Flutterby Patch

Chaos in the sewing room

My life has been completely disrupted this week by the decision to have new spotlights fitted in the kitchen. Before lights can be installed some new electrical wiring must be done under the floor of the room directly above. And which room is above the kitchen? My sewing room! In order to lift the floor boards the carpet and hence all the furniture must be removed.

  
  
  
So now the entire contents of my sewing room is stacked in the hallway and what a jumbled mess it looks, albeit quite a colourful mess. 

All my craft books have left their shelves and are balanced in haphazard heaps and the sewing room is out of bounds for the next few days.

As there is no sewing happening at the moment I decided it would be a good opportunity to share a few books with you. I enjoy all my craft books so this little selection is chosen completely at random

This is a great favourite, 'The Book of Good Needlework'. It dates from the late 1930s and is typical of the period.

There are lots of embroidered tablecloths, tea cosies, tray cloths, napkins, cushion covers and dressing table mats. Everything in it reminds me of how my granny's house used to be and fills me with nostalgia.

'Samplers from the Victoria and Albert Museum' (Clare Browne and Jennifer Wearden). There are some superb samplers illustrated in this book that have inspired me over the years to stitch several of my own, but sadly nothing anywhere near as good as those in the book.

Who can resist dolls? I can't! 'The Dolls Dressmaker' (Venus A Dodge) and 'Making and Dressing Dolls House Dolls' (Sue Atkinson) both have wonderful illustrations that have tempted me time and again to create tiny garments.

By contrast I would never attempt to make any of the exquisite dresses in 'Fashion 18th - 20th Century'. The 700 pages (in full colour) reveal some of the most beautiful garments you'll ever see. The close-up details of the fabrics, embroidery and embellishments are mouth watering. Imagine wearing wonderful dresses like the ones above, but imagine the weight you'd be carrying around!

This isn't a close-up of the decoration on the dresses shown above but recent work delicately stitched with hand-dyed silk ribbon and thread. Isn't it sumptuous? It can be found in 'A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork' by Di van Niekerk. Instructions are included!

I've always loved the brightly coloured clothing worn by the Andean peoples of South America so I couldn't resist buying 'Andean Folk Knits' (Marcia Lewandowski).The 35 traditional patterns include a variety of bags, mittens, gloves, socks, hats and other accessories.

'Journals' (Pam Sussman). I knew I wanted this book as soon as I saw it. In contains some very inspirational ideas for making the prettiest journals from fabric, thread and a variety of embellishments. It makes me want to be a student again in a classroom buzzing with creative ideas and innovation.

I'm an avid collector of books about calligraphy and illuminated lettering. It formed part of my exam syllabus when I was at school and I've been enthusiastic about it ever since. I love the feel of a pen in my hand and making marks on paper with ink. I marvel at contemporary penmanship where lettering is used as an art form. This book 'More than Fine Writing' tells the story of Irene Wellington and the way in which she transformed modern calligraphy. How I should love to have a talent like hers.

'Painting with Gouache' (Michael Saunders) has recently joined my bookshelf. I haven't painted with gouache before but I'm assured it is a very versatile medium and there are various techniques I want to try. For example, it's possible to cover foreground areas (flowers in this case) with masking fluid in order to paint the background. When the background paint is completely dry you simply rub away the masking fluid to reveal the white flower shapes ready for painting. I'm really eager to give it a go.

But enough about craft books. Through my letterbox this week popped a lovely little mail order catalogue for clematis. I bought a plant from this company last year and was very pleased with it so I might treat myself to one or two more. The days are lengthening, birdsong is distinctly chirpier and the garden is beginning to beckon. But the weather isn't quite kind enough yet to spend long outside and so I content myself with browsing through catalogues and making numerous plans.

Meanwhile, I have some lovely clematis coloured wool and (keeping well away from men who are doing the rewiring work) I am knitting a little something and hope to have it ready to show you by next week. Watch this space (or should it be 'watch this blog').

Until next time,
Eli

Happy families and a pin cushion winner

I'm sure we've all seen enough snow scenes for one year but I thought I'd just share this little picture with you before I move on to other things. It hung in my bedroom when I was a child and looking at it always fills me with a warm glow, even though its a frosty subject.

The clever artist is of course Mabel Lucie Attwell and her many pictures of cute chubby children have always appealed to me.

This week at the Flutterby Patch there has been much knitting by a warm fireside and numerous cups of tea and warm snacks. Hot buttered toast is excellent comfort food; not that I need comforting as I've been quite content in my snug little world. I love fruit preserves and honeys of all flavours and am currently enjoying some marmalade from 'Duchy Originals'.This is the company that was started by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1990 to promote organic food and farming. The marmalade is tangy, chunky and delicious (just like homemade!) 

Cosy firesides and hot buttered toast never fail to bring back memories of my childhood and the many hours I spent playing with my sister and two brothers. Dad would be at work whilst mum was always at home with us; always busy, always caring, always there.

In our rather unpredictable world it's reassuring to indulge yourself with a tale or two about happy families and what better than the stories of Milly-Molly-Mandy. Written and illustrated by Joyce Lankester Brisley in the 1920s and 30s they are gentle tales about a happy little girl who lives with her extended family in 'a nice white cottage with a thatched roof'.

