Pieces In Time -- The Quilt

Quilts are pieces in time.

My grandma quilted long ago. I was told she sold them for $5.
Grandma pieced for warmth, today many people piece for beauty.

Remnants of an old quilt pieced by Grandma.

Old quilts sometimes don't age too well. Portions can be salvaged and made into throws...

or teddy bears!

I made this teddy bear from a quilt I received from my aunt when I got married. I used it for a long time on the kid's beds. Mom and I repaired many of the blocks down through the years. The material used in the quilt was old and beginning to tear. I put it away for safe keeping. When I retrieved it from the linen closet one day, I was sad to discover the material was beyond repair in most of the quilt. I salvaged what I could and made a teddy bear to display and remember my aunt by. Now every time I look at it, I think of my Aunt Goldie.

An old cheater quilt covers a trunk at my house.

Open the trunk and look inside.

An old quilt top I got at a yard sale. I believe the pattern is called Drunkard's Path.
I hope to some day make a quilt with it.

An old quilt from my childhood.

Another old quilt.
It looks like one that my grandmother may have made.

Another old yard sale quilt. I love yellow.

It looks like part of the backing was made from an old bedspread.
People made do with what they had.

I still make do with what I have. I make blue jean quilts for my children.

The handprints on this comforter I made holds memories of when my children were little.

Baby quilts made with love by friends and family.
My boys are no longer babies, but these quilts are pieces in time
which bring back memories of when they were little.

The yellow one on the bottom was made by my mother.

Tiny quilts I made for dolls.

Now, all I need is a little granddaughter to give them to.

And my children can look at these some day and say,
"Mom was going through a pink phase when she made these throws."

Yes, quilts are pieces in time. Made with love down through the ages.
Made with scraps, made with feed sacks, made with whatever they had on hand.

Do you have any pieces in time?

Cleaning out the Iris Bed

Today, I cleaned out the Iris bed.

It was a mess!

A big mess!

I pulled out all the leaves and stuff and stood back and looked.

It looks a lot better. A little too crowded, but a lot better.

I have some babies now to transplant.

And a mess to clean up. Any volunteers?

I guess I need to get the rake and transport this mess to the burn pile.

And here is a picture of our first yellow flowers.

Aren't they pretty? Seems we never have any trouble growing the dandelions! But I do think they are pretty in their own way. I miss the small hands holding up a fist full of dandelions and violets for me to put in a little glass of water, and the pretty little smile on their faces.

Oh, the simple joys that children give their mothers.

Our house and yard are not like what you see in the pages of Better Homes and Gardens. But, I am happy with what I have. I am happy for our flowers and for the roof over our head. I am even happy for the yellow dandelions now flourishing in our yard, for they are a sign of renewed life and spring after a long hard winter.

Happy Spring! Enjoy the little blessings God has given us.

Look At What We Found

Hubby was pruning trees in our yard last night.

He called me on his cell phone.
"Honey, get the camera and come quick.
You'll never guess what I found."

Do you know what kind of bird eggs these are?
Take a guess, before you look further.


I went back down today and took a picture of her on the nest.
She's hiding. Can you see her? Enlarge the picture and you will.
She's on the left.

Here's a close up.

This is the first mourning dove nest I have seen.
I researched them and it said they only have 2 white eggs.
I hope she didn't lay them too soon.
It's still awfully cold here at nights and in the early morning hours.

I'm looking forward to seeing baby mourning doves this Summer!

Happy Birthday Charley

I have three sons, each one unique in his own way.

Charley is my oldest son. Your first child is special.
Just as they learn to take their first steps and to talk, you are also learning to be a parent for the first time. He was our whiz kid. It was normal for him to read, write, spell and have medical conversations with his pediatrician before he was five years old. He wore glasses at the tender age of three. He would fall asleep at night with a book in his hands. He loves computers, science and anything new that challenges him.

How fast time passes by.

From his first smile and wave
he stole our hearts.

He became a big brother less than 2 years later when he welcomed home
his little brother Andrew.

His first day of Kindergarten.

Later he became a big brother again when our youngest son Davy was born.
He was growing up before our very eyes.

From kindergarten to college graduation.
They grow up too fast.

He's married now, but he's still my baby.

Happy Birthday, Charley!

Let's Play Dress Up

I'm participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday again, hosted by Colorado Lady. Go visit and see others who are posting their vintage thingies.

I've got a box of vintage hats, let's play dress up!

Here is an old wooden spool I converted into a hat stand.
I put batting on top and put a circle of material around it.

Here's a fancy black one on display.

Another pretty black one.

I like this one with the pretty feathers!

Here's a trio of hats. Pink, Brown and Navy.

These look like they could have been Easter Bonnets.

They look good displayed on the bedpost, too.

Or on the edge of a high shelf.

I love vintage hats.

We lived in the country and I don't remember Mom or any of my aunts ever wearing these kind of hats. I've just seen them in pictures and on TV shows and movies.

