WILLOW VALLEY STORE

Old household advertisements....

Here is a pic of the converted potting shed studio where I have been so inspired lately.

I am excited, because I am about to embark on something really unique...

I will share some of it soonish, in the mean time, here is a fun distraction...

Found on the property by the current owners was a box of old journals. Is there a special name for "old ad collectors"? I am one of those.
So what was the buzz in this Oct 6th 1954 Dandenong Journal?

 

Ohhhh the girls are so impressed! C,mon ladies you ALL need a lovely Leonard Long Door 7

'A lifetime of trouble free service'. Well thats something no-one is game to put in writing these days.
Check out the phone no. 1555

A brand new Westinghouse cushioned action electric clothes washer with 4 legs and big strong rollers on the top. How interesting is this - you can buy it with or without a pump.I wonder what thats about?

Is that a phone number? 55!! just 2 digits.

See that Food Mixer in the middle. I know someone who still uses one. Heavy..well built..quality made to last decades. If it did break down it was repairable and parts were available.  Not like the crap manufacturing these days.

What on earth are grey worsted knickers? They don't sound pretty.     

I have heaps of old advertising signs hanging around the house. My favs are to do with kitchen appliances and anything to do with sewing/stitching. I have been collecting them for 15+ years. I have some books full of them too. I love the funny way they phrased things back then. Awards were often featured and links to royalty bragged about with special crowns. So many simple things that we take for granted today that meant such hard work back then. It amazes me how some of them are sssooo "politically incorrect" for today.

My MIL has shared plenty of her old NeedleWoman Journals with me. I showed you some ages ago - they are fantastic - have a look back at Splendid Advertising.... scroll down and see the corn cob costume hehehe!

When it comes to signs, I prefer the genuine oldies over the reproductions...

Ok here is one of my all time favs. Its not a reproduction.
I love it because it has an accidental double meaning...

Hubby is planning a short circuit for his unsuspecting little wifey - so much quicker than waiting 'til she is DEAD from hard work!!!             That's pretty funny huh!!!

Speaking of vacuuming I have been a woman obsessed with cleaning cos I got a DYSON on loan....
WOW I am sold. I really HAVE to get one!!! 

xo Catherine                

Thrifting, gardening, stitching and designing

makes for a perfect weekend don't you think!
Check out my super cheap treasures from the local Trash N Treasure. The market is 99% trash - but just the 1% of treasure makes it worth the effort.
I adore old buttons - their colour and design - just delightful....

Bluebirds are always a fav. These 2 have been used and loved very much. That makes them special I think. Someone has really enjoyed them....and now I will too.

The weather on the weekend was beautiful considering its WINTER! I spent most of Sunday in the backyard fixing the very "left alone to do their own thing" garden beds. Just one to go and the backyard is "as good as it gets".
Frontyard needs a major overhaul. I am thinking repetition mass plantings and limited species. The current bitsy cottagey theme isn't workin' for me!

I finished The Country House on buttermilk Sandcastle. Just playing with border fabric - should be able to frame it this afternoon.

 

Crimson on pale yellow is a great combination...
Here are some of my Vintage Pinnies - this time on yellow Sandcastle check. Might get a chance to finish them off this afternoon too (then again it is the school hols and I might just play Lego all day ;-) These are a great weekender and they make sweet gifts for your stitchin' pals.

I had the BEST time ever last Friday. I got to spend the afternoon with an artist (who has been on TV TWICE in the last 12 months) who has the coolest studio. She is not into stitching at all ("cos thats for dorks" LOL!) and we are like chalk and cheese in our designs - but the really amazing thing was that we enthusiastically shared our "ideas folders" with each other and mutually inspired each other sssoooo much. I came home and drew up 4 new designs and I have about another 4 in my head. I was thrilled to offer some concepts that she hadn't considered before that she was really keen about. Gee I don't know what was better - the excitement of giving or receiving!
I am hoping to go there again this Friday and I can share some pics with you?
xo Catherine

Quills, shuttles, spools and bobbins

Recently it was GREAT to catch up in Melbourne with my SA buddy Barb! Barb and I first met in 1991...mmm thats many years ago.   ;-)   Barb surprised me with a pressie... 

