FABBY: Have You Missed Me a Little?

Hello dear friends!

          Today is "Memorial Day in the United States" and yes, all Veterans from wars past and present are honoured today for giving it all for freedom and safety to their country men. We are FOREVER grateful and may God bless those heroes, always!

I'm also back from our trip to the coast of Ecuador and all I can say is that we had a fabulous time with my Bil and his sweet wife!  I will be posting pics from it, plus some food dishes we had along the way, lol!  Now I'm dieting...heheheee...

At present I'm washing cloths, cleaning the house, buying groceries, etc. 
You all know the Price of having fun and disconnecting to enjoy life for a few days!
Wow, we sure rested our minds and souls!

I also did some cute shopping things, and so you all know, I thought about you all very much, therefore I brought a lovely giveaway for you and they are place mats for the Summer. You'll see, and that's all I'm updating, lol!

I'm very happy to be back to blogging, specially to find out what you guys are up to!
I will soon answer some lovely comments I got while I was away...just give me a couple of days!

                                                                         LOVE,
                                                                        FABBY

Thank you lovely and gracious hostesses.

Tuesdays at our Home at,  http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at,  http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com
BLUE Monday at,  http://smilingsally.blogspot.com
The SCOOP at,  http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com




                                                                        
                                                                      

FABBY: GOODBY AND IKAT MADE IN ECUADOR

Hello sweet friends!

              I am taking off for a couple of weeks, so I won't be blogging because we are going all around the coastal region of Ecuador and be at the gorgeous beaches, in beautiful hotels and eating lobster that I love and some more great sea food dishes...I can't wait!

We will be driving tomorrow, Wednesday very early in the morning.

Alejandro and I are going with his brother and his wife, both wonderful siblings and a lot of fun to be with.

I will post photos when I come back.

Meanwhile, have a wonderful time!

I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY ABOUT "IKAT-MACANA" CLOTH HAND MADE IN ECUADOR AND OF COURSE, SOME PHOTOS OF CLOTHING AS WELL.


A very simple and quick explanation here. An indigenous man weaving the "Ikat or Macana" in Ecuador.

Natural Dyes:
The dyeing process that Jose uses are only natural dyes which are available nearby. Walnut gives shades of brown. Indigo for many blues. Lichens for greens. Cochineal for reds and oranges. And minerals from rocks producing greys.

Detail of ikat pattern, naturally dyed, used in the shawl.

This striped shawl was made as such from the weaving and natural colorings explained above.
Weaving Ikat:
Once the warping and dyeing process is completed, in some ways, the weaving is the easiest step. Care must be taken that the warp-dyed pattern doesn’t shift on the loom, thereby throwing the pattern out of sequence. But since the weaving is all done on a backstrap loom, once the warp is taut around the frame and the body of the weaver, the pattern is secured and weaving can begin. The woven structure is a warp-faced plain weave so the weaving itself can go pretty quickly.

 Jose’s home and workshop sit off a back road that connects to the main highway leading to the town of Gualaceo, 35 km east of Cuenca in Ecuador. It is here that he and his family (his wife and their four children) are dedicated to weaving ikat, a tie-and-dye resist process of a highly intricate and complicated hand weaving technique practiced in a number of cultures around the world. But in Ecuador, particularly in the Cuenca region, Jose and his family are just a few remaining weavers still practicing this art.

Here a beautiful wrap in black and White. Cute ceramic figures of Ecuadorian Indigenous man and woman.



 

I did my tablecloth for my round table by putting to shawls like this one together.
You can look at the tablecloth on my table for 5 de Mayo.

I love this red and black shawl!



Another pretty shawl in black and white.



There are infinite color combinations and are great for upholstery as it shows here in the chairs, in this lovely purple and white.



 

We had made for this chairs the Ikat many years ago specially for upholstering them and for hubby's grandfather's reclining chair as well. 

I left a couple of shawls for my tablecloth, some of you who follow me just saw it on my 5 de Mayo tablescape.
They come in the form of long shawls with fringes. Two years ago I reupholstered these two chairs to go with my soft yellow couches in the den.

I still have one chairs left with the Ikat in the guest room, plus the recliner, which I'm sending them to my daughter Alexandra who wants them for her apartment.

 
So here you have it, a Little bit of the marvelous things in the 'IKAT' weaving sold around here.


See you when I get back and thank you so much for coming over to read about it, as I know some of you are interested about this
beautiful and dying art.

Thank you for coming by, even though I will not be here to answer your lovely and generous comments...and I will answer them as soon as I come back.

 Do take care of yourselves.

 I will join a couple of parties with this post and than I'm off! 
Thank you so much sweet ladies!

Tuesday Tune Link Up at,  http://www.natashainoz.com


                                                                      LOVE,
FABBY

FABBY: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Hello sweet friends!


          All my love to you my friends on this special day and may you mother's out there be blessed always!

Happy Mother's Day 2014.

                                  


I love this picture of my dearest mother Yolanda, taken four years ago, on her 80th. birthday!
 

My mother is doing great with her health, body and mind and we enjoy our company almost everyday.

