Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend

This faux diamond necklace is for sale for less than $1000 at WWW.VandM.com/GabrielGibson.

The canary and white faux diamonds are finely set in sterling silver. This is the best faux diamond necklace I have ever seen!

Marilyn would love it!

Building A Collection of Crocheted Potholders--HUH?

I probably have 300 crocheted potholders. Most are red and white, but I have never been known to turn one down just because it wasn't red and white. In fact, I have them in almost every color, shape and genre. One or two are so risque I can't show them on this blog. Now, I realize collecting potholders is odd habit for a former museum curator, especially considering that I spent 20 years studying, writing and curating exhibitions on pre-1840s printed cottons, ie: chintz. Potholders just don't have the same appeal. But, there is a story behind this odd collection.

When my children were small, I needed something to occupy them during my endless visits to antique shops and flea markets. Since I drug them everywhere, what better way to keep them from complaining than to challenge them to a scavenger hunt! The idea came to me in one summer in Maine. While driving from Bath to Wiscasset, we passed a small, but interesting flea market. They begged me not to stop, to no avail. Trying to avoid a revolt from the back seats, I asked them to help me find potholders--red and white was best, but any color would do. Whoever found the first one would get a treat. 

The boy, who was about 10 at the time and extremely competitive, took off. The girl, 8, strolled leisurely around the flea market, looking for a toy or a soccer ball, anything but potholders. She wasn't the least bit interested.

Secretly, I hoped this challenge would spark an interest in collecting. I come from a family of collectors and thought genetics would kick in. The boy scored first. He found my first figurative potholder in the bottom of a messy box of linens. It was a red and white fish. I haven't seen another since.

For years we searched for potholders. They were, and still are, inexpensive. But, what do you do with them? 

I hung the red ones on my kitchen walls--against red walls they were adorable and a great conversation starter. The others were tossed in a large drawer, where they still are today.

My red vintage kitchen is soon to be a grey/blue mid-century modern-inspired delight, and the potholders just won't do!  So what do I do with 300 crocheted potholders?

Before I sell them or give them away, except for the fish, of course, they will have one last hurrah!

Here are pictures of this year's Christmas tree. Maybe I will make a dvd of the collection with history and sell it on my website. 

The tree during the day.

Some of the potholders.

My favorite dress.

I love the geometric ones--very abstract.

Two more cute dresses.

The boy's fish. 

A Poinsettia

Blues

More blues

Unusual Black and whites

Oranges, browns and yellows

I added small red balls.

All photographs by the author. 

Pieced "Evening Star" Pennsylvania Quilt, c. 1890 | VandM.com

Pieced "Evening Star" Pennsylvania Quilt, c. 1890 | VandM.com

Our First Snow of December

A few leaves are still left.

Have a nice weekend.

They Say It Is Going To Snow

We are supposed to get our first snow of the season tomorrow and I can't wait. The DC area doesn't usually get a lot of snow, and since global warming we have received even less than usual. Even though I have a ton of shopping and decorating to do, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a big snowfall.  I'm going to snuggle in with the cats and the beagle and play Farmville all weekend. Maybe I will decorate the tree.

It is Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas: Seeing Red

I love Christmas! Not just because of the usual reasons everyone loves Christmas, but because my favorite color- RED -is everywhere. Starting with the December magazines, which are filled with red rooms, red flowers, models in red party dresses, ads styled in red, red and more red, and I can't get enough. Here are some of my favorite reds to get you in the mood for the Christmas season.

New York apartment designed by Miles Redd. Uhmm! Get a load of the huge wreath on the mirror. Perfect! The soft blue sofa gives the room a modern feel.

Love the red shades on the library lights. Note the chintz curtains-more chintz to come. 
I wonder if I can make a tablecloth just like this one?

There is nothing better than deep green against lipstick red. The olive green upholstery on the chair is super. Red seems to be the perfect color in libraries and rooms decorated with an animal scheme. This room feels like a gentlemen's club room. I once decorated my Christmas tree with equestrian ornaments. I love the Hunt.

Maybe it is because I associate red with horses and hunting. I took this picture last year at the Potomac Hunt's Thanksgiving Day meet at Montivedeo, Austin Kiplinger's farm in Seneca, Maryland. Going to this is a Thanksgiving Day tradition. 

I adore the tufted sofa. It was custom made and has such nice lines. Red on red--that is the best. The blue chinese vase is a nice relief. This room is very Diana Vreeland!

Zebras on red. 

The red door. 

Red leather is always classy and perfectly appropriate as chair upholstery. There are so many things I love about this entry hall. The white sunburst mirror is glam, the painted floors give me a ton of ideas for my own entry floor, the edging on the door makes the hall look current, yet it evokes the 1960s. The blue-glazed walls are so beautiful I want to scream!

So English classical!

I love the white classical furniture trimmed in gold leaf against the dark red walls. Black is just so sophisticated with red--the framed drawings are yummy.  I cut this photo out of a magazine many years ago and still love it.

Here is an even more traditional red room. Again, red with soft white and chintz.

This would be a nice Christmas gift. 

  A brooch with invisibly-set diamonds and rubies, made by Van Cleef and Arpels, Paris in 1936, it was owned by the Duchess of Windsor.

More lovely jewels from the Duchess of Windsor collection, by Van Cleef and Arpels, Paris. Inscribed, "Hold Tight." The Duke gave her this bracelet during the abdication crisis in 1936.

A ruby and diamond bangle made in 1925 by Lacloche. Exqusite!

I'm inspired to collect butterflies, especially swallowtails.

The most beautiful necklace in the world.

I can FEEL it's coldness  draped around my throat.

Mexico loves red, too

This Mexican wooden dish by Josefa Ayala is fabulous. I want 8.

Amazing baskets of interwoven palm strands from Oaxaca. 

Indian Chintz  "Tree of Life"

Mordant and resist dyed cotton hanging from the Coromandel coast of India 1720-50. The natural dyes give this chintz a soft, yet bold aesthetic. Seriously, India did it best!

Chintz in Palmette design

Possibly a bedcover or hanging, Mordant and resist dyed, 1700-25, Coromandel Coast. Made in India for use in the Netherlands. This is breathtakingly beautiful.

Chintz dress or furnishing fabric fragment, 1720-30, Coromandel Coast, India 

I want to cover my sofa in this and lacquer my living room walls red to match. Pillows in a leopard print, a blue and cream paisley Tabriz rug, black lacquer coffee table with glass top. Nice!

Dress Yoke, 1710-20, Coromandel Coast

The scale is more likely to suggest the yoke was cut from furnishing fabric. Speaking of clothes...

Plaids are back and I want this dress.

I want this one even more. Note the safety pins-and great shoes!

 A little touch of red can just make an outfit.

Let the Season begin!

Photos from Harper's Bazaar, Traditional Home, Elle Decor (all December issues 2009), Understanding Jewelry by Bennett and Mascetti, Arts and Crafts of Mexico by Chloe Sayer, and  Chintz: Indian Textiles for the West by Rosemary Crill. Potomac Hunt image by the author.