Hope you enjoyed playing dress up with my old hats.

Happy St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

As you can see. . . I am . . .


When I was growing up, you had to wear something green on St. Patrick's Day to school or you would get pinched. Many came home a wee bit sore if they forgot to wear the green. I always had a back up plan, tho. If I forgot I would quickly say, I have green eyes! I am thankful for the green eyes I inherited from my mother, it saved me from getting pinched many a time.

And, yes I know these clovers on the throw don't have three leaves,
but it's the thought that counts.

It wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without displaying my pretty Fenton Irish angel.

My mother's ancestors were Scotch-Irish who came across the ocean in the 1700s.
Below is her grandpa, Elijah, with the black hair and piercing eyes of the Scotch-Irish.
It was his gr-grandpa Abraham McMillion who we think was the first to come over in the 1700s.
The Scotch-Irish were a hearty stock and populated the rugged Appalachia area in the early days of our country. I am proud to be a descendant of them.

So I may not be truly Irish. . . but,

Top o' the mornin' to you,
I hope you have a great day.
Don't forget to wear green,
or you just may get pinched!

Easy Mason Jar Craft

I haven't posted a craft for a long time.

This is a very easy one you can make with a canning jar.

Here are most of the supplies you will need:

wide mouth canning jar, ribbon, hot glue gun, material of your choice,
pinking shears, wide mouth jar lid, ink pen to trace circle.

I use the small plate (about 7" across) as a template to trace a circle
and then cut it out with the pinking shears:
Use any material you like, I have cut circles out of an old cutter quilt before.

Turn circle upside down, place wide mouth jar ring in the middle,
hot glue around ring and fold material up around the hot glue.

Here is what finished lid looks like:

Put little dots of glue around the circle to hold the ribbon on.

Now to make your craft complete, get some card stock, cut into rectangles, punch holes in corner and write on the card stock what type of jar you want it to be. Now untie the ribbon, slip your sign onto ribbon and retie.

If you click on my picture to enlarge it, you will see some ideas I gave you for your jars.

Quote Jar, Verse Jar, "Honey Do" Jar, Joke Jar, etc.

Last year for the adult class in Vacation Bible School I had them make verse jars.

One of my friends at church told me this morning that she just loved her verse jar, and that she had already taken all the verses out and read them (I think there were over 300) and she kept them and put them back in and she's going through and reading them again.

I had put a little saying on the card stock label that read: Verses are the Bible's seeds as all of you know; Take one out and read it and it will help you grow."

What you do is look up and type lists of verses, quotes, jokes, etc. and run them off on your computer. Cut them into strips, fold and put into jar.

Now, for the "Honey Do" jar, just write down all the things that you want your "honey" to do, cut into strips, put into jar and tell him to reach in and take one out. He'll just love you for making his decision easy.

Maybe you can come up with your own ideas as to what type of jar to make.

The most time consuming part is typing or writing up the lists to put inside.

Pass The Salt and Pepper, Please

I'm participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday again, hosted by Colorado Lady. Go visit and see others who are posting their vintage thingies.


As you know by now, I love to collect things. Too many things! But most of my collections don't cost me much money, I get them at thrift stores and yard sales.

For Vintage Thingies Thursday I'm sharing with you my vintage salt and pepper shakers.
Most of these I only paid 25 cents to one dollar for them.

Here are a couple of cuties.......my bride and groom

Turn them around and you have them quite a few years later!

Here are some wooden apple shakers and Snap! (of Snap, Crackle and Pop fame) and an iron.

Here are a pair of turquoise plastic ones and 2 tiny sets of glass ones.

We have a little cook on the left and
I love these bee hive ones with the bee on top.
I have a small creamer that match them.

I think these 2 cats are so funny! One says I'm Pep and the other says I'm Salt!
There's a pretty bird shaker hiding from them in the back.

Here are some more birds and cats.

Here's another cat and two glass owl shakers.

Here are two corn on the cobs and an aluminum
(at least I think they are aluminum)
apple and pear shaker.

Here's a donkey carrying his load of salt and pepper
and some haystacks with matching vinegar and oil.

Here is a little girl leaning over to kiss her partner (but I don't have her partner)
and three pears and a cute little pair of lamps shaker.

Here are the old aluminum ones and two vintage Fiesta shakers of different colors.

And here is one of my favorites.
These are Corn King made by Shawnee.
I love Corn King. I only paid two dollars for these.

I added these to my collection today. I took some things down to the thrift store and just had to look around for a few minutes. I'm glad I did. I wasn't sure what they were when I bought them, but when I got home I checked in my Fiesta book and they are Riviera. Aren't they pretty? I only paid 50 cents for them.

So as you can see, I have lots of salt and pepper shakers! I keep buying them, because they are little and I say to myself they don't take up too much room. Most of them are made in Japan.

Some of them don't have mates, but that doesn't keep me from buying them. I have bought singles before and later find it's mate at another yard sale.

Which one is your favorite?