Autumn on the way

Have had a really busy week this last week.  Two local ladies I met at a fair I did in a neighbouring village have ordered some Christmas bits and pieces from me for a Christmas barn they are opening just for the month of December.  They are showcasing all local produce and crafts and have asked me to make them some lavender hearts and Christmas gift bags from vintage fabrics.

I have finished the hearts, and am in the process of making the bags after having a few hiccough's with my new sewing machine.

I have also been busy raiding a friends garden for her beautiful Hydrangeas this week.  They are the most divine red colour.  I do wish mine looked like this in the garden, but sadly they never go this colour, something to do with the acidity of the soil I think.

I just pick them and put them in baskets or jugs and leave them to dry and they last for ages.

Another recent purchase, some Halloween bowl fillers.  I love American primitives, and these have been handmade by a lady on Ebay, Fab aren't they?  Looking forward to Halloween, not long to go.  We decorate the house and dress up every year.  Last year we used a fog machine outside the house and filled the road with fog, hence we had to turn it down a bit!!

I'll leave you with a picture of last years Halloween effort and the dreaded fog machine!!
Have a great weekend everyone.
Jo xx

Pepe has arrived

Meet Pepe, our fabulous new 1930's counter top mannequin.

She arrived safely this afternoon from my friend Serena who runs Attic interiors .  She has a the knack of finding the most beautiful mannequins and I owe Clarissa to her also - so a big thank you Serena!!

I am quite sure these mannequins were modelled on real people as they are so life like.  Pepe obviously came from a Paris department store, and probably graced the counter way back in the 1930's.

I am soon going to have to curb my collection as we are fast running out of room, but I can't seem to say no to them as they are so hard to find and rarely come on the market.  Have also been very busy on the sewing front this week and am getting to grips with my new industrial sewing machine, a few teething problems, but hopefully we will get there.  Have a great week.

Jo xx
PS. Please take a look at the link to Many Tears, a wonderful charity based in Wales re-homing dogs and cats.  I dare you to read the stories about the dogs and not shed a tear.... We are hoping to foster for them in the near future but have a few (shall we say) Pug problems with toileting  to deal with first before we can introduce a rescue dog!!  Please click on Jones and it will link directly to their site.  

Weekend Naughties

Here are some of the treasures from the weekend.

A beautiful Barbola Mirror and Victorian/Edwardian evening bag with the most beautiful gold thread embroidery and plum coloured velvet to the reverse.

More baskets!!  The front one being a rather lovely vintage bicycle basket, just need the old fashioned bicycle to go with it now.

I have wanted an antique Apothecary jar for as long as I can remember, we have eventually found one, albeit, a little damaged but it is a beautiful, elegant piece.

I fell in love with this Rococo ceiling rose made from copper and showing signs of Verdigris, I am going to use it at Christmas as a centrepiece for a flower arrangement or to hold a candle.  I love architectural antiques.

A pair of vintage rowing oars dating from the 1930's for when Mr.G goes to Henley!!!

Yet more copper candlesticks and a lovely mill bobbin.  I think we would be alright if there was a power cut with the amount of candles we have.  I love lighting them as the dark evenings are drawing in.

We were so pleased to find a vintage porch lantern.  We particularly wanted an old one and as luck would have it we found a pair, both with panes of glass broken, but enough to make one complete one.  Andy rewired it and hanged it in the porch and voilà one old lantern working again!!

Finally my bed time reading (and day time too as I can't put it down), the story of the wonderful and courageous Douglas Bader, a really inspirational story.  I also love with film Reach for The Sky starring the gorgeous Kenneth More.

Oh yes, and by the way, they are my reading glasses, I was mortified when I realised I needed them, just hope the false teeth aren't next!!

Have a great week, and thank you to all of you who leave such heart warming comments, I adore reading them.

Jo xx

The Shutters have arrived

At last after two months of waiting, our shutters have been installed today!!

