Fellowship of Flowers and other crafting updates.

 Here is my new Fellowship of Flowers Table Topper, a bit farther along................  

 I have finished 5 of the 7 bees.  Should be done with the other two today.
I hoped I would be finished with the whole project this week but not to be. I am currently having a bit of a dilemma in reference to finishing off the project.  I have been trying to use only items I have in my "stash." But this time I need some beads and trims that I don't have.  (I have plenty of beads, just not the colors I want to use.  Same for the trim!)

Because I live a bit of a drive from craft stores and fabric stores, I can't just run out and get something when I need it.  We do have a Wal-Mart but it is getting more and more limited in what they carry.
Sometimes, when I can get to a flea market I can find something I can use.  But at the moment with winter still hanging on we don't do much of that and certainly not the ones that might have the items I want to buy. 

So I am still working on the fellowship of flowers project but  lacking a few things I need to finish it.  I hope to get to Joann's or some other similar shop soon.  I have tried finding things I want on line but so far NOTHING I am willing to buy since I want to be able to SEE the item, not just guess that the colors are right. 

I will not let myself drive almost an hour each way for one or two small items.  I generally check out those stores when we are doing something else as well.  So once I get this project as far along as I can I will put it aside and work on something else.

????QUESTION?????

Do any of you other folks out there have a problem like this?  How do you handle it?

I just keep making a list and hope to fulfill that list when I get to a proper store.

Meanwhile I have dug out a few quilting UFOS I have the "stuff" to complete.  So far I have finished one little mat.

 And on another project I have finished the machine applique and just need to finish the machine quilting.  It is moving along quite well... just need to find the time.  I will show that when it is farther along.  Should be next week.


So that is it for now.  I will be back on Tuesday with Tea Cup Tuesday and  Thurs. or Friday with my crafting and other projects.

The Day after St. Patrick's Day Tea Party

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


 In my part of Pennsylvania they seem to celebrate all month long. So I shall continue that.....




I found this perfect tea cup to show off today.   It is a Royal Albert set called, appropriately enough, Shamrock.
   

 

And here are a few things to go with it.

Sandi at   Rose Chintz Cottage   is celebrating welcoming Spring today with her bird lovers tea party.  I didn't do that but thought I would show this pretty little bird nest display that I received in a "match box" swap a while ago.

I have joined with the following Tea Cup Tuesday Tea Parties this week.

Hope you will visit them too.

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

Terri at Artful Affirmations *

Martha at Martha's Favorites *
Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques & Teacups *

Be sure to come back next Tuesday for another Tea Party and join me on Thurdays or Fridays for my project updates.+

A Fellowship of Flowers update.

I said I was getting a bit behind in the Fellowship of Flowers project and it is true.  BUT..... I am working on it.   The project for the flowers made in February is a Table Topper.  I have started putting it together and here is a picture of my start....

I STILL have to do 7 'bee" motifs.  They are cut out but barely started on the embroidery so won't show yet.

My new plan is the work on the complete project for a month in the next month.  That way I can decide on how best to utilize my own stash in the projects.  I am trying to USE UP stuff instead of having to be continually buying more.

So for March I am finishing up the February project.  If you want to see what Michelle has done for the Feb. project check out the Raspberry Rabbit link on the side bar.  Mine won't be exactly like hers cause I am using different materials.  But I LOVE her inspiration!

And be sure to check back on Tuesday for the next Tea Party.....

Second Tea Cup Tuesday in March

I personally am getting tired of SNOW.... and white..... SO for this week's tea party I am featuring GREEN!!!!!  And a bit of yellow. Well there is some white in the flowers but that is ok.

This is a bit different than my regular showings but it seemed appropriate.

This week's china pattern is Riviera by Homer Laughlin.  Many of you are probably familiar with Fiesta.  But HL made other patterns at that time.  One was this one called Riviera using the plate design called Century.  It was available at JJ Newberry.  and The Murphy Co. (similar to Woolworths)

Riviera is available in the same colors as Fiesta....  but is a very different shape. We like it so much we have been collecting the green color for many years and as a result probably have almost every different item they sold.

(they made it in other colors and the blue one and the yellow one go nicely together.)

If I was going to have a tea party using this pattern these are the pieces I would probably use.

There was a teapot but that is something we have not found.   We have all sizes of plates and platters, bowls in several sizes, a large pitcher and a covered vegetable dish.  All in addition to the pieces I have shown above.

Sugar and Creamer

         Interestingly enough this creamer is just a smaller version of their casserole dish.

cup and saucer

Fruit Bowl

2 tiered server

I have joined with the following Tea Cup Tuesday Tea Parties.

Hope you will visit them too.

