French Treasure (And a Little Bit of Swiss)

France is quite close to where I (Kara) live, and I've shared over the last two years various glimpses of the Alsace region of France. When I first arrived, I was able to go the European Patchwork Festival in Sainte Marie Aux Mines, and this past spring, I took a fun trip to Strasbourg, France. (You can read about both places here and here). This visit to France took us to the Burgundy region of France on our way down to Lyon, for the Women's World Cup soccer final. 

Castle Chillon

I thought it would be fun to take a few days to get to Lyon, so we planned a some stops along the way. The first stop was Castle Chillon in Veytaux, Switzerland, located on the shores of Lake Geneva. It is by far the best castle we have visited! There was so much to see inside—and a little inspiration as well.

One of the many beautiful works of art on the walls

The castle also had quite a collection of carved trunks from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries—beautiful old school luggage! The carvings were amazing!

This was the inside lid of one of the trunks.

I can see an appliqué pattern here.

After the castle, we were off to the French side of Lake Geneva where we spent a lovely night in a converted, old barn with views like this:

Our next stop was Beaune, France, for a little sightseeing and wine tasting. As we were strolling through the streets of Beaune, who should I meet but a friend from the Academy of Appliqué! It really is a small world. My husband and I enjoyed visiting some of the local antique shops and discovered this beautiful wool appliqué tapestry from the Ottoman empire, or so we were told.

I just love the colors and the shading!
I wish I could have brought this home.

Onwards we traveled towards Lyon via Mâcon, France, where I had discovered a flea/antique market that would be held that day. To our surprise it was not just antiques that we found, but a gathering with homemade French food and wine! The booth owners were so gracious and plied us with delicious goodies and glasses of the local vintage as we perused their wares. I was pretty excited to find some lovely vintage ribbons, lace, an old postcard, and a bobbin lace pillow.

Not yet sure how these will be used

Sweet little trims!

A nice addition to my collection

It's hard to believe this is still in such wonderful shape!

I will have to do some translation, but it does say "Happy New Year" on the tiny card.

And my favorite find—an antique bobbin lace pillow!

The bobbins are quite tangled, but it is a treasure nonetheless. 

Hopefully, you have enjoyed seeing some of the beauty of France (and Switzerland) from our road trip through this region. We met some lovely people, ate a lot of good food, and certainly drank some excellent French wine—and even scored some vintage treasures!

Oh and by the way...congratulations to the U.S. women's soccer team on their win!!

Tea for Two

Ahh a cup of tea! Tea has been an important part of many cultures throughout history. Maybe it's a bracing cuppa in England, or solemn Japanese tea ceremony, or even a special time with friends in one's home. Regardless of where you are, drinking hot tea can look different depending on where you are in the world, but when drinking hot tea, a teapot of some sort is common amongst all cultures. Keeping that tea warm is important as well which brings us to today's post!

When Teri and I (Kara) were in Birmingham, England, this past summer for the Festival of Quilts, I had not brought anything to stitch. With all the vendors and beautiful quilts, my fingers were getting itchy, so I of course went shopping. At a vintage linens booth, I found a beautiful piece of fabric that was just asking for some embroidery embellishment, so I bought it. Then I needed some threads for said embellishment, and where could I possibly find fun threads in a giant quilt show? Stef Francis of course! 

My cast of thread characters

Stef Francis is a wonderful supplier of hand-dyed fibers and fabrics out of the UK. I was able to find almost everything I would need to embellish my little piece of vintage cotton. I picked up two skeins of hand-dyed ribbon from another vendor, and I was set. The rayon tape (viscose chainette is another name) and chenille thread would be perfect for the rose, and the hand-dyed #5 perle would make lovely variegated leaves.

Straight stitches with the chenille and rayon threads mimicked the rose, and a fishbone stitch for the leaves really showed the variation in the perle cotton. I was able to finish the rose, yellow flowers, and leaves in Birmingham but had to set the piece aside for a while because—life. 

This is what I had finished when it was put away.

So how does an old piece of fabric and tea fit together? It finally came to me one day that I should use my embroidered vintage bouquet on a tea cozy! I found the perfect piece of fabric to match the colors of flowers, leaves, and bow, so that motivated me to finish the project and get my tea cozy started.

My cozy fabric, lining and batting.

I finished the vintage piece by adding a few beads in the yellow flowers and a piece of silk ribbon to mimic the bow.

Beads for the little yellow flowers.

The silk ribbon bow for a 3D look

Trimmed and ready to attach.

Searching the internet, I found this tutorial and used the directions to find the size pattern I would need. Once I had my pattern, I cut out 2 each of my cozy fabric, lining and batting.

