From the Trenches

*Chloe sticks her head up above the parapet (or some such military installation), and sees another pile of invoices*

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeek.

Have a look at what yarnstorm is doing with doilies!!!!!! Found via Peasoup.

Gotta talk to that souper lady one day - reckon she might know some more op shops!!!!

*Disappears, rapidly*

Back in a few days

Hi Everyone,

I really am here, but real life intervenes (especially at the end of the financial year),

So it will be a few days before I am back .

Not even a link to leave you with. :(

Peacock Block

There's a glorious Peacock Block happening over at Pam's Kitty&Me blog.

I dearly want to work on my Peacock Wallhanging, but am being disciplined. And am enjoying working on Janet's Fan block. This is it before I started:

I'll have my bits finished in a couple of days, then there is only one more to work on it.

Found a New Shop.

Caution - long post, no pictures, important bit at bottom.

Had a fun day in Melbourne yesterday. Caught up with S from The Blank Page (who wasn't all shopped out despite a day out the day before with G from Patra's Place).

First of all, we slipped up to Two Unicorns, which S had told me about, and I had wanted to see. Only to find that she will be closing on Saturday, and was having a huge clearance sale - 50% off once you reached a total of $20 - but only until Saturday, for anyone living in Melbourne. She will, however, be trading in cross-stitch on the internet. Not a lot there, but some half price hand-painted Japanese silk thread, Steff Francis threads and some nice ribbon attacked me.

Then it was off to an art-supplies place (have you got any idea how difficult it is to find a mapping pen these days??). Success, so we hit the op shops. Without a lot of success. Which is strange. I don't think either of us bought anything to mention in two shops.

So we had to retire for lunch, and I had to rush off early, as my driver had an appointment down at Oakleigh. We parked, guess where? In front of a Salvation Army Op Shop.

I said "Ring my mobile when you finish" and I was gone. That shop yielded a fair-sized bag of good crochet cotton for $2 and a pair of tiny fan ear-rings - you know the ones where the vanes open and close? And, working really hard on the pictures - one side has peacocks. How's dat???? One for the Peacock wall hanging, one for the Fan block.

So, are you wondering where the new shop I found was??? Keep reading. :)

I asked if there were any other op shops around, and received some complicated directions for the Red Cross shop (they are never much, more upmarket, but what the heck, I had time to fill). I walked out, as directed, turned left and wandered and asked for half an hour, with no luck. And was working my way back (turning left all the time to get back to my starting point and the car), and found an embroidery shop two doors from where I started!!!!! Now why didn't I ask in the Op Shop if there were any sewing shops in town. Dingbat!!!!

Anyway, there were skid marks on the footpath as I cornered to go in, and I had a lovely time. The shop is Craftee Cottage, run by Lynne, and is a joint needlework and wool shop. She has a good range of Colourstreams ribbons, Kacoonda ribbons, Cascade silk, Mokubra ribbons (no picot-edge, unfortunately, still cannot find). And a good range of cross-stitch books, including some interesting small ones. And she knew what I meant when I mentioned Chicken Scratch, and says she usually carries 18 count waste canvas!!!!! And was a very pleasant person - I passed time waiting for my driver very easily, and felt most welcome browsing.

Which is the whole point of this post. Takes me a while to get there. S and I started the day in a needlework shop that was closing (although she will have a net presence), and she could name a lot of others she knew that had closed. Which got S ad I thinking about others we knew, and I am thinking of my local three, which are going along okay (I hope). A major factor for my local ones is the warm and happy personality of the operators, who draw people in.

This one in Oakleigh felt the same. And we got talking about how the net is putting pressure on shops - and how she has to gently remind her customers that they also need to buy locally, or they will end up with no local shops. So when I got home I had a look at her site - and I have to say it does not yet reflect what I actually found on the ground - which was a really nice place, and I hope it continues to flourish.

Craftee Cottage is 52-54 Atherton Rd, Oakleigh, phone 03-9568 3606, closed Sunday and Monday. And I really liked her range of lace, too.

