My quilting thoughts and inspirations sprinkled with a glimpse of life down on the farm

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Treasures from the past (and exploded apples)

I hope every-one had a lovely Easter weekend. I enjoyed the relaxed pace of the weekend, catching up with family, and the odd bite of chocolate didn't go amiss, either :-)
I was down at my parents' place again last week and while doing a spot of minor furniture reorganisation (the things we need to do to accomodate Irons in Bedrooms!) I came across these lovely treasures in a drawer...
The doilies below were made by my Great Grandmother (Dixon) many years ago. Mum said she made sets of these for various family members and these were made for my Nana's house. Mum remembers them always being around so were likely made in about the 1930s.
The technique used for these is Hairpin Crochet which creates lengths with loops at either side; these are then 'woven 'or looped together to create the finished article.
The photo to the left shows a 'modern day' hairpin--- this is one I used as a teenager when I had a play with this technique. Unfortunately I cant put my hands on the surround I made for a kitchen glass (to turn it into a pretty vase) that I made at the time.

Another treasure (below) in the drawer was this lovely Fillet Crochet yoke which Nana Dixon also made. Mum tells me beautiful yokes like these were made, and attached to the clothing (in this case a nightgown). When the nightgown was worn out, the yoke was unpicked and attached to a new one.

The photo below shows a few other little bits... Mum monogrammed the hankie for her Mum when she was a youngster (E for Eleanor but she was always known as Nellie, which suited her so much better, in my opinion). She also made the colourful table runner when she was at Primary School; they called it 'huckerback embroidery' but is apparently also known as Swedish Weaving. The beaded jug cover was made by (Great) Nana Dixon again; I've often thought I would like to make one of these but have never got around to it.

We were well into Autumn Harvest down at my parents'. Dad has planted a large variety of fruit trees and we enjoy discussing, comparing and tasting them all. These apples, seen here with a standard supermarket apple, are known for their size -

Monty's Surprise Apple.These 'average- sized' apples weighed over
600 grams EACH!
[Do you like my new wall colour in my kitchen? Tricky to find something
that looked good with the inherited bench colour - but I'm loving it!!]
I brought a couple back up home with me and have had a bit of fun making Baked Apples for tea. (An Alison and Simon Holst crockpot recipe).
The first day I put them on to cook way too early (I do have a tendency with the Crockpot to put it on in the morning and then ignore it all day).

 By 3pm the apple looked like this - exploded - and it was still 4 hours till tea-time - tasted good though!!
The second day I only let the apple cook for 3 hours - still yummy and looked so much better!
Perfect - a very filling dessert for two!!
I am linking up today to Melody's Tuesday Treasures. If you want to see more treasures simply follow this link and go to her blog.
Have a great day everyone,
and Happy Stitching,

21 comments:

  1. What great treasures, especially your Great Grandmothers doilies, they are gorgeous. I have never heard of hairpin crochet. Thanks for sharing. Amazing apples! Tracee xx

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  2. They certainly are beautiful treasures!
    The apples are huge - wow!

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  3. What precious treasures. We harvested some apples yesterday also Raewyn - not as big as yours - but they did make a delightful apple crumble...yum!

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  4. What special treasures you found, they last longer than chocolate too!
    Liking the wall colour! looks great with your yellow bench.
    Mmmmm yum apples, we have had a few biggies on our tree too. I made a apple, pear & crystallized ginger crumble the other week , it was scrumptious!

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  5. Oh my! What treasures you discovered! You are so blessed with this legacy of heritage!

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  6. Love the red wall in your kitchen. What beautiful treasures you have and the craft talent has been passed on. Now we know where it comes from.

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  7. I love all your treasures Raewyn...my Nan used to do filet work too. The hair pin crochet is just gorgeous.....I cannot get over the size of those apples!!

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  8. Great treasures... nice to see they have been kept in the family.
    What beautiful apples, I'm sure they tasted much nicer than the bought ones!

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  9. Your treasures are gorgeous Raewyn and so much more special that they are all made by family members. The apple dessert looks delicious!

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  10. I love vintage doilies but to have such exquisite ones made by a dear relative....what a treasure! Incredible apples that look so good baked. Thank you for coming by my blog and leaving a lovely comment.
    Cath
    @ Bits 'n Bobs

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  11. Such beautiful treasures today. Your baked apples look delicious too. Thanks so much for playing along today.

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  12. Wow Raelene, what wonderful treasures! I am a member of an Embroidery Guild and am always in awe of the handwork done by generations past without the aid of current technology. Your Gran did a wonderful job, as did your mum.

    I have also always wanted to have a go at crocheted beaded jug covers but never got around to it. Hopefully one day I will relearn how to crochet and have a go at it. Thanks for sharing your treasures with us all. Cheers, Tracy.

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  13. What wonderful treasures , I love old lace and doilies and I especially love the crocheted yoke , how precious is that . Those apples look amazing and a real treat from the crock pot ,yummy. Great post.

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  14. Lots of nice posts;I went a few back! Love the Picnic Teddies,as well at looking at your beautiful landscape.Hope no more floods. Nice butterfly for Sunny`s Round Robin:-)
    Have a nice weekend,Raewyn!

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  15. Hi Raewyn, what lovely treasures your g.gran made, a very clever lady no doubt. Those apples are HUGE ! I must try that in the slow cooker. What filling did you put in the centre? I made pumkin soup in mine , very yummy too. sue~nz

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  16. Lovely treasures and I especially like the filet crochet (which I haven't done in a very long time)!

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  17. Such gorgeous finds Raewyn! Such intricate work, too. Amazing. Those baked apples look YUMMY, too. I do the same thing with my crock pot.. put it on in the morning and ignore it til dinner. :o)
    xo

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  18. Oh, those pink doilies are simply fabulous. So intricate.
    Huge apples. I love to eat apples that way.

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  19. Beautiful treasures! And, wow such a big apple, it looks delicious! I also LOVE your new wall colour.

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  20. I enjoyed seeing all your handmade family treasures thanks for sharing!

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  21. Treasures all. I recently received a roll of tatting that my grandmother (or perhaps great grandmother) made. So precious. I'm so glad I found your blog. Have a great week-end. B

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