Pinned pattern

I am a big fan of 505 spray and used it to put together my batting and cozy fabric. Then I centered my embellished piece on one side of the cozy and pinned it.

I thought maybe I would just appliqué the piece, but then I dug through my stash of vintage trims and found a perfect one to stitch around—and I had just enough!

Now it was time to quilt the two pieces. I used 1" painter's tape as a guide for the quilting and machine quilted a diagonal, cross-hatch pattern in red thread.

I just re-positioned the tape each time I stitched a new line.

One side finished

Quilted and ready to put together

Before I sewed the two pieces together, I pinned a 3-inch piece of folded velvet ribbon inside the two quilted parts for a little handle. To assemble the tea cozy, I sewed the cozy pieces, right sides together. I did the same with the lining pieces, but left a section open for turning. Once that was finished, I tucked the lining inside the cozy, right sides together, matched the edges, and sewed all the way around.

Bottom edges sewn together

Ready to be turned

Already turned

After turning the whole thing, I stitched the opening closed and tucked the lining in–and my cozy was finished!

The finished tea cozy!

I love re-purposing vintage pieces of fabric and trim, and this little project really came together. What was once just a scrap of printed cotton from the past, now has a new life keeping a teapot warm. 

Now to sit down to a nice, cup of tea! 

A Sampler of Lace, Linens, and Love

If you have been reading the blog for a while now, you will know Teri and I have a great love for all things vintage—especially linens, clothing, or lace. Teri recently shared her story about a special dress in A Vintage Pinafore, Tea, and Friends, and I shared the story of my apron collection in Apron Strings. We even wrote a post together about our quest for vintage treasures in a Hershey, Pennsylvania, antique mall in Vintage Treasures Newly Acquired. We love seeing the handiwork of those who have stitched before us! 

Long ago, hand work was a required skill for many young women all over the world. Whether it was  stitching on everyday items such as bedding, or a skilled craft such as lace-making, creating beauty with one's hands was far more commonplace. Thankfully, my time in Germany has allowed me to find and view some vintage treasures found here in Europe.

On our trip to Wales, not only were we able to see the fantastic Welsh quilts in Jen Jones's collection, but there also happened to be a sampler exhibit on display at the same time. It's a challenge to get good pictures of framed items, but here are a few of the wonderful samplers in the exhibit:

Sarah Evans, 1866

Sarah Jones, 1875

Mary Evans, estimated 1850

Gwenllian Jenkins, age 14, 1836

Anne Edwards, no date

Margaret Davies, 1829

Anne Evans, 1856

M. Reeves, 1883

Anne Williams,  age 15, 1861

Recently, I traveled to Brugges, Belgium, which quickly became one of my favorite European cities thus far. We were there for a beer festival, but thankfully, we were able to do a little window shopping. Belgian lace is a beautiful, bobbin-made lace that has been around for centuries. While I wasn't able to bring any home this time around, I was able to take a few pictures of the shop windows.

Some beautiful examples

I don't know how they keep all those bobbins straight!

I still don't know why one of these pendants
didn't make it into my suitcase!

Fun lace bags

Not all my recent travels have been to other countries. Thankfully, there is a wonderful lady here that puts together antique and thrifting adventures. It has been on a few of these adventures that I have picked up some vintage linens to add to my collection. 

I fell in love with this apron and am excited to add it to my collection!

Maybe they had laundry fairies long ago!

"Good Weather"

I think this might have been a table runner at one time.

A bread bag from the past

Dutch themes must have been popular.

While I do enjoy finding old linens, I love old trims and laces as well. My collection is accumulating, and sometimes it is nice to create with some of them. Last week, I was invited to a brunch with a few of my German quilting friends. They often give little gifts at these brunches, and I have been on the receiving end many times, so I thought I would make something for them. As Valentine's Day was approaching, hearts seemed like a good choice. I ransacked my collection of trims and scraps and came up with a little heart bag that would be able to carry a piece of chocolate. My ladies enjoyed them, and they were very easy to make. I was also happy to use some of my antique trims.

A little bit of vintage trim, an antique button, and some wool

A rosette made with the trim topped by the button

Stitched together with an opening at the top

A little bit more trim for a handle and they are ready to carry their piece of chocolate!

Hopefully, you have enjoyed a little view of the stitching prowess of European stitchers of the past.  From samplers to bread bags, needlework (and bobbin work) is such a wonderful way to add beauty to everyday. Do you enjoy collecting vintage linens or trims? Pinterest is full of ideas for ways to use them creatively. Now, if I just had a few more hours in the day...

Happy Valentines Day!