The naughty corner...

 I started this post ages ago.  But it seems the computer has other ideas today.  It kept putting spanners in the works - not letting me sign in to blogger, not allowing me to crop some photos or even see others, freezing and generally throwing a complete computer tantrum.  So I did what supernanny would advise, warned it (restart), then as that didn't work, sent it to the naughty corner, switching off and ignoring it for a while and - hey presto!  It seems to have realised tantrums and sulking just won't work and is now working fine again...hopefully!

I thought I'd share a couple of lovely books today, ones that you might not have come across as they are French. 

I'm lucky enough to spend a few weeks a year enjoying the delights of France, and when I am over there, I am always tempted into the big bookshop to have a quick peek at the Craft section.  And what delights are to be found there!  I think perhaps the pleasures of needlecrafts are enjoyed by more people over there - even the tiny town that we visit in summer has a good, well-stocked needlecraft store, whereas it's hard for me to find anything so good near me here in Hampshire.

This one drew me in with its ticking-inspired footstool.

Most of the alphabets within are cross stitch.  I used to do quite a lot of cross stitch, even if I was once told (as I was doing an intricate piece) that it was nothing more than the stitching equivalent of painting by numbers!  Anyhow, I enjoy the very slow revelation of a design in cross stitch, but rarely do any these days, preferring things that show a faster result.  This book has some lovely designs that might just tempt me back to some even weave linen...

I love these red monograms.

I'm sure just one would look stunning framed.

These would be lovely on lavender sachets.

Something to start now ready for December?

 

There are also some embroidered motifs...

Apologies for the wonky scanned picture!

If you are tempted, you can get the book on French Amazon - just follow the link!

Marie Claire Abecedaires

There are lots of other great Marie Claire Needlework books too!

The next one is this...

I'll let you peep inside...

Cute!

There's a companion volume  'Ma vie à broder' - it was hard to choose which to get!

Here's the link:

Ma Vraie Nature

Till next time!

Anyone for Sunday lunch?

Because we have some serious leftovers!

Against my better judgement, I let Mr Used-to-Bees wander alone into our local butcher's yesterday morning.  I quickly realised my error and shot in after him, but not before he had managed to purchase a 5lb leg of lamb.  With three of us normally in residence, and two of us not big meat-eaters, the maths didn't quite work out.  

Undaunted, Mr U-t-B set about inviting his three grown up children (plus romantic attachments) to make up numbers, last minute though it was.  

Sadly, it seems they all have a life, so we were back to three.  

And then even gorgeous girl abandoned us to help one of the big sisters clear out the flat she's moving out of.  

So that made two.  

And an awful lot of meat and roasties.  

We thought of dragging people off the street, but the house is a bit of a mess, what with the bathroom revamp and all the sewing.  At least dinner is sorted for the rest of the week...

In between cooking and allotmenteering this weekend, I have managed to fit in a bit of sewing.  I've made a bevvy of Russian doll 'brooches'.  I say brooches with inverted commas because their main purpose isn't decorative.  When I'm at school, I work in all twelve of the classrooms, frequently using a memory stick to share my wonderful French Powerpoint presentations with the children.  Nothing induces greater panic than the moment I realise I have mislaid said memory stick and with it all my hard work!  So I thought it would be good to have something more attractive than a grubby old lanyard to keep the memory stick safe - et  voilà!

The back of the brooch has a little pocket for the stick.  Will road-test it this week, when I'm finally back in school for a day!

I love making little things like this, as they allow the Scrooge in me to use up some of the tiniest scraps of fabric I have.  Who else is there out there, I wonder, who is incapable of throwing out pieces of treasured fabric, unless under about 1cm square?  (I mean, 1cm square is the perfect size for the dotting of an i!)

In my bid to keep the mounting pile of scraps tidy, I appliqued these bags.

Sorted!

Grrr!

