Ruby's Button Tin

Yes, I'm still here ...

Haven't posted anything but ages but thought Id feature this wonderful book cover.  It's not one I own, but I just came aacross the image and really love those bunnies!  

Take a look at a book ...

Book covers have a difficult job to do.  Unless we're particularly intrigued by a title or we're familiar with the author they have to tempt us to pick up a book up and maybe even splurge the best part of a tenner on it. 

 I love this cover from 'The Observations' by Jane Harris.  It's a great read, and the cover conveys the elements of suspense and intrigue that run throughout it with the figure half concealing the notebook she's either discovering or hiding.  The dress is beautifully done with the brown fabric almost merging into the background, and the contrast between the white sleeves and the earthy colour of the gown.

How about this for a ridiculously romantic cover?  The tiny well shod foot, the gorgeous dress with the impression of the fabric's weight in the folds and the glossy sheen of it.  The empire line puts the emphasis on the bust, and the puff sleeves draw more attention to the upper part of the body. 

One more romantic outfit ...

I'm not sure whether this is a skirt or dress with a mauve top over it, but it's beautiful.  I love the embroidered flowers, especially in this setting of a flower garden.  I think I bought the book just for this image, but luckily it turned out to be a fun story too.  There seems something very English about the mixture of elegant dress with a more everyday top, implying a streak of our native eccentricity that is so very endearing. 

 

  

 

Reading and sewing and avoiding the rain ...

Saturday was a rainy day, so I did my chores (grocery shopping, laundry etc) and then settled down to a pile of hexagons and a a couple of metres of new spriggy cotton (no!  Not another addition to the overflowing fabric stash ... the guilt!!) 

I'm basically sewing lots of already-assembled hexagon rossettes together along with a cream plain fabric to add some patches of restful colour for the eye to settle on.  Apart from that, I'm re-reading Willa Cather's 'My Antoina' which I must've read at least twenty years ago.  It's such a beautiful, lyrical evocation of prairie life among the new settlers in the US, and the prose is an absolute joy.  This Dover Thrift addition is a pleasing book too - the typeface, the cover and size of the book all add to the experience of reading it.  Something you wouldn't get with those new fangled reading thingies - Kindlers, is that what they're called?  

Sunday is going to be spent going to Mass and doing some cleaning & hoovering, then listing things on ebay as it's a free listing day and I'm trying to de-clutter the place.  So, hopefully, it's be a productive day all in all.   

Just good looking images ...

One of the great things about having a scanner is you can share images you like for - well - no other reason than you like 'em!  

   
Take this gorgeous picture.  It's from a card I was sent, and is a detail from 'Angels Dancing' by Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia.  How sumptuous are those glowing colours.  Here's another glorious shot of colour:

You could buy this book for the cover alone, couldn't you?  Let alone the gripping, beautifully written story that's a complete page turner.  Finally, another great image - I just love this bird and feathers design. 

There's something rather menacing about this book cover, don't you think? 
 
 

Mary Plain, does anyone else remember her?

When I was a young 'un I used to love Gwynedd Rae's books about a bear called Mary Plain, but I haven't come across anyone else who remembers this small bear from Berne who has fantastic adventures and becomes famous. 

 

It's amazing what a lasting impression the books we read as children have.  I know they're politically incorrect in lots of ways but I still think Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven books were terrific stories, real 'ripping yarns'! 

On a completely different topic - and more craft related - this is just a very basic collage of images that appealed to me. 

 
I find tearing these sort of images out of magazines and just putting them together on a sheet of paper or card is good for helping inspire sewing projects.  You see colour combinations or patterns, and they can spark off needlepoint designs or quilt ideas.  I love that little image of spices on sale in a market - the mix of pale blue containers and warm earthy spicy shades.  Lovely. 
 

Tyger, tyger

I think we've all looked at childrens books at one time or another and thought 'I could write one of those'.  They look deceptively easy, don't they?  Simple words, often not many of 'em!  Nice illustrations.  A catchy title.  Job done  ....   hmm, maybe not.  The best childrens books are stories that don't go stale, they continue to entrance young minds for years to come, and they take a real talent to write.  One of my favourites is 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea'.  It's the sweetest story of - well - a tiger who turns up at teatime.  He very politely knocks on the door and says 'Excuse me, but I'm very hungry.  Do you think I could have tea with you?'  Who knew tigers had such good manners?

