First TeaCup Tuesday in June

Just a quick visit today....
    The cup and saucer I have chosen to share with you is from Queen Anne.  I think Queen Anne makes some of the prettiest cup and saucers that I own.
                          This one features some pretty little wild roses. I was not able to find the pattern name
anywhere on line.  Maybe some of you know.  But I really like it because the flowers are in full bloom but soft and so pretty.

After you visit my post today be sure to check out  these other tea posts.

http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

or http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com

                                                            ALSO: Rose Chintz Cottage

Another day, another finished quilt project.

 I was UNPLEASANTLY surprised to discover I have Lyme Disease.  Too much time spent outside I guess.  But I wanted to and needed to work in my garden.  I guess I will have to be more watchful.  It was caught pretty early so a three week course of antibiotics should take care of it....  At least the doctor thinks so.
So back too better things.... like my sewing machine!

The little quilt I showed a few days ago is finished.  I have to admit it feels awfully good to be able to say finished!
 And here it is....  now, what shall I work on next..............................

I am using it as a table topper next to my bed.  I really like it and I especially like it that it is DONE!

In case you are wondering, most of my projects these days are small.  I don't need any bed sized quilts and don't have room to quilt them easily so will continue to work on the smaller sized things.

Final Tuesday in May

Hard to believe May is already almost gone.  Also hard to believe it is "only" May with all the hot summer temps we are receiving.  But here I am with another blog entry on Tea Cup Tuesday.

This time I have chosen a pretty little set I recently added for sale in my antique shop.  The manufacturer is Crown Staffordshire.  I haven't been able to find the actual name just yet.


 The pieces I have include three cup and saucer sets (I only show two here) and a sugar and creamer.

There are lots of tiny blossoms all over it including my always favorite PANSY. 

I think the sugar and creamer are as dainty as the flowers on their sides.

Here is the mark, sorry it is so light.  According to information I found on the internet this mark was from 1930s on.  The lady I bought it from probably bought it in the 50s or 60s.  Don't know for sure.

After you visit my post today be sure to check out  these other tea posts.

http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

or http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com

                                                            ALSO: Rose Chintz Cottage

Sewing and gardening.

   I have been busy working in the yard and then sewing when I need to get in out of the heat.  I also have been fairly busy in my antique shop.  So even though I am busy I am still getting things done.

My latest sewing project is a small quilt piece that will serve as a table cover in the living room  I found the pattern somewhere on the internet... don't have any idea where now... I have the designers name AND the quilt name but can't find it anywhere.
It is called Flower Basket and was designed by Leslie Sonkin. If anyone knows anymore let me know!

And here is what I did.  It is all pieced and I hope to get the machine quilting done this next week and then the binding..
 (the little butterflies are pin heads by the way)

Come back Tuesday for my Tea Cup Tuesday entry.  I have already taken the pictures.

Red Rose Tea

I was introduced to Red Rose Tea many years ago while visiting with my husband's family in New Brunswick, Canada.  It is a very popular brand of tea in Canada.  (Should I admit here that I prefer the Canadian brand called King Cole Tea ?????.)

But back to the Red Rose Tea.  There is a wikipedia entry about Red Rose Tea where you can learn lots about the brand.     (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rose_Tea)

Red Rose tea is probably best known, after the tea itself, for all the premiums they offered in their boxes.

 Here is a picture showing some of the nursery rhyme characters that were offered in one of the early series. They offered many animals as well.   They now give out the little figurines in US tea but they aren't nearly is nice in my humble opinion.  Mostly because they don't have any hand painting like the ones given out in Canada.


The reason I am mentioning this now is because I wanted to show you an interesting cup and saucer that was also a premium they offered a while ago.  Actually it was a set of three tea cups and I only have one but you will get the idea. The set was three cups and apparently there was a little booklet that told how to read the leaves.  I don't have any of that but here is the cup and saucer I do have.

I am certainly not into tea leaf reading however I think it is an interesting idea to see the cups to use.  I might add that in Canada the normal Red Rose tea is in little gauze bags called "sachets." Unlike our cheap paper tea bags.  Also the gauze bag generally is good for up three cups of tea(depending on how strong you like it.) Because of this there are no loose tea leaves so no leaves to read.  

After you visit my post today be sure to check out  these other tea posts.

http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

or http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com

                                                            ALSO: Rose Chintz Cottage

Two quilt projects FINISHED!

