Rednesday ~ From the Heart of a Friend

I promised you all some prettier reds this week. No junk cars like last week (and yes, it's still there). Please pop over to Sue's It's a Very Cherry World to see some more pretty reds!

Nothing makes my heart beat faster than

thick red fringe and embossed velvet.

Unless it's this floral and fruit cottage print.

That also happens to be on my valances and is the

basis for the color scheme in most of my home.

But I don't think that's why Mona gave me the pillow

when we met at her home earlier this month.

My reaction to it was from the gut.

I snatched it off her couch, hugged it to my chest

and spun around declaring my love for it!

I think she gave it to me because I was drooling on it.

I was embarrassed by my obvious coveting of it.

I protested and said she didn't have to.

Being the sweetheart she is, she insisted I take it.

That's what friends do, overlook our foolishness and reward our exuberance with gifts from the heart. It is an absolutely wonderful fit here and has saved my formerly uncomfortable brown rocker from being posted for sale on Craig's List!

Thank you Mona, I will always cherish it! And I promise not to drool on your stuff next time.

Stunning Fall Fabric

Isn't this fabulous bird print just stunning?

I found it at Jo Ann's. The collection is called "Nestled in the Branches". I believe there was a designer's name listed on the sign but I don't see it printed on the salvage edge.

The bird print is "Square Blocks". The floral is "Floral Cluster". There were other coordinating prints including a floral with the light blue background and the rusty print that borders the bird blocks.

Aren't these colors

just scrumptious!

I love how it has the rich fall colors but still has some lighter shades too.

They will make perfect accents to cozy up the living room for fall. Pillows are a given and I'm thinking maybe a table runner for the entry area. I am so excited to find a fabric like this that works for fall but also ties in with the lighter colors of this room! Now if only the weather would start cooling off so it would really begin to feel like fall! Have you started thinking about fall yet or do you hold on to every last bit of summer that you can?

Dawn

Milk Glass and Scotties ~ From the Attic

These are a few of the things we recently pulled down from the attic.

I could not believe it when my dear mother-in-law showed me this gorgeous fabric. There is a about a yard and a half. It's actually a curtain panel with lining but the lining is coming undone. It may become a chair pad for my big rocker on the porch. Now that my daughter is doing better I need to get back to work out there. We'll be having temps in the 90's this week so I'll have to get up early...he he he...slim chance when I'm blogging and it's almost midnight! Anyway, there are tons of other fabrics up there but this is my favorite so far.

These plates are adorable but didn't clean up too well. They have a lot of crazing and stains. They are still sweet to decorate with though.

I just love the unusual color combination on this child's teapot. Well, maybe not so unusual for the time, it's blending with the fabric just fine.

These milk glass pieces reminded me of Mary at Little Red House. I actually gasped when I spotted them because she aways sets such a pretty table with her milk glass collection.

I don't know much about milk glass.



These don't seem as detailed as hers.





So they may be less expensive reproductions.




Here's the label still on one. It says:


Milk White Anchorglass, Anchor Hocking Glass Corp. Lancaster, O. USA

Maybe I'll drop by Mary's and see what she thinks.

Those of you with a good pair of bi-focals may have noticed the milk glass vase was filled with some strange little creatures in the first photo on this post.

Know what they are?



Vintage cake decorations/candle holders! Little pink birds...

...and the cutest little Scotties you ever saw! Now, I know there are a few Scotty fans out there. But have you ever seen a yellow Scotty? Or a blue one? You have to see these guys close up. By the way, the macro setting isn't just for flowers! Don't you just love it?

So here he is, one ear up and one ear down. He looks a little sleepy to me. Probably ate a little too much frosting and needs a nap now that the sugar has worn off.

Oops!Dog Pile! Bad dogs!

See the little holes for candles? OK, back in the box. I promise you won't have to stay there for another 40 or 50 years. Does anyone have instructions for making those faux cakes? I don't think they would be good for a real cake any more, the metal sticks are a bit rusty.

Speaking of vintage...

This vintage, red rose, flour sifter makes me want to re-model my kitchen. Shhhh...don't tell hubby!

I think maybe just changing the wallpaper to a nice vintage pattern...did you hear that Sis? Ha, Ha, I think I still have glue in my hair from when my awesome sister helped me wallpaper the walls and ceiling! I have never laughed so hard in all my life! I better quit now before I get into real trouble with my hubby and sister!

For all you Western bloggers looking for the cowgirls I mentioned, hold that thought. I had trouble getting a good photo but will try to get them up soon. And please forgive me if my spacing is all goofed up on this post. I was playing with photo placement and things kept moving on me...I finally gave up!


Dawn

Interior Inspiration ~ Pomegranates!

Here's peek at those interior pomegranates I mentioned a couple of posts ago.




This fabric was the inspiration for my interior. It's by Raymond Waites and is called "Conservatory". This color way is called "Sunglow" but I have seen it in a beautiful blue also. I bought it before we were even sure we were going to be able to get this house. It is not one of my better bargains. I paid an astronomically high price in an Ebay bidding war! But I loved the colors, the roses and the pomegranates. They are one of those items that bring back childhood memories. And it fit the cottage feeling of this home.

This photo is from Christmas '07 and shows the valances in our living room. I bought drapes to match the background and made the valances myself. I don't really sew much so this was a major project. We recently painted the room and I decided to re-work the valances because they've always seemed too long to me. I'll share them when I get it all back together!

This is some fabric I recently purchased at Jo Anns. I plan on making some crazy-quilt type cottagey throw pillows. Those are pomegranates, right?

My favorite piece of art, chosen because almost all of the fruits and nuts shown in it were at one time grown here by my hubby's grandparents. This is just a close up of a small portion. I didn't want you to miss those glorious pomegranate seeds! It is a print of a 1840 painting by Adolf Senff.

I have some other items, serving dishes, Christmas decorations and such that also have pomegranates. It's funny how these little themes work their way into our lives. I never planned on collecting pomegranates. Just like I never planned on collecting roosters or french inspired items or salt and pepper shakers...the list goes on and on....but the point is one day you look around and notice a lot of red transfer ware...then blue transfer ware... roses...sunflowers...oh my gosh I don't know how it all works together. But that's the beauty of cottage style...it all works together!

Dawn