Hanging On The Line

What are you wearing for Easter?

Something pretty in pink?  Maybe green or blue?

The darling outfits hanging on the line are only about 5-6 inches high

and are part of my vintage potholder collection.

(See more of my potholders here.)

Garden Of Daisies

I've shared this before, but newer followers may not know 

why I use this as my profile picture.

It's from a prized set of tea towels, made for me by my Grandma.

She loved to embroider.  When I was little girl 

she asked me to pick the embroidery pattern I loved most, 

and said she would stitch up a set of towels for me. 

I picked this one: 

a cute Little Miss working on her weekly chores in a garden of daisies.

And this is what she made.

These treasured linens from my Grandma are displayed in my kitchen

and are a visible reminder of how much she loved me.

And they're also one reason why I picked the name Garden Of Daisies for my blog.

I'll have to save the other two reasons for a future post.

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A few days ago I started a Garden Of Daisies facebook page

for readers who prefer to follow via Facebook.

Please follow this link and click on "Like".  

Thank you.

Cheerful Cotton Tablecloths

Vintage cotton tablecloths.

Cheerful prints that make my table smile, even on gray, rainy days, like today.

The yellow bordered and red checked cloths (photo middle right) belonged to my Grandmother.

The others were found at various vintage shops over the years.

 I tend to bring home the blue and green ones.  

I bet you have a few of these printed cloths around your house, too.

Post a photo, and I'll add a link to your blog here.


Links:

Lil Red Hen posted a photo of her tablecloths a while back.

Pillows From Vintage Linens

You've probably seen some of these pillows in past posts. 

They are found in several different rooms around my house.

A wee bit of ric-rac, lace, chenille or gingham 

can quickly turn damaged, vintage linens into cute scatter pillows.

Embroidered kitty-cats, birds and flowers are my favorites motifs to use.

How do you use vintage linens in your home?

* * * * *

Note:

I did not do the embroidery work myself.  But I did sew several of the pillows.

Thank You, Baukje and Tami!

Two quick "thank you's".

Baukje sent me this beautiful blue and white crocheted potholder from France,

to go with the potholder collection I posted about a couple of weeks ago.

Also two lovely napkin pouches.  I had never seen these before.

If I understand correctly, each member of a French family has their own pouch, 

which they keep at the table to store their cloth napkin between meals.  

And then on laundry day, it all gets washed.

I really appreciate beautifully embroidered linens, so this was a real treat!

Thank you for thinking of me, Baukje.  

I love it all!

You can visit Baukje at Busy Bee Free.

 I had an opportunity to meet fellow blogger, Tami, a couple weeks ago.

We decided to meet for breakfast at a local restaurant.

We spent two hours talking and discovered we had so many things in common.

She gave me this sweet Carnation Ice Cream paperdoll!

Thank you, Tami!  

I'm really enjoyed meeting you and am looking forward to seeing you again this summer!

You can visit Tami at Vintage Connections.

Wow.  I am so lucky to have met such delightful friends in the world of blogging!  

French Toast Hearts

 Start your morning with a little love:

French toast hearts, served with sweet maple syrup and tart cranberry preserves,

 a bowl of fruit and raspberry tea.

It's easy-  Cut the bread with a heart shaped cookie cutter before you dip in egg.

And remember, everything tastes better when the table is spread

with your Grandma's old, red, checked tablecloth.

How did you start your day?

* * * *

Teacup and dishes- Franciscan Desert Rose

Tea- Stash Wild Raspberry

Linking to 

Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi

Teacup Tuesday with Terri and Martha

Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Ruth

Friends Sharing Tea with Bernideen

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Thank you, Lady Linda, for the lovely cameo Valentine, tea and treats.

You are so sweet to think of me.

Dainty Serviettes

Someone asked about the pretty serviettes

that show up in the background of my tea time posts.

 I have a growing collection of little napkins.

Daintily embroidered blooms and butterflies, crocheted edges, lace corners,

all carefully stitched by hands unknown.

They shyly peek out from under china and silver, 

quietly adding a finishing touch to the table,

happily allowing the spotlight to remain on the teapot.

Grandma's Roses

This rose dresser scarf was made by my Grandma.

I think it is beautiful.

She was a skilled seamstress, and had 

 a dressmaking shop when my Mama was young.

(Photos of family may not be borrowed or pinned.)

I didn't ever really get to know this grandma.

