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Borrego Springs, CA

Friday, June 15, 2012

An Heirloom Speaks, and I Listen

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Tried to post this last night and this morning, but no luck.  Sad smile

Remember that little cottage that I took a photo of yesterday with the Wedding Ring Quilt displayed on its side?  Well I returned there today since it was supposed to be open for Hand Crafted Items and Gifts.  Now granted, I’m not the shopping type, but I just had a feeling about this place located way off the beaten path in the hills surrounding the Cumberland River of Tennessee.  I was not disappointed.  It turned out to be a little gem for me.

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Of course, there was a welcoming committee.  Can you believe the tail on that peacock?  Sure wish he would have lifted it up for me, but apparently there were no hens around.  I later found out the girls are probably already setting on eggs.  It takes one of them to appear for the males to get all excited at this time of the year.  The two Guinea Fowl just didn’t elicit the same response.

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                              Not to be outdone, this striking chicken came to show off her little ones. 

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On the front porch of the house was ‘Harry’ standing guard.  He’s the king of the roost and doesn’t allow any other peacocks out front.  I found out he’s about 17 years old.  I never knew peacocks lived so long.  At least the males do.  The females are more often taken by predators because they won’t get off of the nest if they are incubating eggs.

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This fellow was strutting about the back yard.  He’s just a youngster.  Notice the short tail.  Mails don’t breed until they grow that long tail, and it takes a couple of years.

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When they get hungry and want some feed, they come to the back door and screech!  Apparently, they’re also very good alarm clocks under the bedroom window. (Much to the consternation of the man of the house.)

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Once I got inside the little cottage, there was an array of crafty items.  Cindy Horvatin is the artist, and has many talents.  Her specialty is custom designed stained glass art, but she also crochets and makes hand made goat milk soap from her own goats.

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Her clear glass items use old farm windows for the panes.  How’s that for recycling?  If I had a house, I’d love this stained glass window set in an old farm window frame depicting an exact replica of a log cabin quilt.  She does very fine work!  She doesn’t do quilting per se, but reproduces some quilt patterns in stained glass. 

I made several purchases including something special for Robyn (which is not pictured).  Robyn said she didn’t want any gifts, so I’m just going to say I don’t have room in the rig for what I got her.  Winking smile  Among the other items I chose, was a bar of apricot and cream goat’s milk soap for my sister.  Not that I think she needs to smell better…Open-mouthed smile

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Now for the rest of the story…  I got a much better photo of the wooden quilt reproduction today that is located on the side of the cottage.  The inspiration for this panel came from a quilt that Cindy’s great grandmother made for Cindy’s parent’s wedding.  That was around 1940.  Cindy still has the quilt, and it won second prize at the Granville Quilt Show in the Antique Quilt category.  Cindy’s son painstakingly painted the reproduction for the side of the cottage, and so it could be listed in the Upper Cumberland Quilt Trail.  I just can’t imagine the amount of hours that went into the original quilt, or the painting of this representative panel of a cherished family heirloom.  I suppose the great-great grandma of the son that did the painting knew where every little piece of fabric for that quilt came from.  Amazing!

What a grand time I’ve had here in the Upper Cumberland River area, and such fascinating memories I’ll carry with me as I had out towards Knoxville tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

19 comments:

  1. I loved Tennesse and those little shops tucked away here and there. want to go back. the paternal part of my family came from Knoxville area, greats, then backward. Suppose that is why it 'calls' to me :)

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  2. I love quilts and stained glass what a great combination!

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  3. What an artist Cindy is! That stained glass window is exquisite! But... truth is... I liked the picture of the guinea hens best. Kind of made me homesick for the noisy guys we used to raise.... but not so homesick I'd go back to keeping the raucous critters! Looks like you're having a grand time checking out the area.... what a nice "vacation".

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  4. Love that stained glass window ... alas, no place to put anything like it ... at least not now.

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  5. I would definitely have wanted to stop at that little place with the BIG quilt block. Her son sure did a fabulous job on the painting. Thanks for taking me along. Glad you got the gift you were looking for.

    Peacocks are a riot. James Madison's home Ash Lawn is in Charlottesville, VA and for years they had outdoor opera on the grounds. It was wonderful but ALMOST every performance one of the resident peacocks would begin calling during the second half. It was hilarious.

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  6. butterbean carpenterJune 15, 2012 at 5:34 PM

    Howdy Judy & Emma,
    That was a wonderful blog and pics today!! When we moved here to the ranch, there were peafowl & peacocks, guineas and game-chickens!! The folks that lived here had 4 BIG farm-dogs and the varmints stayed away.. We brought a city bred Beagle and a downtown raised mini-Border Collie out here; they were NOT watch-dogs, so, soon the varmints began feasting on the poultry, even though they roosted in the tallest trees around... At that altitude the owls got'em!!
    I guess the peafowl decided it wasn't healthy for them either and they 'flew' the coop; don't to this day now where they went!!!
    Yep, guineas & peacocks are RAUCOUS & LOUD!!!

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  7. Loved your visit to the store and all the beautiful things Cindy has created. You mean the Peacock didn't want to strut just for you???

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  8. It sounds like that entire family has many talents.

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  9. You end up at the greatest places! LOVED the photos of the birds. My aunt had lots of birds on her land and if you found a feather, you could keep it. I never found a peacock feather, though. She did give my mom a bunch of them to put in a vase. They were beautiful.

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  10. I really love the wedding ring pattern. My mom had a quilt made by my grandmother, but I don't know whatever happened to it. The stained glass version is gorgeous!

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  11. I just love those peacocks! Too bad he didn't want to lift his tail for you.

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  12. Love those little craft shops where everything is handmade. You can find wonderful unique gifts.

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  13. Now that is quiet a welcoming committee. So colorful. I really admire someone who can make such a lovely quilt. So much time and effort put into one of those quilts.

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  14. That's just how most men are..WE are busy with the kids, and they don't get excited until we finally hit the sack and relax...just sayin..Loved that place..I have some Peacock feathers in the camper..Somebody told me they are bad luck...tough!..I don't believe it, so I proudly display them..

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  15. Great post. I would love to have a stained glass window in my 5ver door. Peacocks are such beautiful birds, I sure could use a wach bird while here at the gate.

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  16. I want Michael to paint a quilt on our barn??? And beautiful stained glass!!

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  17. another perfect blog at the end of a perfect day. You make me want to close up the house this week and hit the road again.

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  18. Knoxville!! You're getting closer - we are only 150 miles away in Mountain City. Wagons East!!!! Lots of barns with quilts here too!! Loved your post!!

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