Friday, 12 November 2021

Hygge, candles and stitching.

 





Autumn leaves shower like gold, like rainbows,

 as the winds of change begin to blow.


Dan Millman




Here in beautiful Dorset we are fully in Autumn mode, although the plants in my garden tend to disagree.  The lavenders are all going for a third bloom which lovely but unusual in the least.  New foxgloves are starting to sprout and they are much earlier in the year as you know.

It is getting colder at night that is for sure and the log burner is on most evenings.  Candles are everywhere lighting up little corners of Thimble and making it look cosy and inviting.  The flames flicker and make beautiful warming patterns on the walls.  Thimble is a glow with cosy corners
and quilts over chairs. It is decorated for Autumn and I know some people are preparing for Christmas and Winter already but I just do not feel it is that time here right now.  The end of the month is soon enough for me. I am still in the mode of walking by the river and the leaves crunching beneath my feet.  Trees here are slowly dropping their leaves but the trees themselves are far from bare and still look colourful and like jewels shinning in the Autumn sun.

Sitting in a cosy chair and slow stitching is the order of the day, the days are darker somehow so candles are on even then.  One of my larger candles is cinnamon and orange and the gorgeous



scent fills the air, for me it fills my head with happy memories and makes the atmosphere here even more inviting.

I have started slow stitching on gorgeous antique French linen to cover some journals.  I am


trying to finish two other projects too and there is sooooo many french knots in them that I only do a few hours a day on those as you almost go cross eyed with it.  I love french knots and it is just adding so much depth to both projects, however it is a little too much all day.

So I am alternating at different times of the day with the journals I am creating.  When the stitching is finished I can cover a beautiful journal for the three of them.  As you are all aware by now I live by my journals and find them useful in every sense,  and in my mind they should also be beautiful as Mr William Morris quotes.

Using my journals for all sorts of things it is an easy go to.  I have a journal just for quotes that I find or write myself is great.  I find using just one journal for all sorts really jumbled and it takes an age to find something.


In addition to all this I have been truffling around in the local charity shops as well.  I have found a few little personal bits for my dresser, the trick is to go most days to see new stock as soon as it has been donated.  In the past I have found some beautiful vintage china and bits.

Before you all groan this is Christmas talk, I have started Christmas shopping and was lucky

enough to spend a day in Cambridge doing just that.  Different shops than here and I managed to get quite a bit done too.  I really do not to be around the crowds in December.  I am still being extremely careful with Covid and always in a mask when out.  
I am looking for another vintage


fair to go to and it will be my last one this year I think.

So some stitchery goodies that I have recently bought some oh so gorgeous vintage threads from Vintage to Victorian fame.  They arrived today and oh be still my beating heart!  The colours are outstanding and I keep stroking them, they may have to go in glass jar so that they are always visible rather than a box or drawer.  To stunning to hide away from the world.  What do you think?  They would be so beautiful to look at in my studio. When my work shops start next year they will be on the table for the stitchers to choose from to use in their project.  I will be hunting out a jar later that is for sure, I can't stop thinking about how lovely it would look.

Our Mum has taken a little turn for the worse I am afraid,  we were shocked to see her today as the care home has been closed for Covid outbreak.  In the 10 days she has really lost weight and is sleeping a lot.  We have known her to be very poorly and bounce back but I am not sure this time.  I will be taking in some stitching and be with her a fair bit this week as will my sister.  We look at photos of her from just 3 years ago and can not believe what this terrible illness has done to our lovely Mum.  Sitting in her beautiful room next to her it is somehow very peaceful and I am happy to stitch there and talk to her.  The french knots will not be coming with me, however the journal covers will I think.

I have bought some pretty little candle holders for tealights, like little cottages and bought some battery tealights, they are coming with me to light her room in all the little places and shelves.

Well that is it for today I really must find that jar and also continue with some slow stitching this afternoon, it gets dark by 4pm and then it stops play.  I am thinking of getting a day light lamp, does anyone out there have one? Are they good?

Until next time take care and as always Happy Stitching! 

Sarah X











Wednesday, 3 November 2021

Autumn at Thimble.

 






And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled

 themselves to sleep and Autumn was awakened.




I can not believe where the last few months have gone, it's so good to be back and sorry its been so long since July.  My darling Mum is still with us and I have spent so much time with her.  Although in palliative care she seems not to want to leave us for now.  It has been touch and go for months now and so I have to go back to living a little in the meantime.  I can still make her laugh and she eats a little and gives me the biggest smile and hug....  We watch an old movie together with my sister too.  She just stares at the screen, especially an old colour musical and we hold hands.