But I hope when she looks down,

she sees that this lovely piece is treasured by her granddaughter.

(Did you notice how much the pink roses I grow

 in my garden look like this embroidered piece?)

Blue Plaid

 I seem to have collected quite a number 

of blue checked/plaid tablecloths over the years.

And ya'll are not one bit surprised by this statement, are you?

Embroidered Pretties For You!

Thank you so much for reading my blog!!

Garden of Daisies passed another blogging milestone a few days ago.

(Two actually.  200 posts and 400 followers.  Made me happy.)

So it's giveaway time!!

I rounded up a few pretty embroidered pieces from 

some of my favorite etsy and ebay sellers.

(andie52rose @ ebay,  bugsie @ etsy,  and dreamcottageboutique @ etsy)

A set of embroidered pillowcases. 

Notecards made from vintage linens. 

And a lavender scented sachet made from old linens and lace.

For a chance to win:

 be a follower of my blog (old or new) and 

 leave a comment on this post letting me know you are 

interested in entering this giveaway.

ALL followers may enter, old or new.  And I will ship to wherever you live.  

 Giveaway ends at midnight on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011.

One winner will be announced on Wednesday, Aug 31.

Good luck to you! 

I appreciate you and all the kind and thoughtful comments you leave for me. 

Thank you for following my blog!

(PPS-  I should have used the term "long time", not "old".
Thank you for having a good sense of humor.)

All The Little Birds Are Flying The Coop

It's almost empty nest time (again) at our house. 

Our son moved back to college for the year. 

He moved into a cute little off-campus house with some good friends. 

He is really excited about this new experience.  

I'm thrilled for him!  

And I miss him, already.

Our daughter is moving half way across the country in a couple of days. 

She is so excited to be starting on a new adventure.

I'm thrilled she is growing up.

But, I'm going to miss her.

All the little birds are flying the coop.

Being a mommy is really hard.

I know I'll be fine in a few days, after I get used to the changes.

I need a good book or a project to take my mind off of what's happening here.

Any suggestions?

(Embroidered bluebird dresser scarves from my collection of embroidered linens.)

Bluework

 I'm still in the process of washing and taking photos of my linens.  

I know some of you love redwork.  Well, I love bluework.

 Here are some of my blue embroidered tablecloths. 

Some are vintage, but the last one is newer.

I love the little flower bouquets in each corner.

Isn't she a cute little Dutch girl? 

The art nouveau tulip design would look right at home in a craftsman bungalow.

(No, I don't have one of those.)

I love the blue daisy design that fills the center as well as the edges on this one. 

Polkadots are always perfect. 

This one is bigger and it was impossible to get a pic of the entire thing.

Vintage Picaninny Towels

Picaninny dish towels, 

appliqued and embroidered by my Grandma, 

many years ago.

I think they are cute little girls. 

But in today's world would they be considered offensive?  Racially insensitive?

What do you think?

These towels have seen better days. 

There are several holes, stains and some missing stitches.

But I treasure them just the same.

Linking to Vintage Thingie Thursday @ The Colorado Lady

Embroidered Tablecloths

I love embroidered tablecloths.

I use them when I invite a friend over for a cup of tea and a chat,

or any ol' time I want to add sweetness to an ordinary lunch in my kitchen.

Teapots, birds and flowers are among my favorite motifs.

These make me smile.

Please pardon the wrinkles.

All four were just washed this morning.

(I did not make these.  Somebody, somewhere, spent hours with a needle in their 

hand to create these beauties.  And I thank them for all their hard work.)

Is there something simple you do to make ordinary days special?

Embroidered Tea Napkins

I found some sweet little napkins last weekend 

and knew they would be perfect for tea parties with my friends.

I love the delicate embroidery work on these little beauties.

The crocheted and cross stitched hems add a nice finishing touch. 

I wonder about the people who made them, and how they came to be in the store.

I wish the original makers knew how delighted I was to find them!

Chicken Scratch

I went "treasure hunting" today 

and here is one of the things I found and brought home.

A green Chicken Scratch apron.

Sometimes called  Gingham Lace or Snowflake Embroidery, 

Chicken Scratch is done on gingham fabric to create a lace-like design.

I think it's so pretty.   And it uses very easy stitches.

Google chicken scratch to find all sorts of images and free patterns.

And this site teaches some of the basic stitches used.

