May 1965

I found this picture as I was organizing and sorting some of my photos.  I usually don't post personal info but decided that I couldn't resist posting this "vintage photo".  Yes, I am vintage or am I antique!  Check out the Philco t.v. behind me.  I remember when my dad brought that t.v. home.  We were so excited.  The first show we saw was The Cisco Kid.  Boy that was a long time ago.

I'm dressed and ready for Class Night.  My mom and I ordered the dress from the Sears catalog.  It was aqua blue with a white top with rhinestones.  Accessorized with white pumps and long white gloves.  I can't forget my "cat eye" glasses.  Each member of our graduating class received a "special" gift at class night.  My gift was a rain gauge to measure the rainfall in Arizona (our family moved to Arizona that summer).  I still have the rain gauge but I've never used it to measure the rain here in AZ.  What fun memories.

Happy Birthday to Bev and Pink Saturday

This week Pink Saturday is celebrating it's second birthday.   I'm wishing Bev and Pink Saturday a wonderful birthday.  These three cards are from my stash of vintage cards.  Each features pink.  I love the duckie's little pink hat with the blue bird on top.  It is so typical of the 70's. 

I think the top two cards may be from the 1960's.  There are no dates on them.  Both feature lovely pastel colors and of course some pink for the Pink Birthday. 

Below are two Birthday postcards postmarked 1910.

Thanks to Beverly for hosting our weekly Pink Saturday events and congratulations on your birthday this week.

Happy Birthday to you.  Happy Birthday to you.  Happy Birthday dear Pink Saturday (and Beverly).  Happy Birthday to you.

"Mammy" Family in Fabric

Now that I am home and in my studio, it is time to return to creating my Family in Fabric book.  This is a photo of my great-grandmother Ella Stearman.  I never met her but my Mother called her "Mammy".  The background fabric is a feedsack.  When you look closely at Mammy's dress you can see that it could have been made from a feed sack.  The dress is so simple.  Mammy probably didn't have a pattern.  She could have used these instructions from "Easy Ways to Pretty Frocks" by Clark's O.N.T. Threads dated 1929. 

The quilt square in the background was hand stitched by Manny in the 1930's or 40's.   

New Project

I found this antique child's rolltop desk at a local thrift store for less than $15.00.  It is missing the wooden drawer handles (you can see the lovely ones that someone added!)  I just love the little key hole in the drawer.  It has been painted at least two times.  Once a horrible lime green and then the white.  I'm hoping to strip it back to it's original wood finish.  I've already started on one of the drawers.  I just wanted to see what kind of wood it was because I found this at Kewel.com listed for more than $2,000.

 

It's oak and I don't think my thrifted one is oak.  I'm thinking it is maple but will have my neighbor check it out when I have finished with striping the paint.  He does alot of woodworking and will know the type of wood. I do know that it is solid wood and very heavy.   I'm planning to use it as a side table in my greatroom when I redecorate later this summer.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY

Next week we will be celebrating the birthday of Pink Saturday.  In anticipation of the big event, today I'm sharing two of my birthday cards that were made by the loving and talented hands of Alexa and Debby.  The top card was made by my niece Alexa.  I love receiving cards from Alexa.  Her cards are works of art.  She is so creative as she incorporates stamping and embellishments on her cards.  Thanks Alexa, the card is lovely.

The second card and made by my Delta Kappa Gamma sister, Debby.  Debby makes these lovely cards using her wonderful photos.  Many of her photos are of flowers of the southwest.  Isn't the photo just lovely.  Debby sends each of our sisters one of her special "one-of-a-kind" birthday greetings each year. 
Thanks to all my friends and family who sent birthday greetings this year.  There was a stack of cards waiting for me this week when we returned from our 6 week vacation.

I'm happy to share my birthday greeting for this week's Pink Saturday  You can see more pinks on Bev's How Sweet the Sound.  Stop by next week for the birthday celebration.

CINCO DE MAYO QUILT

The theme for our May swap on Fabric in Altered Arts 2 is Cinco De Mayo.  The swap is hosted by Norma.  We were to create an art quilt approximately 12" x 12" for the swap.  This is my quilt. 

I discovered a link to the video instructions for Teesha Moore fabric journal techniques   When I saw the videos I knew I wanted to use this technique for my Cinco De Mayo quilt.  A big thanks to Wanda from FAT for the link.  I am pleased with the art quilt.  It's a great way to use up those little pieces of fabric left over from previous project. 

Go Fly a Kite

In the Yahoo group Fabric in Altered Arts 2 we continue to do Alphabet Quilties.  The letter for May is "K".  This is my "K" quiltie.  I continue to work with items from my stash but I did buy the little hand button.  I found the button at a WalMart in Missouri.  It was perfect for the quiltie.  

It's good to be back in my studio after a 6 week vacation to our home in Kentucky.  Arizona is warmer but still below 100.  Weather today is lovely.  Nothing like seeing the granddaughters after 6 weeks.  We had a great dinner with the family at one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants last evening. 

Remembering my Mother

This mini quilt hangs in our home in Kentucky.  It is one of my mother's high school pictures.  She attended Greensburg High School in Kentucky.  I made this quilt a few years ago and decided I would share it today.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.

Monster Machine quilt

I recently completed this quilt top. It is made from a purchased kit.  The fabric is Northcott's Monster Machines by Tricia Cribbs.  The pattern was included in the kit and was easy to make.  Since I have two beautiful granddaughers and five nieces, I'm not sure where the quilt will end up when finished.  Perhaps it will be donated to my granddaughter's school fund raiser.   It's always fun to work with such bright novelty prints.

Another Iris

More of my iris are blooming.  This lovely dark purple iris bloomed today.  I also have a light purple and light yellow that I hope to photograph tomorrow. 

What a Difference a Day Makes

The rain stopped last evening.  The sun is shining brightly today.  Our road is now open and the water is gone (at least it is in the creek and not on the road and field).  This picture was taken this morning about 24 hours after the picture I posted yesterday.  The water is now creating havoc down stream but no longer is an issue for us.

It is so nice to see the blue sky and bright sun after two days of nothing but rain, thunder, lightening and wind.  I'm hoping for a nice week here in the country.  More iris have bloomed and I will post a photo later.

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day

We are at our vacation home in Kentucky.  If you watched the Derby yesterday, you know that we are having rainy weather here.  Enough is Enough Already.  We've had over 8" of rain since yesterday morning.  This is a picture of the roadway we use to get out to the main highway.  The water is covering the roadway and the cropland along the creek.  If you look closely in the upper part of the picture, we can see the bridge (not underwater) and two people looking at the water from the other side of the bridge.  We live about a mile from the bridge.  Luckly we can go in the other direction and get where we want to go. 

Our pond has been running over since early this morning.  At first it will just running in the spillway but then it began running over the top of the dam.  Our home is on top of a hill and we are safe from the water but many roadways in our county are underwater making travel very hazardous.  We are staying home as recommended by local authorities.  No school in the county tomorrow.  Hopefully rain will stop soon.

Since we live in Arizona, we enjoy a little rain but this is "way too much".  Rain, rain, go away! Please.  You can come back when the farmers need you.