She lives a few blocks away from me in a lovely apartment and makes tea parties for her "school friends" and for Bible Reading.  She has a very active life as she also volunteers once a week at a hospital that cares for the less advantaged.


Dear daughter Sofia and her daughters, Victoria and Cayetana...the ones that have made me a very happy 'Grandmama' too!

Love you my sweet girls!

                                                              

Here with my dearest mother, Yolanda, my best friend. I love you so much Mother!

Thanking the Lord for her and may He takes good care of her as He has so far.

I want to thank you mother,
for your patience...
your encouragement...
your strength...
your generosity...
your unswerving love...
and for those six little words
that helped me through so many
trying times..."because I said so, that's why!"

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

LOVE,
FABBY

Thank you so much for your lovely visits, they always make my day!

Thanks to the gracious hostesses for having me at their parties!

I will be joining:

Show and Tell Saturday at,  http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com
Share Your Creativity at,  http://www.itsoverflowing.com

It's a Bouquet of Talent Party at,  http://www.lifeonlakeshoredrive.com
Saturday Sparks Party at,  http://piecedpastimes.blogspot.com
Masterpiece Monday at,  http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com
Inspire Me Tuesday at,  http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com
Tuesdays at our Home  at,  http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com




 

 



                                                                  

 

 

                                     
 

 

 

FABBY: Mother's Day and Giveaway I Won!

Hello dear Friends!

 

LOOK at my beautiful giveaway I won from pretty Deborah Montgomery for her "just three month" bloggiversary! 
 
I love the adorable teacup and saucer in bone china 'Colclough made in England' and the pretty vintage tray linen, in such a soft and delicate vanilla color as the teacup and saucer.

Lovely Deborah has a beautiful blog, you don't want to miss her at "THE BEAUTIFUL MATTERS" and you would never believe she was blogging only three months, she is a pro at this, with great taste and very talented...you, like me, would think she has been blogging for ever!
She is also a lovely lady you will love to meet her if you haven't yet!

Here is the link to her blog:  http://thebeautifulmatters.blogspot.com

Thank you so much dear Deborah, I am very grateful and lucky to have this lovely giveaway from you, all the way from your Michigan, USA home, right here at my home in Ecuador, SA to enjoy and remember you every time I use them!

My table for MOTHER'S DAY 2014. This table is in honor of my Mother, your Mothers, to you my friends, the Mothers in my family and to all the Mothers in the world!

May God bless you always!

The etched stemware is Viennese. The three tier server is Royal Albert-Lady Carlyle.

I used my china from 1976, called 'Naomy Rose' from Anchor Hocking.'

The china has a lovely pink flower with a pink bud, so I decided on these big dinner napkins with the large pink flower, very similar to the one in the dishes, as you can see here, right?

The plates also have some gray 'brushstrokes' around them, which went perfectly with the reverse side in gray of the lovely floral place mats DD Sofia gifted me this past C'mas.

The complete place setting with the teacup and saucer. I have them for 12 places... and some are chipped, as they are old!
I also used white chargers that have a faux mother of pearl finish and it picks up a sort of gray tone in the light.

I always loved gray and pink. I was so fortunate that the reverse of the floral placemats are with a soft gray pattern, perfect for the dishes!

I baked Mother's
 fave cake, my 'Carrot Cake' with coconut cream-cheese topping and walnuts.

The centerpiece flower vase was made at our former ceramic company.
The pretty flowers have lasted since my Rosary tea.

I used my beloved Oriental ladies in honor of Mother's Day.

Look how pretty the gray side pattern in the place mats look with the gray on the dishes; I truly loved it together!
 

Love this pretty lady with the bird in her wrist.

The sweet bowl and saucer is vintage Bavarian, I will use one for hot sauce, the men like and the other for Parmesan cheese. They belonged to Alejandro's grandma and I have a set of four.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 2014 to all of you sweet ladies in blog land, to the mother's in your families and to your own Mothers, if you are lucky to still have her with you!

May God bless you always!

LOVE,
FABBY

Thank you my wonderful friends for your comments, as they always make my day!

Thanking the lovely hostesses for having me at their great parties.

I will be joining:

Tablescape Thursday at,  http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com
Grace at Home at,  http://www.impartinggrace.com
Open House Party at,  http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com
It's a Party at,  http://acreativerpincess.blogspot.com
The Inspiration Gallery at,  http://craftberrybush.blogspot.com
Vintage Thingie Thursday at,  http://coloradolady.blogspot.com
Inspire Me Tuesday at,  http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com
PINK Saturday at,  http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com
Home and Garden Thursday at,  http://www.adelightsomelife.com
Home Sweet Home at,  http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com
Friends Sharing Tea at,  http://blog.bernideen.com
The Charm of Home at,  http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com

"FINAL Thrifty Things Friday" at,  http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com
Be Inspired at,  http://www.commonground-do.com
Food on Friday at,  http://caroleschatter.blogspot.com
Foodie Friday at,  http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com
Fabulously Creative Linky Party at,  http://www.jenniferrizzo.com
Show and Tell Friday at,  http://www.blogger.com
Saturday Show Off at,  http://malevikrosentradgard.blogspot.com
DIY Projects Junkin Joe at,  http://www.thecottagemarket.com

