Shopping for Vintage Linens - Part IV

It was a busy weekend. Besides working one full day, I did a lot of cleaning and organizing in my studio (I'd like to catch that messy gremlin who whirls through my studio every time I do a project, LOL!). Today it was errand-running and housework, but I did get some stitching in this afternoon. I'm working on a beautiful block that belongs to Karen South . We're in a Hearts themed round robin together for the Yahoo group Crazy Quilting International. Her block is done in rich jewel tones and has a centerpiece heart beautifully stitched for Karen by another of her RR buddies. I'll be able to show the block and my work on it in a couple days.

But for now, let's continue with the eye candy from Mormon Trader Antiques in Salt Lake, where my friend Joan (and DH Les) really ROCK the Antique World! LOL.

I'm going to caption each photo BEFORE it appears, so you can read about what you're seeing. Some of my insights will be brilliant, such as the following: Jester Marionette. (see?) (truth is, I just ran around snapping pictures of interesting things. In this shop, most EVERYTHING is interesting, so I had to whittle it down to a reasonable number of pictures. And I don't know the stories or information to tell you on some of them)....

Table of vintage plates (and other goodies tucked in)

Pinkness: glass and porcelain

Shelf #1 of Vintage Christmas (and other) decorations

Shelf #2 of Vintage Christmas (& other Holiday) decorations

A lovely, vintage SILK apron with incredible ribbonwork.

Close-up of the ribbonwork on the vintage silk apron

One rack of vintage adult and children's clothing (yes, there's more not pictured)

I loved this!

Here's a dressform with a lovely lace collar that I neglected to show before ...

Some hankie cases circa 1940's & 1950's

Parasol (don't know if it was a child's, but it looks so to me) & quilt

Moire book cover, painted

This is a corset, obviously. But look at the size and proportions compared to Joan's hands. Seem small to you? That's because it was a salesman's sample. The salesmen would carry several of these, in different styles, to the department store buyers. From the samples, the regular stock would be ordered.

Just a shelf o' goodies - hats, capelet, and a CQ Bear!

And so we come to the end of our antique store tour. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!! Next weekend there is an Antique Fair at the South Towne Expo Center (Sandy, UT) and Mormon Trader Antiques will be there - with new things (well, new OLD if you know what I mean) ...... can't wait!!

Hugs,

Shopping for Vintage Linens - Part 3

Tonight I want to share with you some pictures of some of the lovely vintage laces that my friend Joan had on display at her shop, Mormon Trader Antiques in Salt Lake, when we visited last weekend. This should be a drool-worth post for anyone with an appreciation for old laces and linens........

Mostly pictures, few words this time. :-)

Below: Bobbin lace, anyone??

OK, gloves don't count as linens or lace, but they were right THERE, so I snapped a picture!

The truth is, for every picture I snapped, there was probably five times that much that I didn't get a picture of.......

Joan makes sure that the lace and linens are clean and crisp.

Below: Tub o' Spools....... and not the only one, I might add! Not much blog time tonight, so I'll keep it short and sweet. Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Next time I should finish up pictures of my antiquing adventure, or just about. :-) Right now, must go stitch!

Hugs,

Puzzle Piece #4 and Miscellaneous

Tonight I'm taking a break from the pictures of my Adventure in Antiques last weekend to catch up on a few things.

First, I want to thank dear Karrin Hurd for her generous package of red and white fabrics. She saw the block I was working on here, and was so thoughtful to send these GREAT fabrics.

These fit in perfectly with the work I'm doing, and I can't wait to finish up my current obligations to get back to the reds!! Thank you so much, Karrin!

And I was lucky enough to win one of 20 CQ Squishies in the drawing held by the Alliance for American Quilts. They are promoting crazy quilting by hosting a contest this year. These squishies were prepared and donated by Allison Aller, who won their contest last year. She is also now a Board member (lucky for us - gives someone else a chance to win, LOL!). Check out their exciting contest and the site. Here is my lovely squishie:

Next, I have finished up my fourth and final puzzle piece for Pat Winter's Pieces of Friendship swap. The blocks are exactly 4" square in size. They seem to get easier with each one. Gee, if I did a few hundred, I might eventually get them perfectly square, LOL!!!!!!!!!!