Last night I finished up the binding on a table runner I just made.  And a couple of days before that I put some binding on a wall hanging I made a while back.

I am only just learning the proper way to bind quilts and this is my second and third attempt.  I showed you the first one a week or two ago.

The first quilt I finished this week is one I actually finished making awhile ago but since I didn't know how to put the binding on the right way I had been putting it off.  After my binding class a couple of weeks ago I now have pretty much the required confidence to do it.  It isn't hard but you need to know the correct technique to do it properly.
Here is a picture of the wall hanging quilt.  The center section was a pre-printed panel.  I added the two inner borders and pieced the small quares on the outer border.  I think this will look nice up on the bedroom wall for the summer.

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   The next picture is of the table runner I made.  This one proved a challenge in two ways.  I had never done much machine applique so had to go slowly as I learned.  And the second thing was the binding.  Most quilts have 90degree corners like the one in the picture above so putting on the binding is pretty straight forward.
The one below here has 135 degree corners so I had some learning to do.  I was ale to find a great site on the internet where I could learn how to do it.  So now I have even more confidence in putting on a border. 
 Below I have listed the two links to locations I used in these projects.

To make a standard 90 degree quilt binding:
 http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/photos/continuous_quiltbinding/index.html

And to make the border I did on the table runner:
   http://ankastreasures.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/binding-odd-angles/

I wonder what new thing I will have to learn on my next project.

Blue and White

 A blogging friend of mine at Garden of Daisies recently wrote about the blue and white dishes called Liberty Blue which were given out in grocery stores in honor of our Bicentennial.   I thought I would expand on the blue and white theme to share a few pics of some of my collection.

I have been using Blue Willow for many years since I was able to get it free from the Shop and Save grocery stores up in Maine, back in the early 80s. Since then I have added to the collection at yard sales, auctions and flea markets.   It is the standard blue willow pattern  but made to last a lot longer than the blue willow you can find from Japan which is often thin and somewhat fragile.

I use that too though. If it is blue and white I probably have a piece of two of it.

It really all started when a Canadian cousin of ours, Helen, gave me an Antique blue and white plate.

 You really can't tell the difference in this picture between new and old Blue Willow but here is the mark on the plate.

 The cup and saucer in the picture are from Japan in the Occupied era.  So that puts it in the late 40s.  I like the way it has the design in the cup too.  Newer ones do not.

 I decided right then and there I would start looking for blue and white dishes to display in a new (actually very old antique) cupboard we had purchases. (The cabinet was purchased in a group shop in Michigan on a trip to the Midwest.) At first I didn't have much luck but then the grocery store started giving these dishes out and I was set.

Because I own an antique shop and must constantly be on the lookout for inventory I am now able to find a lot more than I did back then (before shop).  Because all the plates and cup and saucers look pretty much the same I won't show them but here are a few other things I have.

And I won't bore you with the Blue Willow legend behind the designs... there are plenty of places on the Internet to learn about that.

I think that the clean crisp look of Blue and White is probably what appeals to folks and I have found that food looks pretty appetizing on the plates though some might not agree.

As I mentioned Liberty Blue was given out in grocery stores at the time of our Bicentennial.
 Here is an example.

And then Blue Willow in the 80s.  Another set of dishes was also given out in the area I live in now,(in Pennsylvania)and it was called Shakespeare Country.  I have been able to find a LOT of that to sell in my shop since it was given out in this area.  It probably was in other areas as well but I can't say for sure.
    

In addition I know there is another set of dishes called Shakespeare country manufactured by a favorite maker of mine...  Homer Laughlin (who made Fiesta among MANY other patterns.) I don't particularly care for this version of Shakespeare Country and unfortunately  I don't have any examples of it at the moment.  The other one... by Royal Essex is so much prettier to my eyes.

Blue and White china seems to be the most prolific of this type of china.  However the transfer ware is also done in  green, brown, red and even a few in black.  And of course they very pretty purple I showed you last week.  And there are a number of the brown and white versions that have some added color as well such as the Friendly Village pattern.   I will save that for another day.
 
I hope you enjoyed this very brief looks at my blue and white china.

After you visit my post today be sure to check out  these other tea posts today.

http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

or http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com

                                                                                    ALSO: Rose Chintz Cottage