Hob Nail and Toile

Hello!  And Happy Monday!

Two of the things that make me happy and I enjoy looking at and using are Hob Nail
accessories and anything toile.  They obviously have no connection but I was just thinking
about both of them today and wanted to share some pictures with you, in case anyone
else enjoys them.

I researched Hob Nail and found out that it was popular in Victorian times and was made
by either blowing a glass vessel into a mold or by pressing the glass into a mold.  Fenton
Art Glass first introduced their hob nail glass in 1939 and their milk glass hob nail in 1950.
It was one of their most successful products and supposedly kept the company going when
other glass makers were closing their doors. 

This milk glass set was from my grandmother.  I remember it displayed in built in shelves in her kitchen.  When I spent the night with her, she would make orange juice at breakfast and serve it from
the pitcher into the cups.  Good memories!

This dessert plate was hers, also.  I have a set of them and enjoy using them.

Toile first came into the English language in the 12th century.  It comes from a French word meaning
"cloth" or a "canvas" to be painted on.  Although the patterns are very old, it saw a huge resurgence
around the year 2000.  Mainly used for decorating, I read that designers are experimenting with it
in apparel.  It was hugely popular in colonial times. 

It's obvious I have a tendency to overdo toile in my house.  And when I have grandchildren, I'm sure it will be here in pastels. 

I hope you enjoyed the little diversion into decorating.  Do you have hob nail or toile?  Let me know how you use it. 

We'll visit again, soon.

Don't You Just Love Quilts?

Happy Friday! 

This has been a busy week but a good week.  I hope yours has been good, too.

Quilts fascinate me.  I love to look at them.  I love to think about the hands that
made them.  I like to wonder about the lady whose hands sewed the pieces and
quilted the finished product.  I especially love old quilts.

Of course you know that quilts in America date back to the colonial times.  They
weren't the showpieces of late.  Life was hard and practical and so was homemaking.
Quilts were used on beds to keep a family warm and on doors and windows to keep
out the cold.  They had a function.

Between 1750 and 1850, quilts were pieced and patched and became more elaborate,
with many still preserved for us today.  Some were so elaborate that they were years
in the making and quilting.

It was customary in the 1800s for a young woman to make 13 quilt tops before she
married.  Twelve were to use in her homemaking and a special large one was for her bed.
Also, "heirloom" quilts were made by mothers to save for their children to use when
they began to make homes of their own.  We are priviledged to have several quilts and
coverlets made by my husband's grandmothers, both of whom were born in the 1890s.

This "Dutch Doll" quilt belongs to our youngest daughter.  It was blocked by her great-grandmother
in 1930  (84 years ago!)  and quilted in 2004 by a quilting guild in our area.  It looks like it was done
yesterday.  We love to look at the different fabrics and wonder what they originally were.  Was it
her dress...his shirt...her apron?  We'll never know, but we like to wonder.  What a treasure!

Do you have special quilts?  I'd love to hear about them.

Have a wonderful weekend and we'll visit next week.

A Stable Foundation

As my mom use to greet us on Christmas Eve, "Christmas Eve Gift!", so I greet you.

My kitchen chalkboard reads, "All Families Need a Stable Foundation".  That is my story for today.
December 24, 1931, my grandparents were married at Key Baptist Church in Key, Texas.  It was at 7:30 in the evening.  I was very close to my grandmother growing up.  My grandparents lived across the street from us.  My brother and I rode to church with them,  not because my parents didn't go because they did.  But my grandparents went early to check on their business and so that my grandfather could check the facilities at our church and my grandmother could have her Sunday School room ready for the five year olds.  And my brother and I thought that was such fun--arriving before most people and riding with them.  My parents both had responsibilities in Sunday School so they arrived shortly but still....grandparents just seemed more fun.

I have thought a lot about my grandmother today.  Their house was where all the holiday activities took place.  I would go early in the morning on Christmas Eve just to be there while she prepared everything.  I can hear the sounds and smell the smells coming from her kitchen to this day.  I have wondered this morning what her wedding day was like;  trying to picture her as a 22 year old bride preparing for her wedding. 

Tonight, at 7:30, I'll be sitting with my family in our church's Christmas Eve service, thinking back
to the events of 82 years ago that occurred at that exact time and rejoicing that it began on Christmas Eve, and for the legacy they leave.

I am thankful for the "stable foundation" that my grandparents and my parents put into my life.  We are trying to do that with our children.  It is the most important gift we can give them.  I pray your home has that, too.  My prayer for our blog friends this Christmas is Philippians 3:10, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection...".  And John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish but have everlasting Life."
Merry Christmas, dear friends.  May this be a special Christmas season for you and your family.

My Christmas Motto

My beautiful flowers from my firstborn

Getting ready!