so I added these to my back yard for some pretty texture and color to my garden spots.

Can you think of anything other than honeysuckle vine announcing spring is finally here? I can not. I have honeysuckle vines that are growing all along a fence on the back side of the house, the smell is so sweet and wonderful. I just wished these little buds would last all summer long.

Please forgive me, but I can not remember the name of this plant. Another shade lover. I think that they are in the impatient family, but I can not be sure. Lots of pretty color and I love the small delicate flowers.

And this is my all time favorite flower. The gardenia. I have killed every gardenia bush I have ever planted. Sad but true. However, the trusty ole' garden center man assured me if I planted it on the east side of my house, afforded it about 3 hours of morning sun, it would live....better live, this one cost me a arm and a leg...it is shaped as a little topiary tree...it is adorable and the blooms are heavenly.

Another summer favorite of mine is the bougainvillea plants. I understand these grow wild in California...lucky ducks. I have never seen a white and pink one before. I usually find the hot pink variety or the orange variety. I did not even ask the price...I just loaded it in the cart. At the checkout, I thought maybe I should have asked...Naaw....I love it.

This is hanging in my backyard where I get a lot of afternoon sun....Don't you just love the colors?

This mandevilla is new too, love the pink colors. I stopped by a local church that was having a plant sale to support missions to overseas....well, lets just say, I gave a hefty donation.....I will show you in another post soon what other lovely gems I got....beautiful.

This is a new flowering shrub...it is going to help hide my neighbors unsightly yard in a few years...at least that is my plan.

Here is the last of the azaleas blooming. I kill these too, but I am determined to let this one live. I love these plants and always get so jealous in the springtime when I see how beautiful they are in other yards.

Well, that is about it for this little look-see at what I have been doing. I transplanted and thinned a lot of my plants, bought new ones, and reworked most of my flower beds this week. Nothing is more satisfying to see all these lovely flowers in bloom. Even if requires lots of soaking in epson salt and hot water to take care of the aches and pains.

I have just noticed that on Thursday...for VTT....that will be my 200th post...I can hardly believe that. Please stop by, I will be having a giveaway for celebrating that accomplishment...I can't tell you what the giveaway will be...because, well...I have not figured that part out yet!

We Have A Wiener...I Meant Winners!

Seriously Folks! I had no idea how hard it would be to choose a winner for the photo contest from my Vintage Thingie Thursday post. I should have posted the winner this morning, but I have been thinking about this all day, had my husband read over the entries, and yes, I did ask Sophie her opinion. Believe me, she knows a good caption when she hears one...smart dog that Sophie is.

And because it was so difficult to choose just one....sorta like Lay's potato chips...one is just not enough. I decided to choose two winners and put the second caption with the second photo.

Congratulations to Rosie for your winning caption.

Rosie said: "How about "Wiener Roast" for the photo :)"

"Wiener Roast"

Steve and I both loved this one and thought it was a fun fit for the photo. If you only knew how fitting the caption is because when she comes in from soaking up the rays, she is as hot as a roasted wiener. So the title was so fitting!

Now, remember..I said there was two wieners...I mean winners!

Congratulations to T Lee for your winning caption.
We loved how clever you were at choosing the title.

T Lee said: "Soaking up Da(ch) Sun(d) I know....CORNY!!"

We did not think this was corny at all, in fact, very CLEVER!

" Soaking up Da(ch) Sun(d)"

A big thank you to all who entered and submitted your caption. You really made it a challenge to pick a winner, they were all so good and it was hard to pick just one...Oh, that's right, we couldn't do that and chose two!

Congratulations to Rosie and T Lee for your winning entries. Just email me at my blog email address your mailing address and I will fill the cards out for you and your new subscription to Family Circle magazine will start soon.

Have a great weekend everyone...and give the favorite dog in your life a belly rub, you will both benefit from it...trust me!

Vintage Thingies Thursday and A Contest

Hello Everyone! Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday.

Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone.

If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
All you have to do is:
(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in. Thanks so much.

The Quilt festival going on over at Park City Girl's blog this week has had me thinking about quilts non-stop. I posted about my a favorite quilt of mine on the below post if you would like to take a look at that one.

Anyway, with all the quilts on display, naturally I decided to show my vintage estate sale find quilt today. I found this recently at a local estate sale. I have loved this pattern forever, but never have I come across a quilt with this design that I could afford. Imagine my delight at discovering the price tag on this wonderful quilt was only $20.00. Pure excitement was more like it! I snatched this baby up and held onto it for dear life until I got to the check out!

This lovely old quilt has some wonderful fabrics used in the piece work. It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday when I decided to take some pictures of my quilt. I took it outdoors and placed it in the grass for the photos. I think it showcases the colors that are in the fabrics so much better than being indoors.