We managed to get down to the allotment this morning.  Since our summer holiday it has been a little neglected, due to the weather, multiple birthday celebrations and the emergency revamp of our upstairs bathroom (leaks into the electrics not being something you can put off!)  We had left our trusty pirate scarecrow in charge, but sadly, he seems to have been napping!  Because while we have been away SOMEBODY has NICKED all but 4 of our magnificent red onion harvest!  GRRRR!  And double GRRRR!  Two not happy bunnies, we were...

On the plus side, we dashed home with some potatoes, beans, a sunflower head (how do you roast these yourself?) and four lovely cobs of sweetcorn. 

Dashed because you're meant to have the water boiling as you pick them, I'm told.  I grew the same type last year and they were yummy, so I persevered with growing this year's lot from seed, even though it took two attempts as the first lot turned up their toes before the weather had got warm enough to plant them out.  They are called Mirai Bicolour and I can thoroughly recommend them.  Not only do they look pretty... 

...with their two-tone ears, but they taste delicious and are very tender.  Even gorgeous daughter, complete with train tracks on her teeth, can chomp on one of these!

Look what the postman left for me today.

Lots more 100% wool felt!  

Time to get cracking...

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'!

Children's Book Illustrations

After yesterday's fun with travel posters and luggage labels, today I wanted to turn my attention to the second of my new books, 'Classic Children's Book Illustrations'.  This has oodles of both familiar and unfamiliar work and is arranged in roughly chronological order, so the mid-Victorian illustrators (such as Edward Lear and John Tenniel) come early in the book and the bits I prefer, with Art Nouveau and Art Deco influences, come towards the end. 

Sadly though, the book comes to a halt at 1923, which means that two of my favourites don't even get a look in!  So, whilst I get more sheets of fabric ready to print (a process which requires lots of short bursts of activity then medium sized pauses to make sure the colours are fast) I thought I'd come to the computer and share some of the loveliness that is the work of Gladys Peto and Rie Cramer!

I think I first happened upon a book illustrated by Gladys Peto on ebay a couple of years ago.  I did quite a lot of drooling over it , but having no  plausible excuse for buying, I sadly had to let the cyber hammer come down without bidding.   The style of the illustrations stayed with me, and a few months later I could no longer resist and managed to buy 'Schoolgirl Stories' at a knockdown price.

  Here's my favourite of the colour plates.

Cute dog!

Ever had this feeling?

Another colour plate... 

Unfortunately most of the Gladys Peto books on ebay, Amazon and so on are exorbitantly expensive.  But if you like the style, here's a link to an interesting blog where you can enjoy lots of examples of Gladys's work:

Gladys Peto

These Rie Cramer illustrations capture some aspects of the weather here in Hampshire today - it's blowing a hoolie out there!

Wish it was still like this:

Though I am rather partial to this:

Not forgetting the joys of this:

I have now managed to treat, dry, iron, stick, trim, and print some more bits of vintage art, so I'm off to do some stitching (once I've washed dried, Wondawebbed and trimmed them that is...is this a bit of a palaver or what?)

The Art of Vintage Travel

I was delighted on Saturday when two books I had ordered dropped through the letterbox - 'Old-Time Travel Posters and Luggage Labels' and 'Classic Children's Book Illustrations'.  Both are Dover publications and come with a CD of all the scrummy images within, all of which are copyright free.  I was itching to get on and finally put together some items that have been developing in my mind over the past couple of weeks, since the day I finally plucked up the courage to put some fabric though our precious printer.

So here are some of the results!  

All the images are printed on some old, beautifully textured linen and the base fabric is French ticking (very vintage, from a pile I picked up on holiday this summer) or wool felt.

I'd like to think that they will all travel far!

Excuse me, but is this allowed?

It seems a trifle excessive to be writing a second post today.  In fact, I'm not altogether sure that it's even allowed...

But what the heck?  I can't leave Mr Mouse all alone there on top of his cotton reel.  He needs a friend.  Here she is...

Till next time!