Autumn has arrived in the fullest sense, the leaves have changed colour, the nights are getting

colder and the river bank is changing.  I have fewer hedgehogs to feed as they slowly go for their Winter nap.  The garden has changed colour and the grass has had its final cut for this year.

So to stitching!  I have been busy with a needle of late and have been doing a series of pictures and wall hangings named The forest floor.  The picture is part of one of my designs.

It has been a labour of love and I have enjoyed it so much. It is a larger piece and now framed.  Also in this series is the Agaric, often referred to as The Fairy table, the red toadstool with the white dots.  So beautiful to look at but not edible at all.

I have been designing too and also have a few project baskets filled up and two of them will be being posted to my two wonderful pattern testers for a Winters stitch for them.  It has taken some time with all my time spent at the care home, however they are ready to be wrapped.

Joy of joys Vintage fairs have started again and in the last three weeks I have attended two, a much needed stock up of goodies that I have been able to truffle for.  Meeting up with great friends that I have not seen in person for 18 months.  

The first one was the reclaimed home fair in Chipping Norton, it was a wonderful event, I was able to pick up some wonderful packs of gorgeous fabrics and er, well I might of bought a quilt.  In point of fact it is the most gorgeous 1900 red and white quilt.  The pattern is called robbing Peter to pay Paul and I
saw it and ran over! yep ran!...

It was not on my list, however, these gorgeous antique quilts do not fall at your feet very often and it is American.  It ended up, some how in Chipping Norton at the fair and it simply had my name on it.  As you can see from the photos on the left it looks perfect on my bed and is in time for the Winter and Christmas.

I love red and white quilts they are my favourite finds and I have a few in my collection.  All different patterns along with the bear paw one I had made for in America a few years ago. 

Then last weekend I went to the Vintage Bazaar in Frome, which is not that far for me to go to now.  I met up with the gorgeous Vintage Dahling and we had a great coffee, catch up and a sausage roll as a celebration.  I had seen her at the other fair but she was on crowd control on the door, as she put it.

We wandered and truffled around and I was not looking for fabric really as I had bought what I needed at the previous fair.  I was on the look out for a curtain or a valance for my Threads of Time studio.  I am pleased to say I bought a red and white French antique valance and it is perfect for the job.  I have not taken a photo yet as it was not washed until yesterday and I have to press it and pop it up.  The larger window in there has two curtains in cotton to frame the window, I have washed and pressed those

but they are not in situ yet either.  A job for the weekend.

Then I spied this basket with gorgeous little ceramic figures in it. They are called Feve. These are a small trinket hidden in a king cake or similar desert.  The French word Feve translates to fava bean, which is what was originally used.  The themes of Feve are very diverse and may include religious symbols, tools related to baking or even depictions of famous figures.  The person who finds the Feve usually is awarded special privileges  or a gift for the day.  They have become collectors items.

I decided on these three and they are porcelain and now reside in a little square in my antique printers tray which is on the wall.  I just fell in love with them and the history that surrounds these beauties.  They make me smile when I see them nestled between  the wooden stamps, cotton reels and antique silver thimbles....

Then as Christmas fast approaches I picked up an antique bell and a very large antique key which I have ideas on what to do with both and both are part of a stitchery project that is up and coming. So happy was I.  There is something about a old
 bell tied with antique fabric that makes my heart sing. It still works as a bell and when wandering around the fair with it wrapped up in tissue and in my bag you could still hear it jingle! It was funny as people looked up and looked around.  I did not say anything but smiled widely ... 

Then I came across three little pieces of the most wonderful old quilt pieces that when slow stitched together will make a gorgeous wall hanging when embroidered for a project, they fitted together beautifully and I could see in my artist side of my brain and imagination what to do with it and what to stitch on.




The colours are really wonderful and the ageing is perfect with the washed out colours and the soft texture that only comes with age.

It will make a really pretty wall hanging in my humble opinion.







So all in all I had a lovely day at both fairs not only truffling but catching up with great friends, laughing and talking all things slow stitching and vintage, my kind of wonderful day.

There are a few more fairs coming up that I hope to attend and meet up with friends again.  For now though I will be stitching away.

For the last week I have also had a bit of a late Spring clean and my office, spare bedroom and the studio got a great clean and clear out.  It not only makes it all look great but its like a life laundry for my brain.  Things not needed and getting rid of a bit of clutter.  Some things were in boxes still and not actually needed,  I took three bin liners full of clothes to the charity shop as well.

The clocks have gone back and the sun is setting here whilst typing this later in the day to you all. The little lamps in my office are glowing and I now have stopped stitching for the day as the light is what I call half light and not good for tiny little stitches.

I am going off now to make a cinnamon tea and curl up in front of the log burner with my design book, I am eager to get down on paper my design for the above quilt pieces and then pop them in a basket to wait there turn.

