Some things old, something new...

To start with, I thought I'd share a couple of pieces of treasure today. 

First of all, something that had been lurking behind the desk for a year (or maybe even two!) waiting to be given a new piece of glass.  I bought this beautiful tray on ebay, but sadly it was not well packaged and arrived with the glass smashed to smithereens!  I got a piece of glass cut for it quite quickly, but it was too big, and so it wasn't until I needed glass for last week's tray that this one was cut to size.  Here's the result...

I should have taken photos of the embroidery before putting it under the glass!  It is really beautifully done - incredibly neat.

Next, another crinoline lady.

I bought this rather shabby little tea cosy a couple of weeks ago. It's about half the size of a normal tea cosy.

  The first time I saw it in a local Antiques Centre, I resisted temptation, even though I was fascinated by the technique used to create the flower border.  A week or so later, I found myself driven to return, hoping against hope that it would still be there.  

I went to the room where I had seen it and was crestfallen not to find it...

But just as I was about to leave, I spied it out of the corner of my eye and swiftly scooped it up!

The flowers are all made from minute pieces of felt, some of them intricately cut into petals.  Embroidered detail has been layered on top.  You can see that there used to be paving stones drawn on, and possibly some other 'painted' bits - or perhaps this is just colour run from the felt?

Today, I decided to have a go at recreating the felt flower border (if not the armless, half-neckless lady).  

I got a hole punch and cut tiny circles from lots of different colours of felt scraps, and cut other shapes free-hand.  Then I created my flowers and stitched them on.

And here is what I made...

A great way to use up the tiniest of scraps!

I'm now dreaming up other things to decorate with these miniature felt flowers!

In case you haven't read my last post, just to let you know I'm doing a giveaway.  You can read about it, and how to enter,  here.  

One of the prizes is a 'Beach Hut, Bunting and Daisies' Needlecase.  Just in case you're not a red, white and blue kinda gal (or fella, as the case may be!), here's an alternative colourway.  The winner can choose which they'd prefer!

Cushions, salvage and little bit of china

Yay!  My husband is back!  I know this because:

a) There are crumbs and a jammy, buttery knife on the kitchen worktop

b) There's a whole heap of muddy, cement-y clothes in the washing machine, and

c) The camera has returned!

No more shoving things into the scanner for me - I can now try to get to grips with  a piece of black plastic with more buttons on it than the lift in Canary Wharf!

 Here's the first picture I took - the cushion I finally finished yesterday evening, whilst waiting for the labels to dry after their wash.  It's the one in the middle.

Do you like my sewing machine instead of the crown?  It's a clue to what's on the back.

Flip it over!

The letters on the front are all cut from vintage feedsacks and Bondawebbed, then handstitched on, and all the fabric is reclaimed - the linen background from an immensely thick French sheet, and the properly-cottony gingham (you know the substantial sort you used to get back in the 60s and 70s) from a local charity shop.

I won't be parting with this one, but here are some more that I'm going to list on Folksy, if anyone is interested.

All from reclaimed fabrics. 

Left and right feature monograms from French napkins mixed with a modern Scandinavian style fabric and a bit  vintage linen tea towel on the front,  and modern ticking on the reverse.

And here's one salvaged from a tablecloth that had seen much better days, mixed with some patchwork using mostly 'Aunt Grace' repro fabrics.  Not a great photo (need to get to grips with those buttons) - the crinoline lady does have a body and head! They are stitched in very pale thread unfortunately!

Anyway, enough of cushions.  

Had a tedious but worthwhile job to do this morning, taking the pretty lace off the edges of some more of the ticking I bought in France.  It had been stitched on with the minutest stitches, about 8 to the centimetre, in the sturdiest of threads, so it was a bit of a challenge.  But there was a bonus - all those little tiny curls of thread were great for some 'ephemeral' art.

First a dog.

Then a short-legged, big bottomed donkey!

Ah well...You have to take your fun where you find it.

Finally, a bit of china.  Specially for the people with like-minds  I am discovering through writing this - those who like Johnson Brothers Rosedawn!

Thanks to Ann, Jenny and Ted and Bunny for becoming my first three 'followers'!