  I love not just Judith Kerr's text but the gorgeous drawings.  That intense orange fur, the sleepy tiger's eyes and his contented smile.  One of these days I want to make a needlepoint cushion based on him.  On a different subject, I ordered some fab Moo stickers yesterday.  I love their stuff, and had some cards featuring my needlepoint, knitting and felt softies made some time ago.  It's fun to treat yourself every once in a while, and the mini cards make great gift tags at this time of year.    

A Moo card with some knitted creatures of mine all snuggled together. 

Books for Autumn nights ...

Now that the clocks have gone back and autumn leaves are making the pavements slippery, it's time to browse the bookshelves and settle down with a good book.  So I've got a couple of recommendations. 

I've started reading 'The Heretic's Daughter' by Kathleen Kent which has fairly recently come out in paperback.  It's set around the time of the Salem witch trials, and the time and landscape come vividly to life.  Those kind of small, ultra religious communities must have been suffocating to anyone of an independent wayward, nature, and I'm really looking forward to learning more about the mother / daughter relationship which seems - from what I've read so far - to be at the heart of the book.  Another recommendation is from a much later period in history.  It's 'Hearts Undefeated', an anthology of writing by women about the 2nd world war.  The excerpts from letters, diaries and news reports includes both famous womens voices and those of 'ordinary' women, no less valid.  They cover the span of the war - from prelude to aftermath - and include both the uplifting and the harrowing.  Ultimately you marvel at the resilience of the human spirit.  The book is published by Virago, edited by Jenny Hartley.  (Not Jenny Hart!!)

Finally, just a 'still life' of a crafty corner in my sitting room.  Looking unusually neat ...

 

Have you read ...

I thought I'd recommend some inspirational reading today.  They're ideal for leafing through and getting ideas, or for browsing when you're just too tired to stir off the sofa.  The first is a book that's just right - the size, the feel of the cover as well as the look of it - you know how sometimes you see a book on a shelf and just know it's going to be a good choice?    'Knitalong' by Larissa Brown and Martin John Brown is a lovely book.  It includes chapters on the history of knitting, lots of modern patterns with clear instructions, website addresses to go to, examples of arty knitting projects (such as covering a tank in pink knitting!) and loads more.  It's a book that makes me yearn (yarn?!) to open a knit cafe and have people dropping by for a row of plain & purl and a latte.

Next is my favourite patchwork book, now I think sadly out of print.  'The Passionate Quilter' by Michele Walker.  A wide selection of crafters of all ages and backgrounds are featured, including Deirdre Amsden (oh!  those Colourwash quilts!)and Janet Bolton.  It's a book I return to again and again like an old friend. 

Finally, I'd recommend 'KnitKnit'.  Subtitled 'Profiles & projects from knitting's new wave'.  I think this is going to be an old favourite too.  From Knitta Please via Freddie Robins, Joelle Hoverson and Cat Mazza, it's full of gorgeous photos.  Some - in fact many - of the knitting projects featured are way beyond my knitting skills, but there's a mohair belt that I want to make before long.  There's also a fab photo of Joelle's 'Purl' knitting shop.  I want that shop!!!

Oops, I'd better sign off now.  Time to get out of my dressing gown and get ready for another working day. 

Inspiring books

If you find yourself bereft of ideas then leafing through a lavishly illustrated book is bound to spark off ideas.

KnitKnit is one of my most recent purchases, and features a really diverse range of artists and craftspeople, united by their love of knitting and their ability to push back the bounds of the craft. There are projects to make yourself, though several aren't suitable for beginners and you'd need to be a pretty confident knitter to tackle them. Having said that, a metallic and mohair belt featured would be a great project for anyone, and the section on Knitta Please is enough to make you itch to decorate your neighbourhood's lamp posts and telegraph poles with stripy cosies.
One of the Ladies Who Knit featured in KnitKnit is Rachael Matthews, and her book Knitorama is fabulously daft. Knitted cauliflower anyone? Knitted fried egg or boxing gloves? Gloriously eccentric in the finest English tradition.

Anna Torborg's The Crafter's Companion has lots of photos of crafty gals workrooms and treasure troves of material stashes and notions. I love seeing behind the scenes, whether it's at a theatre, a library or someone's home. Just nosy, I suppose!
An ideal book to dip into – and discover new blogs to visit too – is Amy Spencer's The Crafter Culture Handbook. Masses of things to make, whether you sew, knit, tinker with electrical whatnots or make your own beauty products. A truly inspiring collection.