Pru's Order

Greetings dear friends & readers & Welcome to May (already!!!)

After I had completed the Princess & the Pea Order & delivered to my friend Sally, I sat at the table the following morning sipping a hot cuppa & a thought occurred to me ......................
for the VERY first time in about 18 long months .......... I had absolutely NO orders to do !!!!!!!!!!!

As the Cottage was well stocked (& quiet) I could actually make something for myself ........... a doll perhaps ???
Imagine the possibilities .......................

No sooner had I finished the last sip of my coffee than Pru drove in my driveway

Pru calls into the Cottage from time to time & buys the handmade organic soaps that I sell .... it was during her last visit that we shared a conversation & Pru mentioned that she had this large pile of doileys that her late Mother & Nana had crocheted & what could she do with them??
I explained to Pru that I had made vintage table runners before using up old doileys & linens

This was the beautiful pile of vintage doileys Pru presented me with ... they had been crocheted many years ago by her late Mother & Nana.  The two heavy damask tablecloths were almost 100 years old & still in wonderful condition.
Pru's instructions were for a tablecloth 1m x 1 m square using the white doileys & then 2 runners using the cream crochet doileys
No problem ..................................

Although it is photographing cream, this tablecloth is in fact, pure white - very heavy too - but beautiful .... & would look gorgeous folded up on the end of a single bed I thought !!

The smaller of the 2 runners measured 115 cms long x 40 cms wide . . . .

. . . . & then the 2nd runner measured a whopping 2.20 cms in length & sure used up a large amount of the doiley pile !!!!

This was to sit on a long antique wooden cabinet that Pru has .... I am sure it will look stunning

Showing some of the doileys up close

When I am working out the placement on anything like this, I like to have it on the table & walk past it over a day or two as I frequently change my mind & re-arrange the placement until I am happy with it.
When it became apparent that Blackie intended to "assist me with the placement" - I decided to put up a trestle table to keep them off what I was working on .  .  .  .

.  .  .  . as you can see above I was none too successful in that endeavour !!!!!!!!!
(Sorry Pru)

The 2nd bag of goodies that Pru wanted completed was the hardanger embroidery above, the Thomas the Tank Engine cross stitch & the piece of silk ribbon embroidery - all her own handwork

As per her instructions I made the hardanger piece up into a cushion with a zippered back closing -  to sit on Pru's bed

The Cross Stitch was to be cut down, backed & made into a small plump cushion for her grandson ... who adores Thomas the Tank Engine

I was able to back the silk ribbon embroidery piece with some pale pink linen I had in my stash & stitch it into a pretty lavender pouch

Last, but by no means least, was this beautiful calico quilt that Pru had begun some 20 years ago.  It was to fit a king size bed, to have the silk ribbon rosettes in the centre, the ruched calico around a scalloped edge on the base & be backed & quilted.
Pru had long ago given up on this piece & it had sat in the back of her closet all these years.

She instructed me to cut the centre panel out & hem it & edge it with the cream french lace that she had purchased to use on the quilt.

As it had a dainty eyelet edge separating the centre panel, I cut it a couple of inches below this & then hemmed it as I really liked the effect.  Pru is very much looking forward to using this on her table now.
Thank you So Much Pru for trusting me with your beautiful vintage linens.

When we did our lounge extension last year, this folk art Watering Can somehow ended up in the garden & then got tossed under the house when we were endeavouring to clean up.
I fished it out this week, gave it a scrub & a dry in the sunshine, then I removed the centre lip as I planned to sit some hydrangeas in it that I had been drying

I especially love the colours & tones of my hydrangeas in autumn & am hoping they don't fade too quickly

We had our first fire last night & the house feels cosy again.
These two got the prime seat & soon radiated towards the warmth.

 

I hope the week is treating you kindly dear readers .  .  .  I am off to bed for an early night

Thank you so much for your visits here
with much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0