A Piece of Linen ... Some Apples .... & a Gift

Hello dear friends & readers & Happy Friday to you all 

Earlier this year, while having an hour to fill waiting for a wheel alignment on my car, I wandered into the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Shop

I remembered that down the very back of the store they have a large banana box filled with fabric remnants & old textiles.  
After a good old fossick I unearthed this lovely old piece of embroidered linen

I absolutely loved the detail on it ...
 (I must confess it was most certainly not this colour when I purchased it ... it was rather grubby & unloved)

I loved the combination of colours that someone had used ... it would not be colours I would put together but I adored it.
A gentle soak & a wash & it definately changed colour, & was in remarkably good condition

As it was two pieces of linen joined together - with holes to crochet a small picot edge - I wondered whether it had perhaps started out its life destined to be a cushion cover ??  
As I do not know how to crochet, I decided to make it into a penny rug 
It spent about 3 days on my lounge floor with several pieces of felt thrown across it ... this is how I choose which colours to use ... I have to "walk past it" over several days before I can decide.
After choosing the colours for my pennys, I just worked on it in the evenings over a couple of months ... I find stitching the felt very therapeutic work when my eyes are tired at night

When finished, I backed it with a piece of grey wool I had in my scrap bag  -  once again an Op Shop find

What do you think dear readers??  
I have it sitting on my old travelling trunk with my large wooden trug on top ...
Although I usually blanket stitch the edge where the pennies meet, this time I chose to just copy the row of stem stitch that was already around the inner edge

As I said earlier - not normally colours I would have chosen - but it definately adds a splash of cheer to my dull dining room . . .

. . .  & I think what appeals to me most of all is the combination of vintage (with the old embroidered linen) & slightly primitive (with the felt pennies)

My lovely friend Kerryn has recently been on a quick visit.  She purchased some of my fabric apples, but on her return home, realised she needed more to fill her tin dish, so she requested another 6 in "country colours please."

I really enjoy making these little apples ... I think the pattern originally came out of a Tilda Book ... though I have long ago lost the instructions & am just left with the apple shape.

Though you are supposed to insert a twig into the centre, I always use a small piece of cinnamon stick.  
When I scent this with my cinnamon/clove oil ... the smell is just divine  :-)

My friend Pauline is turning 60 this weekend.
Many of my friends & I have chosen to no longer exchange gifts ... we feel we all have enough "stuff" & would rather spend a pleasant couple of hours together enjoying a nice lunch to celebrate our birthdays.
However I wanted to make something for Pauline as I feel those 10 year birthdays are quite special.
I used one of the patterns from dear Jenny's Stitchery Club ... & stitched up this little friendship design using 2 Cottage Garden threads

The piece of white linen was in a bag of fabrics given to me.  In the bottom of the bag was a pair of white ladies trousers - cut out - but never sewn up.  I have used the linen for lots of projects now.
As Pauline loves buying the handmade soaps I sell in the Cottage, I decided to make my stitchery into a little drawstring bag & pop some soaps inside

Pauline loves her garden so - after coming across this sweet little cup & saucer with 2 birds on it, I chose to make it into one of my teacup birdfeeders as I knew she didn't have a birdfeeder

The saucer base screws into a green garden stake & can be easily moved around the garden.
As well as the soaps she often buys my cottage garden potpourri so having just made a fresh batch, I filled a noodle box with it for her

We are off for morning tea tomorrow morning & I have her gifts all wrapped & ready to go
(phew !!)

My dear friend Catherine sent me this really delightful little verse about "angels with fur"

I just loved it, but I was having an email conversation with friend & fellow cat-lover Willie  ... & we both agreed we were not too sure about the sentence "cats will pay your rent if you let them" !!!
So I put the question to little big Blackie ...

Thanks so much for stopping by today dear friends
I am off to my Mums on Sunday for a few days - she is turning 86 - so I will have no internet until my return.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with things that bring you pleasure & joy
with much love & friendship,
Julie & Blackie x0x0