It Hygge time here now in England and the candles, fire and little lamps are all a glow.  I nice warm supper for me after a busy day.

For now I will sign off and as always wish you all Happy Stitching and stay safe.

Sarah XX




Cosy nights and twinkling lights.
 

Friday, 16 July 2021

Hello July, this is your month to excel !

 






And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees,

 just as things grow in fast movies, I had the familiar conviction 

that life was beginning over again with the Summer.

F Scott Fitzgerald 



Happy to be back on here, it's been a strange few months.  My poorly Mum has no real change, just up and down and it is what it is.  I have missed being here with you all but I have tried to keep you up to date.  Thank you all for your kind words, your support and help, you are all amazing people.

In addition I would like to thank the pattern testers that applied and I have found two lovely ladies to help me complete my work for publication, you can not get it published without it being tested by someone other than yourself, I know what I mean when I compile instructions, however it may not make total sense to others unfortunately.  It also means my work load has stopped piling up with all that has been going on.

Happiness has returned and although my Mum's illness has cast a shadow, she would want me to continue with what I love and be personally happy.  She has always been a huge fan and advocate of my artistic side and I have to say I am grateful to have inherited it from her.  If my Dad was still alive today he would come up with a wise crack about the above statement.  I feel I should mention I am grateful for the Italian culture and culinary skills that he and my late Nonna have instilled in me, and I am also grateful to have inherited her beautiful Italian hair too....

Stitchery talk then, Today I am getting ready to match up the materials to a design or two and they will be winging their way to the ladies soon.  I am sorting, finding and collating today as well as sorting out my work desk.  Then it will be time for me to design and do some slow stitching myself.  I am hoping that I can concentrate fully on this.


Last weekend we went truffling and I bought some gorgeous old spools of silk thread. I was over the moon with the find.  You can see, I hope, in the photos the wonderful colours and hues of the silk thread. They have the original labels still attached and they read Head & Son, Sloane Street in London. The lilac colour is 56  1|4 which made me smile for some reason. 

There is a really good amount on each reel and you can split the thread for embroidery.  The excitement when I spied them in an antique shop was as if I had struck gold I think.

I am trying to do some homework on these outstanding threads and when I did an initial search I have come up with nothing so I am going to really try and do my best to find some information.  I have sent a message to a friend of mine who is very talented and works in a fashion museum.  I am pleased to say she is on the case!

Beautiful things happen when you distance yourself from negativity.


Some other news for you all, I have hedgehogs here now in my garden! Oh boy they are beautiful.  Every night I put out a water bowl, dry hedgehog food and two dishes of a little cat food with meal worms on them.  Every night they turn up to feed and there can be a few of them, thus the four bowls.

Hedgehogs have different sounds and I have done research, joined a hedgehog group online for the area I live in and have been learning all sorts of things about these gentle creatures, who, unfortunately are
becoming extinct for several reasons.

They are killed on roads, slug pellets and the most horrible one is that long wild grasses that they choose to nest in are just cut down without checking if they are in there along roadsides and some gardens.

One night a few weeks ago I found two in the garden so from then we have been feeding them.  They make some incredible sounds and often make me laugh.  I have been able to go out when they are there and actually stroke some of them, who it seems do not mind this at all.  They come earlier and earlier and so it was the other evening around 9pm and still very much light outside, were poking their heads through the bottom of the gate!! too cute. ( The gate has been made higher for them to wander under)

In between visits to Mum I have been sorting through my studio and my office to sort some bits out and at the moment I am getting things ready for the pattern testers and I am busy finishing off some designs....


This coming weekend we are off truffling again and the weather here has turned to Summer once more so it will be very enjoyable indeed.  Often we then have some lunch out as well.

The basket will be ready to go and find little treasures,  It has been a difficult few months for a few reasons, however things have very much calmed down and happiness has returned and balanced the scales once more.

The other difficult thing that has happened that I must warn others of and so it is that around 18 years ago I sold a most gorgeous very old Shaker quilt to someone.  I found out a few weeks ago she was telling people that I had swindled her out of the money for this quilt!  To cut a very tiresome story short, not to give her fame or let her enjoy herself by talking about this awful woman, I gave her the money back and got the quilt.  The thing is it is not the same quilt at all!  I have a much later quilt than the one I sold her because, and get this, she pleaded I sell it to her in the first place.....  I am very much out of pocket over this but lesson is learned my end.  All I can say is karma is a beautiful thing and I truly hope that it will pay her a visit one day soon.

Karma has no menu. You get served what you deserve.