...an old quill - wound with blue cotton with a painted blue top to match...with lovely metal fittings each end. It combines all my favourite elements - its old - its blue - and its a piece of history too! Thanks again Barb xoox
The attached tag gives some historical information about quills and their uses in the many mills that were once common in England and the USA. In recent years so many of these mills, that have been in operation for generations, have closed their doors and manufacturing has been sent to Asia. People are laid off and the towns built around the mill industry are changed forever. We have seen similar events happen here in Oz. Very sad.
This is the connection to Picket Fence Imports - where my bobbin came from. Haven't they got some fascinating items. Check out the 300 piece bobbin basket!! Hm wouldn't mind that book "The World of Wooden Bobbins" so I could learn more about them....
(They also have wooden shoe lasts. I collect them as well...save that for another day..)

Some of the spools I have collected have the name of the mill where they came from on them. Here is the base of one of my latest ones...a quick google tells me that Clifton Heights is in Delaware County in Pennyslvania. Is this where my spool worked - at this now abandoned mill? oh and then stumbled across this fantastic site "when life was black and white" and really loved it - lots of old pics - great snapshots of the time - how precious! make sure you read Deuteronomy 32:7 too...

they are all so different... I guess that's what makes them so interesting..

Here are a couple that my FIL gave me. They are about twice the size of the usual domestic ones and they both still have their original sturdy twine...

This is my little collection of domestic wooden bobbins. I like to read their old labels. My fav is the big one on the far left. It reads "Made in Australia by Bonds Industries Layton Street Camperdown NSW." I use these a lot in my pattern cover photos. The black J & P Coats is another fav one - but they all get their turn ;-)

This is my largest one. I found it at Wantirna Trash N Treasure earlier this year. I am not a big fan of turning these wonderful relics into corny stuff like lamp bases and all of the other things that they end up as...I think they should just be left alone and appreciated for what they are - but this one had already been doctored and it was only $2. Still haven't got around to finding the right shade for it...borrowed this one just for the photo.

And these ones are really special to me because when Pa had a large woodturning business in Morrabbin - he made these for lace making. They are beautifully turned and ssoo smooth to touch. I remember watching these being made. 

My desire to collect these items is linked to my childhood surrounded by wood as a woodturners daughter, my love of designing and stitching, and a desire to appreciate and learn more about the past.
xo Catherine

P.S. here is a wonderful place to lose yourself for a while...

Millpictures

Show and Tell

Here is Join us for Tea stitched by June!
June wrote....
"Hi Catherine, I thought you may like to see the Join us for Tea embroidery that I received from as a giveaway just recently. I have sewn it on a fabric that is a green colour with darker green thread and I think that it looks delightful! It is a lovely picture and I was so pleased to win it. The transfer was easy to use and worked exactly as the instructions described.
Thank you for the pattern. Regards June"

and Liz has made 3 (yes thats 3!!!)  Monday is Washing Day peg bags

....here are 2 of them....

and check out what Bev @ Kaingahappenings has created with the house transfers that I designed for the Monbulk CFA and Community Quilt Show showbags...

Well done gals you are a Kelva lot!! I really enjoy seeing what you make and I love to hear that you are thrilled with the way my transfers work too...

THANKYOU for sending in your pics!!   (c'mon Julz where are yours? ;-)
xo Catherine

Bunnies and buttons and other bits...

Wriggly, jumpy little bunnies

will you please ALL stay still for a photo?

Awwhhhh thats better! You are ssssooo cute....

and I am the "Rabbit Whisperer"!

I did make it to the Buttonmania sale on Monday. They open the showroom across the hallway and have trestle tables loaded with boxes of bagged buttons.
You are given a polystyrene tray and you walk around and put whatever you want on it -smorgasbord style - and then pay for it according to weight. They had lots of new buttons - but my favs are the preloved ones. These were in 2 big tubs and you sift through them to unearth your treasures.

I got 80 buttons for under $5 so they worked out to be 6 cents each. Thats pretty cool huh.

We have all had various flu symptoms this week and only 'Caillan the Indestructible' has managed to bounce through the week. The week has been a whole lot different to the one I had planned...

