The Fabrics of Our Lives

“I cannot count my day complete
'Til needle, thread and fabric meet.”

Many years ago I started collecting vintage embroidery and needlework. I don’t have the patience to create these myself but I truly admire those who do. I bought them at antique malls and garage sales. I loved the hunt when I would find things once in a while but once Ebay kicked off, it was too easy to find things and there were too many, so after a while I stopped collecting. The fun of the chase was missing. I had run out of wall space anyway! I didn’t want to pay to frame them, it was too expensive, so I framed most of them myself with frames I bought at garage sales and on sale at Michael’s and Aaron Brothers. They look like they weren’t framed professionally but I think that adds to their amateur charm. They are vintage, used, and not perfect but I love thinking about someone taking the time it took to work on them. This one is a favorite, it hangs in the master bedroom.

I can’t believe the work needed to do all that tiny stitching on the flowers.

This one amazes me, it is just tiny brown stitches, that’s all, tiny brown stitches.

I can’t imagine anyone figuring out how to do that. It hangs on the wall in our family room.

This one is large, 17 1/2” by 21 1/2”. It hangs in a corner of the living room.

It also has tiny stitches of different styles.

When I bought this one it had stains around the border. I soaked it in Biz detergent, my standard solution for stains on vintage items (be careful and do a test to make sure the colors won’t run first, Biz is harsh), and the stains disappeared. My husband bought a mat cutting tool and is skilled at resizing frames so he helped with this one. It hangs in the main/guest bathroom behind the door.

This hangs in the guest room with a few others like it. I love the flower border and the green leaves and vines.

Sometimes if I found a frame that was the right size but the wrong color I just spray painted it.

This one is special because it was my mother’s and it was in the house when I was growing up. It is on the wall next to the front door.

This one and the next one I had professionally framed, they are large. They hang over the beds in the guest room. They were pillow shams originally I think and it’s called red work.

This is another one that I had professionally framed, it is large as well. For many years the family room was decorated in Americana, red, white, and blue. Most of that is gone now but I left this on the wall. I have several other pieces that aren’t framed that I will share in another post later.

Wall to Wall Family

As a Genealogist, I have been very fortunate over the decades to gather old family photos. Some are originals, some are scans of originals, some I have received from other family researchers, and some I have just taken with my phone camera when I saw them somewhere. For many years they were tucked away in cupboards and drawers. I finally decided not to worry about them fading and put some of them where I could see them. (I have scanned them all already so I have copies.) I really enjoy seeing them every day. Can’t remember where we bought the shelving but you can find it online and in home improvement stores. I wanted the frames to be a mixture of types and sizes but in a brown and gold color scheme. Remember to label the back of the framed photo and also the photo itself first!

Sorry for the glare, there is a large sliding glass door/window at one end of the family room and even with the curtains closed, there is a glare. Discussing the frames anyway, not the photos. These two (my mother and her father) I framed myself with frames from Michaels or Aaron Brothers before they went out of business. I watch for vintage looking frames when I go there. Sometimes I have found great vintage frames at garage sales and estate sales.

I bought this frame (my husband’s parents) on Etsy, it actually came from Eastern Europe and it is carved wood. This one is one of my favorites. Etsy and Ebay are another good source for vintage frames.

I think these (my paternal grandparents) both came from Aaron Brothers. (Now closed but they frame at Michaels now.) The left one is metal and really looks vintage I think. I like the flowers on the right one.

Sometimes I have a photo (my mother, left front, aunt on the right, and grandmother) that has its original frame. I try to keep it intact if I can. This frame has a few nicks and scratches but I love that it is the original.

This one (my maternal grandmother) was also an Aaron Brothers purchase. I like the Mission style with the feet. I think it matches the time period of the photo well.

This one (my husband’s maternal Great-Grandmother) has a leather feel to it. I like the corner designs. I found it at a garage sale.

I put my family on the bottom shelf and my husband’s family on the top. They are all labeled on the back and I have copies of them all. I often stop and look at them and really enjoy having them where I can see them. I think you should put your old photos out where you can enjoy them!

Pottery, Blue and Blue and Blue

Camark Pottery

More of my pottery collection, these are my favorite cobalt blue ones. I love their attitudes! This one above isn’t labeled but it was made by Camark Pottery. Camark was a pottery company that was founded in 1924 in Arkansas. The company was in business until 1983. I just love the form and shape.

This one is just labeled 505 USA but a photo online tells me it was made by Camark.

This one has part of a Camark label and 864 USA on it.

This pitcher is unlabeled but it was made by Camark Pottery in the 1930’s. I love the lines of it and all the curly cues!

Pottery, California, and Otherwise

It all started with a couple vases inherited from my mother. A tall, white, simple pattern, I remember them in the house growing up. 

I liked the matte finish and I started looking for pottery in antique malls and later online on Ebay.  I mostly focused on blues and greens. California Pottery had its heyday from the 30's to about the 60's for the most part but I added pottery from other areas as well.  Some of the vases in my collection are labeled on the bottom but I didn't collect by maker or for investment, just what I liked.

I love this pitcher, I have always had a weakness for pitchers and I love the curves of this and how tall it stands. The blue vase was made by Royal Haeger, number 741 in the 1938 fall catalog.

Some colors were a mistake when I bought them because the monitor when I bought the item showed a different color and it wasn't accurate.  This was supposed to be a true green but I actually loved this color as soon as I saw it.

This is the only one here that is labeled, it was made by Stangl Pottery.  Stangl was a pottery company started in 1929 in New Jersey.  They went out of business in 1978.

I have several that are this color and then some that are a bright cobalt blue.  I stopped collecting a few years ago, I simply ran out of room to display them all!  I have some displayed in different rooms of the house and I really enjoy looking at them.

For more information and photos of my pottery collection visit my blog post about my blue pottery: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/blog/2019/4/13/pottery-blue-and-blue-and-blue