Monday Linen Days

An applique with embroidery pillow cover is pretty in pink.

A dish towel I found for 50cents at a garage/tag sale.
There was a note with it that said "Maggie " of the old
Maggie and Jiggs Comics.

A small table cloth with appliqued teapot and embroidery.
I like the applique butterfly on another dish towel.

An embroidered table cloth.

Embroidery shows up a lot on vintage linens. I think it must
have been a way women could be creative in their homes. It
was something easy to pick up when they had a few moments
to put some stitches to cloth. It colored their worlds.
I have been totally amazed at what I have found in my cupboards,
trunk, and linen drawer. Somethings I forgot I had.
I am so glad I decided to share them with you.
Don't forget there will be a linen give away announced on Sept. 14th;
so come back and visit me on two more Monday Linen Days.

Tasha Tudor's Birthday

Today is Tasha Tudor's birthday.
Clarice at Storybook Woods has begun celebrating
and I decided to join the celebration by sharing
one my favorite books about Tasha Tudor.
The book is Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts.
In the book you will see and learn something of
Tasha's quilting, basketry, pottery,
herbs, dried flowers, soap and candle making,
canning, open-hearth cooking, cider making,
dyeing, weaving, lace making, sewing,
marionettes, making toys, and The Dollhouse.
The photography is just beautiful.
I have always loved heirloom crafts and
have treasured this signed copy for many years.
If you come across a copy, enjoy the joy that
Tasha Tudor had for heirloom crafts.

Marmalady's Tea Serving Mat

Announcing!
Marmalady's has just released a new sewing pattern for quilters that love tea.
It is a Tea Serving Mat.
It is an original design by me.
Fun to place under the teapot and cups for serving.
It can be found on marmaladys.etsy.com right now and in the near future on marmaladys.com

Apple Time

The days are becoming shorter,
there is a crispness to the morning air.
This is the time my mind reminds me
of apple harvest time.
The sun still is held in the ground,
as I run barefoot under the
heavy branches of the trees.
I search for the perfect apple and
pluck it from the tree.
The juice runs down my arms,
the flavor is so good.
These are the memories of my girlhood
taking in the sweet, crisp flavor of the apple.

Japanese Tea Ceremony

At the World Tea Expo this year there was an opportunity to participate in a Japanese Tea Ceremony. We were served a tea jelly as a palate cleaner to begin. The Tea Master served each of us individually after he brewed the tea at the end of the table.

The hostess and the Tea Master.

We drank Matcha Green Tea in bowls that were about 100 - 150 years old.

Another very old tea bowl, which I thought was beautiful.
Before the tea ceremony we had to remove jewelry; so that we would not chip the bowls.
Cameras were not allowed in the tea expo; so these were taken on my phone after we were told we could take them here only. Now not being very cell phone technical, I didn't know how to get them off my phone until now. Annie at In My Dreams called me and explained how to share my pictures with you. Thanks so much Annie! I have so much wanted to share the pictures from the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Monday Linen Days

Today I open my trunk to more linens. You will see embroidery and some crochet.

Small card table size table cloths and large pieces that just drape over the table.

Applique and embroidery plus lots of yellow.

Round table cloths and a small organdy one too.
Decorative edges of crochet or tatting are fun.
Sorting through my linens I was amazed at what was there in
the cupboard and the trunk. There were doilies, tablecloths,
dresser scarves, pillowcases, tea cozies, and aprons.
What fun, I love them all.
Three more weeks to go of Monday Linen Days
and then there will be a special give away. I am not sure what it will be,
but it will be something special from the linen cupboard.

A Woman's Journey

On preparing to take a journey, I have been reading books.
The one just finished is Jenny Walton's Packing for a Woman's Journey
by Nancy Lindemeyer, the first Editor-in-Chief of Victoria Magazine.
You can visit Nancy at her blog: nancylindemeyer.blogspot.com
A paragraph that I enjoyed close to the end of the book:
"If our pages speak to the beauty of a woman's life through the artfulness of the things she has gathered about her, then we are dealing with intangibles that are not easy to quantify. When our country was settled, our foremothers took with them in those covered wagons moving west a teapot from home, candlesticks that had been in the family, a tablecloth embroidered by a great-grandmother in Europe. Holding on to these reminders of home and family gave them the courage to go on."

Have courage as we share together our journey.

Theatre de la Mode

In design school we were encouraged to visit Maryhill Museum to see the fashion dolls.
The fashions of post-World War II France are highlighted in this 1946 exhibit, featuring miniature fashions by the country's finest designers.
I must have been inspired by the plaid coat at the front of this picture,
as I went on to design a suit jacket with a similar feel and plaid.

This is my favorite exhibit in the Maryhill Museum. I just love the little fashion dolls.

