Vintage Photo Sunday - What a Doll

Doesn't this little girl look like a life sized doll?  Her photograph was in a box of phtographs I bought a quite while back.  There isn't any information written about her on the picture.  Please, feel free to use the image if you like.

Heading Back to California

We are scheduled to head back to California on Monday, Nov. 2nd.  We will spend nearly a week on the road for the return trip.  It is nice to take our time and visit places along the way.  This year part of the route we are going to take is new to us - from Little Rock, AK we will be driving I 30 across Texas and catch up with I 10 in New Mexico.  I will try to post pictures we take along the way when we stop at night.  Since I am turning in the modem today, I am offline until at least Monday night with the exception of a scheduled post for Sunday.

Elizabethtown, Kentucky - Cemetery Hill

Cemeteries usually invoke strong feelings in people.  I'd say many people have negative reactions to going to a cemetery.  But, I find them calming.

The Elizabethtown Kentucky city cemetery on Cemetery Hill was the place where the only battle in Elizabethtown took place during the Civil War on December 27, 1862.  Elizabethtown was occupied with Union soldiers when Confederate General John Hunt Morgan attacked Elizabethtown with an artillery battery from Cemetery Hill.  After a fight that lasted hours, the Union soldiers surrendered.  Read more about this battle here.

It was a sunny day, and I snapped quite a few pictures.  I am going to add many of them so you can see some of the old tombstones.  Scroll to the bottom of this linked article to see an interesting explanation about the symbols on gravestones - For example: Hands Clasped - Goodbyes Said at Death.

                                     

                                                   These headstones are taller than me.

Vintage Photo Sunday - Thomas

This small cabinet card photo is marked Thomas with a 1700's date.  Don't know if that information is correct.  I do know that young boys were often dressed like girls.  In any case - what a cutie!

Our Beautiful Maple In Its Autumn Clothes

Autumn is a second Spring when every leaf is a flower.

Albert Camus

Vintage Photo Sunday - Alice 1929

The only information I have about this photograph is the 1929 date written on the back of the photograph.

I used it once for the subject in an earlier wallhanging where I named her Alice.

I would love to have some of that gorgeous drapery fabric!

The sleeves on her dress are interesting too aren't they?

Vintage Photo Sunday - Bathing Beauties

These are some swimsuits aren't they? Styles were so much different than they are today. I suspect all that material would be quite heavy when it got wet. I think the girls are smiling because they know they are stylish.

Old Keys

I was snooping around in John's workshop and spotted a ring of old keys. He said I could use them in my projects, and I have something in mind. They were covered in a greasy kind of dirt, so I cleaned them enough to get rid of that without making them look like new. I think I may use all of them in one collage.

Rineyville Day Parade 2009

Another year and another Rineyville Day Parade. We grab our coffee and lawn chairs, and head out to the yard to watch the parade go by. When you compare each year's pictures they look very much the same. Still, I enjoy snapping away and sharing them with you here.

Great old tractors!

Great old cars and trucks.

And don't forget the horses.

Vintage Photo Sunday - Never Too Old For The Playground

I don't know what this piece of playground equipment is called, but it looks like it would have been fun doesn't it?  I have a few pictures of these young women meeting at a school, and hamming it up for the camera on various pieces of playground equipment.  Perhaps their get together is for a school reunion.

Praying Mantis

I am usually squeamish about bugs, but not the more interesting ones - like this praying mantis. I was coming in from the yard, and he was on the back porch. When I came back out with my camera he was still there, and did not seem to mind my closeness with the camera. After I took the pictures, I went back in to get a yard stick and measured him - 4 inches.  This is probably the largest one I have come across.

I am calling it 'he', but I don't know that for sure.

 

Vintage Photo Sunday - All Dressed Up And No Place To Go

This is a cute picture of the young women standing on the bumper of the old car.  Well, I suppose it wasn't really an old car when they were standing on it.  The dresses are very pretty with the sequence and ribbon trim.  Go this prior blog post to see the torture undergarments that made their figures look so flat and straight.  And still they smile!

