Grandmothers Flower Garden Quilt Pattern

cottage is big luxury in a compact package

"There's no east wing of the estate. There's no west wing, either. It's a little pillar-to-post. No basement, no attic."

And with a single wave of his arm, Tom Dingello has shown you his entire house. "I've seen these stories on cottages, and some of those houses are huge," he declares. "A true cottage must be under 1,000 square feet."

And Dingello is at once cottage dweller and caretaker.

"I have no computer, no cellphone. But I do have three princess phones. It's like I've been asleep for the past 35 years!" Dingello says, delighting himself. Snazzy, sophisticated jazz plays on the radio. (You know already, don't you? There is no cd player here.)

But Dingello has not been sleeping on the job. He's been fluffing and primping his not-even-1,000-square-foot, one-bedroom Queen Anne garden cottage into a fairy tale of small living. Oh, sure, there have been a few physical improvements over the 25 years he has lived here; the French doors in the kitchen, for instance. For the most part, though, the little house survives as it was built, the living room listing 3 inches to the north with age.

There is charm everywhere. Under chairs, where there are piles of books on travel, art, cooking, design, Hollywood. On sofas, fat with accent pillows. In red-and-white toile curtains, marshaled by chubby cords bearing majorette-boot tassels. Here and there are throws, on chairs, over the arm of the sofa, casually, carefully tossed. Brass candle holders, topiary, flowers, gold-guilt mirrors, antiques, lamps, rugs, upholstery, glass orbs, family photos, vases, Chinese pottery and art, art, art.

In the wrong hands this could be clutter.

"It's just a hodgepodge of stuff," Dingello says, dismissively. "Being in retail for 40 years, if something was on sale, come on! I bought it." His hand rests on a Ralph Lauren dresser with a very 1940s glam look. A beautiful piece selected with a fine eye. Dingello sold furniture for Frederick & Nelson and then the Bon Marché. He also was gift-department buyer and manager at Nordstrom. "Retail, that was it," he says. The man makes a mean cocktail of antiques and reproductions in his bohemian/traditional nest.

The cottage is ever evolving but "the days of buying have stopped. You have to know when to quit," he says, culling from the herd with donations to Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

But still . . . "When in doubt add a decorative pillow!" he says, throwing open a closet door to reveal more than a dozen waiting to serve. "It's almost to the point of fetish." He closes the door, waves it off.

Of Quilts and Other Musings: Revisiting Vermont Quilt Festival Part 2

This hexagon quilt is made of silk and was made by Howard Phillips Bathsheba Newfane, VT. It is dated 1837 and marked his initials. The historical information continues by stating that "even if the manufacturer were married in 1837, but it may have made this quilt as a birthday at a later date because the silk was a rare material for a quilt sewn in Vermont, before 1875. Others say it may date from 1837 since this model was popular in the late 1830s and the manufacturer uses her maiden name initials. " Here are some beautiful quilts any part of the exhibition. I hope I have documented them properly (my photo numbers from my camera card did not correspond to the upload numbers when put on the computer! That will teach me to delete the photos from my camera card prematurely). I am also going to post a photo of a spectacular Log Cabin quilt and hope that the lack of complete documentation does not cause a lot of dismay. I have to say up front, meeting Mrs. Lydecker, some of her students and seeing their quilts was one of the highlights of this year's festival for me. The influence of a quilt teacher is something like no other and I so wish I could have had a chance to sit and learn from her. Seeing these quilts sent QB and I on a quest to find a way to attend a class with either Jenna Kimball or head to the Applique Academy (big wish!) to soak in the work of Elly Sienkiewicz !

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