Just look at the cute little houses, they are so cute. I like how striped fabric was used for the houses themselves, with a floral or another pattern for the rooftops.

I love the color combination of these blocks. If the person who pieced this quilt together had stayed with this color combination, this would have been the cutest "Christmas Houses" quilt ever. The colors just scream Christmas time to me!

This is the back side, and the binding on the quilt. It is hand pieced and quilted. A true treasure.

There are a few imperfections in this quilt, with a few worn spots here and there. Does it bother me? No, not in the least. I really am not big on perfection in things I love...just charm.

And on this sunny day here in Ft. Worth, there was plenty of smiles happening as I looked lovingly at my new quilt and photographing all the cute little houses pieced together......speaking of sun....speaking of sunny days....speaking of.....well this......

This photo needs a name.......go ahead....give it your best shot!

While I was busy taking a picture or two of my quilt in my backyard on the soft cool grass, Sophie decided to take in a little sun herself. This is what I saw when I turned around and looked towards the patio. Mind you, she did not chose to lay on the quilt...which I am sure would have been fine...but no, I found her like this on the patio. And I need a name for this photo.

Come on....don't be shy, give it your best shot! Just leave your entry for my Name this Photo Contest with your comment to this post to be entered! Oh...I almost forgot about telling you what the prize is for coming up with the most suited name for the photo.

The winner will receive a 1-year subscription to Family Circle Magazine. I can not wait to see what you all come up with for best describing all this photo is...or is not.
Good Luck!

Thank you for stopping by for Vintage Thingie Thursday! Please visit everyone participating and look at all the wonderful vintage treasures! If you have something you would like to share, just link in below...we would love to have you.

Quilt Festival: Flower Basket Button Quilt

This afternoon while I was reading some of the blogs in my reader, I found this post about a Quilt Festival online through Handmade by Alissa's Blog. This wonderful event is being hosted by Park City Girl and My. Oh. My. What a wonderful collection of all kinds of quilts are posted there. What is even more wonderful are the stories about the quilts and why each one is special. Trust me, you won't want to miss this event, grab a cup of coffee, and plan to sit a spell, you will be glad you did.

I decided this would be a great opportunity for me to show off one of my favorite quilts....It was hard to choose, because all of my quilts are my favorites...but this one is very unique and it is special to my heart. Hope you enjoy! (Click on any photo to enlarge to see detail)

My children went to Catholic School through 8th grade. It was a small inter city school with around 230 children, give or take a few. The school principal Mrs. Zinno was a very talented Quilter. In fact, some of you may remember me showing you the quilted Christmas ornaments she made. If you would like to take a look back at those, click HERE.

Anyway, Mrs. Zinno came up with a wonderful plan for earning funds for the school by making a quilt each year and having the children participating in the making or design, then having a school wide raffle in the spring. She did this for four years we were at that school. I am happy to say, I won two of the four quilts. Unbelievable I know. I won the first one she ever made and the third one. This one is the third one. I had never been more excited in my life when I won this one, the donation of $40.00 has brought more joy than you can even imagine each time I look at this treasure.

This is a flower basket design, I think. All the pieces were cut out by the principal and sent home to different moms in the school to sew or stitch them together. Brave of her...right? Once that was complete, the squares were sent back to the school. Once they were all collected and returned, it was time for the children to have their hand in the quilt design.

Every student and staff member in the school got to pick a button from the button stash that was contributed by church and families of the school. And let me say this, I did get to take a look at the large box of buttons and I was just amazed at the different ones. Some antique, some vintage, some new, some cute and comical, some rather unique....it was such a wonderful meddling of all types of buttons, just like the people who made up the school community.


Each child got to choose their button, which would be the flowers on the quilt. Then the buttons were placed on a cardboard log with each child's name. I am sure this was not an easy task because the school had PK3-8th grade students. And if any of these kids were like myself...well, I would have had a hard time choosing just one!

Each button was added to the flower boxes as the flowers, then labeled with the child's name and grade, and then the flower stems were embroidered. So cute!

Many different colors were used in the quilt. My favorite happens to be the green and red plaid used as the filler fabric. This was the colors of the girls plaid jumpers. It just adds a nice touch to the quilt as well as fond memories, for me of those cute little plaid jumpers that were worn with little red sweaters. This square, has my daughter Alisha's button, she was in the 3rd grade when this was completed.

Here is a more masculine quilt square that happens to have my son, Jeff's button. Jeff was in the 8th grade that year, his last year at the school. Luckily, the boys did not have to wear any plaid, just blue pants and a white shirt....nothing cute!

