PARK LANE VISTA

You know that I must be blog brain-dead again as I'm showing you another one of my quilts!! This particular quilt is entitled "Park Lane Vista" and was made in 1991-1992. It was named after a Denver hotel of my youth called "The Park Lane". My Mother and I stayed there often on our shopping trips to the big city. It had a restaurant on the top floor where at dusk you could see the entire city and it's lights with the stars shining down. I designed this quilt to reflect that wonderful memory of time spent with my Mother.

First, I made the 113 four-inch star blocks from scrap fabric from my stash. Then, I went in search for a striped fabric for the connecting blocks. At the Houston Quilt Festival in 1991, I spied the perfect fabric from a distance at one of the fabric vendors. When I got up close, I found that the fabric was from Japan and was $15 a yard. That's not an unusual price today but in 1991 that was expensive. I bit the bullet and bought the three yards I needed. I've never regretted the purchase, as it was just what I envisioned.

The quilt is 68" square and is hand quilted. It was published in the June 1993 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine.

Thanks for stopping by,
Sally

FAKE BALLOONS!!

What's the deal with all of the FAKE balloons at the car lots these days? They appear to be a beach ball on a wire waving weirdly in the breeze.

Do the car dealers actually think that FAKE balloons are going to entice me to visit their place of business?

Please, just give me a good product, a fair price, and a pleasant, efficient service department and I will patronize your business!!!

Sorry, I had to vent - for some reason, those FAKE balloons have really been bugging me lately.



I'm getting ready to go on a little road trip and away from the computer for the next few days. I do have a couple of posts scheduled to appear in my absence. When I return, I'll be anxious to check in on everything I've missed. Thanks for your continuing support and friendship. This blogging thing has been an amazing experience for me!

Sally

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY

It is time for Vintage Thingies Thursday again, a fun event hosted by Suzanne at Colorado Lady. Be sure to check out her blog to find a list of the participants showing off their vintage things.

Below is a picture of our Clark's "O.N.T." thread cabinet. I discovered this cabinet about 40 years ago in my Dad's shop on the farm with his vise mounted to the top of it. It must have been there when I was a child, but I have no recollection of it then. Guess my eyes weren't trained to see wonderful pieces of history as a kid! When I did find it, I asked my Dad if I could have it. He explained that it had come from an old mercantile store in our small town. After bringing it to my home, I checked with the Coats & Clark Co. in New York; and they verified that it was from 1887. The cabinets were given to dealers, free of charge, with orders for specified assortments of thread. On the bottom of one of the drawers, it is signed by the cabinet maker and dated July 30, 1887.

This started a whole new collecting field for me. I started finding wonderful trade cards advertising Clark's "O.N.T" thread from the 1880s & 1890s. So many of them have adorable children pictured with clever slogans. This one says, "Foreman of the Jury, Our unanimous verdict is that O.N.T. beats all others."

Starting in the upper left, this baby is "Born to be a Philosopher"; upper right is "Born to be a Musician"; lower left is "Born to be a Surgeon; and lower right is "Born to be an Editor".

More beautiful children selling thread.

This is a large trade card with the O.N.T. logo; quite beautiful with the Tower of London.

This is a little book and has several nursery rhymes in it.

More cute kids, plus a calendar from 1878.

These are the four little sewing boxes that I have found over the years. The one in the back row on the left is signed by the same maker as my cabinet.

Assorted thread boxes and thread.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my Clark's "O.N.T." collection. By the way, "O.N.T." stands for "Our New Thread".

Sally

MET MONDAY

It is Monday once again and time for Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at

Between Naps on the Porch .

Today, I would like to take you to a farm equipment salvage yard. This is not your usual place to find home decor, but for the creative person it is a great place to find a bargain. As a child, when it was necessary for me to tag around with my Dad, we often had to take a trip to Muth's salvage yard. Not only do farmers work the land, they must also be mechanics to keep the equipment running; so it was always necessary to salvage parts. This is not the salvage yard of my youth, but it does belong to the son of the original Mr. Muth.

Today, I'm on the search for disc spacers to use for candle holders. Here are some likely candidates.

