This Vintage Chica

feedsacks found

vintage yo-yo bunny, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

The Cattle Barns is one of my favorite places to visit in Ft. Worth...and a must for my Mom and I when I visit. My mother is the perfect junking partner...perfect. First of all she has a great eye. She spotted this little yo-yo bunny from about 10 yards away in this booth. I don't know if that talent can be taught...but I am trying to learn. She held the little bunny up, made up of lots of different scrap fabrics, and asked if I liked him. Of course! was my response as I quickly stashed him in the bend of my arm so that no one else would see him. He was all of $4 and I think he will have a new home in my craft room in VA.

Oh, and the booth spaces are literally animal stalls.  And of course they are cleaned out.  During the summer, the flea market actually moves from the pig barn to the cow barn to the sheep barn as animal shows need their respective buildings.  Kind of funny when you think about it.

The second reason I love junking with my Mom is that she is a wealth of information. When I picked up this piece of fabric at one of the stalls down the middle row, I asked her if it was what I thought it was...thinking it might be a feedsack print. She showed me how to open up the fabric and hold it up to the light to spot the tiny holes left from where the feedsack was held together with heavy cotton string. And yes, we found the row of holes and it is in fact a full feedsack found for $1.

My mom is also great to go rummaging with because she knows almost all of the vendors by name and we get great deals. We found several more feedsack prints at one of the last stalls of the day... when the woman put together what my mom was buying and the feedsacks and aprons I was buying she said I could have my finds for only $10! Ten dollars for 6 aprons and a stack of feedsacks. I couldn't hand over th money fast enough. You can see more photos over on flickr.

And the final reason I love junking with my Mom is that we have similar, but very different styles. My mother is more traditional and definitely leans toward more rustic and western trends and lots of furniture to resell at her shop. And my rekindled domestic obsession has me on the hunt for aprons, fabrics and kids books. Without words, almost instinctively, head towards opposite sides of the booth and then pick up and show each other our finds. I grew up as a kid in auction houses, antique stores and junk shops, so I have had lots of training I tell you. Perfect partners we are.

Thanks mom for a great morning! Are you ready to go back next Sunday morning?

memorial weekend recap

texas style cookout, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

cooking steaks and hamburgers with my Dad at the grill :: a little roping practice for Ian and Zane with granddad :: junking at the cattle barns :: finding some real bargains and trying to convince myself to go back next weekend to get the afghan that got away  :: listening to the music box at grammer and papaws :: at least one person napping at any given time :: savoring corn on the cob :: planting begonias and sage in my Mom's flower garden

A good weekend by anyone's standards I think.

And if you are interested in my Dad's secret to good steaks on the grill?  I asked him if I could divulge this top secret family recipe and he reluctantly agreed.  Here it is...take one beer, the cheaper the brand the better, but Texas beer like Pearl works well.  Open the beer and drink half of it.  Then, with the rest of the beer, alternate drinks of beer for yourself with one two count  pour on top of the steaks.  This way the steak doesn't dry out if your fire is too hot and you keep cool as well.

Yep, that's my Dad.

P.S. Many apologies, but I am unable to get to my email at the wi.rr.com email address, so if you need to get ahold of me or if I haven't gotten back to you, please email me at my other email address eren [at] sanpedrodesigns [dot] com. Sorry for not replying back to everyone. I think I've got everything forwarded now.

prickly pears

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Today it was raining again. The boys and I took a walk and it was heavenly...wet, but heavenly. This week over at AYOC, the color to photograph this week is simply yellow. Yellow is my favorite color of all time I think. Zane has picked up on it as well and the whole family knows it. If there is a yellow cup, shirt, crayon to choose from, everyone knows the yellow one is his. So, when I told him we were going to be looking for yellow on our walk he was ecstatic. We shot several other yellow things, but the best photos of the morning were of the prickly pear cactus blossoms.

They are everywhere in this part of the country, in the pastures as well as in professionally landscaped yards. They come up volunteer in our yard and my father digs them up and throws them in a big cactus pile out by the garden. It is a huge pile of cactus now about 4 to 5 feet tall. They are apparently very happy if you were to judge by this bloom.

After the flower is done, an edible fruit will develop. The flavor of a ripe prickly pear cactus fruit depends on the variety but I have heard them described as tasting like many different fruits including strawberries, watermelons, honeydew melons, and figs. I think they taste most like a melon. They can be cooked into jams and preserves or cooked down into a syrup as a base for jelly and candy. Then, this syrup can be reduced even further into a dark red or black paste that is fermented into a potent alcoholic drink called "coloncha." I have never tried coloncha, but am guessing it would have a similar kick as moonshine might.

You can read more about using the cactus pads in recipes and the medicinal uses of the prickly pear cactus here if you wish.