It is amazing how each one is different and shows the uniqueness of each and everyone at the school. I love how this turned out. I like looking at the buttons and thinking about each of the children that went to school with my daughter and son. I can usually imagine why the child chose the button they did for this project. They really do reflect the likeliness of each child.

The size of the quilt is a King size, and I had forgotten it came with two matching pillow shams. I love how it fits on my bed, but I don't use it. It does have a hanger sewn in the back for hanging on a wall, I think this was used to display it at the school. I keep it safe in my quilt display box. I don't want to lose any of the delightful buttons. I am so thankful for the brilliant idea Mrs. Zinno had to raise funds for the school and share her talent with the community. Likewise, I am so thankful lady luck was smiling down on me and I was able to win not one but two delightful quilts.

I hope you enjoyed looking at one of my favorite quilts. It holds lots of memories for me and my family. I will pass this quilt on to my daughter one day....far away....one day!

Remember...."Friends are like flowers in the garden of life" just as this quilt clearly points out!

Now, be sure to hop on over to Park City Girl's blog, and enjoy all the wonderful display of quilts participating in the festival. Thanks Park City Girl for hosting this...I am so glad I found it!!

Vintage Thingies Thursday: Vintage Vessels

Hello Everyone! Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday.

Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone.

If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
All you have to do is:
(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in. Thanks so much.

This week, I have some family treasures to share with you. My husband had 5 great Aunts who lived their whole lives together. They never married, lived in a big ole' Victorian house in St. Joseph, Missouri. When the last living Aunt moved to a assisted living home, they had a big auction of all their things and home before the move. My father-in-law who was the nephew to these said Aunts, was able to get a few pieces to keep in the family.

This is a beautiful vase. It reminds me of the vase Smiling Sally posted about a few months ago. Click on the link to see her beautiful vase again. This vase that I have had for well over 20 years, is delicate, and originally when I got this from my husband's Aunts estate, it really was not my taste at all. I was not too fond of the gold, but luckily, I had the good sense to keep it. Now, I really do like this little piece. I just wish I knew more about it...and of course, I wish I knew the stories behind them from the Aunts who had them.

It would be nice if I knew more about markings on things. First off, I can not even begin to make heads or tales of this marking. Does any one out there recognise this? I so wish I could date this vase to when it was made, but so far no luck, I don't even know where to start.

Here is a close up of the back side. This really has lots of details in the painting on this vase. Very pretty. Can you see the little gold specks in the overall paint of the piece?

Here is another wonderful vase. I really like the colors and flowers on this one. It is a very pretty shade of green.

Here is the marking on the bottom of this vase. After looking on the Internet, I found this information about he mark: The mark on the base shows the letters RW inside a diamond with a crown surrounded by the words Germany and Rudolstadt. This particular mark was used between 1895 and 1906. Can we say VINTAGE? This makes me all the more want to know about the first vase.....maybe I should take it to the Antique Roadshow!

This black vase is similar to the first one, but I know it is not as old as the other one. The porcelain is different, and it just does not have that fragile feel that the other one has. Still....pretty. I love the roses.

Here is the mark on the back of the black vase. My husband had one Great Aunt who did do lots of traveling. I often wonder if some of these pieces were picked up and brought home from overseas.

This is the smallest of all of these little vases. I love this one very much. I love the colors and it sorta reminds me of Art-deco style. The flowers are so pretty and sweet.

This one is stamped made in Japan. This little vase stands about 6 inches tall. I keep this one in my bedroom in a bookshelf. I like the style and colors.

And for all you vintage linens lovin' ladies...here is a closeup of a vintage tablecloth I used as the backdrop for taking the photos today. What a lovely springtime bouquet of tulips. This was an estate sale find for $2.00. It was soiled really bad...but guess what...not any more! I love this one!

If you would like to participate and show off your vintage treasures, use the link below. Have a great week everyone! Thanks for stopping by and visiting here on Vintage Thingies Thursday!

Vintage Thingie Thursday Participants

1. Sally 2. marian ~ teatowels 3. CC 4. How Perfectly Imperfect! 5. Ruby 6. i luv retro things 7. Dawn 8. Marjorie Molly\'s country memories homeplace 9. Susan 10. Bea 11. Jewelgirl 12. Barbara Jean

13. Miri 14. Patty/Pip Stitch 15. Roslyn 16. fitty 17. mannequin 18. ClassyChassy 19. Picket 20. Elizabeth 21. SueLovesCherries - My Secret Garden 22. Pammie Jo 23. Sarah 24. Beca @ Ruby Lane

25. Paula - Mom\'s China 26. Linnea 27. LadyJane 28. Janet 29. Red Apple Junction (donna) 30. Rosie 31. No Pattern Required 32. mub 33. Jeanne 34. Carrie - Oak Rise Cottage 35. lala

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