Oooh, there are more!!

Which ones should I choose?

I finally decided on three different ones, and Bob loaded them (they are very heavy) into the back of the van. We found Richard (the young Mr. Muth), and he said I could have all of them for $4.00. After getting them home, Bob washed them with the hose, and sprayed them with an acrylic sealer. And there you have three candle holders!!!!

Thanks for stopping by to see my metamorphosis; now, stop by Susan's to check out the other participants and their before and after pictures.
Sally

BARBECUED DRAWER PULLS

Have you heard about cleaning brass hardware with ketchup? We thought we would give it a try. Here are some drawer pulls in their before state.

We put them in the pan with some ketchup, brought them to a boil, and simmered for about 15 minutes.

We then rinsed them off, went over them with a toothbrush, and polished with a soft cloth. The top three had the BBQ treatment, and the one on the bottom row was polished with Brasso.

What do you think? The bad part is that my kitchen now smells like barbecued meat, but there is nothing in there for dinner!!!!

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY

Thanks to Suzanne at Colorado Lady for hosting Vintage Thingies Thursday. Stop by her blog for a list of the participants so that you can view all of the neat vintage items.

I have a small collection of vintage damask linens that I would like to share today. Over the years, I have picked these up at yard sales, thrift stores, and antique malls. I always look for different, colorful borders.

These hand towels have morning glory borders in red. The red color is elusive, unless I would be willing to pay a higher price at the more upscale antique venues.

This is one of my favorite hand towel patterns of sailing ships in blue.

Shamrocks!!

This tablecloth has this pretty blue floral border on only two sides.

A tablecloth with a rose design in yellow.

The border is on all four sides; and as is often the case, the hem has been machine hem-stitched.

I have quite a few napkin sets in blue with different patterns. Love the bird design!

A floral design.

Rose and geometric border.

And a different geometric design.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my vintage thingies!!
Sally

BLUE MONDAY

Sally at Smiling Sally is hosting Blue Monday once again. Please check out her blog for a list of participants in this week's show of blue wonders.


We had a great Easter weekend that included a three day visit from our son, Mike. We had not seen him since he returned from a 2-week trip with some of his students to Italy and Greece over spring break. On this trip he took over 1000 pictures, so a lot of time was spent checking those out and hearing his tales of travel!! Plus, he always brings back great presents for everyone. And look what he brought back for me: a beautiful piece of blue Murano glass.

It is full of encased gold etching and little bubbles that catch the light.

I couldn't be any more thrilled. It is beautiful!!

Thanks for stopping by to see my new treasure.
Sally

FOODIE FRIDAY!!!

It is Easter week and time for Foodie Friday hosted by Michael of Designs by Gollum.
Be sure to stop by her blog to check out all of the wonderful food being offered.

It has been dessert week here at the Salmagundi household. My Wednesday morning coffee group met at my house this week, so I had to fix a little something to go with our coffee. I made these Cherry Squares as they are perfect with coffee or ice tea.

Then, tonight we had a potluck dinner at church preceding the Maundy Thursday service. All those with last names beginning with S were to furnish dessert. Originally, I planned to make brownie cupcakes and decorate them with mint frosting and tiny candy-covered chocolate eggs. Well, that certainly didn't work. I had a terrible time getting those little cupcakes out of the pan, and ended up with lots of brownie crumbs. Not to be deterred, I went onto plan B, a brownie crumb trifle. I think I like this better anyway.

I asked my 12-year old granddaughter what she would like for Easter dessert, and she said without hesitation: cake and ice cream, her favorite. She always comes by after school on Thursdays, so we got the cake made and frosted and stuck it into the freezer. On Easter day, she will decorate it with green sugar, edible grass, and those yummy Cadbury candy-covered chocolate eggs.

All done - time to lick the fingers!!

May you all have a glorious Easter with your families!

Christ, the Lord is risen - hallelujah!

EASTER IMAGES

I thought you might enjoy seeing some images of Easter from our collection of antique postcards. These date from the early 1900s.

And, my favorite. Yes, it is a time of celebration and prayer!!

Thanks for stopping by to help us celebrate Easter week.
Sally