The View from My Chair

I just love this time of year....the swan song of the leaves in brilliant colors and the sky is so blue. It was warm here today so I headed for the back porch with a book and parked myself in my favorite chair to enjoy the warm sun, blue sky and quiet - could not resist a pic or two to share - Hope you enjoy....

Thanks for stopping by - hope you all have a great week!!

Vintage Pillow Cases

I just love vintage pillow cases - beautiful hand embroidery work, to-die-for hand crochet edging and the crisp cool feel of cotton muslin on your cheek! I don't care how much money I spend, I cannot find one equal in quality to the ones from yesterday. All the seams on the inside are french seams, making for a tidy inside. No detail was omitted when these were crafted. Some ladies made their own cases before adding the wonderful details that make these so special. Can you imagine the time that it took - Here are some of my favorites....

Lovely Southern Belle

White on White - My favorite

Pink Variegated on Cool Cotton

Sweet Butterflies on Crisp Muslin
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For these and more lovely vintage textiles, please visit my shop at http://www.catnapcottage.net/

Vintage Market Sale on Etsy - Nov 8th & 9th

Vintage 1970s Bag from bytheway

Bring your purse and shop in your fuzzy slippers - Etsy's Vintage Market Sale is coming November 8th & 9th. Etsy Sellers are known for having the most unique vintage finds anywhere. Leave the searching and finding to us, sit back with your favorite beverage and shop these fabulous goods - nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a truly unique gift. Here are a few examples of items you will find...

Six Vintage Ivory Lucite Bangle Bracelets from susantique

Vintage Glass Condiment - Spice Jars from reprise


Yashica-Mat Vintage TLR twin lens reflex camera from SupplyFascination


Vintage Banjo Brooch from GeneralWhimsy2


Vintage Enamel Bread Box Eames Era Beauty Box by Lincoln from Carriers Cozy Cottage


Vintage WIDE Chunky Bracelet from mysouthernlace


Yummy Candy Dish in Mustard from daisytoad

Vintage Custurd Cups - White Milkglass - Made by Glassbake from CatNapCottage

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These and many more fabulous vintage finds - search "vms" on etsy - Mark your Calendar!!
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VMS Search - Click Here

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Many thanks to my friend Mona over at Carriers Cozy Cottage for organizing this fabulous event!!

Etsy Storque

Daniellexo, an admin for etsy, featured my turquoise bedspread in an article that she wrote for the Storque entitled "This Handmade Colorful Home". She also included lots of colorful room decor such as paintings and pillows. Click on the pic to take a Look....

Photo by hgtv.com

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You girls know how much I love my vintage chenilles, especially my peacocks. It made me smile! I also found the turquoise peacock in one of the gift guides.......

Holidy Gift Guide - Over $100

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Thanks Daniellexo!!

Etsy Gift Guide

Jewels 1977, a writer for Hubpages.com notified me today that she just did a Holiday Etsy Gift Giving Guide and included my shop. Thanks so much Jane - Here is the link to her guide...

http://hubpages.com/hub/Looking-for-a-Unique-Gift-Try-Etsycom

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Jane's Etsy Shop - She makes fabulous jewelry... http://www.jewels1977.etsy.com/

Vintage Quilt Tops

I scored the most awesome vintage quilt top off ebay. It is a random, no pattern really, crazy quilt type top. What makes it even more fabulous is that it is lined with vintage feedsacks and floursacks. Well, you guessed it, I promptly laundered it and fashioned the first of four pillow covers that this awesome quilt top will yield...barkcloth, silks, cottons, wools, just a true vintage fabric sampler. I am in love!!!

For this one-of-a-kind pillow cover and more vintage textile treasures, please visit my shop at