Normally I would not put anything like this on here, in fact it has never happened before, but I want to warn my dealer friends (who would have probably said the transaction was too long ago to give her back her purchase money if I had taken advice from them). With my Mum worries I think she prayed on me at a vulnerable time  and knew exactly what she was doing, and my lesson has been truly learned.

I battled with putting the above information on my blog as I like it to be a happy, informative, slightly quirky and full of wonderful stitchery talk, but really this had to be shared to stop people like this.

Back to fabrics! now fabric lovers and slow stitchery lovers I have been putting together little bundles of gorgeous antique fabrics and tying them with vintage ribbons.  This, in fact, is not just a thoroughly


enjoyable pass time for me (really! I hear you shout!) it is also my way of tidying my fabric cupboard in a way that when the bundles are together in a pleasing colour coordination, it is easier to choose my fabrics without the hunt.

What then happens is that when it is all tidy, it gets dishevelled each day I go in to find patterns and colours that blend.  All I seem to do is tidy, fold and stack! So by bundling, its like a gorgeous antique grab pack of beauty .. Ta Dah!  

Well that is it for today and in time for a weekend read.  I will be back next week, I have missed you but have enjoyed my emails and personal comments you have sent me, I think I have answered each one and not missed anyone, forgive me if I have.

I hope the sun shines where ever you are and that you have a wonderful and peaceful weekend.


As always stay safe and Happy Stitching!


Sarah X












Tuesday, 20 April 2021

Stitching outside and dreaming of Summer evenings .. in the garden.

 





Oh the Summer night, has a smile of light,

 and she sits on a sapphire throne.


Bath was beautiful, the sun was out, people were laughing, the sun twinkled onto the river. There were not hoards of people out and the only queue was for Primark, thankfully not somewhere I wished to be.

We had lunch out which was a wonderful treat.  The only thing that disappointed me was there was no truffling in antique places, not all were open anyway. So no treasure to share with you all I am afraid.  I will be making a visit to one of my favourite antique places called The Dairy House soon and I know there is another antique centre just basically next door.  Both over several floors so plenty of goodies to look at.

The weather is glorious right now and it brings on Summer thoughts.  Summer evenings sat in the garden with friends sharing some wine and nibbles, with chatter and laughter has to be one of life's simple pleasures that we took for granted once, never again though. 

I again have lots of things I would like to achieve right now and a list (again has been written) the thing is I am so very very tired and I do not know why at all.  Everything seems like such an effort at the


moment. Lack of vitamin D maybe, which I suffered from last year, even in the hot Summer we had.  I am taking supplements but have to admit I am a little hit and miss with tablets.

Well the news here with the very tame lady blackbird is her name is now Bossy Beryl .. if another bird comes near her and disturbs her worm hunt or picking up what I leave out for her to help her busy mothering, then boy oh boy she lets them know. Its a shrill tut like tweet and she means business...  I said to her the other day, oh you are a Bossy Beryl aren't you? and it has stuck.  I am not sure she is that happy with it, but there it is.  Miss Muddy Beak was such a calm lady and just didn't bother with other things around her.  I still miss her and wonder if she is ok.  I am sure that she is and just shrugged off that I was there one day and not the next !

My office/sewing room at the top of the house has suddenly become a slight bomb sight so things have to be put away.  With taking my own photos I gather bits and pieces together and take photos, changing things around, thinking that maybe something else is needed and it tends to get left like it ... I must be more strict with myself and put it away everytime and not think I will do that later.  It  turns into such a job when I do not tidy as I go.

With this beautiful weather and the chance of freedom out in the world right now I am a little restless to be out in it.  In the sunshine it is beautifully warm, although later in the day you know its not Summer just yet.

Vintage truffling is high on my list to want to do, you do not even have to purchase anything .. it is just
so nice to be surrounded by gorgeous wares and see what is out there.  During the week before the school holidays will be the best time so I am going to pencil in a few days to go and do that.

Able to sit outside a cafe and have a drink and watch the world go by is such a treat these days too.

Watering the garden with all the new plants and herbs each day is great too, I talk to Bossy Beryl as I go and if I pick up weeds she is right beside me waiting to go worm hunting in the disturbed beds and pots.  She pulled a huge worm out the other day and I did ask politely if she might leave me some to help with garden soil.. just looked as if to say  NOPE!

I have my basket of slow stitching sorted for today, its just a matter of where it might get done.  My garden furniture is not out yet so its a little more difficult, also the sun is very bright if not under the umbrella and I can not see the tiny stitching very well.  Shade is very needed for that.

Playing around with different French linens ( textures that is) and pretty floral fabrics and adding different thread colours, some very old cotton reel thread and the hand dyed shaker threads has been fun


along with sketching forms of flowers too.