Even the little shoes are fun. They seem to have inspired a whole
new generation of shoes that look similar to the shoes we see now.
They say that fashion goes in cycles and I do believe that;
however, each cycle still puts their own flair to the season.
I still enjoy taking a peak in a Vogue Magazine at the beauty shop just to see what's happening in the world of fashion today.

Tea at Maryhill Museum

Joining friends for a potluck tea at Maryhill Museum in Washington was a treat I have looked forward to for a long time. Sitting under the trees enjoying tea, the view, and especially the company was pure pleasure.
After tea we walked through the museum and enjoyed together photographs by Ansel Adams, Indian artifacts, and (my favorite) Theatre de la Mode.
A Delightful Day!

Double click on the collage to see the pictures in more detail.

A Singing Heart

A Singing Heart

I woke up this morning
To a singing start;
I went about the live-long day,
A song within my heart.
"Sing before your breakfast;
Cry before you sleep,"
Is an old, old saying,
But never one I keep.

I sing, and I go dancing,
With music in my tread,
Until at length I've sung myself
To supper and to bed.

~from Kitchen Sonnets
by
Ethel Romig Fuller

***
Picture is morning tea looking out on the water.
A perfect setting to have tea.

Monday Linen Days

I call these my Marmalady's tablecloths because they have fruit on them.
The one in the middle I use the most on my display tables when I do a show, but
the others have been used too.
The cherry one is the only one I ever was brave enough to cut and I still am not sure I should have done that. I made pillows with part of it.

I love using the one with the pink stripe around the outer edge in the Spring for our family Easter tea. It just seems so "Springy" to me and it is larger than a lot of the vintage tablecloths you find. The tulip tablecloth is another fun one for Spring. The yellow flowers is fun to use with green depression glass plates at a tea party. Any vintage tablecloth is fun for a tea party when you can tie the theme into what is on the cloth.
***
Tea does our fancy aid,
Repress those vapors which the head invade
And keeps that palace of the soul serene.
~Edmund Waller
**
Enjoy having tea on a vintage tablecloth.

Swing High as the Sky

Swing high as the sky.

I AM:

Mom

Wife

Friend

Niece

Cousin

Sister

Tea Lover

Pie Baker

Flower Picker

Walker

Swimmer/Water Lover

Observer

Reader

Sewer

Patternmaker

Photographer

Quaker

Peaceful/Nonviolent

Gentle Spirit

Planner

Dreamer

Thinker

Traveler

Writer

Artist/Creative

Growing Struggler

Funny, but the most difficult to say is Artist. I dream of being an artist, but could never really see it. I am now putting it out there to the universe. I am an artist.

Sometimes I am Happy, Scared, Silly, Opinionated, Sad, Hungry, Full, Crave food, love alone time, Enjoy beauty around me, Like order in my life, feel old, feel young, hurt. Sometimes I just want to laugh for no reason at all, fly like the birds, swing as high as the sky, swim like the fish, or create a most beautiful master piece. Then there is the skirt I have wanted to sew for the past 25 years, is that the creative master piece sitting in the closet waiting to come out and be completed? Or what about that book that has been stirring in my mind for 5 years? Am I revealing too much or not enough? How about you, what do you have to share? What commitment can we make to open up and move forward past our comfort zones? It's scary, isn't it? I won't tag anyone to share, but the struggle is so worth it when the sun shines on the other end and we have that "Aha moment". Celebrate with me the moments of sunshine. I do believe that life's struggles are a good thing, they are what keeps us growing.

Bursting with Struggles

Tomatoes from the garden just bursting with the wonderful, juicy flavor of home grown.

I have been struggling with thoughts this past week on who I am and honoring who I am within myself. Do you struggle with those thoughts sometimes? How do you come to resolution about these struggles? Sometimes it just seems like I will burst with the struggles of life. It has been an amazing process in the last few days. When we open ourselves up to struggle with an issue and take note we start noticing things that weren't there before. I had to struggle with being true to myself first by acknowledging differences of opinion between friends. How to deal with that one was not easy and it really tore at my heart. Then who am I as an example to other women. Who I am to my family, and finally who I am to myself. During this time of struggle I viewed the movie Julie and Julia. Watching both women struggle with who they were at that time in their lives really hit home and brought me to tears to understand that we all have our struggles. In the movie Julia says (and I am not quoting exactly) French women don't do anything, that's not me I must do something. Through our struggles to find who we are, we grow. As Julie and Julia struggled; so do I. I hope then I grow.

Christina at Soul Aperature had a list of "I am". I have been working on that list for myself and struggling with some of the words that I have written down. Then Merisa at Getting Back to Basics wanted me to share 7 things about myself, and again I was thinking what is there to share about me. Both women ask me to reveal who I am. It is a little scary to reveal my heart even though I share my delights, that is only a part of me.

Tomorrow I will share my own list of Who I Am and some things about me.

