Collectibles of the Week – Covered Dishes

I  have so many wonderful collectibles acquired over the last 80+ years.  Some were gifts, some were part of my life growing up, some were inherited, some were purchased at antique malls, gift shops or thrift stores  – all are precious to me.  Some items are kept up year-around while others are brought out seasonally and on holidays.  Unfortunately, many priceless-to-me objects go undisplayed and unseen for years, so each week, I’m going to pull out an item and post a COLLECTIBLE OF THE WEEK.

I love all of the covered dishes I’m sharing this week.  The rooster and hen are on my kitchen window sill throughout the summer …

In September, I take down the chickens and put up the squirrel and acorn …

In November, naturally, the turkey has the prize spot …

The mini-dishes which are about 3 inches across the bottom are perched somewhere in the kitchen year around – a hen

…and a cobalt blue scottie

All of these dishes were birthday gifts throughout the years.  The rooster, turkey and squirrel go back to the 80s and 90s and are reproductions.  The large hen and the two small dishes are vintage, probably from the 1940s.

 

Le Poulet Mini-Quilt Table Topper

Last week, I posted about chickens invading my June kitchen.

https://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/the-chickens-have-come-to-my-june-kitchen-2/

Actually, they spilled over into my living room when I made this mini-quilt for my table topper rack.  I had a very small remnant of this fabric called Le Poulet by Windham and fussy-cut all of the elements of the quilt.

As of this writing, this fabric is available on eBay.

I just added some chicken-wire fabric for the background and polka-dot for the binding from my stash.

The backing was made from scraps ….

….and I finished it off with some simple machine quilting

There was one fussy-cut of a hen which I didn’t want to lose in a drawer full of scraps, so I added strips to make it into a block right away.  This can be used to construct a tote or gift bag, a potholder or maybe a pocket on an apron.  It’s ready to go.

I also found this great vintage thermometer to add to my chicken-coop kitchen.

The Chickens Have Come to my June Kitchen

I had a post in 2008 that told how these two pieces came about:

https://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/hens-and-roosters/

A redwork potholder comes in handy.

My favorite set of dishes is Bob Timberlake’s Ella’s Rooster

I thought it only appropriate that I should display my 1945 edition of The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald.  

The book is so much better than the 1947 movie with Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.  I have all of Betty MacDonald’s books – they are hilarious and great reading.

Hens and Roosters

I spent the first 11 years of my life in a downtown Cincinnati apartment and had very little acquaintance with chickens, but I was always fascinated by them.  Our Grandma lived in rural Vandalia outside of Dayton, Ohio, and she had lots of chickens.  When we weren’t trying to avoid getting pecked by them or trying to chase them from the outhouse before we went in, we sometimes got to feed them.  I notice in this 1942 picture that Mother had made my little sister and me short sets for the summer.  This was very unusual because although my parents married as teenagers, my 20-something father went back to the early 1900s for his rules and he didn’t like to see his women in slacks or shorts.

We saw chickens in wooden crates in the butcher shop at the old Sixth Street market but otherwise, our only contact though the years has been at  county fairs. 

For Mother’s Day in 1994, my oldest daughter made two handpainted aprons for me which featured my favorite morning glories and a flamboyant rooster. 

After the aprons became worn, I cut out the painted portions, not being sure what I would do with them.    The remnants surfaced this past week and I made a wall hanging from one section – fusing the rooster and flowers onto a background fabric and adding borders. 

I didn’t want to put the other section back into a box for another 4 or 5 years, so I made a table cover with it, fusing and using a blanket stitch to sew it down. 

I like the bright colors and cheerfulness of the two pieces and especially like the idea that I’m able to get some more enjoyment out of this beautiful painting.