Old Quilt on eBay

Interesting old Crazy Quilt on eBay. I wouldn't bid on it - too degraded and not all that wonderful a piece. But it would be interesting to know how old it is. My initial impression is 1920s to 1930s, but I could be way out, the way some fabric is shattering.

One thing is for sure - the way they fold it would not help with the shattering fabric.

I found the quilt!!!!

I have found my quilt, the one in my jigsaw - it is by Edna Force Davis, from Fairfax County in Virginia, and is in the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute. Britanica will tell me that much without being a member, but I cannot find a larger image at the actual museum page.

And it is made from wool.

How did I find it? I found another, smaller signature on the side as I was applying varnish to my jigsaw.

I am most happy. Would be even happier if anyone knows where there is a good image online. :)

Found my jigsaw box

Ain't life strange when you start being happy because you found a box your jigsaw came in:

Yes, well, you see, it is like this. I love the jigsaw, which was made in 1983, according to the box, and when I got it zillions of years ago, I had it mounted. Then lost the box. Now it is found, and it does not have the jigsaw markings on it. Or ANY print on the top.

So I think I will test a tiny bit on the side with varnish, and if it just varnishes (sometimes it sort of ruins it by showing the cardboard underneath), I will give it a few coats and make it into something special. It is that, or frame it - but I haven't got enough room to show off stuff of my own on my walls.

During February I posted a lot of closeups of the jigsaw - if you use the February archives link on my sidebar, you can get a look at the lot again - the sitching is wonderful.

A couple of nice links

There are a couple of exceptionally beautiful posts out there I have just happened across:

There is a cushion (I cannot call them pillows) , that has exceptional colour use on Works in Progress. And a beautiful Hussif at Keeping One's World in Stitches.

Plus Gina sent me a link to an eBay auction finishing today in the US - for a Chicken Scratch Cushion Kit. Nice-looking pattern. Hopefully that link works - I haven't tried pasting an eBay number before. Thanks Gina.

Stitch

Not a lot of stitching doing here, and definitely no scanning. The little bit of stitching I can fit around real life is on RRs, which I will post when finished.

But I have got my copy of Stitch, which comes out of the Embroiderer's Guild in Britain. I do like this one, and it is not just that really expensive paper that feels so nice. It has a good article on Chicken Scratch, good projects and directions and good photos (although they also use that trick of a photograph of the same project at exactly the same stage, just cropped differently, on two different pages).

It is the April/May issue, and cost me $12.95 in Australia - my newsagent got it in, and has it on order for me now.

So with no scanner, and no work happening, I thought you might like a photograph of one of my older works:

This is an icon to St Claire, one of the Patron Saints of Needleworkers. The silk print shows her at her embroidery, and I was deliberately trying for a simple look (ie Middle Ages), rather than Victorian. The Rosary is one I made myself, as I understand she was a follower of St Francis, and their Rosaries are slightly different in the number of decades.

I did also add a small cross at bottom left after this scan was made.

But cannot scan it again - no scanner.

Maureen's DYB for herself

Maureen has just sent me a scan of her own work in the DYB (Doing Your Block). For those who are unfamiliar with DYBs, Maureen made six blocks, which were sent round like a normal round robin, but each block was worked on by one person only.

When Maureen got them home, she had to finish off the sixth block, that non-one had worked on. (And Maureen asked each of us not to look at the work of the others until we had done ours).

So this is Maureen's work (and check out top left)

You can see the largest version HERE.

The DYBs that Viv, Patti, Anne and Catherine did for Maureen (and did I mention that Maureen pieced identical blocks) can be seen HERE, and my DYB for Maureen can be seen HERE

Thanks for allowing me to do the unveiling, M3

Busy, busy, busy

Life is terribly busy here, and I haven't got much stitching done - but the new laptop (my permanent and now gloriously one and only computer) is now networked, but I still don't have good access to a scanner and only just regained part-time access to a printer. So I am still having a bit of a trouble getting stuff done. And I have had the last two Fan Round Robin blocks arrive here - once they are finished I will have unfettered access to my UFOs.

