Ruby's Button Tin

First Aid & Fire King

It's been a good week.  (As long as you don't count my dieting - that failed miserably.  I ate and ate ... oh well, back to rocket salad and Ryvita from Monday onwards ...)  I did a four day First Aid course, which was extremely valuable, very enlightening.  I can now do CPR and put people in the recovery position and bandage wounds and all sorts!  That was time very well spent.  On the crafty front I haven't got too much done, it's just been catching up on half completed needlepoint projects and quilts.  On the thrifty front, I bought these apricot coloured dishes yesterday.  I umhed and ahhed over them, debated whether I had any more cupboard space for yet more dishes, but in the end bought them.  At £2.95 for 1 large dish and 4 small ones I couldn't quibble with that price, could I? 

The mark on the base of the large dish says 'Anchor Hocking Fire King Dinnerware, made in USA'.  That's not a brand I'm familiar with, but they are pretty dishes, so I can see their appeal.  Anyone know anything about Fire King?  Have you got your own collection?  Do tell. 

Bunny and books

This is a (not very good) photo of little lapin, a simple bunny with fabric ears and a slightly baffled expression. 

You might just be able to make out  the bunny picture in the background, from a magazine which gave me the idea for making this.  Selvedge is the magazine in question.  It's a publication I love, but I always feel a twinge of guilt buying it.  £8.50 is a lot of money for fritter away, but the artwork in it is so gorgeous and there's always something that sparks off creativity in its pages.  The bunny in the picture is wider, with a ribbon tie and embroidery detail on the body.  My version: the ears are a floral fabric on one side and linen on the other, and on the reverse side he has an embroidered fluffy tail.  With a bit of tweaking I reckon he could be a good child's toy as he's the right size for a small hand to grasp. 

Apart from sewing I've also been catching up on some reading.  Still going with Amitav Ghosh's superb 'Sea of Poppies' which is highly readable and so accomplished.  Plus just getting into Amy Tan's 'The Bonesetter's Daughter' which is quick to read and there's an intrigue about the main character's mother and her background which really makes you want to find out more.  I'd recommend both for these long summer days. 

 

It's summer and it's hot!

The English are always surprised by sunny weather in summer time, especially when Wimbledon's on.  That's usually a signal for downpours.  I love these sunny days, but not while I'm working - mainly 'cause the air conditioning at work is - well - not doing much.  It's baking.  I feel like I'm oven ready!

I'm making slow progress on this needlepoint cushion, which isn't helped by having started a knitted bag.  So, yet another work-in-progress. I really, really ought to finish something before I start the next thing.  But when do crafters ever do that?  We get carried away by enhusiasm for our next Big Idea. 

 

A weekend in the sun

A gorgeous sunny weekend ... after the weathermen were promising a deluge of rain!  I managed some needlepoint yesterday, working on a new pattern.  The sketch below gives a rough idea of what it'll look like - oblongs of bright stripy colour on a plain cream background.  

 

The basket in the back of the picture is one I picked up yesterday for £1.50 in a charity shop.  Baskets like this are so useful for yarn or spools of thread. 

 

This idea of putting stripy colour on a plain background was also behind this pin cushion pattern (which could be easily adapted for a full size cushion).  It's really enjoyable to work as you just get to choose any colour you like in those oval shapes.  You can blend them in or have quite marked contrasts. 

 

 

 

It reminds me of those patchwork quilts where you get a white background and circles of printed fabrics appliqued on, then the whole lot quilted. 

Finally, a knitted bag for you.  I've made a few knitted bags in my time, but never ended up with one I liked or that was useful.  The trouble is that I don't like lining bags with fabric as it's too fiddly, but most bags I've tried to make are too flimsy to be useful without being lined.  Then yesterday I had a Eureka! moment. 

I used a sky blue double knitting weight wool along with a lighter blue in a thinner yarn (the sort you'd use for baby knits).  I cast on 30 stitches using this doubled wool and knitted this sturdy little bag.  The bag is just one long oblong, and the handle is knitted separately and sewn on.  I might add a decorative button or a knitted flower, but essentially it was finished in the space of an evening. 

Going to have a go at a bigger version, maybe add stripes to the pattern too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More needlepoint ...

After getting stuck into patchwork for a few months I've now fixated on needlepoint again, and this little squares cushion cover has been dragged out of the workbasket. 

I do like these designs where you don't have to stress over following a chart.  Especially as some of those charts in books are shown not only in black and white but also in the teeniest tiny print.  You can strain your eyes trying to decipher how a pattern's put together. 

 

                                                                                           

Saturday on the sofa ...