http://www.catnapcottage.net/

~~~Thanks for visiting and Come Again Soon~~

At the Cottage...

There's a place I go when I want to relax, it is The CatNap Cottage. Yes, it is really a place - it is a quiet and comfy environment, like stepping back in time - everything is old and welcoming. So get yourself a cup of tea in your favorite teacup and browse through these rooms at the cottage. I decorated it with thrift shop and antique shop finds, some things I painted, like the floor. It is painted a cottage white - the rugs are fabulous and the tole trays too. I just love it and want to share it with all my friends....

My bedroom at the cottage - vintage rug off ebay, dresser and mismatched mirror I painted white, vintage lamps from a friend, old black tole powder box and oval painting on the wall dates back to Civil War . Love BlueBoy, Pinky is on the other side of the bed. Vintage clock from antique dealer in Moultrie, GA. Doilies given to me by a friend. Bedside Table, was pink, and, you guessed it, I painted it white. Love the little book tray on the bottom - back when people read more and watched less tv. Bed is late 1800s from an antique store. Naps are fabulous in this room!!

Love this rug - from 1930s - 40s, I think. The table was given to me by one of my friends. I reworked the milk glass lamp to make it work again and picked up the painted suitcase from an artist in Moultrie, GA.


There are two of these lamps, one on each side of this deco style dresser that I painted white - my favorite lamps at the cottage - Just love them!

The project that I thought I would never finish. Purchased at an antique store for $45 - Took it apart, painted it cottage white, redid all the upholstery in this fabulous toile and ticking. Fireplace was red, painted it white - do you sense a theme here? LOL

Back of the chair - hammered all those little tacks myself!Fabulous Rug off ebay for $1250 - my favorite rug ever!!

The Wall of Tole Trays - Some of my favorites, most of them are Nashco. I am a sucker for painted trays, boxes, etc.

My shabby secretary - it is full of my favorite vintage plates and china teacups. Bet you can guess what the drawers are full of.....vintage textiles, mostly tablecloths and pillowcases!

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Hope you enjoyed browsing through the cottage today - thanks for letting me share it with you!!

Time to Make the Biscuits

Nanny kept a wooden bisquit bowl under the counter. It had flour in it and was covered with a floursack. When she made bisquits, she would add flour from a sack. She then made a hole in the middle, put in a handful of shortening (lard in the old days), and added some milk. She melded the mixture of milk and shortening with her hand until it was just the right consistency. She then started to spin the mixture around, picking up the flour from the sides and bottom of the bowl until there was this perfect bisquit dough. No bisquit cutters used by her - she then would knead it and when it was just right, she pinched off a piece and rolled it around in her hands until it was a nice ball. The perfect little ball of dough was then placed on a greased "bisquit pan" and smooshed down with the knuckles of her hand. Every bisquit she made literally had her handprint on it.

I was just tall enough to stand at her right hand and watch curiously as she magically made these perfect bisquits appear. She would give me small bits of the leftover dough and I would make tiny bisquits and bake them in the summer sun on large rocks in the yard - I was in such a big hurry to grow up, wish I had more of those days now.

Pillow Made from a Vintage Floursack

This pillow and more can be seen in my shop - http://www.catnapcottage.net/

Down on the Farm - Vintage Graphics

Don't you just love vintage feedsacks, floursacks and grainsacks...Everytime that I see one, the memories flood in of time spent on my grandparents farm. It is amazing how much influence that just being there with my grandparents and experiencing the hard work, wonderful meals of homegrown vegies, and stories of life in previous generations has had over my life - it is a part of me. I recently made some pillows with floursack towels that feature feedsack graphics - I surely loved creating these - hope you enjoy them too...

Time to feed the chickens...

Gotta make sure they get their nutrition - we need good eggs!

The pigs need chow too.....

Lots of nutrition so they grow really big!

More of these can be seen in my shop at http://www.catnapcottage.net/

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I was always afraid of the mother hens, so I did not get too close, but my sister Lori would pick up the biddies and mother hen would chase her around the yard - It was quite a sight! She wasn't afraid of the mama pigs either, she would get in the pen with them and go right past the 300 pound sows and pick up a little piggie - I just watched cautiously, warning her, from outside the fence - Such great memories!!

Vintage Barkcloth

Ok, those of you that know me, know that I am completely in love with vintage barkcloth, all sorts of patterns.....1930s florals, 1940s tropicals, the midcentury atomic and geometric prints from the 1950s, and the mod and flashy colors and patterns from the 1960s. I just cannot help myself, I love the different textures and the sturdiness of it. So utilitarian and so beautiful.

Please allow me to share with you a mini history of barkcloth fabric......In the late 1930s American designers and weavers introduced their version of barkcloth to the world. Their designs reflected what was popular in décor at the time. Florals, and especially tropicals were the earliest motifs. By the 1940s, barkcloth was one of the most common fabrics in the home. It was pretty much made to be indestructible. It was used to cover furniture, make window treatments and other home and personal accessories. (Next time you watch an old movie, look at the draperies in the background.) The vat dyes came first, then the screen prints. Just about any design imaginable was available... tropicals, leaves, birds, romantic scenes from far away countries, old fashioned scenes, wild abstract shapes, children's prints, animals, subtle and delicate florals...All in beautiful vivid colors cheering up our nation during and after the war. During the 1950s, barkcloth was absolutely indispensable! By the 1960s, more and more manmade fibers were used in décor items and in the early 1970s barkcloth quickly disappeared. There has been a rise in interest and reproductions have been made, but they do not hold a candle to the original vintage designs and textures.

It is amazing to me that this fabric has endured, so when I find a piece, I grab it, and restore it to its glory and stash it away for maybe a pillow, or just to take out, look at and put back away. Yes, I am a vintage textile junkie!  Below are a some of the pillows that I have crafted with vintage barkcloth. Hope you enjoy...

Mid-Century Amoeba



Mid-Century Abstract

1940s Tropical

Mid-Century Botanical

This pillow was featured in Real Living Magazine last August.

1940s Tropical

1940s Glen Court

This was a very popular pattern, it came in lots of colors and textures.

1940s Tropical

1930s Floral

I hope you enjoyed the post today, I love sharing about things that I love - thanks for stopping by and if you see something that you like, check my shops. If you are looking for a particular pattern, send me an email, I may have it or something like it - Have a blessed day!!