Vintage Chair Is A Time Capsule

This is one of my more recent thrift store finds.   I've started to track down the era for this chair and as you can see; it's quite ornate.  The top of the shield back is intricately scrolled and the arm rests resemble lion's paws.  The legs are wonderfully turned.

 There's work to be done to restore it, but it's mostly minor.  Loose joints to be clamped and re-glued and a few small pieces of the veneer on the shield back are missing, but I've got an old sheet of walnut veneer that I can use to patch those areas.

 I decided to gently take the old furniture tacks out and strip the fabric layers back one by one.  And yes...I saved the old tacks.  I told you I never throw anything away!
This was like going through an archaeological dig with multiple layers of fabric from the past.

Now, to me this is the real challenge.  After I got down to the real nitty gritty; I was thrilled to see that the original beautiful wool needlework seat cover had been left intact. Sadly, part of the floral design was gone due to years of wear.  I give thanks to the former owner who decided to cover it over instead of ripping it off and throwing it away.

 I took the previous picture and ran it through photo editing software to pull out the 'ghost' of the missing yarn.  This gives me a better idea of what the missing flowers would have looked like.

Now off I go to try and track down a similar design in all of the antique/vintage cross stitch or other needlework patterns out there to bring this baby back to it's former glory.
Wish me luck!

Pamela

Well....I'm back.  That took some digging around in the interwebs.  I finally came across this needlepoint design that I might be able to adapt to this chair seat.

It's close enough to give me an idea of what the original flowers might have been.  Especially the blue ones.
After I completely removed the seat cover and was able to see the reverse side, it gave a better look of the original colors of the yarn.

Look how clear and bright those colors are!  Now I can rummage through that stash of yarn I've been hoarding for thirty years and see if I can come up with a match.
A nice winter project when the cold weather chases me out of my garden!

DIY Birdbath - A Plowing Disk Gets A New Life

A neighbor planned on tearing down an old barn that had been on his mother's property since the early 1900s.  It was filled with old farm implements and cast-off furniture that no-one in the family wanted so he let me go through and haul out what I could before he took the dozer to it.
I found a new use for one of the plowing disks.  My husband had an old hand pump stored away in the garage that he rescued from his grandfather's farm in Pennsylvania and we paired them up on a garden seat for the birds to enjoy.

The trellis had already been there for my autumn clematis so I hadn't given it much thought until later when a friend said it reminded her of a church window.
An accident of design, I suppose.
The crape myrtles were in full glory and made a nice backdrop.
It was sad to see a barn that had stood for a century reaching the end of it's life in order for someone to build a new house, but I console myself at reminders like this and realize this is why I rescue what in someone else's eyes is useless clutter.  
We're just keepers of the flame.

Works In Progess - My Little Angel. Naughty or Nice?

I love angels and had kicked around an idea how to incorporate one into one of my cottage pillows. So I sat down at the drawing board and started sketching. Did I want my angel in flight, with full flowing robes? That would be a bit busy to fit onto the central section of the pillow. Then I wondered if my angel was going to be a girl or boy.
I finally settled on a head and shoulders sketch with wings outstretched. And the short feathered curls could belong to a boy or girl, so my little angel turned out to be more unisex.



Then after transferring my sketch onto vintage white percale via a lightbox, I went to work embroidering my design.
After I was done, I sat back and studied the final project and had to admit...my angel looked just a tad naughty.
But I guess there's a bit of devil in us all.
Even angels!



Now I'm off to rummage through some vintage fabrics and lace to find the perfect border for my sweet little angel!

Care To Join Me For Tea?

I went to a local Habitat Restore shop on John's Island and found this darling vintage wicker breakfast in bed stand with glass tray.  The stand has two side compartments for magazines and newspapers.
This makes me think of those 1940s glorious goddesses of the silver screen relaxing back among tousled satin sheets and enjoying early morning tea or coffee while they browsed the latest scandal sheets.

And of course there was sultry film queen of the 1930s, Jean Harlow who had breakfast in bed down to a science.



I can't wait for warmer weather so I can play dress-up in a vintage peignoir and coax my hubby to serve me breakfast in bed.
Okay, well.....maybe not breakfast.

Hey!  Can I get a cup of coffee over here?

Clamshell Cottage Vintage

Confused Camellia

Every once in a while mother nature throws us a curve.  We planted this pale pink camellia japonica three years ago and some of the blooms are starting to come out a deep rose pink.
What a delightful surprise!

We'll be covering this poor sweetie tonight as the temps dip down into the upper 20s here on the island.

Antique Valentines Cards

Valentine celebrations have evolved from the martyrdom of St. Valentine, a third-century priest, into a romantic exchanging of gifts, notes and cards.
Early valentines were produced in a variety of forms-mechanical, flat, and three-dimensional.

The card below was valued at $350.

From a February 2005 issue of Country Living

This antique valentine dates from the early 1900s and is a three-dimensional chromolithographed card printed on heavy card stock imported from Germany.  The fold-out mechanism allows it to stand alone.
The most sought after cards are ones made by Esther Howland, the McLouglin Brothers, and Raphael Tuck & Sons; all of whom were active during the mid-19th century and collector values range from a few dollars to prices in the thousands.

Clamshell Cottage Vintage