And since it was raining it wasn't the best day to try to photograph wildflowers. Hopefully, more tomorrow.  But here are two other photos that we took.  One of another of the wildflowers we captured...the cut leaved daisy.  And another of the yellow chair that used to belong to my grandmother while I was browsing the new moda catalog my mom brought home from the shop.  My fave collection was coincidentally called blossom.  Oh, and so you see the fabrics framed in embroidery hoops?  I know it is upside down, but right under the word urban.  Now which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Believe me, there were many, many more shots of yellow.  But I will save you photos of the yellow plastic pitcher on the kitchen counter, the yellow pillowcase on our bed, Rosie the yellow tabby (really  more orange) cat and the rather large bone the farm dogs dragged up into the yard that was really more white colored.

back in the saddle

prairie rain, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

Apparently, I needed a little blogging break. Sorry for the long period of non-posting. But my camera is broken (as previously reported) and the laptop needed to stay in Wisconsin with S for one reason or another and we have been in "the sticks" since leaving. While heading South we stopped off in Missouri at Big Cedar Lodge for a little family reunion and our cell phones were not even getting service.

So, a little unplanned technology break was in order. And I was able to fully realize how much I depend on the internet for my daily dose of blog updates, email, and on line news.  Hi, my name is Eren, and I am an internet junkie.

But we are in Texas now at my parents home on the ranch that my paternal grandparents built.  And being welcomed by the warm prairie rain...an amazing sight, smell and feeling to the folks in this part of the country after several years of drought. The wildflowers here are simply breathtaking, my mom's shop is full of treasure I want to show you, I've been pouring over some of my grandmothers recipes, and I'm sure my Papaw is up for sharing a few stories or two.

Would you mind if I shared a little of my western heritage family roots with you while I am here for the next several weeks?  Thanks. I knew you wouldn't mind. Glad to be back in the saddle.

granny square challenged

patch pillow, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

Do you remember the kids who had to take a zero level course their first year of college, like remedial algebra? Yes? Well that is me...only its not algebra. I'm pretty good at math. It is granny squares. Someone needs to post a remedial level granny square tutorial for people like meo who are crochet pattern slow. I have no less than 5 sources for granny square patterns - all of them slightly different. Some begin with a 4 chain loop and some start with an 8 chain loop. Some use 3 dc and some use 2 dc. But for the life of me I can not get past the first round. When I go to start round two, it all goes to "h-e-double hockey sticks".

Seriously, I have tried off and on for months, ever since the granny along started. And I haven't been able to finish a single square. But now with all other craft and sewing distractions boxed up and on a truck, I will now focus on the elusive granny square. The images are from some of the thrifted crochet books I have found over the past few months.  I saved them from the packing crew so that I could really pour over them in the car.  There are a few more posted on my flickr if you are interested or need a little shot of 1970's granny square inspiration.

Oh, and I wish I could post a photo of where I always get stuck so that one of you granny square experts could tell me what I'm doing wrong, but my camera is in the shop. Ian and I were walking around the neighborhood on Wednesday taking pictures of all of the little things we would miss and he dropped it one two many times. Oh, well...just one more distraction out of the way.

good morning for moving

morning tree, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

I just wanted to pop in and say thank you for all of the well wishes we have received the past few days regarding the move. The packing is going well. All of our belongings are now in boxes with labels like "sewing machine" and "red pillows" and "basement misc". I think we have quite a few in the misc. category. I don't think the packers knew what to call some of my little collections. *wink*

For some reason I love cardboard boxes. Absolutely love it! I think the best part is taking off the top layer of the box to reveal the corrugated part in the center of the box sides. (I keep telling you I am a goof ball, and you didn't believe me.) I can't wait to get to the other side of this move so that the boys and I can reuse these boxes in lots of fun ways. I see many towers, castles, forts and box stores in our future.

Today the movers are coming back to load everything onto the big truck. And we will be left with a few things that will get S by here at the house until it sells and our suitcases and backpacks.

Oh, and I didn't think you really wanted to see brown boxes stacked from floor to ceiling in this post, so the photo is of a tree puzzle that S brought back from Columbia a few years ago. We have several of them, but they have been packed away as they are pretty delicate. This one was unearthed and Ian wanted to play with it. I explained where it came from and that the balsa wood it is made of is very fragile. He totally understood. And played with it for a good 30 minutes...so very gently.

And that is how we will proceed for the next few weeks...gently. Feelings will be on our sleeves and I know from experience that the only way to get through such a stressful time is lots of hugs and smooches, and lots of conversations. LOTS of conversations about missing friends, sadness, and the excitement of things to come like transforming all of these empty boxes into the biggest castle ever when we arrive.