But, I did manage to get started on The Country House in "almost redwork" - a pinkish crimson. 

I am stitching it on buttermilk Sandcastle. This version looks very different to the original one...but I like them both. (what is Sandcastle and where can you buy it?? Click back to HERE and scroll down to March 5th - to read the story. There are also some links to help you find some - its become very rare!)

Because I have been home so much this week I have time for a massive super huge tidy up. I was totally ruthless and got rid of heaps of stuff.  UFO's, old mags, bits and bobs salvaged for projects planned that I  never got around to and probably never will...
My work and play area is decluttered and organized again - and it feels great. I also got acquainted with my walking foot. How awesome are they! If you like working with thick chenille and cotton fabric and are fanatical about seams lining up perfectly - thats your tool. I also learnt to "double pin" either side of the seam when you interlock it -  instead of through the middle of it. Mmm that makes a good difference too when your fabrics differ so much in thickness....

Enjoy your weekend

xo Catherine

The Country House - winners!

Here it is FINISHED and ready to release tomorrow Monday 15th!

I wanted to frame this design in a totally different way, than any I have previously. It evolved over several days with lots of unpicking and starting again as I kept changing my mind - but I think it came together real well in the end. Unique if nothing else that's for sure!!

Do you like my props? I really enjoy photo shoots... gathering some old and new goodies that I have collected and making my little scene.

Two bits of wood from the shed (that will be guitar fret boards one day) create the shelf and some Blackbird fabric for 'wallpaper'. An old measuring tape, postcard from 1911, wirey pear and wooden spools (check out the one with the 'geared' top -neat huh?). The wooden heart in hand was one of many I made during my "wood and paint" phase several years back. I used salvaged pine from a local furniture manufacturer who was kind enough to always let me rummage through his offcuts crate. The design was cut with my scrollsaw and I used crackle medium and light oak stain to finish.

I want to thankyou all for your wonderful old house stories - they really are great to read. Some ghosty ones made my skin prickle - brilliant writing! and I loved having a giggle and a 'mmm' with the warm memory ones too. Glad I don't have to pick a fav - that would be waaayyy too hard. Lucky I delegated that to Pa!

Cyber Pa's favourite story is

Walking home on a moonless night with the wind whipping around our legs and ears from Monday night choir practice,which was always an enjoyable event the unexpected happened. An old house set well back from the road with large trees around was never scary until the night we saw a murder take place. A shadowy figure was seen at an attic window , the moving figure was stabbing a still person around the neck, their head had been severed. Running home in a cold sweat and forgetting about the cold or the wind , we arrived home to blurt out to a terrified parent who had heard us shreaking our way along the long winding path to the back door . We just saw a murder--- Mother calmed us and said that in that house lived a dressmaker and the person was a tailors dummy and she was probaly pinning a piece to a costume. After hot cocoa we went to bed and thought our story was better and would tell all at school the next day. True story. Posted by: margaret | June 09, 2009 at 07:15 PM

Congrats to Margaret!

and we have  a total of   6 +  5 + 29 + 1 email entry less 1 winner already announced = a total of 40  in the random draw and the winnner is

Hi Cath, the old house where you grew up was very similar vintage to my parents and Aunts house. One day just outside the back door of my Aunts house, the ground gave away! the whole veggie patch disappeared to reveal a mine shaft. l remember it took many truck loads of dirt to fill in that hole!! men everywhere but l think they stayed to sample her scones! Sandra :-))Posted by: sandra | June 09, 2009 at 01:56 PM

Congrats to Sandra

Please email on your preferred postal addresses and I can send you both The Country House pattern this week.

If you missed out this time ;-(  but would like to purchase my new pattern my following retailer friends would love to help you ;-)

Kim @  Honeysuckle Cottage           Lyn @  Moore Patchwork and Quilting

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I will be back in a day or so with some treasures to show you cos the Buttonmania sale starts tomorrow Yippee!

xo Cath

P.S. cute bunny update @ 13 days old

 

Free! Iron on transfers. The Country House.