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

Terri at Artful Affirmations *

Martha at Martha's Favorites *
Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques & Teacups *

Be sure to come back next Tuesday for another Tea Party and join me on Thursdays or Fridays for my project updates.+

A chandelier make over

No fellowship of flowers today.  I am too far behind so will skip a week.  Maybe even two.  However I still have something to show today. And it contains "flowers."

A few years ago I found the instructions for making this pretty little hanging planter while reading through one of the Lowes  DIY magazines.  I don't remember exactly what the one they showed looked like but it inspired me.  As you can see it is made out of an old chandelier....

 

 It is presently hanging up in the front of a window in my antique shop ..... Lavender and Old Lace.... hence the color choices.

You can see my planter has silk flowers but you can make one that will hold real plants.  See the tutorial below.


I found the tutorial while doing a serach for something completely different and it reminded me of mine, so thought I would share.

BELOW YOU WILL FIND THE TUTORIAL

So if you are ready to make one of your own...  Here is the link....

http://diyshowoff.com/2013/06/11/chandelier-planter-tutorial-2/

It reminded me of mine which is why I am doing this post.

  It is really pretty easy and if you make the rounds of yard sales, thrift stores and such you can probably find what you need to make it without too much cost.  The most expensive part of mine was probably the silk flowers I used. The old chandelier came from a yard sale.  The pots were in my garden shed.  I already had the paint from other projects.   .... and it was put together by my VERY handy husband.


I will be back again next Tuesday for Tea Cup Tuesday.  (I have already decided what to show. )   And hope to have something to show with the Fellowship of Flowers next week.  

Tea for One

A few years ago my husband gifted me with this sweet little tea set..... for those times when I want to sit and have a quiet cup of tea.

It is a Royal Winton Grimwades  7 piece Breakfast Set..... complete with a toast rack.

I have often seen the Royal Winton mark on things and the additional "Grimwades" added to the mark. So today I decided to see what I could learn about it.  This is not the absolute answer but helped me on the way.

I first went to Wikipedia....  and learned the following:

Royal Winton is an English brand of earthenware and fine bone china tableware, made by Grimwades Limited, a Stoke-on-Trent based company founded by Leonard Lumsden Grimwade and his elder brother, Sidney Richard Grimwade, in 1885. 
In 1928, they produced the first of their Chintz pattern designs, for which the company has become famous.

 This set is not a chintz pattern.....  but still lovely I think with the soft mottled green finish.


 I checked out info from various search engines but really this was about the sum total of what I could learn in a quick look.  I may try to see if I have anything in any of my china books.

The set starts with a plate with the little indents for each of the parts....

Next I have added the toast holder in its proper place.............

and then the teapot..........

and the tea cup......

Here is a close up of the sugar and creamer..............

And finally the whole set together........

When I was looking around on ebay and other antique sales sites to see if I could find examples of this I discovered that some of the prices are HIGH, VERY HIGH.  Of course the highest prices are for the Chintz sets that are extremely popular no matter the style.

I never did find this exact set but I did find one in Pink. It was described as "mottled rose" so I believe this one might me "mottled Green."  You never know.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about this little set and that you enjoying  this weeks Tea Cup Tuesday.   Here are links to some of the other sites.

 http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com

http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

 

Rose Chintz Cottage

http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/

  http://www.antiquesandteacups.info/

  http://blog.bernideens.com

 

Be sure to come back here next week for another tea party.  And check with me on Thursday or Friday when I will show you some progress on my latest Fellowship of Flowers projects.

More Fellowship of Flowers

Fellowship of Flowers continues but I have also had time to work on or finish up a few other projects lately.  Since it keeps on snowing and being awfully cold I stay inside and work on fun projects.

A month or more ago I showed you a scarf I was crocheting.

 I have finally finished it.  I was trying to use up some yarn I bought a few years ago.  The basic scarf was regular wool yarn.  At the same time I had bought some decorative yarn, eyelash I think they call it, and I mixed that in a bit.  Also I am making the fringe with that yarn mixed with the last of the wool yarn

.  So when I say it is finished....  well I still want to add more fringe but basically it is done.  I will do that when I have some time watching TV.

On Wednesday of this week Michelle showed us the final flower of the month AND the Feb. project. Wow is all I can say.  It is a beautiful table topper.  I really want to do this one so have to get busy and finish up.  In addition to the flowers there will be 7 bumble bee motifs.


If you want to see the project you can click on the Fellowship of Flowers link.  Mine will be a bit different only because my colors are a bit different.  I hope to be able to show you my finished project in a couple of weeks.  I have gotten the bees and the final flower ready to start the embellishment.  I do hope I can get them well on their way over the weekend.

Here is the flower I finished this week.....

Come back next Tuesday for Tea Cup Tuesday and I hope to have more to show on the Fellowship of Flowers project either next Thursday or Friday.  See you then.