I love doing french knots and a lot of people hate doing it, I find it soothing and mixes different shades of the same colour to shade and make it jump out off the fabric is so much fun.  They are perfect little stitches to use when stitching a flower border I always think.  I am working on my PHD too ( Projects Half Done !) trying to finish things... got you all there eh!

Sometimes I feel like Alice in Wonderland, I seem to loose time in these things and at the moment I am easily distracted by wild life too.  Not seen a white rabbit in a overcoat with a pocket watch yet though, thank goodness, I would have to take to my bed for a lie down I think !!

Anyway that is enough of my imaginative ramblings for today I really must pick up a needle and pick up and put away some bits in my office .. no little mice are going to appear and do it for me, that is for sure ! So until the next time HAPPY STITCHING and as always do take care.


Sarah X










 



Friday, 16 April 2021

Which of all my important nothings shall I tell you first - Jane Austen.

 







I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading ! How much sooner one tires of anything than a book.

Jane  Austen.


I agree whole heartily with Miss Austen, after slow stitching that is and then to read a good book or indeed about stitchery I am well and truly in my element.

History is my favourite thing, be it facts, fiction or artifact and there is something about weathered and worn fabrics with a whole lot of history contained in its weave.  I have missed truffling but indeed this this weekend I am going to Bath to truffle and wander.  Mask will be firmly on and the sun  should be shining, I am the happiest girl ...

The freedom of it was literally breath taking and to have been locked down for 4 months this time, I will never take for granted the freedoms of bumbling in good company.

You see us vintage lot can never really have too much of it.  I have a beautiful stash of fabrics and vintage curio's but what is too much?  I use all of my bits and eventually all the fabrics.  When the courses start then that will use even more.  So I am always on the look out for wonderful old history pieces, be it stitchery or literature and of course writing.

I wonder at things, if they could speak what tales they could tell.  Who used to own them?

 I have an imagination that is for sure. Often when I read it is by candle light and in my head I can hear my darling Mum saying " you will end up in glasses young lady, if you strain your eye sight like this!"  Well she was probably correct in her assumption but as yet I do not need glasses .. and now I can not tease her about it, which is a bother!!


If adventures to not be fall a young lady in her own village she must seek them abroad.

Jane Austen.


Anyway as I was saying, I am going to Bath ( not quite abroad but it feel like it!) and I bought a few things and thought I would share them with you. this week in our local charity shops.

Firstly I bought this little jug which is for butter warming in, its great for just melting a little to baste with and it was only £1.20 and really has not much of an age to it, however it was love at first sight and it sits happily on my dresser for use.  I popped it through the dishwasher for safety covid reasons.

Then I bought two wonderful Jane Austen novels one from 1933 and one is 1939. Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice and the photos for these are at the introduction of this blog.  Gorgeously faded in the right places with some stunning sketch illustrations. 

These books are just right and of course Jane Austen had a connection with Bath.

The sun is shinning today and it is set to do so tomorrow for my day out and to tell you I am really looking forward to it is a understatement to be sure.

This morning I will make a small journey down to the River Stour and have a little walk to see if the Otters are about and to blow away any cobwebs, it is far to nice to sit in all day and I find a good wander helps the rest of my day be very productive indeed.

My stitching is set out for me and I will be doing some beloved slow stitching as well as a little housework... It has to be done!


Other news is there is a very tame lady blackbird and she really does not bother about me in the garden at all.  She reminds me of Miss Muddy Beak not only in looks, she is a lot fatter though and she has a muddy beak too, digging for worms etc.  I am trying to name her at the moment and feel a name will come to me eventually.  This weekend I am going to get some bird food for her.  She has taken some bits of vintage fabric so clearly she is nesting around here somewhere.  I see her every day whilst watering the plants....

Well that is it for today as I must get on.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and as always ...

HAPPY STITCHING! and Keep safe.


Sarah X











Tuesday, 13 April 2021

Slow stitches and sewing seedlings!

 



Stitching by the river watching the Kingfishers

What a delight and a sure treat.



 




 I am pleased to say that the garden is coming along and I am impatient for things to grow.  The climbing rose is going to slowly for my liking .. I long to see it cover the arch over the gate and hang with large white scented roses.  I have oodles of patience in stitchery but it seems not so much when I am waiting for plants to establish. Still nature will do her thing, in her own time .. and so I wait!