Twenties Photos Quilties

This group of young people look like they had great fun together.  The photos are from albums I have had for quite a while.  They are printed on white cotton and then collaged with bits and pieces of vintage fabrics, trims and buttons.  The finished size is 4" x 6" for each quiltie, and a piece of trim added at the top for easy hanging.

Funny Little Ant Hill

Isn't this a funny little ant hill?  This ant hill is between the bricks on the front walkway.  We have had quite a bit of rain the past few days, and the air is very damp.  The little grains of dirt the ants pile onto the hill are stacking taller and taller - about 3" to 4" for this one.

Bike Ride - Hope, Indiana

We participated in the Hope, Indiana Bike Ride last weekend with another couple.  The ride is through town and along country roads that go through rural farms.  It was a beautiful day that made it very enjoyable.  It is well organized, and begins with a pancake breakfast, then there are stops along the route with refreshments and entertainment.  There was also a barbequed chicken lunch in the town center along with a blues band.  The entry fee is bit more than some rides we have been on, but the proceeds after expenses go to the Hope Food Bank.  There were a lot of people there that day (more than 1000), but their website hasn't posted the data or pictures for this year.

That is me in the green sweatshirt.

Vintage Photo Sunday - Manning Iowa Butter and Ice Cream

Manning Iowa is a town about 25 miles from Carroll, Iowa and about 100 miles from Des Moines.  I have a few photo albums of people in Carroll County, Iowa.  I believe that most of the pictures are in Carroll, but this one depicts a Manning Butter and Ice Cream truck.  It is fun to look into the past like this, don't you agree?

Vintage Photo Sunday - Elenora Frederika Daugherty

I am sharing another 'rescued' photo with you today.  I like this picture of the young woman mainly because of the interesting dress that she is wearing.  There is a name written on the photo, but the handwriting looks too modern to be from the time of the photo.  I think it probably was added years after this photograph was taken.  Not to say that Elenora wasn't her name, just that it looks to be added after the period the picture was taken.  What do you think?  Perhaps Elenora has descendants who are looking for her.

Early Morning Fog Web Sights

It was foggy this morning when we got up and the back porch had about a dozen beautiful spider webs covered in dew drops.  They were between every post and beam.  I tried to capture the entire scene to show you, but I couldn't get a picture that showed that.  I am posting three individual pictures that will give you an idea of how pretty they were.

Mayor's Labor Day Bike Ride - Louisville, KY

John and I went with two other couples to ride in the Louisville Mayor's Hike & Bike Ride on Labor Day. It was a 14.9 mile course that was a fun ride. The police were directing traffic at every intersection, and most of the street was closed to traffic which made it feel very safe to ride. There wasn't an entry fee, and we all got a t-shirt as well. I am posting a few pictures I took, but of course I forgot to have anyone take one of me.  The first photo is everyone starting to line up at the Start with part of the skyline in the background.  The next photo shows John in the white shirt with the two other couples.  Deanie in the green has her preventive bandages on her knees.  Some came in costume - like the girl in the wedding? outfit.   Of course there were news crews to document the day.  And finally, here is a link to more photos the city put on Flickr.

Vintage Photo Sunday

I have many old photographs that I have bought over the years, and that I like to use in my fabric collage artwork.  I thought it might be nice to share some of these photographs with you, thus "Vintage Photo Sunday" is born.  You can feel free to copy them and use them as you like.  It is such a shame to have these photographs 'lost' in albums when they should be enjoyed.

I am starting off with three photos today.  I have used the photo of the cute little girl and her dog in previous work, as well as the one depicting the snack wagon at the bottom of the post.  The one of the girls next to the car is from an album with photos of the Carroll Iowa area.  As far as I can tell, the album contains photographs of young women who probably attended the Catholic school nursing program.  It took a bit of detective work on my part to figure that out, and I don't have too many details.  Perhaps if there are any blog readers from the Carroll Iowa area, they can provide further information about that area's photographs as I post them.

I hope you will enjoy these photographs as much as I do.

Pink Lady Treasury

I am featured in an Etsy Treasury - Pink Lady Treasury. Here is a screen shot of it with my Forties Woman fabric collage in the third row on the left. Also, there is a link if you would like to go to the Treasury.  (The link has expired.)