But I have just been doing some checking out:

Pam at Kitty&Me has posted some glorious pictures from her old embroidery book - I am still suspecting that for some reason bloglines takes its time telling me when Pam updates, but it is hard to tell because the of the international time differences.

And there is a new nice blog on the block, which is Allison Aller - I found her through Bloggers Who Embellish . If you do go there - you need to check the second page of the listing - there are now more than fifty (54 as I write) in that ring.

And there is another blog just born - Not all those who wander are lost. Just new, but I know there is a crazy-patcher lurking in there. Welcome.

More Hearts

Here are two more of the Hearts that I have made and swapped out through the Chains of Hearts. (Waving to Maxine, who may recognise one).

The one above was the first I made - I do love purple. And the one below includes a silk-print of St Claire, one of the Patron Saints of Needleworkers, at her embroidery.

There is always room for more members in Chains of Hearts. Not that I am swapping at the minute, but I will be again one day.

Hearts

I have been looking at another one of the UFOs I want to get back to, which is my Hearts from the Chains of Hearts mailing list. This is an international list at Yahoo where people make and exchange unfinished six-inch Hearts, as a direct swap, with no deadlines. And there are some lovely people on there.

For example - this is one Heart I made (although not finished in this picture)

which went, I think from memory to Canada (some overseas may recognise again my fascination with Lyrebirds)

and this is one I received from Maureen in Queensland.

They are a lovely project, and I am loooking forward to a time when I am able to give them some time again.

Stumpwork Pansy

This is the Pansy from the Country Garden Sampler - my UFO in waiting. I loved this, as it introduced me to Needlelace, but in a stumpwork (ie wired and free-standing) form.

Once I had worked out the needle-lace, I started off doing dragonfly wings that way. In metallic thread with a single bead per wing. There is one on Viv's DYB.

Not what I would start on if I was going to learn Needlelace on wire (the metallic thread is messy). But it gives a really nice result.

Rosehips

Not a lot doing here - real life gets in the way sometimes.

I am thinking about pruning the roses soon - so here are the Rosehips from Jenny Bennett's Country Garden Sampler - fun and easy - embroider the background and wind thread through wooden beads, add Turkey Knots at the end.

I've uploaded the Pansy (which wasn't attached to the sampler when it ook the photograph), but you are going to have to wait until I have a minute to talk about it.

*gone*

Anne's Cat Quilt

It is cold, wet and wintry here. Not that I am complaining - we need the rain. But I thought you might like to see something cheery - this is a quilt in progress by Anne, one of my students. Those of you who have been with me in pre-blog days may remember her cat picture and cat vest - must see if I still have those pictures - her work is brilliant, in more ways than one.

This is a view of some of the blocks - it is doing to be a quilt for her bed, so she won't even be putting buttons on it.

The large version is HERE.

Here is a closeup of some of the blocks:

Everyone loves the way she has appliques cats to go over the edges of that centre block.

HERE they are a little closer-up.

Just what I need to look at on a cold and wintry day.

Pamela's Antique Needlework Pictures

Bloglines is good, but not perfect. I have been suspicious for a while that it is not telling me when all blogs are updated, so I slipped over to Pamela's Kitty&Me Designs, to find a number of beautiful pictures from an 1899 embroidery book Pamela has. They are just wonderful. Run, don't walk, if you haven't seen them.

And Pamela has them on Flickr (previous pictures were on her own server), so you can click on them and look at close-ups - I love the wild rose. And of course, I have added Pamela as a contact, so now I get told when she loads new pictures there, even before she blogs them. I do love Flickr.

But one thing has me wondering - and I know I used to know it for cars. What is Vintage and what is Antique??? We are talking a lot about vintage linen now - should it be antique linen??? Is it something like vintage is over 30 years old and antique is over 40 years old??? Just pulling figures out of the air. Enquiring minds would like to know.

My DYB for Maureen

Thanks to the patience of Maureen, I have had a few days left to finish my DYB for her. The other four were handed over during coffee on Tuesday. You can see them HERE.