Being by the River Stour is a blessing, really only a five minute walk to the River bank and on a warmer day it is a delight truly.  I pack a little basket with some slow stitching, journal and often a warm drink and sit there sewing and watching the world go by.  People watching and always an eager eye open for the odd otter or two.  Its peaceful and it is soothing for the soul. It reminded me of this poem:



If I could patch a coverlet
From pieces of the Spring,
What dreams a happy child would have
Beneath so fair a thing!
A centre of the dear blue sky,
A bordering of green,
With patches of the yellow sun
All chequered in between.
Bright ribbons of the silky grass
Laced prettily across,
With satin of new little leaves,
And velvet of the moss.
In every corner, violets,
Half-hidden from the view,
With many-flowered squares betwixt,
Of pinky tints and blue..
Embroideries of little vines,
And spider-webs of lace...
With gold-thread I would sew the seams,
And needles of the pine;
Oh, never child in all the world
Would have a quilt like mine!


~Abbie Farwell Brown, "Spring Patchwork," 1901



I love that little poem and the blue of the sky and the sun shinning all be it a little chilly it came to mind

whilst sitting on the seat by the river. This is the joy of slow stitching, you can take it anywhere with you, it good to go in a basket.  As the days get longer and much warmer, lots more of this will happen I can assure you.  Sat in the shade of huge trees I will be taking my lunch there on some days.

The shops are now open, antique shops as well and this weekend coming I am planning a day of truffling! I may not even see anything that I would like or need to bring home, but the joy of hours spent looking is what I am personally looking forward to I can tell you.

You can now go get a coffee and sit on seating outside and so life is starting to get a little bit normal with some freedom and I am so happy.

My little office come work room upstairs at Thimble has gone from quite tidy to Woah! when did the bomb go off ... so today I am going to be tackling some tidy up.

I seem to want to do so much, go through this or that.  Write a letter to a friend, find a piece of fabric that I know I have .. somewhere!  I try and fit so much in to my day.  I do like to finish around 4pm to

do some other things... water garden, do a little house work and to sit and watch antique like programs.. so I have let my little office/workroom go wild.  Time to sort it me thinks.

The thing is I have to be a little ruthless and if there is no place for something it will have to go.

I still have plenty of room in my fabric drawers, she sighs with relief.. If I keep them tidy then there is more room you see.

It is a full week this week and so I should achieve a little more. I am going to visit my Mum with my Sister tomorrow.  We are not to sure as to what we can and can't do.  I think we are required to take a Covid test.  Dress is scrubs with a mask and then we can go into her room.  We want to go through her clothes and see what we can get rid of to buy her some new things for the Summer and also take her in a huge bunch of flowers for her room.  We do not need to go into the box.  Hoping we do not look too much like nurses, which will bewilder her though, both of us want to hold her so much.  Anything now has to be better than it has been for over a year.

I have some serious stitching days planned too, so as you can see I am never once bored.. well maybe when I have to iron!  however not if its paisley or eiderdown fabrics..

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I will be back on Friday with another ramble.  It will be excited because of the weekend of truffling, I warn you.

As always HAPPY STITCHING! and still take great care out there, Covid is a long way off from going away.

Sarah X

















 

Friday, 9 April 2021

Vintage fabric hexagons ...

 







Much like patchwork quilts, inspiration that stirs and motivates me is made of many things.

Robert Reynolds.





In a basket by my cosy chair, lives these and more little word hexagons.  Each on covered in gorgeous vintage fabrics, mainly paisley and eiderdown fabric.  Every day at some point I stitch a few more and I would like to make a small quilt and have it framed but with the word side showing. 

You can clearly see the fabric of each one and I am going to do a little list of each fabric by cutting a small piece out and putting it on a card so they can be seen and archived for ever.

It needs to be behind non reflective glass as it is totally un washable but I believe so gorgeous to look at and preserve.

It is not really going to be huge and it can take a few weeks as I just literally do a few a day.  They will be stitched together to make a rectangle picture.  I have some tiny printed out triangles to square it off
but it may look too busy so probably it will just have a hex edge as it were.

I find sometimes it is hard to get through the paper and the fabric so I use a beeswax for the needle and find that it glides through and does not tear the paper at all or hurt the delicate vintage fabrics used.

Great little pot of help in my work box I can tell you and highly recommend too.

I cannot count a day complete, 'till needle, thread and fabric meet.


In addition I always cut a few hearts from any fabric I use for the jar of hearts. Some of you may remember I started a jar to put hearts in cut from fabrics.  Its a antique kilner jar and I had a ceramic label made for it with ' jar of hearts' on it, which hangs around its neck.

There they all nestle quite happily together so that if I need a fabric heart or three on a piece of stitchery I simply go to the jar and choose them.  All different vintage fabrics and all different sizes depending on the scrap of fabric I have ( never throw any away I just


couldn't) I just draw a heart on the back of the fabric and cut it out.  Long thin like ones, fat ones it does not matter. Then the birdies get the bits for their nests!

