I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Sunday, November 30, 2014

Monday Mix - Flags, Flea, and Christmas




Hi everyone!
First I'll show you November's Flags quilt blocks. (Flags of the American Revolution by Jan Patek).


This is the second Eagle block. These tight curves were what damaged my hand, back in September.
I sewed the eagle , my friend appliquéd the stars. We both initialed the block. I didn't add the second cream colored layer to the eagle's ribbon/ banner because I love this red print, it looks like moiré or a ribbon itself. I didn't think the white on top added anything.


And here are two of the three assigned Star spacer blocks.



I made them very scrappy and each had to be made alone, no mass production here. So I only got two done, sigh. (I was so sure I could finish all five, but No.) I may wait to make the rest of the stars, maybe they should be red / blue/ cheddar?)





I'm looking forward to seeing what Lori has for us for December!
Now the flea--- It was good! And warm, almost 60*!  But I can't show you everything because some of my finds are future Christmas presents or etsy offerings. I did find this very interesting flow blue/ Staffordshire transferware plate, c.1820.


I always have wanted a seashell bordered piece for my collection but items with this border tend to be very expensive. Here is a similar plate for a whopping $795.oo! here
Here are closeups of the shells:







Shell motifs are old and rare; most transferware has floral borders.

My plate is badly damaged, though the odd green splotches seem to be under the original glaze. I guess it was a ''second"? But pretty enough that it has been treasured and lasted almost 200 years. And it's definitely not a high value piece. I love the naturalistic shells...and so it came home with me. ($4.00)

 
 
Below, I lightened the photo so you could see more details. The color above is accurate.
 



This plate dates from the 1820s and has an impressed E. [Enoch] Wood mark.

It commemorates Commodore MacDonnough's victory over the British, on Lake Champlain, during the War of 1812. I guess the English businessmen who ran the potteries were more interested in milking the American market than they were sulking over a major military loss.


I didn't run it through the dishwasher yet. It might be brighter once cleaned.



Then---it's December! Over the past two days I've undone all my Thanksgiving decor and have changed the basics to red and white for Christmas.

rare 19th century handmade tin cooky cutters
 in old bowl
[scissors, fox, camel, turkey, fish]

New display of red and green transferware in the plates rack, red toile pillows on the sofas. Red quilts.



I dug out a dark toned dhurrie rug---red, blues, tan, grey, which will replace the bamboo mat under the coffee table. The wooden rug is much chewed now by Mo. In fact I think I'll hold off on the new rug till closer to Christmas, so that it has a chance to survive.
Here's a fun little snowman quilt I found in the quilt cupboard.



Here is Mo in my blogging chair. He got a turkey shaped doggy cooky for Thanksgiving.


And below, a few more pix of the Big Day. "Light the candles! Pour the wine!"




The turkey was wonderful! All the dishes were finished at the same time, and all the food was hot when served [a pet peeve of mine, cold food]. But sadly, no leftovers.



Over the coming weeks I'll add more decorations. We don't do our tree til until weekend after next, because we get a fresh cut tree. Mo and I already saw many Christmas trees in people's windows, last night when we had our evening walk. So early! I bet those people didn't cook for Thanksgiving!
When do you put up your tree? Real or fake? White lights or colors?

I wish everyone a fun and stress-free holiday season! Enjoy.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

 
 
 

 
 



10 comments:

  1. I made my star blocks one at a time too, and three was all that I made, so you are not far behind.
    Lovely blue plates! Great finds.
    We get a cut tree so this is a little early too- colored lights. Am hoping to get my fall decor down today and decorate in the coming week,.

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  2. I thought your eagle looked a bit different. It was leaving the ribbons as one layer. A beautiful red and a good choice to leave the second layer off.

    I am especially fond of cobalt blue. I have some blue & white plates. Your flow blue one is so eye-catching. I love it!

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  3. I love that eagle block, much hard work but it turned out so pretty! I'm sorry it hurt your hand, though.

    The blue plate is gorgeous, even if it's not perfect. I wonder what would have caused the spots? Especially if the glaze is okay. Don't laugh, but it reminds me of the spots on our living room floor after my dad worked his butt off sanding and varnishing - only to discover that where he dripped sweat there were lighter spots! So maybe there was something in the plate itself that messed up the color? It is a very interesting pattern, though! And I like the price you paid much better then the 'collectable' one!

    Your table always looks so pretty, and different from year to year. I'm afraid mine would always look the same, and a heck of a lot less festive than yours!

    The sun & surf photo with the lens reflection is so cool!

    Have a great week!

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  4. Your eagle block and sawtooth blocks turned out great! The red fabric is pretty and I wouldn't want to cover it up either. I love the old cookie cutters!

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  5. What a brilliant idea to let the red shine and leave off that layer of white. The block looks great. I like your blue plates, and what a cute Mo! Real tree from the local farmstand, white lights, always!

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  6. Great fabrics in your eagle block and your scrappy stars look so nice!

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  7. Love your blocks, they turned out pretty.
    The plate is quiet a treasure, lovely blue and much detail, thank you for showing.
    We will put up our Christmas tree on the 24th of December, in the morning/afternoon timeframe, and probably will have already the first toast while decorating it. All other decorations come out once I am done cleaning the house, but as soon as possible, should have happened last weekend, but I am busy sewing.
    Greetings,
    Sylvia

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  8. I really like your interpretation of this quilt.
    Love the blue plate and little Mo.

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  9. Hi! Your Thanksgiving table looks even prettier with the candles lit. Seems like it was a success.

    The Eagle looks really good, you're doing great!

    The blue plate is quite a find. I look forward to seeing it in future posts.

    Our Thanksgiving was nice. I did make the butternut squash and apple thing that you recommended. It wasn't ready when everything else was, so I left it in the oven...and forgot about it. It was all mush when I remembered, but I turned it into soup the next day and it was de-lish!

    At least a couple more weeks till we get a tree, and usually white lights.

    Kel

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    Replies
    1. Oh too bad about the apples and squash casserole, I feel bad. But making it into soup was an awesome save.

      I do notice w/ roasted veggies that if your cooking them w/ other items, like a roast, at 350* they take a lot longer than at 400 or 425. So you / we need to allow exta time.THis year when I took out the tiurkey I turned the heat up for the veggies and Br sprouts to finish quicky. The sprouts came out great too. [lemon, olive oil, minced garlic, cubed bacon or pancetta--roast but lv sprouts crisp. yummy]

      Yes! I love white lights, tho sometimes the kids want rotating colored lights--one year I swear the lights sang songs? Is that possible? LOL]

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