New Quilties From Old Photographs

I love working with old photographs, and incorporate them with vintage fabric, lace, buttons and ephemera into quilties.  I have a lot of photographs from albums I bought at an antique store a few years ago.  Most of the photos are taken in the early 1900s.  From clues I discovered in one of the albums, I have determined that it is from Carroll County Iowa.  The people in these photographs look happy and full of life.  Soon I will share some of the actual photographs, but today I am going to share little quilties that I made.  They are 4" x 6" and are photographed on a blue denim background.

Genealogy & Memories

I have been working on my genealogy project the past few days. I started about two years ago by going into the four directions of my grandparents, and it has been an interesting journey so far. Since discovering that my ggg grandmother was from not only Kentucky, but also from the same county where we spend each summer, I have been hooked. This ggg grandmother is from my mother's father, and my mother would have been fascinated with this discovery.


This is a picture of my mother's family - that is my mother in the back row on the right. This was taken sometime during World War II, as both my Uncle John and Aunt Britt are in their military uniforms. I am not sure if this was taken early in the war years before my uncle was a prisoner of war in Germany, or after he returned. With the death of my Aunt Britt on Easter of this year, everyone in my mother's family is gone now. It is hard for me to believe they are all gone - ancestors now. Still, my vivid memories of each of them transcends time.

Romantic Quiltie - Lady on Hanky

I found a little time this afternoon to do a little sewing.  I made this little romantic quiltie depicting a woman.  Her image is printed on white cotton and then collaged with vintage fabric, a piece from a hanky, lace, rick rack and a pearl button.

The finished piece measures about 5" x 7".

Cloth Doodle Swap Received

I recently participated in a cloth doodle swap with my Cloth Paper Studio group. I just made one to swap for one, and received mine today. Isn't it beautiful? Margaret Field made it. I just love it! It is in my sewing room on an easel that is actually a metal plate that was used to fasten railroad ties together.

Early 1900s Ephemera Tags

I made these little tags today from images that I cut from an old Piggly Wiggly recipe booklet. The booklet has various advertisements and I decided to use some of the smaller ones to make tags. The booklet isn't marked with a date, but some of the photographs depict people wearing clothing that looks like early 1900s.

I listed these on my Etsy shop this evening.

Butterflies Love Butterfly Bush

This Butterfly Bush is just outside my kitchen window, and I enjoy watching the activity while doing dishes. There have been quite a few of this type of butterfly the past few days. John went out and snapped this picture for me.

Hemet Stock Farm in Pastel

I created a wall hanging of the Hemet Stock Farm for our Rineyville, KY cottage. The photograph is of the old Hemet Stock Farm gate that I took a few years ago, and I printed it on white cotton. I love the muted greens and bird motif of the old drapery sample that I used for the background. Various fabric scraps that I coffee dyed are layered behind the stock farm picture. Additional embellishments include old buttons and antique lace. The piece measures approximately 16" 21" excluding the wooden hanger. The wooden hanger is a piece from the old fence that surrounds the stock farm. I was Lucky enough one day to happen by when workers were replacing parts of the fence, and they let me take some of the old pieces. You can see more of the Stock Farm series here.

Blog Anniversary - New Tintypes

Today is the two year anniversary of my blog. No fanfare because I forgot! When I looked up the anniversary date last night, I was surprised to see that it is today and that it has been two years already.

I bought these tintype photographs on Ebay a couple of days ago, and they were in my mailbox today. I have projects in mind for these little treasures. And since there isn't any information about any of them, I'll just have to make something up.


This website has interesting facts about women's clothes in tintype photographs during the Civil War era.
http://www.geocities.com/myrtleavenueclothiers/OGCivilWarWomen.html

The women in my tintypes seem to have different hair styles and somewhat different dresses. Any of you have any information to uncover the clues?

Vintage Button and 1927 Ephemera Tags

I made a few tags the other day that I covered with cut outs from a 1927 woman's magazine. Then I sewed vintage buttons to each one of the tags and topped them with a piece of vintage narrow rick rack to replace the string hanger that came attached to the tags. These were a lot of fun to make, and I think I will be making more of them out of some old ephemera that I have been collecting.