It's Saturday evening and I'm doing my couch potato impression, lounging on the sofa watching a TV programme about development in China and sewing a needelpoint cushion cover.  It's a simple squares design that uses up lots of leftover wool and is about halfway complete.  All the way complete is the oval needlepoint design I made up into a cushion, which is featured here.  I do love these patterns that allow you to indulge in any colour combination that takes your fancy.  So much nicer than kits that dictate what exact shade you need to use. 

 

 

Today was spent doing odd chores, grocery shopping and planting stuff out on the allotment.  I also managed to squeeze in a spell of charity shop mooching, and picked up some goodies.  A funky purple patterned pillowslip and three dishes and a saucer in a Midwinter design from Staffordshire pottery.  I really do need to sort out some display for the bits & pieces of china I've got.  They're all stuffed away in cupboards here and there, and it'll be so much nicer to see them out on shelves.  Would be lovely to have one of those huge pine dressers brimming over with vintage crockery supplemented by modern Emma Bridgewater pieces.  In my dreams, eh? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling blue?

Some moody blues for you - the first image is torn from a magazine.  How gorgeous is this blue and white furniture?  The pattern would work equally well adapted for needlepoint or knitting, even embroidery - imagine white thread on a cobalt blue background.  Of course, if you're really talented you could paint your dining room chairs and make new fabric seats for them ... but I'm not that gifted ...

Next up is some handsome kitchen paraphenalia.  I love Cornishware, the chunky shapes and utility-style lettering.  The McDougall's flour bin was a lucky charity shop find for two or three pounds, while the bread bin (just seen in the corner)was unearthed in TK Maxx.  (It usually contains oat cakes and Ryvita, but very rarely bread!)

On the subject of TK Maxx, it's a strange shop.  Sometimes you go in and its full of tat you wouldn't give house room to, while other times there're plenty of discounted bargains to snap up. 

I treated myself to a couple of Monsoon pillowcases today, reduced from £11 to £3.  Not that I've got any other blue bed linen.  Hmm, maybe another shopping trip is called for? 

I don't think I'd ever pay £11 for a single pillowcase.  Would you? 

And finally ... a blue and white (and little splash of pink) cushion cover. 

Allsorts ...

An assortment of goodies for you today.  Firstly, this is an image from a Sunday supplement.  Take a look at those gorgeous 'pouffes' of red rose petals.  How fab are they? Maybe such a large scale project would be too time consuming to replicate but a few roses sewn on to a cushion could look good.  Or maybe some blowsy rose tiebacks for curtains?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up are some images from a Country Living article ages ago, about Susan Hill's book 'The Magic Apple Tree'.  I really loved the illustrations.  Very sweet and nostalgic, but not so sweet as to be cloying.                                                                         

Those soft pinks are so pretty. 

Below is the book's illustration of a winter scene. 

This is my version.  White and blue felt, white thread and embroidery silk.  Add some little touches of brown for plants and houses on the hilltop.  The embroidery's padded out in places to reflect the gentle slopes of the hills.                                                                                                          

 

 

Sweetpeas and hollyhocks ...

Sweetpeas, hollyhocks, salvia, larkspur, lupins and assorted nameless wildflowers are all sprouting like crazy in the flower pots and recycled yoghurt pots on my windowsills.  I'd love to have an elegant, stylish flat but the truth is the windowsills are covered in seedlings at various stages of growth, I've got yards and yards of material in my fabric stash waiting to be cut & sewn into patchwork quilts lying around the sitting room, there are bags of knitting wool, baskets of embroidery silks, beads, felt squares ... It'll never be neat and tidy.  There's just too much 'stuff'. 

Well, there are better things to do than tidy it all up.  I'm reading Amitav Ghosh's 'Sea of Poppies' which I haven't got very far with, but promises to be extremely good.  On the crafty front, this a new needlepoint pattern I'm working on, and which I'll blog about properly in the next day or so. 

I was stitching it yesterday evening while watching 'State of Play'.  Not the new Hollywood film version, but the original BBC drama by Paul Abbott, picked up in Fopp for a fiver.  A really good political thriller, fast paced, genuinely intriguing.  Much better than anything on the telly at the moment. 

And no, I will not be going anywhere near 'Big Brother'.  I don't know anyone who watches that tired old format any more.  Dreary, shouty wannabes.  Yawn, yawn.

Two for today

Number one: a fishy diagram for anyone who wants it ..

Download Fish chart

Number two: how fabulous is this image?  'Rebecca' is such an unusual book, much darker than standard romance.  I love Mrs Danvers in this film, so wonderfully sinister.  Joan Fontaine is far too pretty to be The Girl though.