More Great Grannys

The bug is worse than ever!

Cute and romantic. So not me *sigh*

 



I made this collage with PicMonkey but its not really good.



Those colors are all wrong - the outer border is a warm dark rosa and not a purple.

Now I need to figure out how to square these blocks up to 12½". I don't own such a ruler and its not in my budget, so I need to do some math... when I first laid a block up for squaring it seemed easy but actually its not.

Great Granny Square

I have seen them on a lot of blogs - those granny squares and great granny squares - and everybody seems to be extremely crazy happy making them.

I want to be happy too!

So last night I pulled out some of that 30'ies fabric that I've had for years - and that I don't like anymore.
At least that's what I've been telling myself now for a long time.
It is way too cute and really don't go with my personality (!) or with anything else in my home. I am per definition and as a rule absolutely allergic to cuteness.
Dooohh...

I'm a whimp.
This is beyond cute and I now have a serious allergy attack.

Who would have thought that hate-fabric could turn into something so so so so... aughhhh CUTE!


Tutorial here and other cute blocks found here at Hill Valley Quilter who makes übercute squares!
And really vibrant squares at Simply Miss Luella!

Vintage whitework tablecloth

I just want to show you what I found last week at the charity shop I pass when I need a break and go shopping for vegetables;-)

Some times you just find the most amazing things...... and you just have to rescue them.

Enjoy!




It was not really possibel for me to get a full pic of the tablecloth. The light today is not good, so here most of it is hanging from the shelves in the livingroom close to the window




The tablecloth - 1/4 of it







So beautiful - washed and ironed so many times.  





The maker obviously did not want to cut into the lace in the center but let it overlap. My kind of girl!!!



Lovely, lovely craftmanship!

Detail - close up

Now - can anyone believe that this was just given away?

My heart almost stopped when I found it at the bottom of a pile of old curtains.

I'm so happy I could save it.
Not very often I feel like Florence Nightingale :-)))

Danish vintage embroidery

Once in a while I find small treasures of embroidery at charity shops. Usually they are unfinished pieces, some still with the pattern and lots of thread - others are all new and never touched or even opened.

Some of these packages contain really large pieces of perfectly fine linen, meant for a tablecloth - it is perfect for practicing all kinds of embroidery - hardanger, whitework, cross stitch - and it cost practically nothing. I love those finds and I love to 'rescue' some of these embroidered pieces.

Some time ago I found a small bag filled with all kinds of vintage embroidery patterns - from the 60'-70'ies - and I picked one out because I clearly remembered this kind of embroidery - a stylised geometrical flower pattern - and I've tried to recreate it.

Now - the pattern suggests to make it in only 3 shades of either greens, yellows, blues or lilacs. I chose to make it in two shades of teal and orange and a yellow-green for the small leaves.
Appleton crewel wool on linen.

There is no information as to which kind of thread to use - I would think a DMC stranded cotton would be the choise.



Pattern properly documented



I love monkeys!

Jeg har altid været glad for aber - vel at mærke disse håndlavede aber af træ fra Kay Bojesen, som jeg kender så godt fra min barndom. I dag har de nærmest ikon-status og står - blandt meget andet - som indbegrebet af dansk design når det er bedst.

Monkeys by Kay Bojesen

Hvad jeg derimod ikke vidste eller nogensinde har set før, er disse fugle - også lavet af Kay Bojesen - som nu er sat i produktion. Prisen er dog lidt pebret efter min smag - 499,-/stk. er lige i overkanten til mit budget.
Jeg har ledt efter oplysninger om dem og så vidt jeg kan forstå har de faktisk aldrig været sat i produktion før.



Birds by Kay Bojesen - now in production

Men cute - det er de! Og så har de navne: Ruth, Otto, Pop, Kay, Peter og Sunshine;-)

Treasure hunting

I går fandt jeg et par skønne ting i en genbrugsbutik. Uheldigvis - eller netop ikke - så er jeg nødt til at gå forbi den butik når jeg skal handle grøntsager og da jeg spiser en hel del af dem, så kan jeg simpelthen ikke undgå at kigge ind for at snuse lidt rundt. Man er vel nysgerrig:-)

Yesterday I found a few lovely things at a charity shop. Unfortunately (or not) I have to pass this charity shop when I go shopping for greens/vegetables and as I eat a lot of that stuff I can't avoid visiting a lot. I know its a lame excuse but hey - I'm not a cat and curiosity is my middle name:-)

En lang sommer nederdel - tjek lige de fisk ud,- de er bare helt skønne. Perfekt stof til en quilt. 15 danske dask;-)
A long summerskirt - perfect for a some-day-quilt! Those fish are so fun:-)

Og så denne krukke... jeg har en fin samling keramik, den her ku jeg ikke stå for. Lavet i 1975, så den hører ind under 'vintage' - fuldstændigt som undertegnede, der blev student det år og godt kan huske de temmeligt abstrakte 'kunstværker' der blev fremstillet i kunsttimerne, mens vi sad iført islandske sweatre, solbriller og andefødder og hørte Joan Baez og Leonard Cohen *lol*.
Den er ganske vist lige i overkanten mht størrelsen, når man tænker på hvor småt jeg bor, men jeg ku' simpelthen ikke lade den stå - farverne er superflotte og jeg kan godt li' det varme, lidt afrikanske indtryk og den måde håndtagene sidder som små ører lidt langt nede på krukken:-) Spotpris: 40,- kr!