No beauty shines brighter than that of a good heart.







The weather on and off is getting warmer but there is a chance of snow forecast .. eeek. Now I love snow, as you all know by now, however having spent good money on lots of herbs and plants that are yet to establish themselves properly ( a little frost is ok ) I do not want them to die by being crushed under an inch or two or indeed get soggy and die so I am watching with care to put jam jars over them!  It keeps changing its mind about snow and I hope, this time, it by passes us.  Its insane as last week the temperature here was 22 degrees for three days in a row!

Not sure where the weeks are going at this moment in time, I now blog twice a week and the week soon goes. Especially after a four day break, plus I  had Thursday off this week


as its a Birthday day off ( not my Birthday) and so it will be a three day week officially for me .. 

Walking by the River Stour here I am watching all the trees blooming with gorgeous blossom and kingfishers flitting about. 

Last Summer I actually walked in the river and wandered along as it was shallow and clear, had flip flops on and it was refreshing and really enjoyable.  My sister and I walk her nutty dog along there and he likes to wade in and lay down ... even in the winter months with snow on the ground.  His name is Peanut but we affectionately call him The Nutling! 

With lockdown here in England easing it will be lovely to meet up with some friends for a coffee or take a drink down on a bench by the river and sit and catch up with each other face to face, I am so excited.  Never again will I take for granted that simple pleasure.  I will be having my second Covid Jab in May so I will be as protected as possible.

I am not travelling abroad this year but will be taking a holiday in Britain somewhere, there is talk of Cornwall, Scotland or Cotswolds for a few days if it is permitted.  Somewhere different to get inspiration and blow the cobwebs away in my mind.

Pack a little journal and I will be away, take photos and walk... 

I am excited that from the 12th of this month things will be open again, looking forward to getting a coffee out and going out for something to eat as well.  In Wimborne there is a little fabric shop and I am looking forward to just going in and looking at threads etc.  I do not buy any 'new' fabrics but its a pleasure to look about.  Also there is a little farm shop there too and a butcher so it will be a nice thing to mooch for a while.

In addition we can go into see our Mum and not in a box with perplex glass we can actually give her a cuddle and oh I am looking forward to that, so is she because she try's to now and can not understand the barrier between us.  We can take her a big bunch of flowers too.  Everything we get her now has to be quarantined for 72 hours so it was no good getting flowers before and she will adore that.  We can sit and chat .... excited!


Well it is time for me to go and pick up my needle and thread and get on with my stitching day.  I have some things to do and some journal entries to write as well.  I love sitting in my studio on beautiful days with the stable door half open.  On colder days I shut myself in with candles going and little lamps on with the heater and its cosy and inspirational with the dresser all set out and the glass fronted cabinet stacked with antique quilts neatly folded. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and of course, as always, HAPPY STITCHING & do take care out there still.  Stay well.


Sarah X






Tuesday, 6 April 2021

Design Days and needles threaded and history of a piece of eiderdown.

 







To design is to know you have achieved perfection not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing to take away .............

Antioine de Saint-Exupery.





Birds are singing, flowers are appearing from their Winters rest, rain is falling softly and you kind of know that Spring has firmly sprung and the weather is warming up.  It brings the promise of new starts and Summer days to come.  The days are growing longer and the promise of having your dinner in the garden and watching the sun set beautifully over the Dorset countryside.

The little snippets of beautiful vintage fabrics are being eagerly collected by the tiny birds for nest completion is happening here, even fought over the other day by two blackbirds, so nest building and little young ones are on their way soon.

The longer weekend was delightful although not always great weather was just what I needed.  It is lovely to clear your head and have some days doing other things.  Not that we are out of lockdown just yet but its on the horizon.  A little food shopping is exciting right now as you are out.  Days off mean I could go to little artisan shops in stead with no

clock watching and to hopefully keep them in business in these trying times.

This week is a shorter one again and I have written a little list of things I would  like to achieve, it does not pressure me, quiet the opposite it makes me happy when I can cross a few things off and makes me feel happy that somethings have been completed.

I did manage to go to a few garden centres and buy some pots and also some flowers and more herbs for the building of my tiny cottage garden.  I would like to sit out there in the summer with the glorious scents of herbs and scented flowers, another place to stitch on warm days and watch the birds and bumble bees go about their busy day.
Herbs in the border now are as follows Rosemary, Green Basil. Red Basil, Mint, Parsley, Coriander, Chives, Sage, Thyme Oregano, Tarragon and Chamomile.  Then edible flower throughout which include tiny Cornflowers, Nasturtuims (variety Ladybird Rose - stunning)
and Hibiscus along with a mix.... Should make for some interesting recipes along with herbal teas fresh in a pot.  I hope you all had a lovely Easter too.  I was in the garden doing some serious weeding and planting and out and about.  Not a needle was picked up and I did have some little easter eggs to munch on... well you only live once!!

