Just a little more about Aunt Mary

Like I said in my last post, I think I inherited the needlework gene from the Toth side of the family, my aunts.
I found these two pieces of fabric, only 36 inches wide.
I would like to make something from them, just not sure yet.

Look at all these crocheted pieces.  There are collars, doilies, love the orange basket.  I found dresser scarves, potholders, pieces that look to be used as edging on something.  They are drying out on a sheet here.

I purchased some powder that you are to use with cold water and soak old linens in to try to get the stains out.
A lot of these pieces were badly stained.  I may have to let them soak even more.  So much beautiful work.  Some pieces look like they were trial pieces.  It would be fun to use some of them in projects as well.

I think at sometime there had been a young gentleman in the picture.  I found pamphlets about hope chests, purchasing a ring, bridal magazines, and this pink gown that had never been worn.  There were several slips that were still in boxes that had never been used. Love the hats, and the suitcase is perfect.  A lot better then some of the ones I had purchased several years ago. (I stack them, and they became a night table by the guest bed.) 

Here is some of the needlework they did.  There are towels kitchen and hand, comb and brush holders, dresser scarves, and wall samplers.

The piece with the lady on it is a little pillowcase.  As you can see a lot of them are badly stained.  It will take a long while to try to get those stains out.  The pieces have all been starched and ironed.

Don't you love the apron?  Actually, I found two of them, the other looks like a mouse may have tried to nest in it.

These pieces have been embroidered, but never cut out and finished.  They are for the backs of chairs and the arms of chairs. They used to come marked on a large cloth to do the embroidery, then cut out and finished with lace or crocheted edge.

How about this sweet baby blanket.  It is a single piece of cloth that was embroidered and bound.

Look at all the potholders. The two green and white in the middle, look like a sugar bowl, and the one underneath a creamer.  They are made so you could fit your hand in them.

China was limited.  The butter dish with the lid, I found the pieces in different places, says Anchor Pottery, Trenton, New Jersey.  Love the bowl in the middle, no markings.  The dish and saucer are limoge,  Those were only two pieces I found, and the small saucer like plate, had been used as a plant holder.   The little pitcher with the cover, is Nippon. The glassware, I have no idea.  In my research I found there were quite a few pottery companies in New Jersey through the years.

Now check this piece out.  Any ideas??

Look what it is, a sewing box!   There are not hooks on the back, only the rope handle on the top, there is a latch to  close it. Most of the thread was in it when I found it.  The buttons, snaps and needles and needle threaders are things I found at her house, so I added them.   I have never seen anything like it.

As you can tell I am still going through things we brought home. Have a little more information that I can add to my family tree. I will take what I can get.
I hope you have not minded this trip and all that went with it.
I did get some sewing done while I was gone, and have been working on a few things.  There are some new hops coming, and I things to be finishing up for therm.
Have a great rest of the week.
Mary

Some things from Aunt Mary

This is my Aunt Mary's graduation picture in 1952.
I have found it interesting going through the things that I was able to retrieve from her house.
The third floor held the most treasures for me.
I found a scrapbook that she had made at some time in her early school years.
I found the old remnants of at least one old photo album.  Unfortunately, the pages had been ripped out, and was a mess. I have retrieved the photos that did have names to identify the persons, and of all the family members I did know.

I believe in one of the other posts I had mentioned, we believe she was a hoarder.  We found paper and plastic bags, and boxes that had been saved.  In most cases the boxes had all been opened and if there had been anything in them, it was dumped.  Both of my aunts bought things and saved them for times when they were needed.
The above photo is of a pair of pillowcases. The photo believe, shows the price, and in pencil the date they were purchased.

Love the old flowers, these were used as corsages.

Found an evening bag, and two pairs of gloves still in their packages, never worn. In her scrapbook, I found pictures of her going to formal dances, and her dance card was always full.

Remember these dolls. This one had it's own box and the story of the doll, Mary Todd Lincoln.

The doll on the left, was broken, as you can see.  I found her head, and arms.  I remember collecting these dolls. They came in a square box, the skirts flared around them. They were either represented different countries or storybook characters. I prized them, and kept them away from my sister.  I almost think they were the first thing I ever collected. 

Actually found a lot of things related to sewing.  Old hoops, and embroidery floss.  Wait until you see all the embroidered things they had done. 

Love this picture frame.  Now to decide what to put in it.

The rosary is pretty,  Those coins, well that is all the money we found.
I don't think I will be investing it too soon.

I am looking forward to sharing some more of the things I found.  Especially, the needlework.
I may have found where the "love of needlework" gene may have come from.
I did not know they did that type of handwork.  From what I can tell, they both did it.
There was only 12 years difference in age between, Aunt Mary and myself. We wrote to each other all through the years. She loved cartoons that were related to work. She had a great sense of humor.
She loved angels, and believed in them.
And considered herself an "unclaimed treasure."
Mary

A couple more rows and going home.

This is from Roses of Sharin' Quilt Shop in Danville, PA.

  We had decided to head home on the 13th, Wednesday.  It was time.  We had done about all we could do in Trenton.
Unfortunately, the lawyer was not very helpful, about what we needed to get done. Needless to say, I am not a happy camper. So home we are going.  We did get through Pennsylvania, and into Ohio.
Ron was kind enough to make one stop in Pa. I really had checked out shop that were along the route we were taking.