I have a nice, small collection of ceramics - this rather large pot I just had to bring home. Made in 1975, so its 'vintage' like me - I graduated that year and remember oh so well how we created 'masterpieces' in artclass, wearing large, chunky knit sweaters, listening to Joan Baez and Leonard Cohen *lol*.
I so like these warm, nice and sort of african colours and the way the handles are placed low on the pot like small ears :-)

Revealed

I'm in heaven!

Yesterday these two books arrived:

Bought chepo-chepo through amazon at two different thriftstores in the US - I practically just paid the postage for them - yeaaaahhh!!!
Both in very good condition - and SO worth it!

Just look at this:



from Crewel Embroidery

That bird is so cute - and the leaves down at the right so delicate.

from Crewel Embroidery

A tree of life piece - so many different stitches




from Embroidery Book

This is where it shows that I'm a lousy photographer. The colors are not near that dull and flat in the book. In reality they are very, very vibrant. This is the green sampler.

from Embroidery Book

This is a blue sampler - again much more vibrant and clear colors in the book

from Embroidery Book

from Embroidery Book

I just love these colors! These samplers remind me of the 60-70ies - I remember using this kind of embroidery to embellish knitted sweaters and woollen skirts. Happy memories:-)

from Embroidery Book

Ohhh... I like this! Colorful and with a lot of texture - great!

I cannot recommend these books enough. They may be more than 40 years old but still have a lot of value.
I'm particularly happy about the sections where the different stitches are shown - much better than in many of the new books I've bought.
Then there are a huge amount of history, spiced with old recipées of  how to make your own dye, how to design your own piece of crewel etc.etc.

And so much - so many of the stitches and designs have such a modern feel to them.

Just look at this (bad pic - not enough light)


design Erica Wilson


 I could easily see this design made up in all kinds of blue - or any other color for that matter - it would look great and very fresh and not at all oldfashioned.

Silk-ties

I have collected men's ties for a couple of years now. Bought for pennies at various charityshops - all silk and beautiful.

I have this idea of a quilt... but I can't explain it. It's all in my head *lol*

Well - today I recieved a new usb cable for my camera so I took some photos of my rather large collection.
Of course I overdid it.
I have ties enough for several quilts. And no - this is only half of the ties I've collected, the rest is ... somewhere;-)

There are ties from all over the world. No. 3 top left is from Air Namibia - which feels rather exotic to me.

And those are probably the only items from Balmain, Cardin & Dior I'll ever afford!

 Some of the colors and patterns are just insanely beautiful!!!! Look at the red one with the lobsters and lemons!!



Yards of silk bought in Hong Kong Bangkok (I always confuse those two cities!) - for the quilt. I have yards of two other coordinating colors of silk nicely tucked away in my basement.

I think of this quilt every.single.day.

Can't decide which pattern to use, can't decide whether to machinepiece or handpiece, can't decide if I should make a reproduction of one of the quilts I saw at Claverton Manor in Bath (UK) or make a very modern style type of quilt.
I have already had a very helpful mailconversation with a blogfriend about various things to consider when you work with silk, so I feel well prepared. I just need to decide the pattern and style.

It will be made.
I promised myself:-)

Vintage table runner

Some time ago I found this unfinished little embroidered linen tablerunner at a charity shop. It reminded me so much of the kind of embroidery my mother did in the 1960'ies and I thought it had a certain modern vibe and expression that I like so much in a lot of vintage things. I'm not a fan of runners at all - thruth be told I find runners to be a strange piece of fabric - whether embroidered, crocheted or quilted - looking very odd on tables, shelves and credenzas and so many of them are - to me - just ugly, ugly, ugly.

But I checked the kit - there was plenty of linen thread and the pattern was in a fine, readable condition so
I took it home and finished it and really, really liked embroidering the little bugger :-)



The pattern and thread





Close-up




The finished runner




The back of the pattern with lots of info on the stitches


I began reading a lot of embroidery-blogs and was amazed at the skills and high standards.