And lastly, I've had a few people ask me what I actually bought as I browsed and drooled at the Mormon Trader Antique store last weekend (luscious eye candy posts to resume tomorrow). Well, I got the dress form and peacock fan that I pointed out, plus:


Vintage laces (check 'em out up close), vintage trims, a vintage purse frame and a picture that I can scan and make silk prints out of..... plus:

A hankie case with ribbon trim, and some lace with pink rosebud appliques in it. The case is probably from the fifties and the lace from the fifties or sixties. There's another amazing piece of lace that I bought, but I'm not showing it (yet) because I'm thinking of using it in a purse for the Crazy Quilting International (CQI) purse contest. And because of its unusual nature and particular motif, it would too recognizable. So it'll wait for now.... ;-)

Off to stitch! Hugs,

Vintage Linen Shopping - Part 2

Welcome back, shall we continue shopping? This is Part II of who-knows-how-many parts; I took a lot of pictures when I went shopping at my friend Joan's antique store, Mormon Trader Antiques in (where else? LOL) Salt Lake City.......

This is just one of many cases throughout the storeloaded with dishes, glassware, books, trinkets and decorative items. Plus the case itself (a china cabinet or vitrine) is gorgeous. I get so caught up in the vintage linens, lace and clothing, that I sometimes have to force myself to STOP and look and appreciate the "little things".

Of course, I was drawn to this table with footed glass dishes (is that a trifle dish on the left?) that were filled with pieces of trim and lace and ribbons...... all packaged neatly to keep them safe from oily hands.
One of my friends asked me what goodies I bought. Well, the dress form that I talked about yesterday, plus other things that I'll point out here and there as we come to them. And then I'll do a picture of it all together at the end. Anyway, that white lace with the little pink floral appliques sewn on is one thing that I bought. I also loved the red trim, and may go back and get that at a later time....


Here is a sample of unusual trim. Probably a bit heavy for crazy quilting purposes, though...And look at these peacock feather fans. I love peacocks, as many of you know. So yes, I did purchase one of these! They are as lovely on the back as they are on the front. I believe mine is the one on the far left.

If you're into shabby chic, primitive vintage, or just cute, quaint pieces, you'll love this child's metal sand pail. It was reasonably priced and got snatched up quickly by a lady who was going to add it to her garden art.

This is one of the finest pieces of handmade lace I've ever seen. Although Battenberg is not my favorite lace, well...... lace is like chocolate. There's no such thing as bad lace or bad chocolate types! This piece looked like a vest, but it was most likely made as a bodice overlay. There were no flaws or stains. A work of art!

Can you imagine the work that was involved in making this? What a labor of love!The following set of pictures chronicles the memorabilia from the 1894 wedding of Harriett Belle Hulbert to Mr. Willard J. Kling. Check out the well-preserved marriage certificate.

The wedding gown had a lot of dry rot, so the lady from whom my friend Joan bought it (family member) had lovingly hand-picked all the french lace off the gown. It was breathtaking.

Joan had assembled all the saved memorabilia into a box that was very nicely displayed (we'll see that in a moment). And then, a most unusual surprise. I mentioned it yesterday. It was a small box that caught our eye with the following writing on it:

It was the wedding cake box. And what do you think was inside? Yes, the wedding cake.

Now, keep in mind that they didn't have freezers or refrigerators (maybe ice boxes) in 1894. While this is certainly not perfectly preserved, it is amazing to think that it has survived this well for 115 years and not actually molded or rotted away.

This is the entire wedding set, including a picture of Harriett B. Hulbert Kling. There's a garter, gloves, ribbons, her slip, and a couple other things. All beautifully presented with the marriage certificate. My friend Chris snatched it up immediately, and that was that. She was not going to let it get away, LOL!!

And that's it for now. I'll show you the laces in my next post. I've also finished my fourth and final CQ'ed Puzzle Piece for Pat Winter's Pieces of Friendship Swap, so I'll snap a picture of that.

Until next time,

Vintage Linen Shopping - Part 1

All week I've been waiting to visit my friend Joan's antique shop, Mormon Trader Antiques (MTA), also known as Estates & Remainders (because she and her DH Les liquidate estates). Last week when I visited, they were madly preparing for the big sale that began on Saturday (and will continue next Saturday), and so last week it was a bit hectic. When they have a sale, let me tell you, they pull out all the stops!! No wonder they are so well respected in the Salt Lake area - and in the entire Southwest, too. My anticipation was high, and I was not disappointed.