The largest size is HERE.

The idea in this particular RR was that Maureen made six identical blocks, and we each embellished one. She asked us not to look at the others until we had finished out own, so she got five totally different interpretations of the same block. (We reckon now that when they arrived at my place, I should have picked mine and sent the sixth straight to her - and not sent hers home until she had embellished the sixth under the same conditions as she imposed on us - worth thinking about!)

Anyway - I have to say I am not totally happy with my work - I loved doing the Lyrebird, but was sort of undecided about colours, and the creams didn't give me many clues. So I sort of changed my colours half way through - I started off with creams and whites and golds (and Lyrebirds are grey and brown), then I decided to add some colour. With hindsight - I think I could have done a more colourful butterfly - maybe bright purple instead of pewter????

However - this has been a fascinating exercise - and it goes in the mail today. I really want to do another DYB straight away - but I am firm - no RRs for the rest of the year, after I finish the fans, as I want to get UFOs finished.

More nice blogs

Oooooh, pour yourself a nice coffee, and check out The Crazy Spider (love the moon project - very, very much), and have a look at the jewellery on Dakini Dreams - one life is not long enough to explore wonderful work like this.

Fan Wall Hanging

Today I had a chance to have a quick look at my blocks in the Fan RR, which have come to stay with Rae for a little while. So I quickly pinned them up with my six DYBs (five finished, the sixth I am working on). So they looked like this:

Rather nice - I am going to have to be strong to not allow them to jump too high up the UFO roster. But I will have all sorts of fun trying to see which one goes next to which one which way up.

Peacock Fabric

Even though I have totally finished piecing my Peacock Wall Hanging, I am still a sucker for Peacock Fabric. So when I saw this Jinny Beyer quilter's cotton on Tuesday, I had to have a piece.

This view is about 12 inches (30cm) high - I can just see one peacock pieced in the centre of a bag????

Besides, a gurrrrrl can never have too much fabric, can she???

(The answer is YES, but that is another story)

Country Garden Sampler

Maureen spotted this one of my UFOs on the side-bar, and was asking for closeups of some parts I have already finished.

This is the Country Garden sampler from Jenny B at Sale - and I started it several years ago. It is in the UFO list after the Peacocks, Dragonflies and Hearts.

Maureen asked for the "butterfly and Poppy", so here they are:

However I am not totally sure Maureen (it is the one in Qld, not the one I had coffee with yesterday) wasn't after the Rose - so here it is:

Really want to work on this, but trying to be organised with UFOs.

More new blogs

New blogs to the right of us, new blogs to the left of us ....

New blogs all around us.

And I am getting a little confused, as some names are starting to sound the same. But I don't think I have mentioned dyeing 2 sew, which is Valerie from England - I am very taken with her crazy-patch work. Definitely one for the side-bar. :)

I don't know how Mary-Frances keeps track, administering the Bloggers who Embellish, but I really find it useful to log in there regularly and go to the bottom of the list to check out any newbies.

Maureen's DYB blocks

Today was handover day for Maureen's DYBs - so we had coffee, raided Op Shops and then had lunch with C - and then I had to run.

And Maureen, being the angel she is, has allowed me a little extra time to get my DYB for her finished and scanned - I am scannerless at the minute. (And didn't say one word about my looking at the blocks before I was completely finished. It was almost finished).

And, even more kindly, Maureen has allowed me to post the blocks here. Wow!!! What a lady!

For those who are not used to DYBs - they are a special form of Round Robin, where each person makes six six to eight inch blocks, and sends them off. Each of the other five people in the group totally embellishes one block. And the maker of the squares embellishes the last.

However in this case Maureen had a stroke of brilliance. She went even further and made all the blocks the same, and asked each person not to look at the work of those before her in the rotation - so each block was the interpretation of one person, without any influence from the others. So these are a fascinating exercise.

It was even more fascinating for me, as I had them to compare with the work of the same person on my blocks, which were very colourful, and you can see HERE. I have pasted them in the same order.