Have a great Wednesday!

moving day - early

moving day, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

Yesterday at 7 a.m. the moving truck showed up a day eary. I was still in my pajamas and cleaning up the house from the boys' going away party the afternoon before. Gotta love the timing of Navy movers.

The basement is all packed and our house is starting to resemble a large storage unit. I'll check in when I can. Its a little nuts around here.

wip - too many to count

I have so many works in progress, I can't even post them all.

:: pen pal cards for the boys' friends with our new address on them :: packing up the important papers, jewelry, etc. that will not be packed with the other boxes :: finishing up a skirt :: finishing up a baby quilt :: showing the house :: organizing, organizing, organizing ::

I have been trying to think of what projects I should try to take along with me when we travel. You know, to save my sanity while driving cross country with three kids. Everything else will be packed up in boxes for several weeks before it gets to Virginia. Sewing requires too many supplies. Embroidery? Hmmm...I have all of those little stitchettes begging to be made. However, loose needles in the car might not be such a good idea. How about I take the five piles of magazines to go through and put them all in a nice neat little notebook. I think S might have a heart attack. Crochet? I think a stripey blanket for my new nephew might be the perfect project. Any thoughts from those of you who craft while traveling would be greatly appreciated. What works for you?

fixin to travel

backpack pockets, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

I'm starting to prepare for the "big day"... moving day. And by the title of this post, you can see I am already gettin' my Southern accent back.  I was talking to my Dad the other night on the phone, and told him to kick me if I sound too much like I'm from Wisconsin.  (just kidding, you Northerners)  I pick up accents very easily according to my husband.  He says all it takes is a good long talk with my family from Texas and my Is get longer and longer. 

I have had an idea for making a backpack from an apron ever since I saw this one on Purl Bee by the extremely talented Liesl. I love backpacks.  With three little ones, I need all of the hands I can get.  And when my lotta book arrived and I saw how she did the casing at the top of her backpack, it all clicked. This morning I made this one out of a thrifted apron found at Value Village a few weeks back for $1.

I used some new orange Alexander Henry fabric for the casing at the top because the apron ran a little short, but I like the color combination. Orange and apple green...mmm...

Then when I got to the shoulder straps, the apron ties that I cut off were not long enough. So, more piecing was needed. Grammer's stash of vintage calicos came to the rescue again. I love this little brown floral print and think it goes OK. Hopefully not too pieced together. I kinda like it like that. Of course I do.

I discovered how hard it is to take a photo of your own back.  I tried at least five different ways of getting a photo of the backpack acually on.  But finally bribed Wyatt with some graham crackers if he would model for me. 

It is also extremely hard to get a good photo of a little boy's back while he is dancing around in his mama's sunglasses.  And now he won't give either the sunglasses or the backpack back.  He's got his dog, one yellow rain boot, and three rocks in the pack and is headed outside.  Gotta go catch him.  He doesn't have any pants on.  Happy Hump Day!

garden+aprons= good morning

Hello all!

I want to thank you for all of your kind words and support after the last post. Most of the time I try to keep the blog all cheery and positive. Generally, that is my personality. But sometimes the emotions just well up so much that is spill out here in the blog. Thank you for being so wonderful and allowing me a safe place to do that. Ok, back to more fun stuff.

The coffee is made, so help yourself...you know where the cups are, right? I absolutely love, love this time of year. I have fallen right back into my Spring ritual of making coffee, checking email while it is making, pouring myself a cup, putting on my flip flops and heading out into the garden to see what has poked its little head up over night. *note, putting shoes on is omitted during summer, but it is still a little chilly here in the mornings.*

This morning, the bleeding hearts that sneak across the fence from the neighbor are about to bloom.

And in the veggie garden the radishes are up.

The lettuce that we planted weeks ago, survived the late snowfall and is doing well. We should be ready to have our first little salad later in the week.

I found a volunteer sunflower from the seed shed last year. And also from last year, there area a gazillion little squash plants coming up...everywhere. I hope the new home owners like acorn squash, he, he. And the peas are starting to climb. And yes, I am a complete weirdo for planting a garden when we are moving. I can't help it. I have to do it.

And yesterday I crammed a little sewing time in between printing out house fliers and putting together the virtual house tour. I made two more little bags from vintage aprons. The photo is a little dark as it was pretty cloudy and rainy all day here, but you get the idea.  Right?  I made them a little more shapely this time instead of so square. I like them, but I squint my eyes everytime I cut into one, hoping that the person who originally made it is happy that the apron is going to to live a new life.

And I am playing with where to put the handles.  Outside or inside?  I don't know that I need another bag, but I can see the evolution happening and have some high hopes for these little pretties. I have more in my stash that need to get used in some way.  Next up, a backpack from a vintage apron. Sound fun? I think so too.