Since I'm showing aprons, I should also share this little cutie.

The tiny apron my Mommy made for me when I was a wee girl.

* * * * *

PS- I see that this has become a popular post.

Please leave me a message so I'll know you were here.

And I'd love to have you follow my blog.

Nesting Hens

It's spring and the hens are nesting.

Closer to Easter they will start laying eggs. (The chocolate and jellybean variety.)

I am particularly fond of the slag glass.

Some of my hens have Mosser, Westmoreland, and Boyd marks.  Others have no mark at all.  

Did you know there were over 50 glass companies that made nesting hens?  Hens were made in every color of the rainbow and in over 150 sizes and forms.  The very first pressed glass hen-on-nest was made in Germany, in 1895.  (None of mine are that old.)

This chart, borrowed from  Shirley Smith's research on glass hens, shows some of the differences in the hens and  how they are identified.    If you collect hens, it's a great site to visit.

This page on Fenton Hens will also help the collector identify

the wonderfully varied features of nesting hens.

Close-up on the vintage embroidered tablecloth.  

(I collect those too, but that will have to wait for another post.)

Today I'm linking to Vintage Thingie Thursday.  Thanks to our hostess,  The Colorado Lady.

Explore Kansas: Paxico, Wamego And Alma

Hi friends!   I have been away from my blog for a couple of weeks, getting kids back to college, etc...    I will try to get caught up on all your blogs and comments asap.    I noticed that somehow I had crossed over the 200 follower mark while I was away.  I was not expecting that, so I am not prepared!   I really need to put on my thinking cap and figure out the best way to say thank you for following me!    So check back here in about a week for a giveaway.

What did you do this weekend?  My husband (Mr. Garden) and I went in search of some heart and soul in the small towns in the Flint Hills region of Kansas.  We discovered scenic spots, good food, history, antiques, crafts and wonderful people!

Paxico has been called the antiques capitol of Kansas.  It may be tiny, but the shops are wonderful and varied.  Restored old stoves,  beautiful wood furniture, firkins,  glassware,  pottery, art, vintage christmas decor, cowboy boots, and tons more.   We had such a great time looking around.

This old limestone school building was located just south of Wamego.  Limestone was the main building material on the treeless prairies of Kansas.

Wamego is a lovely little town, with flowers planted up and down the main street, a big city park, and some unique sites of interest.  The mill is on the National Register of Historic Places.   It was originally built by an immigrant settler.  In the 1920's  it was taken apart, stone by stone, and moved from the farm to the city park to honor the Kansas pioneer spirit.

We had lunch at the Friendship House (the house on the left with the brick chimney and flag).   This marvelous old home, one block off the main street,  has been transformed into a delightful little restaurant and bakery.

Their special of the day was Bierocks, a German stuffed sandwich pastry, similar to a pirogi. (Or a runza for all you Nebraska people!)   It was whole wheat bread pastry stuffed with ground beef, onion and cabbage, and baked to a gold brown.  And we had a light horseradish sauce for dipping. Yum!   I forgot to take a picture, so this photo is off the web.  The one at the restaurant looked even better than this! 

Any Wizard Of Oz fans out there?  The Oz Museum is also located in Wamego.

Ya'll know whose shoes these are.

If I only had a brain! The scarecrow!

The great and powerful Wizard sitting on the throne in the Emerald City!   Oh wait... that's actually Mr. Garden.

(Miss Gultch and the Wicked Witch of the West really scared me when I saw the movie for the first time.  Didn't like those flying monkey's much either!)

This little fairie garden was just outside another shop.

The Creamery in Alma has been making cheese from local cows milk since 1946.  Yummy cheese!  We have browsed through some of the antique stores on previous visits to Alma,  but ran out of time on this trip.  So we'll have to return soon.

Yes, we brought all sorts of wonderful goodies home with us:   

Cheese- from Alma Creamery and cookies from the Friendship House/Dutch Mill Bakery in Wamego

Gorgeous vintage crocheted cotton pillowcases and a Christmas tablecloth in perfect condition!

Christmas tree brooch and a Christmas tomten decor.  (still covered in dust) 

A gorgeous swirley glass orb made by a Topeka glassblower.

Mr. Garden picked up some coffee mugs made by a local potter and plum jam for our toast. 

We really enjoyed the weekend!  I encourage you to get out of town and "take the road less traveled".