Here is Milly-Molly-Mandy with her family.

This is the wonderful cottage kitchen which is always a hive of activity.

And here is Milly-Molly-Mandy with her friend Billy Blunt leaving on a fishing expedition. Just look at the way she is holding that slice of bread in her mouth while she closes the door. Don't you remember doing the very same thing?

In this story Milly-Molly-Mandy's best friend comes to stay for the night (today's expression would be 'sleepover'). She is known as little-friend-Susan which I think is such a sweet name to call a friend.

The Milly-Molly-Mandy books that are currently being printed have new, full colour illustrations but happily they have remained faithful to the originals. I don't usually like updated illustrations in old books but these are really rather nice and its wonderful to know that children are still enjoying the books 75 years after they were written.

With thoughts of Milly-Molly-Mandy and happy memories of my own carefree days fresh in my mind I decided to knit a happy little character to add to my ever growing collection of 'Dottie-tots' (the family of little woolly dolls that inhabit my home).

And here she is, with her skipping rope. I used to be a great skipper. I skipped to school, skipped whilst at school and then skipped all the way home again. I must have skipped hundreds of miles all told. By the way, I've named this new dolly 'little friend-Susan' because I think she looks as if she'd make a faithful friend and probably lend me her skipping rope as well!

As today is Friday 6th February it's time to select the lucky winner of the wrist pin cushion.....

So here we go. The winner, as selected by the on line Random Number Generator this very morning, is .......... number one
 

Congratulations goes to Teasel at I Dream of Sun who was number one in the comments list. I will be contacting her to obtain her address so that I can pop the little pin cushion in the post as soon as possible.

Very many thanks to you all for taking part. As always it seems such a shame you can't all be winners but I truly value your friendship and the time you take each week to visit my Flutterby Patch.

Hoping you all have a happy weekend

Until next time,

Eli
 

Christmases past and early snow

An elderly neighbour gave me this Nicholas Thomas book when I was six years old and as you can see it has been well loved. I always enjoyed reading the story about Christmas.

The chapter entitled 'The Special Christmas Tree' starts with Mummy saying to Nicholas and Timothy "Now is the time to dress the Christmas tree. Pop up to the attic and bring the decorations down." 

And just look at their excited faces when they open the box.

When I was a girl the decorations were stored in the loft which was reached via a rather rickety ladder that my mother would climb whilst we children watched nervously from below. What excitement when the box was set safely down. You hadn't set eyes on its contents for a full year and seeing all those shiny baubles and festive trinkets brought memories of past Christmases flooding back.

Unlike the characters in the book I won't be trimming our tree just yet but when I do I'll spare a thought for poor old Woolworths who recently went into administration after 77 years trading in the UK. Their first shop opened in Liverpool in 1931 and it proved so popular that very quickly every town had a Woolworth store. Their baubles, tinsel, and paper chains have decorated millions of homes around Britain for decades and many of their vintage bits and pieces will doubtless be seeing the light of day once again this year. When I was young 'Woolies' was the only shop selling Christmas trimmings, but now the competition is enormous which, of course, is part of the reason for their downfall.

I can remember Woolworths at Christmas time had several huge counters overflowing with inexpensive decorations. Items like these crepe paper garlands that I found amongst my Granny's things. She carefully stored them away each year in a crumpled Woolworth's bag. Why did grannies always store things in the bags they brought them home in?

And here's an unopened bag of Woolworth's festoon garlands dating from the 1970s (55p according to the label). 

And who remembers this cheap and cheerful wrapping paper? This is some that Granny will have carefully smoothed and put away for another year!

And the little tree with baubles that are now covered in several decades of sticky fingers prints. Crackers and a Santa disappearing down a chimney, and a plastic trumpet that made an ear piercing din and was blown by young brothers throughout Christmas just to annoy everyone.

And best of all, this little Santa with a concertina tummy. I remember him from being very young. He lost a leg many years ago but still makes an appearance every Christmas as it wouldn't be the same without his jolly grin.

And here is the story tree trimmed with all kinds of edible goodies. It has drawn quite a crowd of hungry animals. Timothy and Nicholas feel so sorry for the little animals outside in the snow that they hatch a plan.

They trim a tree with edible decorations for the animals in the garden. I doubt the hungry animals will have obeyed the instructions!

The story concludes with rabbits carrying away armsful of carrots and mice scampering home with biscuits. I love happy endings!

These pics are for you Michele at Cowboys and Custard because I know you are a really big fan of Nicholas Thomas books. Michele has a passion for vintage toys and ephemera so do pay her a visit.

And finally

We rarely see snow before Christmas but on Thursday I drew back the bedroom curtains to be greeted by this wintry scene.

The sky was grey and heavy giving the impression there was more snow to come so I was happy to spend the day snug and warm indoors.

Although I feed the wild birds regularly I can't help feeling especially sorry them on days like this. A robin watched my husband put more food on the bird table.

Needless to say he was first to the food as soon as hubby's back was turned. Amazingly this chirpy chap will hop around your feet when you are digging the garden in the summer but aim a camera at him through a kitchen window (as I'm doing here) and he's decidedly nervous and on his guard. 

The snow started to melt after lunch but the slushy remains quickly froze again as the sun went down and today is not a day for venturing far. Wonder if I should start writing the Christmas cards!