For two months we have had very strange looks from passers by obviously wondering why we had no curtains!!  The couple who run the local village pub actually asked my neighbour if the cottage was a museum!!  

It did take a lot of soul searching for me to agree to shutters, I will be honest, for someone who adores fabric it was not an easy decision.  It was helped in part by my friend Liz Morris who has the most stunning property  filled with gorgeous French antiques and painted furniture to die for!  She has beautiful shutters in her home and we loved them when we saw them.  We really hoped we could pull off the look.

We had them painted in Lichen by F&B of course, I love their chalky pastel colours and I always think they suit period properties,

As you can see I have already set to work with the lavender hearts, sorry, couldn't help myself!!  Any handles or knobs (so to speak) are not safe!! 

 Hope you like the shutters, we are really thrilled with them, it was a gamble for me personally but I am so pleased we decided against covering up the original windows with curtains.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Jo xx

Vintage Quilts

As you have probably gathered, I am addicted to antique and vintage textiles, particularly quilts of the Durham and patchwork variety.  I love the colours, the feel of the old cottons, the fabrics they used, everything about them!

An ancient log cabin quilt I purchased many moons ago, the fabrics the person who made it has used are so beautifully matched.  It was probably made from scraps.

This is my latest acquisition, from Chris at The Antique Linen Cupboard.  I spotted it on her Blog, she has some beautiful textiles for sale.

Again, this quilt would have been made from scraps of fabric that were left over from making clothes, quilters would not have gone out and specially bought fabrics to make quilts.  

I have used this lovely old hexagon quilt to cover my side table in the lounge.  Quilts can have lots of different uses as well as bed covers.  I use them on tables or for draping over the sofa as a throw.  I also make them into cushions when they are past saving.

I love this old patchwork quilt, especially the little hearts appliquéd down one section.  The colours are still beautiful on this quilt.

This quilt has no real set design and the quilter has randomly pieced shapes to form the quilt.

One of my gorgeous Durham quilts from the North of England, famous for their beautiful wholecloth quilts, and so beautifully hand quilted.

I love the fabrics, so pretty.  As well as dealing in vintage textiles I also hoard them!!  I just love folding them at the foot of the bed, or draping them, they are like pieces of art work in their own right.

Jo xx

Something for the Gentlemen

The new object of my desire or should I say, objects of my desire arrived in the post this morning.  A pair of conker brown leather 1st World War Artillery Officers field boots, complete with spurs.  I am completely in love with them and have spent most of the day gazing at them.  I know, a strange thing for a woman to collect, but I love everything about them, the colour, the feel of the old leather, the history of them, and the fact that they are in the most wonderful condition for their age.  They come complete with their original boot trees made by Maxwell of Dover Street in London, they are apparently the oldest remaining bootmakers in London.

As you already know, I have a penchant for vintage leather, especially the conker brown variety.  Another recent purchase was from my friend, Ros, at The Snug in Ashburton, Devon.  I bought a vintage brown ammunition case from her for a great price as it needed cleaning and repairing and I knew hubby would enjoy restoring it - which he did magnificently.

Hubby repaired two sides that had come unstitched, and then gave it a thorough clean and fed it with leather food and finally buffed it up.  It looks as good as new now.

Another recent purchase is the large leather trunk on the floor, again all it needed was feeding with leather food and cleaning up.  These old trunks are great for storage and also displaying my other collections of gentlemen's ephemera.  I love how ladies and gentlemen were so stylish years ago, and goods were made to last.

But, it has to be my boots, my heart beats fast every time I look at them - crazy, I know!!  Hubby keeps giving me strange looks.  Hope you have all had a great week, almost the weekend again.  I am looking forward to Stamford on Saturday and meeting Annie from Vintage at the Corner House again.  I am doing a fair in Northampton that she and her friend Debbie have organised, the poster is on the sidebar of my Blog, would love to meet anyone that can make it.

Jo xx

GREMLINS REMOVED FROM POLL SO YOU CAN NOW VOTE!!!!