Christmas in August

All of our children were here in August, when our son returned home from a mission 

for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil. He was there for two years, so 

when he returned part of our festivities was a Christmas in August Celebration.  

Everyone brought small gifts for each other, but Daughter*1 brought me some gorgeous 

linens and crochets from the flohmarkt  in Frankfort, Germany!

 She knows just what I love and I do love it all!!!

This is an oval table cloth or runner that is so amazing.

I received three of each of these, and they are very pretty.

I don't think I have seen a doily quite like this before. I think it is beautiful. 

This doily is made from a silky, shiny thread.

I love the details on this runner. The center design is lovely. . .

Look at these gorgeous old buttons on this piece.... I ADORE this piece...

It's a European pillow sham. I do not have any European sized pillows, but I can sure get some!

This sham has need of repair, but I am looking forward to fixing it up.

It will be perfect in our off white bedroom. I am making a few changes in our 

master bedroom, but it it will remain mostly off white.

All of these pieces need to be soaked and oxycleaned! But they will be 

so pretty when washed and ironed. 

I don't like ironing clothing, but beautiful linens are another thing!

These "lacies" are so pretty and it will be so fun to use them on 

pillows, a curtain and a duvet cover. 

Thank you, Gigi, for the gorgeous doilies, the runners, and the European pillow sham.... 

But thank you most for your love and friendship and thoughtfulness in finding me such beauties!!! Hugs to you and your family, Sweet Girl. 

I want to make you something with some of these amazing pieces, too!

Hope you all enjoyed my gifts, I am really loving them.

Hearts to you all,

Have a great weekend!

BETSY

PS I wish my crochet was so evenly finished! Hopefully I will get better as  go!

PPSS And I also got some other beautiful things from Brazil as well as silver from Germany from my other daughter!!! Show you those soon!

Linking up late to 

Blissful Whites Wednesday

at Timewashed, thanks Becky!

And to 

Pearls and Lace Thursday

at Faith, Grace, and Crafts, thanks to you also, Doni!

I Love Hearts!

It has been a busy summer and I haven't even posted about most of it.

I was able, however, to work on some things while traveling in the car to wherever we 

were going, and I wanted to show some of them to you!

 I have been wanting to crochet some hearts to use for ..... Fun! And possibly for Christmas ornaments. I am participating in a few Christmas Boutiques and I thought some of these in a rustic style might be of interest to a few people. I think I will make a garland as well, we will see.

I saw a picture of these on Julia's blog, Vintage with Laces, in February, 

but could not remember whose blog it was on. I hunted and hunted 

and finally read on a different blog that she had received a gift from Julia 

and included in that gift was one of these crotcheted hearts! I could see it in the picture!

They are called Swedish Hearts, and Julia was kind enough to direct me back to her 

Original Blog Post about finding the pattern. 

Julia saw these hearts on the blog yarnroundhook.

The gal there had found the instructions, but they were in Dutch.

She translated the instructions to English, UK english, so I still had to figure out the specifics. 

What they call a triple crochet is a double crochet in the US, and a double crochet is a single crochet. 

I figured that part out! I am proud of me! (even though it wasn't that hard to figure!)

This one was the first one I made. It was very sloppy slippery. I used a shiny silky thread and it wasn't a good choice to begin with. I love the shine to it, but I couldn't keep the thread tension even at first,
so I just changed to a cotton thread. 

I love the intense red thread, but I think the white and off white and tan colors might sell better.  

This gorgeous handkerchief was made for me
 by my niece, Dawn. 

She loves me and I love her!
We are two months different in age, 

and we have grown up more like  sisters than Aunt and Niece. 

We have taught each other lots of wonderful things, and shared many wonderful memories. 

And I will cherish and use this handkerchief, she is so sweet. She was crocheting lace 

when they came to visit for a week this summer. I LOVE IT!

My crocheting improved as I continued to work on hearts. I want to use some on the top of boxes, 

and make some tiny ones for a garland. I will add some crinkle ribbon, and stiffen them with starch. 

I think that will work. I will post those pictures when I get them finished! 

If you have not visited Julia's Blog

Vintage with Laces

You might want to pop over there and take a look. 

She makes beautiful items with gorgeous detailed accents.....

I really sigh a lot when I visit her blog! LOL

Hope you've had a "Lovely Day" and that your heart is warm! 

Hugs,

Betsy

Posting to Becky's Blog,

Blissful White Wednesdays

(Well, that was the plan, anyway! Hope Becky gets her computer fixed for her sake!)

Also posting to Doni's Blog,

Pearls and Lace Thursday

Thanks, Doni and Becky!!!

New Vintage Store!

There is a new Vintage Store in our area!

 Judy has been having a monthly sale in her home of vintage items she

has found at Estate Sales in Seattle and throughout Washington State 

for the past 12 years. Her back yard shares a fence with the home I grew up in!

She has now moved to a small shop and is having to restock her store every few days!

 I love the things she finds. I adore this cream hand towel. The cut work 

embroidery is just amazing and perfect...It hangs on my bathroom hand towel bar

along with my white embroidered towels I posted about here.

I have been looking for some crystals to add to a chandelier I found and I was so happy

she had these for sale. I love the old pan, and plan to make some muffins or tiny individual cakes in it. 

Right now it sits with the vintage pans I have from LuluLiz in her Etsy Shop  in a cute metal basket.

They all look so nice together and I just want to bake in them!

I love the pearls, can't have too many of those!

This is a gorgeous valance that is made from hand woven fabric. The edges have just 

enough of a wave to them that you know it is not done by machine.

