Not A Creature Was Stirring...........

And to all, A Good Night!

Don't Forget To Shop Heartland on November 21!

This is just a gentle reminder to have you mark your calendars for the Heartland Show in Richmond, Indiana on November 21. I know I've blogged about it before, but the November edition of this famous American Country Antique show is just as good as the June one. Although smaller in size (dealers are set up in only the Tom Raper building while in June they are set up in two) it is still filled with as much wonderful, quality country antiques as the June show. The nice thing about this smaller edition (85 dealers) is that it is easier to shop as you can take your time and not worry that you haven't been able to see it all.

I'll be setting up with my friend and fellow dealer, Lisa Breish of Anderson-Briesh Antiques. Lisa specializes in Early Christmas items, so we are planning our booth with lots of Christmas surprises. I'll be bringing my usual homespun textiles, as well as some wonderful painted benches and shelves from the house.......And a fabulous early New England shirred Log Cabin pattern hooked rug straight from my dining room. Lisa will bringing a feather tree or two, as well as a wonderful early putz fence.

I'll also be doing up a tree in red and, red and white, children's mittens and stockings....as well as some wonderful red doll and children's dresses. These are all recently acquired from an estate.

The Heartland Antiques Show is one not to be missed. It is held at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Richmond, Indiana. Show date is Saturday, November 21. Doors open at 9:00AM.

Do stop by and say hello!

After A Long Hiatus, I'm Back and It's Time to Think Christmas!

I apologize for such a long lapse in postings but between some minor health issues and a myriad of other demands, there just didn't seem to be time for blogging. In fact, I was lucky enough to be able to get a web update posted a few weeks ago.

I know I've blogged about this before but being a "rag" person and with the holidays fast approaching (where does the time go?), my thoughts always turn to early textiles as a very easy and lush way to transform a house into a warm nest. While bringing out the woolens (blankets, coverlets, socks, mittens, petticoats) makes the house feel warm and cozy, it is the reds that imbue the spirit of the season into our homes and hearts. I find that placing a few pieces of red clothing amid browns on a pegrack, really makes for a great display. Do a room up in all reds and add some fresh greenery and you've got all you need to convey the Christmas spirit of the house to friends and family.

I do confess , though, that I have been decorating with white woolens these last two Christmases and throwing in some reds for just a splash of color. While I love the quietness of whites and off-whites, I still find I need those reds to make it really feel like Christmas. The above photo is from the Hearland Show in Richmond, IN.

I've had the good fortune to have aquired a very special collection of red and white striped stokcings, as well as red mittens and petticoats. Now to the task of getting them photgraphed and posted.......on my website!

The Thing About Early Textiles.......

The thing about early textiles is that they provide us (those of us who love them)with a visceral link to the past. Whenever I lay my hand on cloth or sampler, cloth poppet or animal I feel as if I've connected with the maker via an impulse a century or more old that has been sent by the maker straight to my head, heart and soul. It can sometimes make the hair stand up straight on the back of my neck and make my heart jump. I can sometimes sense the depth of the maker's joy or sorrow, fatigue or energy and try to imagine what life must have been like for her all those years ago when life was much harder and sometimes the only creative outlet a woman had was her needlework. By needlework I am referring to "the toil of the needle", not that done for refinement and pleasure but that borne out of necessity - like the need for a new dress for a child, or a new pin cushion, or a new doll for a present when there was little money to buy one. I am not trying to connote a negative meaning with my use of the phrase, just trying to distinguish the type of needlework I so love as opposed to the more refined needlework of women who occupied a much higher station in life than the farmer's wife, the seamstress, the less coddled woman of her day.
It is to her and her work that I would like to devote this blog. To learn more about both the maker and the object. I hope to use this forum to explore that which I do know and that which do not, but hope to learn. Knowledge is power!