One blog in particular blew my socks of - Contemporary Embroidery - by Karen Ruane.
It is just fabulous work. Really amazing. So delicious that you litterally want to eat it - promise!!
I'm not in her leage - far, far from it. Comparing is out of the question, next to her skills mine really, really sucks!
But she has inspired me so much that I later bought another unfinished embroidery kit (a HUGE crosstitch of a peacock) in another charity shop, read more blogs and became very interested in Jacobean Crewel.
So much that I have been practicing this kind of embroidery, learned a few of the many many stitches, bought several books on crewel and have made plans to go to London to take classes.

I just love that kind of inspiration and I blame Karen.
She knows that ;-)

Brandon Mably & Terrie Mangat

Nye stoffer i dag - og jeg er glad;-)

Jeg er vild med disse farver og prints fra Brandon Mably og Terrie Mangat - de er helt klart inspireret af mønstre fra 50´rne og 60'rne - blot med en stærkere farvepalet, som jeg har en stor svaghed for.

Ovenstående fotos er fundet på nettet for længe siden - jeg har desværre ikke nogen reference.

***

For my english readers:

New fabric today - lovely colors and patterns - from Brandon Mably and Terrie Mangat.

I love these prints,- obviously inspired from prints made in the 60'ies like the photos above, but with a stronger color.

Mere Vintage

Jeg finder andet end køkkengrej, pander og potter, når det sker, at jeg går ind i en genbrugsbutik. For et års tid siden fandt jeg denne perfekte crépe de chine bluse, med broderier på krave og manchetter og med perlemorsknapper - den lå og ventede på mig i bunden af en kurv inde i et lager- og baglokale til en 'finere' genbrugsbutik, som indehaves af 3 skønne, pensionerede 'fruer', der godt ved, hvad kvalitet er.


Men denne bluse havde ikke fundet nåde for deres kritiske øjne og var endt sammen med gamle busseroner, nederdele og herreveste - og jeg gav 15 kroner for den. Uhyrligt! (godt...)


Den er utrolig smuk - har fine taljerede læg for og bag og 3/4 ærmer med opbukkede manchetter.

Jeg er vild med den!

Under oprydning af svigermors lejlighed, fandt jeg disse sko. Perfekte! Størrelse 36, kun lidt brugt og bare så flotte. Ikke for høj hæl, super pasform - yes - det var mine!

Se lige den her detalje - skønt spænde - og der mangler ikke en eneste lille (simili)sten :-))

Tak svigermor!

Vintage - eller gammelt skidt?

Set på auktion for 950,- kr

Jeg har i flere år samlet på og købt en masse "skrammel' på diverse loppemarkeder og i genbrugsforretninger.

For nylig har jeg fundet ud af, at alt det jeg så godt kan li' - som jeg synes har kvalitet, originalitet og charme - kaldes "Vintage" og er ved at blive store samlerobjekter. Alt fra vaser, tallerkener, bestik til ovnfaste fade, kasseroller og kaffeservice, som er ældre end 30 år er "Vintage". Ikke gammelt og ikke antikt - men "Vintage". Så er det vist slået fast *g*.

Jeg har fx fundet ud af, at min fine kopper og tallerkener fra Arzberg hedder "Filligran", sælges/købes for en formue og er næsten umulige at opdrive.

" Filligran" Arzberg. Underkop

"Filligran", Arzberg. Middagstallerken

Gamle ovnfaste fade af Pyrex-typen, som var helt almindelige i ethvert hjem i 50'rne og 60'rne sælges nu til rimeligt høje priser og kan være svære at finde. Og helt galt er det med det gode og fine ovnfaste stentøj fra de kendte svenske mærker.

Her er fx. et helt sæt fade - "Picnick" fra Rörstrand, designet af Marianne Westman i 1956 - mit fødselsår. Jeg synes det er helt unikt smukt - jeg er vild med farverne og de søde, stiliserede billeder af diverse frugt og grøntsager.

"Picnick" Rörstrand (1956)

Eller hvad med disse kopper - alle designet for over 50 år siden:

"Mona", Rörstrand

"Spinett" fra Gefle

"Skotte" fra Gefle

"Balder", Rörstrand

"Fiesta"

"Fresia", Rörstrand

"Red Top", Rörstrand

Jeg er ikke indehaver af den viste smørkrukke - men til gengæld har jeg en ovnfast kasserolle i samme mærke. Dog uden det røde låg, som ikke fulgte med og som var en fin overraskelse for mig, da jeg så at alt køkkentøj med navnet "Red Top" havde et rødt låg - og dermed også forklarede navnet.

Så jeg må på jagt - efter røde låg og skønne, dejlige ting fra min allertidligste barndom.

Om jeg bruger det? Ja, da - selvfølglig!

Og.. æh... neeej... jeg er der ikke helt endnu. Ved forklædet. Det er nemlig osse blevet et hit og et "Vintage"-fund - men flæser har jeg aldrig været fan af, så der stopper festen :-))