From the Farm Blog Hop at,  http://www.sunnysimplelife.com
Say G'Day Saturday Linky party at,  http://www.natashainoz.com
Saturday Sparks at,  http://piecedpastimes.blogspot.com
Show and Tell Saturday at,  http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com
It's a Bouquet of Talent Party at,  http://www.lifeonlakeshoredrive.com
Masterpiece Monday at,  http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com
Share Your Creativity at,  http://www.it'soverflowing.com
Inspire Me Monday at,  http://www.createwithjoy.com
A Red Rose Tea at,  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com
Tuesdays at our Home at,  http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com
A Return to Loveliness at,  http://www.adelightsomelife.com
Make it Pretty Monday at,  http://www.thededicatedhouse.com
Rustic and Refined: Table it Linky Party at,  http://www.rusticrefined.com
THE SCOOP at,  http://www.stonegable.com
You're Gonna Love it at,  http://www.kathewithane.com
Turn it Up Tuesday at,  http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com
Tea Cup Tuesday at,  http://www.blogger.com
Tea Time Tuesday at,  http://www.marthasfavorites.com
































 I will be participating in Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.
 

FABBY: 5 de Mayo Tablescape

Hello sweet friends!

           My table scape is for "5 de Mayo," Mexican holiday to celebrate the victory of an inferior Mexican army defeating a much more powerful French army in 1862! France had been occupying Mexico prior to the battle, at that time. 

 I never knew about this date while growing up in NY, except because of some of you, my blog friends who make settings for this date and I also did my Internet homework about it.

My inspiration for making a '5 de Mayo' table setting in honor of Mexico is my "Ikat tablecloth"made here, in Ecuador.

The 'Ikat fabric' is also used for the confection of beautiful clothing here in Ecuador; as it's also made by hand in looms and also died with vegetable coloring.
 
This cloths come in multi-colors; as well as brown and white, black and white, camel and white, white and black, red and black, blue and white...actually, all colors and combos in the rainbow!            They are simply beautiful!

I will make a post to show you clothing with the Ikat material in the near future.

So without any further addo here is my '5 de Mayo table scape for 2014.'

Here is my hand made tablecloth in the Ikat technique and died in vegetable colors! I might add that it washes beautifully, even though is natural wool too!

I used some of my everyday china salad plates, square colorful ones from our Factory on top of yellow plates and to finish the stack, my wicker and cane chargers.   (why, why didn't I take my computer cables out before I took the pics?)

Here you can appreciate the pretty designs and colors in the Ikat material I had made several years ago and later put together the two shawls to create this colorful tablecloth I love!

I used yellow dinner plates for all four place setting and in this case with a blue square one and a yellow salad plate from my everyday dishes.

A square yellow plate with a blue and white salad plate.

The chargers are wicker and cane in the center of each one; along with a green square plate and orange salad plate.

White square plate and green salad plate. The small pitcher is made at our former Factory, along with the terracotta chicken napkin ring.

Cute color glasses for the 'Tequila' and a bowl fool with dry chilies hubby loves and he also painted the bowl back at his 'Ceramic Factory.'



I used 'Roos and Chicks' napkin rings and a cute hot sauce bowl... both items were made at our 'former ceramic Factory, Monte Turi.' Alejandro sold it six years ago.

 

 Four of a set of six cute 'Tequila' glasses in different colors.

A terracotta Rooster napkin ring.

I chose green water glasses for this setting with matching green napkins inside the smaller Ikat ones.

I love the fringes and all the great colors in the Ikat. I used two shawls sewn in the middle to make the tablecloth, that's why the fringes.

A final evening shot!

Thank you for visiting me wonderful friends, as your comments always make my day!

Thanking the gracious hostesses for having me at their parties too.


LOVE,
FABBY

I will be joining:

Seasonal Sundays at,  http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com
Metamorphosis Monday at,  http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com
Masterpiece Monday at,  http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com
Make it Pretty Monday at,  http://www.thededicatedhouse.com
A Return to Loveliness at,  http://www.adelightsomelife.com
Amaze Me Monday at,  http://dewllings-theheartofyourhome.blogspot.com
Inspire Me Monday at,  http://www.createwithjoy.com
Inspire Me Tuesday at,  http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com
Sunday Best Showcase at,  http://www.twiggstudios.com
Mix it up Monday at,  http://www.flourmewithlove.com
Monday Funday at,  http://www.creativelylivingblog.com
Tuesdays at our Home at,  http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com
Social Media Link Up at,  http://sewcraftyangel.blogspot.com
May before and After at,  http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com
The Scoop at,  http://www.stonegable.com
You're Gonna Love it at,  http://www.kathewithane.com
Knick of Time Tuesday at,  http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com
Tuesdays with a Twist at,  http://www.bloger.com
Wednesdays Adorned from Above at,  http://www.adornedfromabove.com
Wake up Wednesday at,  http://sewcraftyangel.blogspot.com
The Homemaking Party at,  http://www.hopeineveryseason.com




I will be participating in Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.






 I will be participating in Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.