And, I thought of all of you and how much I know you would enjoy these pictures. Joan was so sweet and helpful with the picture-taking, as were our mutual friends who also happened to be there, Chris and Laura Lee. My only complaint - and Joan, I know you're going to read this - is that Joan herself didn't really want to stop for a picture. But with as busy as things were, it was certainly understandable.

I'm going to spread this visit over several posts; not to tease you (although there's that, too!), but because I took so many pictures and there are really some interesting back stories and information to go along with the pictures.

Shall we go shopping??

Well, I practically sprinted past the outdoor displays to get inside where the "good stuff" (read: vintage linens, laces, buttons and all the "girly" things we love) was.... And I was greeted by ...

Five vintage dress forms. And three of them were CHILDREN'S dress forms - they are quite rare. The middle one is obviously for a boy. How often do you see that? (never before, for me). The three kid dress forms were already sold (to a woman who actually bought a total of five forms!).

Isn't the lace on this dress just beautiful? It amazes me how much time and effort, as well as quality fabrics, laces and trims - were put into the clothing of this era. Whether it was a ball gown, everyday dress or underclothing - there was detail and incredible workwomanship.

Next to these dress forms in front was a display of lovely vintage tassles and tiebacks taken from the Walker Mansion (referenced in an earlier post). Click on this picture for closer detail. By the way, you can click on any picture to view it in larger format.

OK, here's a pop quiz. Do you know what Joan is holding in the picture below??? Here's a hint: it's an undergarment. I'll give the answer at the end of the post.

Here was another of the lovely dress forms. Joan was kind enough to give me a quick lesson on vintage dress forms; what some of the differences are and how to approximate their era. Older dress forms have smaller waists. The dress forms with the 18" waists are older, for example, than those that we see from the thirties and forties and beyond. Also, dress forms from the 19th century usually had the cages below the body of the form, to accommodate the long styles. Once dress lengths shortened, these cages were often removed.

The dress form clad in this purple velvet outfit had a small waist, but was covered in a nicer gray fabric than many of her older ones. You can't see the form itself, or the small waist for that matter, thanks in part to my lack of photography skills (but also because the jacket is unbuttoned). Look at the length of that jacket!! And the pleats at the bottom of the skirt. Oh yum! I'll have to get more info on this from Joan..... or Susan E, are you into vintage fashion??

Another beautiful display of a vintage dress on a vintage form. Full shot (above) and bodice (or "shirtwaist") detail below.

And so it should come as no surprise that by now I was so excited, I knew I needed a vintage dress form. The purpose of my shopping expedition was to find the perfect birthday present (DH & I let each other pick out our own gifts when we determine we're actually going to spend some money). My original thought was to get another ribbonwork lingerie case, but after a brief consult with DH, it was decided that we'd splurge this year (as we did last year for him). Casting my guilt aside, I fell in love with this dress form:

And so it is now mine. Of course, the dress was separate, and I did not buy that; I think I'd rather find something other than a mourning dress (although isn't it lovely?? Closeup below).

The dress form has an 18" waist, original wooden finial, and very old (but in good shape) cloth. It originally had a cage for the lower dress area, but it is sadly no longer attached. Maybe I can find one someday.

Moving along, there was a pile or two of vintage quilts. I didn't even have time to go through these, but I will do that (and get some pictures) on a subsequent visit. The top one on the left is a crazy quilt with a lot of satin fabrics. I did snap one closeup, but it didn't turn out, so I'll have to do better next time. And notice the dress form at the right?? That's another child dress form; it was one I had initially decided to buy, but then changed my mind to get the ladies'.

Ok, time to answer the Pop Quiz question. That odd-looking thing is a bustle. Did you get it? I certainly didn't know what it was until Joan told me!

We'll conclude this post with a picture of this lovely beaded item (ornament?) that was in one of the many cases of treasures. Isn't it sweet???

OMG, there is so much more. In the next several posts, I'll show you a handmade Battenberg lace bodice, boxes and baskets and spools of fine vintage laces, an 1894 wedding collection that includes lace, slip, gloves, pictures, marriage certificate and an unbelievable surprise, a silk apron with incredible ribbon embroidery and so much more!!

But for now, it's late. DH finished up our taxes tonight after we've both done our parts on it over the last week. Luckily, we're getting a generous refund, and it will go in the savings to assuage my conscience!! ;-)

Until next time, lots of hugs,