resurrection fern

Thimbles as vases

Last week I remembered an old issue of MSL where they made delicate tiny bouquets in thimbles. I gathered up my small collection of vintage thimbles and some of the smallest blossoms I could find in the garden and I wanted to show you the results. The hardest thing was to get them to stand upright because most of the very worn ones I have are very convex . I placed a small ball of sticky tack on the base and squished it down onto the surface of the linen covered table. It worked well enough to snap a few shots before one of the cats decided to get in the picture and destroyed the set. Note to self when working with finicky setups lock the cats out of the kitchen.

I hope you enjoyed the tiny little bouquets containing some of my favorite flowers in my garden : forget me not, lily of the valley, mayflower, purple and white violets and some foliage. They may be small but they still smell amazing or at least that's what Mr Bumblebee told me.

A Tisket a Tasket a Green and Yellow Sewing Basket

I was trying to think of a title for this post and the ella fitzgerald song ( one of my favorite vocalists of all times) floated into my cerebral cortex. That song is taken from a 19th century love poem. Well it fits because I love sewing baskets. You have seen some of the fantastic ones I have found filled with treasures on previous posts but you have never seen my collection. I have found all of these at thrift stores , rummage sales or garage sales and have never paid more that a few dollars for any of them. If any one asked me for a list of best buys at thrift stores ( no one has ) vintage sewing baskets would definitely be on that list. They are not easy to find because they are often not in the area of the shop with other sewing related items. The last one I found was in the darkest corner of value village under the shelf where they have large bags of old towels that people buy to use as cleaning rags.

The first sewing basket I collected was the small round one with the gathered fabric top in the last photograph in the middle of the left column. It is also probably the oldest one in my collection. The most functional award goes to the large paisley green one in the last photograph ( top right corner) It sits under the desk that holds my sewing machine . The green heart one holds my favorite vintage buttons and the most adorable award goes to the little house with the pincushion chimney. Almost all of these baskets are but to use storing buttons, thread and trim . One can never have too many sewing baskets or vintage tins in ones sewing area for storage. Tomorrow is friday and the start of our first long weekend of the spring/summer in Canada. Yay!!!! I just hope the weather cooperates, it looks pretty darn gloomy out there today.

Came up empty handed at the Rummage Sale

I was beginning to think I had jinxed myself by talking about the my favorite rummage sale of the year here on my blog yesterday because other than a few lovely vintage tins , some very old children's books and a vintage apron with a really sweet doggie fabric there were no real treasures to be found. Believe me I looked in all the right places. To make up for that major disappointment I decided to get up bright and early and go to a few garage sales and one estate sale in the next town. I came up empty handed again . I decided to go for a walk in my favorite woods to lift my spirits . I got to see the first red and white trilliums starting to bloom . Soon the forest will be carpeted with them and I will definitely have to try to capture that spectacle on my camera. I headed home from the forest when I noticed some articles by the curbside with a "free" sign. It was actually an old wooden ladder that caught my eye because I wanted one to dry wool and they make nice displays for vintage linens and scarves. Then I saw it, a beautiful old mantle clock with only one hand. I placed it in the passenger seat with a few very semi circular window frames and a lovely old frame and off I went. It was a short drive home but that road has speed bumps and every time I went over one beautiful chimes echoed from the clock. I couldn't wait to get it home and have a look inside at the clock mechanism.

On the face of the clock is written "Arthur Pequegnat Clock Co , Canada" so of course I googled this and discovered that Arthur Pequegnat moved from Switzerland to Berlin, Ontario ( which was later changed to the name Kitchener) in 1874. In 1897 he built a bicycle factory that he converted to a clock factory in 1904 . Interestingly it was around this time that regular people starting buying automobiles. The demand for bicycles probably went down as a result. Back to Arthur he became one of the best clock makers in Canada . He died in 1927 and the company closed in 1941 due to a severe shortage of brass brought on by the war. The clock is missing a hand and the fittings around the face are a little bent but the internal mechanism looks pristine for some thing so old. I think I am going to get an estimate on fixing it just to hear its chimes. I couldn't find this exact clock on my google search but Arthur's clocks are collector's items starting at about 500 dollars and invaluable in the history lesson I obtained.

