Monday, April 30, 2018

A Beautiful Baby Quilt Top

Today, I just wanted to share a few photos of a beautiful baby quilt top that is for sale at Mountain Treasures here in Sonora.
(At least, it was still there a few days ago - I'm not sure about today!)
 Another vendor brought it into their booth.
 I've never seen anything quite like it.
"H" is for House:
I'm sorry, I only got one shot that sort of shows the whole thing. It was hanging up, and I did my best:
"F" is for Flower:
"J" is for Jack-In-The-Box:
"T" is for tree:
"W" is for windmill:
"L" is for lamp:
The price tag is/was $40.00, and I just happen to think it's truly a lovely vintage patchwork piece. Even it it was not finished and made into a quilt, it would be precious hanging on a nursery wall!
Mountain Treasures is a collective with forty-plus vendors, and is located at 13643 Tuolumne Road in Sonora, California.
Phone 209-532-3356 (Sorry, we do not offer shipping services, and items are available at the store only.)
We are working on getting a new Instagram account set up for the store, but have run into a couple of glitches.
If we get it up and running with regular photo posting, I will share that info here on my blog.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Charlotte Patera

I found a nice framed print of this poster, below, at a thrift shop a while back.
At first, when I spied it from across the room, I thought it was the crewel, but then upon closer inspection I realized it was a print.
 I remember the cashier making a comment something like "Well, that sure is a nice frame, but I don't know about the picture."
Now I ask you: what in the world is wrong with some people?
 For one thing, um ...  nobody asked her.
 I was buying it, so obviously I wanted it for some reason, right? Like gee - maybe because I LIKED it?!
 Do you think, maybe?
Oh - and the frame is nothing special at all. It's just a plain frame. Whatever, lady.
Her comment was unwanted and not at all appreciated.
Because I think it's completely fabulous.
Anyhow, when I got it, I knew nothing at all about who "Char '74" was, because my print does not have that information at the bottom, that you see, above. I guess the person who framed it had cut off the bottom to fit it into the frame.
A Stitching Exhibition?! At The Nut Tree?!
We used to LOVE going to the Nut Tree, back when were kids.
 Well, I surely do wish I'd been able to see that exhibition back in 1975; it must have really been something special.
Some time later, I found a partial photo of the poster when I was looking through my copy of "Vintage Craft Workshop", a great book authored by Cathy Callahan, who used to write a wonderful blog called "Cathy Of California", that I loved reading. The book is outstanding - you can find it on Amazon.
(I also found an article about Cathy on another blog, "While She Naps" - you can find it here.)

I kept looking up information, and I was so surprised to discover that Ms. Patera had actually lived close to where I grew up!
I'm sad to say, she passed away one year ago today.
You can read her obituary here.
 Oh, how I wish I had known she lived in Cameron Park!
Because I would have loved to have had the opportunity to meet such a talented  stitchery artist and author!
 Honestly, I would have tried to call her or something, because maybe I COULD have met her - maybe I could have even seen some of her beautiful work, in person!
I also discovered that I already owned one of her books, when I saw the cover, I recognized it immediately, and went and found it on my book shelf.
I have written before about "The Applique Book", back in this post.
(Please go back and have a look; I think you might enjoy seeing some of her fabulous designs!)
And I had even written a post about one of her designs four years ago - The Artful Artichoke (click here to go back and read about it).
She authored other books, too, including some about Mola techniques, and this one, "Cutwork Applique":
And here are some examples from that book:
 The "Sun Symbol":
 And a gorgeous dress:
 Now I want that book, too, of course!
I'll find myself a copy, you can bet on it.
You know, I am not much of a needlework person, nor a seamstress, but I so greatly admire the talented women who are, and were, and all of the beautiful items they create/created with their handiwork.
And I just wanted to write a post about Charlotte Patera, so that if you have never heard of her before, perhaps if you come across one of her books, or see a photo of  her work, you might now remember her name, as well.
What a talented lady she was.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Found: Colorful Vintage Afghans

I'll admit it - it's difficult for me to pass up a colorful vintage afghan!
Especially when it is extremely inexpensive, or, better yet - free.
That happened to be the case with the three you see here:
And besides, - they're warm....
And they're cozy...
 They're bright and pretty:

And I just plain LIKE them!

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

New (Vintage) Vera Neumann Finds

 It dawned on me that I hadn't done a Vera Neumann post in a while!
That's not good - let's remedy that situation right here and now!
First of all today, I have some bright cloth napkins to show you that I found at a thrift store:

Big, gorgeous flowers:

And another gorgeous set of napkins with the golden glow of the sun:
And that dear little Vera Ladybug:
 I found these two completely fabulous vintage linen tea towels, both with their original labels still present:
 Beautiful colors on each - and in paisley, no less!
 Lori gave me this pretty scarf for my birthday last fall:
And most recently, I found a vintage leather belt and a butterfly bath towel:
I believe that's it for today.
I'll always write more posts as I come across more great vintage Vera items to share - it just might take me a while!

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Then And Now # 108: See's Decorated Eggs For Easter

Here's wishing all of you a lovely Easter Sunday, and if you are very lucky, perhaps the Easter Bunny may have left you a beautifully decorated egg from See's Candies.
This advertisement from 1974 shows you what they looked like back "Then":
Yellow roses:
And pink roses:
And here's an example of one decorated with pink roses "Now":
The lovely picture above was part of an insert that came in our newspaper, along with a coupon.
 I wasn't able to make it to a See's Candies shop in order to use the coupon, unfortunately!
Have a wonderful day, everyone, - whether it includes chocolate, or not!