Remember to see the largest you need to use the links (not the photos) and then click on the photo with your cursor or use the enlarge icon - and I promise to post as large a one of mine, when finished - they are so large they are scary, but really good for looking to see the stitching.

The one above is by Viv. Verrry large version HERE.

The one above is by Patti. Verrry large version HERE.

Above - by Anne. Largest version HERE.

Above - Catherine for Maureen - and the green beads top left are for sewing on after the sashing has been added. Large version HERE.

Enjoy!

Having a Cuppa at Nan's

I called into see Deb at Nan's Cupboard (sorry, no website) the other day, and they were having a cuppa. They do that there - sit and do classes, and natter to the customers and have a cuppa with nice china and a teapot.

And they were making those Peacock Feather ear-rings - I found some very cheap at a small bush town last year, and I have two left for the Peacock Wall Hanging. I was running, so couldn't stop - but must make a time with Deb to learn how to do them. Closeup, they look like this:

But the thing that really fascinated me was the Tea Cosy. Because I reckoned I had seen it before, somewhere. So I came home and looked in my The Gentle Arts, and there it was. Possibly made from a Madame Weigel pattern in the 1940s. Howzat!!!

As one of the ladies said - she is one very aggro looking teapot lady. And, as one of the others said - wouldn't you be if you had to sit on top of a hot teapot all day.

Now we are Fifty!!!!

Suzanne the List-admin from one of the large CQ lists has started a blog - she is over at QueenEmbelle - and is the fiftieth on the Bloggers who Embellish Ring.

Would love to say welcome on her blog, but it is't set for comments at the minute. So Welcome thoughts are being sent from here.

Peacocks from Gina

Some regular readers may know that in the past, I have been seriously into Peacocks (you can see my Peacock Wall Hanging on my sidebar as current UFO). So when Gina from Patra's Place offered to scan these two doilies for me, I was very happy. Even though it is too late to get them into the wall hanging. And that scrollwork beside the first one is interesting, too.

The larger version is HERE

and here is the other:

The larger version is HERE

This is the last of my scans from Gina I have to post - it has been a wonderful series. Thank You, Gina. As soon as I am working on just one computer (maybe later today), I am burning a CD for Gina of the apron photos I took - with luck, once the post office helps us out - she may be ready to show some off.

Speaking of Crinoline Ladies

Speaking of Crinoline Ladies, and Chicken Scratch. A few years ago I charted a couple of small cross-stitch Crinoline ladies I found on some old, unsewn doilies. I use DigiStitch for my cross-stitch charting.

They were silhouettes - ie only one colour. I have used these a couple of times, with waste canvas, on crazy patch. There, they look like this:

The pattern for this Lady is HERE . I am not sure that I actually hold copyright, but if you are a member of Flickr you are welcome to download from there.

And here is the other Lady:

The larger version is HERE. Same deal with copyright. If you are looking at them, you may need to click with your cursor to get to full size.

I am looking at these because I was thinking that I might be able to rework them into having a band of Chicken Scratch around the skirt. Maybe, if I got rid of the ornamental bits around the bottom of the skirt, I could work it in there.

I'm not sure that I would be working that version on crazy-patch. But if I succumb to doing them on a gingham apron, it could be rather interesting.

Works In Progress

Isn't it funny how funny things happen together (Well, I know what I mean).

At exactly the same time as Gina was getting her new laptop, mine was delivered. So now I am on restricted activity on the old computer while SO programs the laptop - and he has been going for two days so far!!! (Well, he is combining two different computers onto that one laptop, so he is doing it very carefully)

So, inspired by S over at The Blank Page, I have been working on my sidebar. And, wonder of wonders - I have got a Works in Progress section on there. Now that was the whole purpose of this blog, and I never thought of doing it. Some of the photos are not the most up-to-date, but I am working on that.

Thanks S!

Basketry

I was trying to decide which of Andrea's transfers was due for publication next, and decided upon this one - inspired by list discussion elsewhere about crocheted flower baskets.