Hope you are having a wonderful saturday. I am back to the garden and a little bit of spring cleaning before the rain comes. I heard on the news this morning that in northern Ontario they are getting a storm with 20 to 30 cm of snow and freezing rain and in Toronto transit workers staged a surprise walk out last night at midnight leaving tons of people stranded . Where are those bikes when you need them???

Pin Money

Did you know that the term "spending money" probably originated from "pin money" .
Pin money was a term for amounts of money, usually saved by a woman to buy needles and pins. Pins were very expensive in the 15th century and were only allowed to be sold in England on the first two days of each January. Some husbands gave their wives special money for the purchase so that she could purchase more expensive needles and cases to put them in. These needle cases were status symbols . The fancier your needle case the higher your husband's position in society. I have a very small collection of needle cases and I am always looking for them at flea markets, rummage sales and thrift stores. Today I was taking out some "pin money" from the bank to spend at my favorite rummage sale today . This is the same rummage sale that I found the victorian crochet hooks and the fantastic button bag I have posted about earlier. So today I am excited about what I may find under the tables and inside boxes or tins. Maybe I will find a needle case or some golden pins. I sure hope my favorite volunteer is working in the corner of the crowded room . I am going to end this very short post with pictures of my needle cases. The silver case with the golden needle is from my dear friend Minnie.

Have a great start to your weekend !! Wish me luck !!

“Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be fish.”

The title is a quotation from OVID an ancient roman. It is very appropriate because I want to show you some hooks , crochet hooks and it describes my philosophy of finding treasures at thrift stores, rummage sales , garage sales, curb sides , etc. My scanner is always turned on and my hook is always ready to snatch up an interesting find. I get lots of comments on my blog and flickr pictures like " My thrift store never has anything like that " . Well to those individuals I say either I live in your neighborhood and have been there before you or you just aren't looking hard enough. You have to look under tables, open boxes, unwrap little items carefully wrapped in kleenex and then you too might find an unexpected treasure like this one . This was in a little plastic envelope, wrapped in kleenex , inside an old chocolate box , inside a larger box and under the table at a rummage sale in my town. I put it back in the candy box and my favorite gentleman who works the rummage sale every year asked me if 10 cents was too much to pay for it. 10 cents!!!!!! These are the most amazing crochet hooks I have ever come across and although I do not know how old they are I do know they weren't made in this century. Some have covers and multiple hooks and they move and slide like precision tools. They are also the most beautiful tools of the trade I have ever seen.

That last one is my favorite. The hooks on these are so tiny I can't imagine how fine the thread and resulting lace was that the women who owned treasures made. I hope I find some of that lace one day in a box under the table at the rummage sale.

If you are a little squeamish about medical things you probably want to stop here and not read the last bit of this post. I warned you! I love to look for unexpected connections between different aspects of my very complicated life. When I was photographing the crochet hooks my mind was flashing back to my obstetrical days and the use of surgical hooks in this area of medicine. I won't tell you all the uses of hooks but the most common one is to rupture the membranes if they haven't done so naturally . That hook is almost identical to a crochet hook. I was looking for a picture of this and came across a few images of beautiful antique hooks used in obstetrics and gynecology. I really see a great similarity to the antique crochet hooks I had found. Here is a few pictures so you can decide for yourselves.

I wonder if any of the obstetricians tried crocheting with any of those or if any midwives sterilized their crochet hooks to use in assisting childbirth. What do you think?

buttons and box $3.50

Before I start on this post reminder to self never use the words "all my children" in a blog post again. Somehow that last post has ended up of a news post website for the soap opera of the same name. Who would have thought? I don't know of any soap called buttons and box although I am a little concerned that the title might sound like an xxxrated movie of some sort. What I really wanted to do was show you another treasure box I found for , you guessed it, 3.50. It looked like some kind of english candy or cookie tin. It was taped shut because it was overflowing with stuff. Here is what it looks like open.