I love the drawn thread hemming on it...so beautiful.

The hand crocheted edging is very pretty, too. There are some places where

it has come unravelled and needs to be repaired, but the price was excellent and I can

make the repairs myself! I am not sure where this will stay in my home,

but when it gets there, I will show you...possibly the laundry room!

The vintage saddle ornament will be used for Daughter*4's friend for a graduation gift

next June. I hope it turns out as well as I'd like for it to!

PATINA is the name of her new store and every time I go in, I take a LONG time 

looking around the tiny shop, it is so full! I just received a loyal customer coupon

from her and I am excited to USE IT! The package of french vocabulary cards, the knight chess piece, the drawer pull and a silver ring I cannot get off of Daughter*4's finger came in a gift package 

from PATINA during their opening sale days. Anyone who came in, whether they purchased or not, was able to choose a gift from Judy. She had such nice and fun things in the gift bags.

She still has some of the gift items in baskets throughout the shop.

If anyone in Washington State needs a getaway day, let me know and we can plan 

lunch and a tour of the vintage shops in my Area!

That gorgeous doily underneath everything here I also purchased from Judy some months ago.

 And that is also the base for my header picture above!

I have other items from her and I will eventually post about them as well!

Happy Vintage and Antique Shopping this summer! Keep cool 

and enjoy lots of Lemonade!

Hearts to you!

Betsy

Vintage Laces and Vintage Style Laces

I have been looking through my fabrics and trims and laces to

see what different things I have to work with for the bulletin board for church.

These are some laces I purchased at an antique store in my area, Washington State, that has many booths.

One particular booth is full of fabrics and notions and looks like a lovely old fabric store.

I think these will be beautiful on the bulletin board in addition to what I have!

The really wonderful item also in this picture is a vintage french roller stamp

used to mark fabric for embroidery. I purchased it from Liz's Etsy shop, La Croix Rosion.

She also has a gorgeous blog, Lululiz in Lalaland. It is she who got me blogging.  I have some more things to show you that I bought from her. I love the items she finds a brocantes and boot fairs in France when she is there at their cottage
in the countryside of France.

They are always so unique and gorgeous...I wondered how they used to mark fabrics for embroidery! I am sure there are many ways, but I can use this myself!!!

Don't these stamp patterns look beautiful? I am excited to mark some fabric and see what I can do with embroidery! So many plans.....
I wonder if there

is a washable ink pad that I can purchase. . .

I'll have to look for that. The balls of yarn I also found at the "Old Fabric Store" and will use them on SOMETHING as a crotcheted edging.

My friend has some Mexican Embroidered towels she uses to keep her tortillas warm in. They have the same type of yarn used to make the edging on them. I have one of those towels that needs to be finished and I think I will try this yarn! The fancy ecru lace beneath is a sleeve off of a vintage dress, and it is so pretty. And I have TWO sleeves, one for each side of the bulletin board!

I love this lace collar...it will be pretty as a topper to one side of the bulletin board. I think I will look for something similar for the other 

side of the bulletin board. This ceramic piece is supposed to be a garbage can, but I cannot stand to use it that way, it is just too pretty! I've tried and I just can't! So it has some pretty double Narcissus bulbs in it. It is a piece of a bathroom set that blends in with  my dishes, American Ateleir Athena. This is the American Atelier Baroque Bathroom set my children gave me for Mother's Day one year. The story about the dishes is a doozy.... well, that LONG story IS for another post...

These are some larger pieces of lace that will cover more areas on either side of
the bulletin board,
I love the details and the open weave
on each of these pieces.

 I adore this fillet crochet piece that my Mom~I~L made for me, years ago. One Winter when she and my hubby's father were going to Arizona, she asked if there was anything she could make for me....I will have to show you all she made for me that winter in the way of crochet and hardanger embroidery. I gave her patterns to CHOOSE from. She did them all!!! She does even and gorgeous work and I simply love each thing she has made me. She is a very talented woman, like my own Mother. And she treats her Daughter's in Law like her own daughters. I have kept it on the back of this chair for a few months. I had plans to put it on the back of a chair but that plan for a chair to sit in to cross stitch, in my sewing room,  never materialized. I'd rather be where family is and stitch. So, it has traveled to my bedroom and guest room, I have been nervous about it being unprotected on the back of a chair. I have considered framing it and I may still do that. The fabric behind it now is a section of curtains that Mom made for her homestead on the farm, and that seems an appropriate backing for it in a frame, don't you think?

I love the crocheted image of a woman knitting with that lovely frame

around the image. I am SURE I would mess a pattern like this up.

And at the time I did not knit very well, but thanks to my Mom~I~L's help,

I knit better now. 

This lovely cream wing back chair, with "peachypink" flowers with sage green leaves,

 I inherited, from Daughter*2's Mother~in~law's Mother. I have been 

thrilled that our Daughter*2 married into a family I have 

known and loved for most of my lifetime, and that is another post for another day! 

I post about so many things in one post, but that is because 

I am sentimental about EVERYTHING!!!!!

I thought I'd better tell you that....

(like you didn't already notice it!! **rolling eyes at self**)

Will be sharing at Blissful Whites Wednesday
at TIMEWASHED     
THANK YOU, BECKY!

and at

Pearls and Lace Thursday
at Faith, Grace, and Crafts
THANK YOU, DONI!


And again at
Our Beautiful World
Thanks for the Photo linky party! This will be fun!
Go see the beautiful photos taken from all over the world!

Hearts and hugs to you,

Betsy