The large version is HERE

After looking at the basket for a time, I thought it would be worth a try replicating it as an embroidery motif - and I have been wanting to try Sharon's advice about using Coral Stitch for a curved line. I like Coral Stitch, but I usually use it for tree branches.

So, here is what I have done so far. Firstly, I drew a circle around a kitchen glass, and drew a line through it below the centre, and flattened the bottom. Then I just free-handed a handle. This is my master-copy:

After that, I copied the design onto tissue paper, and being an easy one, I just pinned the paper down instead of tacking it. I then took my favourite thread for this (Gumnuts "Buds" silk, #947) and outlined the design in stem stitch. So that gets us here:

After that, I removed the tissue paper and then added spokes in the same thread, just long, straight stitches.

Then, I ran out of the Gumnuts threads - well, it is my favourite, so I use it all the time. So I run out. QED. Help!!! Next option??? Three strands of Needle Necessities overdyed embroidery floss (#126 - looking in daylight I would have been better with #118). And, off I went, Coral stitching in the woven part.

Then I just filled in the handle with chain stitch and a bit of Lazy Daisy (they would have been better coming out upside down, but that is minor).

Now I just need to fill the basket with flowers. I will probably use a few ribbon ones to break the line across the top of the basket, and then just play with adding whatever appeals to me. And put this piece aside to piece into a block later.

I reckon I could do a pretty good fan this way too.

Another new CQ blog

Yipppeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

There's another new Crazypatch blogger at All Stitched Up. Love the frog. :)

Dolly Varden Cake

Oh Dear - yes, Sharlee, I did see the Dolly Varden Cake as I was going through the links, but didn't chase it any further. However ....

HERE is a recipe for the cake. And there are even references to a "Dolly Varden Cake tin", which I suspect might be the right shape for a Crinoline Lady???? Certainly they seem to be dotted with red cherries on white, like polka dots.

But yes - the fish were still there in the cake Google search - it was a piece of cake to catch them here there and everywhere. And a lot were caught by "Captain Cake". :)

Ooops - haven't seen that before - there is a Dolly Varden pelargonium. And there is a rose, too.

And, Wow!!!! An 1870s Dolly Varden sewing machine. I want!!!!! (Have you got any idea how many pictures of FISH I had to look at to find that???)

Ooooh, look, a Theatrical Poster. And a small mention of a "Dolly Varden Floral Design" fabric in an advert - but the whole page is fascinating.

Back to looking at the fish. Ooooooh, someone has named their motor home after Dolly Varden. And there is a whole range of labels for Dolly Varden cigars (and a lot of really nice graphics on that page).

You can even buy a Dolly Varden teapot. Or an antique china basket of a particular shape.

Gosh, it is amazing what you can find with a Google images only search. There was not one embroidered doiley, Sunbonnet Sue, or anything like what we call a Crinoline Lady. Or of the cake.

But there were a heck of a lot of fish!!!!

Thanks, Sharlee, for the fish!!!! (And the fun)

Dolly Varden

Gina over at Patra's Place has started talking about Dolly Varden, and we were trying to work out where the name, as a sort of alternate to Crinoline Ladies and Sunbonnet Sue, came from.

So, as I am drinking my mid-morning coffee, I decided to have a search.

First I was led down the avenue of a popular rock band. It didn't help me much.

Then it appears there species of Trout (ie fish) named a Dolly Varden. And there I did find help. Because they were talking about where the name originated - Thanks to DollyVardenAlaska, we find:

The original Dolly Varden is a character in the Charles Dickens's novel "Barnaby Rudge" and was well known as being quite flirtatious wearing her flashy attire and colorful dresses one of which was green with pink polka dots. Dolly Varden's Reputation ~ A Classic Case of Not Knowing The Whole Story.

I'm not sure if the green and pink polka dots is the link to the fish, in my one picture in the Jennifer Isaacs book, there are definitely polka dots on the dress. Other sources give it as a name for any woman wearing very colourful dresses, from the same Dickins source.

Still Googling - the fish gets many, many more hits than the band - it is a "stubborn, irridescent trout".