Love this one.  Don't have many winter rows.
This is from Stitch 'N Time, South Bend, Indiana

This shop was so nice.  You know it is amazing how all the shops are different.  There are so many fabric companies. Not everyone can carry everything.  They all do have wonderful products, and the samples, make you want to try even more patterns.

Love the boats and fishes. This is the row from The Quilt Foundry, in Ohio.  This was my only one from Ohio. We did arrive home on Thursday evening.
We made a stop in Indiana, well 3 stops.  Two shops were in Shipshewana, and one in South Bend.

When I got home I did take a tally of the shops we got to visit to pick up patterns.
All totaled it was 26 shops.  I ended up helping the economy quite a bit.  If they had a kit to do their row, I purchased it.  If there was a license plate for the shop, I purchased it as well.  In many cases, they had sold out of the license plates, and were on back order.  I purchased them, and they will be sent to me when the shops get them back in.
This row by row experience, I think, has been a success.  Everything I have heard is positive. I have heard it will be happening again next year, and all 50 states will be participating.  Have you seen the facebook pages showing some of the finished quilts.  There are some amazing quilts showing up.
Now to start working on mine.

I have another post I am going to do about some of the things we did find in the house.
I think you will enjoy seeing some of the needlework.  I even found two lengths of 36 in wide fabric.
All is well, we are taking a few days to get back on track.
Mary

Hungarian Restaurant

Not far from our hotel we came across Barbara's  Hungarian Restaurant.
I think I have said before that I am full blooded Hungarian.
I have some great recipes that I make,  from some very old cookbooks.

They have a limited menu.  Ron was not too crazy about it, as he did not recognize anything on the menu.

There was all sorts of memento's on the walls.  Some of the pictures were of places I have been in Budapest.
I thought this was a fun adventure too. 

The Hungarian Flag

I had the goulash, made the true Hungarian way.  It was so good.
The rye bread they served with it was delicious.

Ron, had a pea soup.  He figured he couldn't go too wrong with that.

My cousin Diane, and her son Alex, met us on Monday to go back to the house one more time.
Nothing had changed over the weekend.  Diane and Alex helped get a few more things from the house.
Ron had stayed on the first floor, clearing out an area in the front of the house.  We went up to the third floor. We seemed to have more luck up there finding things.
I found a couple dictionaries and books that had names and dates in it that I can use for my research on our ancestry.
Diane found some old Christmas ornaments that were pretty neat.  I found a box of linens that my Aunts had embroidered. Found a few pieces of china and more pictures. One picture is of my grandmother when she died.  The funeral homes used to have professional photographer's come in and take pictures of the casket.  What was interesting was there was the written order for the tombstone.  We had seen this tombstone at the cemetery and wondered why the spelling of their names was so different from what we knew.  They spelled Mary, as Maria, and the Hungarian spelling for my grandfather's name. Balazc.

As we started to pack up to go home, we are giving thought about going back to Trenton.  If we do, we may take one more trip to the house.  One consideration is to let the city take over the house, or we have found out that there are people that will come in take a look, give a bid and possibly buy it right then and there.

I really was hoping that all would have been good.  We would find the things she had said were valuable, although, we did not know what she had meant by that.  I hoped I would find more photos and information about our family history.
More to come.
Mary

Finishing up in Trenton

On Saturday we decided to take a break. You know I have been collecting the patterns for the Row by Row Experience.  Ron has been a great sport about stopping at quilt shops for me.

Once he gave me our route, I could see which shops were on the way. 

I had said I would like to go down to the sea shore. 

Would you believe there were a couple of shops along the way. 

Olde City Quilts, in Burlington

This was a great one   This shop went on forever.  It actually had three store fronts. Each store front carried different fabrics. One was for the long-arm business. Their row is with the leaves.  I have found that a lot of places make kits for doing just the row, and then a kit to make the row into a table runner.

Here is another.  Love those witches.
from The Village Quilter, in Mt Holly.

Here is the last one for New Jersey.  It is from a quilt shop down by the ocean.
A fitting row. Quilting Possibilities, in Forked River, New Jersey.

Had to stop at Papa's Tomato Pies in Robbinsville,  Oh what a tomato pie.  The taste is so good.
I think we are going to have to go back to New Jersey the end of September.  We will be stopping here again.

One of the towns we drove though had this tree growing out of an old smoke stack.  You just never know what you will see.

We finally go to the ocean.  We had to drive over a causeway to get to Long Beach Island. Talk about bumper to bumper traffic.  Just like I remembered when I was a kid.

We didn't get to spend nearly enough time there.
I miss it.

My feet in the ocean.

It is just so beautiful.

See the traffic on the other side of the road?  That is what we were in on our way to Long Beach.
It was such a gorgeous fun day.

On Sunday, we went to Washington Crossing State Park.
Another gorgeous day.  The park is a lot bigger then I remembered it as a kid.

Here we are.  We could see across the Delaware River.  There were people picnicking, and enjoying the park and the river.

The park even has an open air theater.

One the Pennsylvania side of the park there is this great statue of the crossing.
It was so nice to have a couple days to relax and get it together.
More tomorrow.
Mary