Updates

Two requests have come to me lately. One to update regularly on the greenhouse and the other to see how I framed the quilt squares and hung them in my office. First I must comment on the greenhouse. It is my husband's dream to have a greenhouse, a place of quiet meditation. He started it about 4 years ago and each year in our Christmas letter to friends I mention the greenhouse is still in progress. It took some time to find the recycled materials. He found them just laying along the road or in a demolition sight. Yesterday he rebuilt a couple of the windows that will soon go into the greenhouse. It is his labor of love, but a very slow progress. When it is completed I will share again with a slide show of the whole progress.
Now for a place of quiet meditation, we will see. For the most part it will be that,
but I can imagine a party there too.

When I was sharing about quilts I mentioned a dear friend had given me three vintage quilt squares. Here they are now hanging in my office. It looks like the top one has shifted in the frame, I will need to fix that soon. I love them hanging by my desk. Thank you dear friend.

Reach for the Sky

When I see the corn growing so tall I think of the line from
the old show tune, "as high as an elephants eye".
To me the corn seems to reach for the sky
and tell us the sky is the limit.
Grow today and reach for your dreams,
the sky is the limit and we should except
no less.

Monday Linen Days

Vintage tablecloths is the heart of my love of linens.
The top right tablecloth was one of my first and is beginning to show it wear, but I still love it. When they have a hole, I just layer it with other tablecloths. I love pairing several together.

I had no idea when I pulled them out to photograph them that there were so many in the cupboard. The tablecloth with yellow roses I use when I have a table at the Portland Rose Society Vendor Fair. It is a fun one to have with a big bouquet of yellow roses.

The second from right one is fun to use when we serve a Mexican dinner or the one second from left is used in the winter with pinecones. You see they are loved, but they are also used. I often have a pile in the ironing. I actually love seeing them there, as I enjoy the pattern as I iron them.

Also just for fun I thought you would like a sneak peek at the greenhouse my husband is building out of recycled windows, floor, bricks, and doors.
The tablecloths mostly come from the 1930's and 1940's.
My favorite era's for style include 1920's through the 1940's, so these fit
very well into our home. But I do believe anyone would enjoy one of these beauties, even if it is maybe for picnics. They really cheer up any picnic table, tea table, company table, or everyday fun table.
There will be more tablecloths to come next week.

Tea with Kitty and Thee

Picture is from a card given to me by my daughter.
Poem by Earlene Grey, Musings with a Cuppa - The Poetry of Tea

Someday

Soon I will be free.
Without tightness or propriety.
Sans care and sensibility.

And when I am free.
I will sit in the sun
And drink tea
With cuties and kitties,

Never minding what
Others might see,
Ever laughing at what
They might say.

***
Enjoy a cup of tea today with a cutie or a kittie and laugh your cares away.

Oolong Tea Jelly

Recipe from Tea In Taiwan
A new way to beat the heat of summer - oolong tea jelly.
This is a traditional Taiwan food and easy to make.
It offers a refreshing, cool snack.

Ingredients
10 g Oolong tea leaves (I used a flowery oolong)
water 600g (2.5 cups)
20g unflavored gelatin (1 1/2 tablespoons)
(I used a little more just to give firmness)
100g granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
(I found it alittle too sweet)

Instructions
1. soak tea leaves in hot water until they open
2. combine gelatin and sugar
3. add tea to gelatin and sugar mixture and boil
till the sugar dissolves
4. pour the mixture into molds, let it cool,
then refrigerate until set

If desired, a whole tea leaf can be placed in the
bottom of individual molds. Experiment with
the sugar, this jelly is also nice unsweetened!
It would be pretty cut in different shapes
for a tea party.

What makes you smile?

No this isn't it.

Just love sunflowers

This isn't it either

Awww! Now this is it.

Have you ever seen a picture someone else took and wonder if you
could take something similar? Every once in the while I challenge
myself to try. Now the one I loved was better than this, but
I still like the effect of the water on sunflowers.
Sunflowers make me smile.
Bathing them in drops of water makes them smile.
It's sort of like "raindrops on roses".
What makes you smile?

Creative Dreaming

Funny, but when I thought of showing you my collage and explaining what came to mind in explanation was "work'n it out". Have you ever done a collage to "work it out", to help you figure out your next direction or what is in your heart? This was my collage I made at the beginning of the year. I hadn't looked at it for awhile; so it is fun for me to see where I am in my year and see if I am on track. I am a very visual person and seeing pictures helps me along life journeys. I am beginning to scan magazines now for next year and after Christmas I will work on my collage for next year. But for this year I think I am on track, at least I am working on it.

Monday Linen Days

Vintage napkins are so fun to find a garage/tag sale.

Someone cared enough to embroider and edge each napkin so beautifully.

The napkins are used and loved.

The more napkins the better. It is my way of enjoying someone's
lovely work, but also being a little more green by not using
paper. These napkins are saved for company and tea parties,
but we use simpler cloth napkins for everyday.