I am still enjoying my baking days with tea breads and muffins.  I am going to make a peach cobbler this week at some point and have found a lovely American recipe online.

As the weather continues to get better I have planned a few walks ending up at a local
pub or cafe to sit and have a drink before heading back to my dear Thimble Cottage.

Well stitchery talk now and I was truffling about trying to find a gorgeous piece of vintage fabric to back and border a wall hanging I am stitching and I came across the most beautiful piece from an old Eiderdown and suddenly spied the label.

So getting slightly distracted from the object of said truffling, I spied a lovely label and decided to look it up and this is what I found.


Here is an extract from Gateshead Places - Pelaw, the Cooperative Wholesale Society Pelaw Works by Joan Hewitt at www.gatesheadlibraries/gateshead-local-history-/gateshead-places

"The vast group of factories which occupied the ground between Shields Road and the railway was established by the Lancashire cooperative movement, to spread the commercial principle of cooperative trading into the North-East at the turn of the century.

At first the cooperative movement was entirely made up of retail stores sited in heavily populated industrial areas, particularly in the North of England. In the 1870s a change to manufacturing began, again in Lancashire, round Manchester. The Coop saw the advantage of producing its own goods. Soon it required to expand its manufacturing base, and Tyneside was seen as a splendid place to put up new works.

Before the first factory could function, a workforce had to be found and trained, and skilled men came from Lancashire to start this process. There are still families in and around Pelaw today, whose grandfathers came and settled down to work for the rest of their lives in the C.W.S. works.

In the clothing factory, women workers at their sewing machines turned out not only shirts, nightwear, underwear, coats and suits, but also industrial clothing - overalls, boiler-suits, and pit clothes. A memo on this last read "In the North-east, so strong is the tradition, that men’s pit-drawers of flannel kersey are still in use and must be supplied."

Pelaw’s famous Down Quilts were first made in 1914, in the Quilt factory. Again the workers were women. They were clever quilters, probably because here in County Durham there was an ancient tradition of quilting, and the skills thus acquired were drawn on for the Pelaw workforce. But the Durham quilts though popular, were later eclipsed by the Eiderdowns, filled with the soft, warm and light down feathers of the eider duck. The covers were in satins and silks of deep, lustrous colours and strong patterns.

The Pelaw Quilt factory had its own buyers, who travelled the world to find the finest materials. Its first year’s output realised £396, and in 1933, so great was the demand, the factory was enlarged and the staff increased. In 1938, its total sales were over £90,000. Not only were eiderdowns made, but there was a thriving service in the recovering of old eiderdowns originally made there. Some people still have them! In the Second World War the quilting works made uniforms and flying suits.

The tailoring factory grew like the others, and was extended twice, in 1933 and 1937. The women who worked there were all expert machinists and tailoresses. All the female workers were paid less than the male staff, as was the general rule. There were wage disputes at times even in this benevolent regime.

One would suppose that this vast and busy works would continue to progress and expand after the War when demand for goods returned, and prosperity was much improved. It proved not to be the case. As the 1960s passed, the Coop fell behind its competitors in both retailing and manufacturing. It was slow to see the potential of supermarkets, and did not modernise its production methods soon enough, losing a large share of the market.

Some say that its employees were busy looking after themselves rather than customers. Others assert that the management was too old-fashioned and the goods likewise. Retail Cooperative societies began to amalgamate or disappear, and membership fell. A general decline began which in the 1970s greatly accelerated and by 1980 most of the factories were closed, a sad blow to the district which had for so long taken it for granted. The printing works gave up in 1993, but still stands forlorn and battered by vandals. In 1998 only the Shirt Factory is alive. The other buildings have been demolished and in part replaced with private houses and an Aldi supermarket.

...


I thought is so very interesting that I wanted to share this with you to read. My dear little piece of gorgeous eiderdown fabric was made here in the 1940/50's and here it is now been cut up ( likely too worn to use as an eiderdown anymore with holes producing brown feathers everywhere) and in my stash so worn, weathered, softened and very much loved.




So although I adore this piece of fabric it may now be used to make a little cushion with the label on it, such a piece of history should not be cut up anymore than it has been in my humble opinion.  It is double sided and just needs some stitching unpicked to do so.  What are your thoughts?

Well that is it for me today, some serious stitchery needs to take place so I think I will turn on the radio and listen to something or other and happily immerse myself in vintage goodies..

I will be back on Friday so until then HAPPY STITCHING and take care.

Sarah 
X