It was indeed filled with mostly buttons but some of them were really lovely and some still attached to their cardboard which I always find attractive because you can see how much they cost and then get an idea of what vintage they are. Inside the top of the box was a green striped paper envelope that contained a brand new vintage needle set. I mean that it had never been taken out of its shopping bag or used. It was obviously from England as were many of the treasures inside the box. I took out my favorite items and laid them out on a table .

The person who owned this box must have been through the depression because nothing was thrown away or wasted. Just look at those tiny pencils . I especially love little red one. Imagine how many notes were written with this. Those needles are over 50 years old and look brand spanking new. I love the colonial maid snaps and the egg eyed needles. The items at our local fabric store sound and look very dull in comparison. I find this kind of history very interesting. We should have a museum devoted to domestic history don't you think. Does the world really need another history of war museum? That is about as political as I will get on this blog. Thanks for reading.

One Euro

Last year I went to the flea market in Vienna and there was one stall where everything was being sold for only one euro . Most of the things were very dirty , smelly and water damaged but something caught my eye. I spotted a box, with some flowers painted on it in the rural austrian style. It was filled with something but I just gave the gentleman one euro and made off with it. I didn't look at it again until I got back to the hotel later that day. I loved its beautiful worn appearance.

I looked inside and it was filled to the brim with items that one would keep in a sewing box.

I removed every item and studied them closely.

I am sure you can imagine my reaction to what I found inside. The box alone was worth far more than one euro but the contents are priceless. My favorite things are the little hen pin cushion that looks like it was made by a child perhaps as a gift for mommy or oma and the little brass needle case. You should click on this photograph to see everything in detail because they are worth a closer look.

The little cloth eyeglass case in the upper right corner was even filled with a variety of wool that might have been used for darning or repairing sweaters.

Button, Button , Who Made the Button Bag

I found this treasure under a table in the corner covered in some old linens at our local church rummage sale. I paid for it immediately before anyone had a chance to inspect it closely or break my heart by telling me it must have gotten there by mistake and it really wasn't for sale. I tucked it away in my cloth shopping bag and didn't take it out or open it until I got home. It was hand sewn in beautiful vintage fabric. Here is a view of the bottom of the bag.

I opened the purse strings to reveal the hidden treasure.

I marveled in the richness and variety of its contents.

My favorites are the buttons carefully strung together to look like caterpillars or beetles on parade.

Dear button bag lady, your treasure is safe with me!!!

Free Books, Take Some

I have a favorite charity thrift store very appropriately called Treasures. They always have a box outside the store of books that are free. If they are not taken they are placed in the garbage every Tuesday . I have found some amazing treasures in this box in the past and this week was no exception. Here is what I found. Included here is a book of selected poems of Tennyson from 1907. I love this book because of all the handwritten notes in the margins. F.W. Leech was really studying this book.

The little purple Penguin New Writing book of Betty's from 1941 included the work of Dylan Thomas. The cigarette add on the back cover is interesting. Plain or Cork tipped? Fast honest to goodness tobacco?

The inside front cover has an add titled Why Worry? Since this was the published during the second world war I can think of a few reasons. Under the title on the title page is a little remark "Leave this book at a Post Office when you have read it, so that men and women in the services may enjoy it too." What a great idea !

The bonus treasures in this box were an old record from Decca and an amazing scrapbook.

Original monologues to music with hits like rondelay for a rabbit and Elsie the glow worm. I can't wait to find my old turntable and have a listen to this. The scrapbook belonged to Alison Stewardson who obviously was living in England and contains a very interesting mixture of news clipping . Included are the royal family, miniature horses, donkeys , a little book about Churchill and interesting facts about Wales. Here are pictures of a few of my favorite pages.

I can almost picture Alison cutting out these pictures from magazines and newspapers in order to preserve them and I am very lucky to have saved them from the trash bin. Thank you Alison.