So I refined my search a bit, and got things like this picture, and a description of the 1870s Dolly Varden Dress.

But even searching for "Dolly Varden" and "dress" gets zillions of hits on how to dress when going out to catch a Dolly Varden fish.

So I am giving up - however the main theme seems to be garish clothing or pink polka dots on green. I didn't bother researching to see if that was the sort of costume the band wears.

A Month of Softies

Ooooooooops - Apologies all round, and Thanks to Smockery.

A Month of Softies is at Loobylu, not Wee Wonderfuls. They look fun, but I am not going to be tempted. The Aprons is another thing.

Gina, I can seeeee you. If you really want to do an embroidered apron, maybe one of the children's ones. Or, dare I suggest it - I wonder what would happen if it was a much smaller one, pinned onto a friendly doll?????

Apron of the Month

Oh Dear. I am in trouble. I am hooked. (line and sinker).

Some of you will be aware of a month of Softies, somewhere in blogland. Maybe on Wee Wonderfuls???

Anyways, Amy over at Angry Chicken is suggesting a challenge where people make an apron (after a theme) each month, and post a photo. First theme is "Home on the Range".

I am having all sorts of thoughts about wearable pop-art/domestic art/indescribable art.

I think I am hooked. Help!!!!!!!!!!

Crinoline Ladies for Today

It has been kinda busy around here lately, with posts going off in all directions - time to get back to normal. Not allowed to be totally distracted by sharonb going off with heaps of stuff about Chicken Scratch. Not, not me.

So, here are some Crinoline Ladies from Gina at Patra's Place.

A larger one is HERE.

A larger one is HERE.

and here is the last (next post will be peacocks, but I must post some more of Andrea's transfers first).

The larger one is HERE. I just love the way the blue daisies trail - sometimes it is worth going back and looking at how things used to be done, before we got seduced by doing things with a whole heap of different threads and "bits".

Pamela Kellogg has moved

Pamela Kellogg over at Kitty and Me Designs has moved her blog - it is now at Blogspot, so those using bloglines can subscribe.

Which sure saves me a lot of clicks, as I have been watching her reinvent Chicken Scratch. Do pop over and have a look at her pink and green block. She has made a "new style" Chicken Scratch Heart, and then pieced it in.

Favourite Books

Gina over at Patra's Place has been naming some of her favourite books she uses with her vintage linen collection, so I thought I would throw in my five cents' worth.

This is one very lovely book:

It is a hardcover, large-format book of 224 pages (with a good index), first published in 1987, mine is the 1992 reprint. I'm not sure that it is available new any more, but is easy to find on the second-hand book market. For example, the Books and Collectables Search Engine has at least twenty copies form $20 to $60 - I paid $40 for mine.

Speaking of book search engines - if you are really searching for a book, I work my way through the Time Booksellers Links to Search Engines. Sooner or later I find what I want.

The book is crammed with coloured pictures (there is a crazy-patch apron, and Calidore, your jug cover with cup is here) of everyday decorative items. And stories. I really felt for the lady on the remote lighthouse (who hated it) and spent all her time inside tatting.

It is a book I take out and look at time and time again - and always find something new. From a bibliographic point of view, it drives me crazy (no pun intended) as the sub-title is before the title. Technically, it is:

200 years of Australian Women's Domestic & Decorative Arts: The Gentle Arts, by Jennifer Isaacs. Sydney: Ure Smith, 1987. ISBN 0 7254 0839 1

In Australia, if you check out your local library - it is a fair bet that many will have a copy you can borrow and enjoy.

And no - there is no Chicken Scratch in there.

More different Chicken Scratch

Kay Susan over at Smockery has just posted a picture of a 1999 magazine (but not thankfully, the pattern, as there are copyright issues out there) showing more Chicken Scratch.

This one seems to be different as well - it has sort of triangular half-circles that give a different effect again (Don't you like my technical jargon).

Thanks Heaps, Kay Susan.

Some other fun things on that blog too. Would kill for that sewing corner.