Chintz: Table Ware, Fabrics, Interior Decoration

Chintz has always held a slight fascination for me from the time I was a little girl.  I remember chintz wallpaper (cabbage roses) on our Texas farm bathroom walls.  Maybe my chintz (as opposed to "chintzy" as in "frugality") interest started there.

From Collecting Chintz:

Over the last few years, the price and popularity of this china have experienced unprecedented growth. Collectors worldwide seek this charming floral tableware which seems to attract more and more devotees with each passing day.

The term "chintz" has its origins in India (the Indian word was chintes) where colorful patterns including richly-hued flowers and brightly plumed birds were printed on cotton fabric and imported into England from the late seventeenth century.

Amazon has this book, Antiques Roadshow Collectibles, which gives this brief explanation of chintz ware (click to enlarge):

This is a cream and saucer chintz ware set my mother was given years ago, and which I sometimes use now:

Those tiny flowers have detail in their blooms and petals, and I love the contrasting colors and depths of shading in the chintz.  Just darn pretty!

But, wait.  Chintz is not only for the table.  It was very popular in fabric a while back.  Designer Laura Ashley brought back chintz fabric in the 80's.  Do you remember your Laura Ashley dresses for both children and ladies?  They were the cat's meow then.

Examples of some chintz fabrics from Schindler's Fabrics:

More about chintz from this post by Martha B. at Nibs:

(30 years ago)

Chintz is a cotton fabric that can be either a solid color or a beautifully printed floral or stripe. But what makes it desirable is the finish which allows it to be wiped clean. In the 1980’s everyone wanted the English Country look with rooms filled with it. Laura Ashley sold millions of dollars worth of the fabric! But like many good things, its appeal came to an end until now. It’s back... with restraint.

(now...updated with less fabric in the room)

Martha B. has a blog here and you can see lots of information about interior design there; nice pictures, too.

Now that the sewing machine is dusted off, maybe I'll make a few chintz blouses for the spring.

KKCO 11 News and Libby's Entre into Fame on Local TV

My husband is clever. Really.  He is clever.

A local television station here in Grand Junction, KKCO 11 News is having a contest that is all about barks.  Dog barks.  The station needs a spokesdog for their coupon advertisement with a dog as their mascot.

Our younger dog Libby (yeah, that same one that has so many links on both our blogs) gives Gene the WHAT FOR each time she comes in from a walk.  She barks for her treat after doing a good walk.

The husband recorded that bark for the contest of barking dogs on 11 News.  Wish Libby luck on being selected for the News11 Dog Bark.

Scrabble and Tournament Scrabble and the WPGO

Yesterday was the regular Wednesday Scrabble® :Day with friend Allen at my dining room table.  We have been playing and competing against one another since 2003, generally on a weekly basis.  That is a lot of games.  I have a book containing all of our games including the date played, scores against each other, and number of bingos per game per person per game for over seven years.  Really.

To further gild the lily, I have a spreadsheet on the computer compiling all those statistics.  And you think that is odd?  Scrabble® players are very strange, generally speaking, so it should not be a surprise about our keeping obsessive/complusive track of our games.

Allen showed me a game he had recently played with a different opponent, told me all about his word plays, and then showed me his high score on his score sheet.  This will be considered his pictoral history of his 635 point "high game:"

(Allen)

Of those four games we played yesterday, we each won two.  That is pretty typical (although Allen would say he generally wins most of our games, and reluctantly, I would have to agree).

When one of us has a "bad" Scrabble day and the tile gods have not been fair, this is how you might see the outcome:

photo from Calvin & Hobbs

My next Scrabble tournament will be in February in Phoenix.  It will be the 11th tournament I have attended in Phoenix at the Barbara VanAlen and Larry Rand Directors' tournament.  It will be about their 17th annual Phoenix Winter Tournament to host.

A list of upcoming Scrabble® tournaments can be accessed here.   More information about the new Word Players Game Organization can be accessed here. Scrabble Resources can be found here at the bottom of the listing.

Try competitive word play. You might like it.