I finished it Sunday night!

my INSPIRATION for this  country house came from so many sources....

this home in Port Fairy that I have ADORED for 20 years and whenever we drive past it (at least 4 times a year) I say to Brian *sigh* I really really love that house!...

this wonderful home that I grew up in...I remember its doors, windows and chimneys....

sash windows where the lower half can be lifted behind the upper fixed one...

door knobs in the middle of the door...

dormer windows and nice big shaped chimneys....

If you love old homes like I do I would love to share "The Country House" with you!

Tell us a SHORT  (funny?, spooky?, interesting?, sad?, unusual? make believe? - whatever!!) tale about an old house experience or memory of one via comment to this post.  Pa,  (cos he helped me design this one and it contains elements of HIM too - Ta Pa ;-)   will choose a favourite story. I know you are a very creative lot and tell great tales!! Remember the offer we had for "Its all about Amorella"  last year? Gosh didn't she have some secrets!!!

AND I will draw another completely randomly. The 2 winners will be announced on Sun 14th and they will each receive  The Country House pattern. It comes with a fantastic iron on transfer that will enable you to stitch all the high detail EASILY.

I will also include the comments from the last 2 posts. If you commented about my Country House as it was in progress - THANKS!!! I really appreciate your support - you are special friends! - you already have an entry in the random draw and are welcome to enter again and DOUBLE your chances!!

Good luck and thanks for dropping by.

xo Catherine.

Iron on transfer. The Country House.

A wet weekend perfect for stitching...look almost finished...

xo Catherine

New design - The Country House

Well here it is finally off the sketching paper and onto the fabric.....

and coming to life in stitches as of last night....

I really love redwork but I have done such a lot of them! For something different I started with DMC  924  which is a deep teal. Wasn't that thrilled and a few minutes later went for DMC 930.
I am really really enjoying stitching this one up. So relaxing.

I was planning to do this one as a sampler and include various numbers and letters but as I "went to town" on the house detail I thought enough was enough. I am a big fan of intricate detail and straight lines and I just LOVE how iron on transfers make both of those features achievable for stitching. The fabric I have chosen has 1 Corinthian's 13 printed all over it. Its really comforting to read it as I stitch. I bought this fabric from karen @ Mrs Martins Quilt Shop. Using this fabric has given me the fonty scripty feel that I was thinking of when creating the design. Its kind of like stitching on an old letter beautifully written a long time ago.

Here on the couch this afternoon keeping me company (which in real life is the same colour as DMC 930??? looks a lot lighter here)  is a couple of very contented cats....

Jordan's cat Minky

and Caillan's cat Dinky

check out the sleeping postures - hehehe

And look at this....baby bunnies!!!

Shayde has a NEW litter of 7! Born Monday 1st June. Its ok I won't bore you with too many pics of them - but they are awful cute at 12 days. Might line them all up on the quilt again and show you their chubby furry faces. I was a bit worried about them being warm enough in Melbourne's winter but they are ssssooo cosy. When you put your hand in and touch them they are like little heaters. They are covered over with a layer 10cm deep of straw and all that greyish downy fur. Thats Shayde's fur that she has plucked out of her hind quarters and donated.

xo Catherine

P.S. If you like House Designs there is a great FREEBIE back in my archives to download HERE .

Collecting old glass.

Linen, china, glass, horse shoes, buttons, postcards, books, journals, stamps, kitchenalia, laundralia, advertisements....collecting is addictive and these are just a few of my favourite things.

One of the most exciting elements about collecting old wares is that you don't know when and where you will stumble across them. Often they come from the most unlikely places. The shabbiest, most unassuming looking Op Shops have become favourite hunting grounds for me. In the case of glassware, if you are lucky, you can even dig it out of the ground.

Sometimes when a treasure finds you - you aren't even sure exactly what it is - or why it was made the way it was - and that's exciting - because now you have a little mystery to solve. Put on that Sherlock hat and go looking for clues. My favourite sources are "google it" and "ask a grandparent"

As well as old MEDICINE bottles (which I have shared with you before) - I have started gathering INK  bottles. My knowledge of these is zippo...but its a fun journey of discovering (as you will see a bit further down via links)

Here is my little collection so far....

The greeny blue ones have very sharp irregular tops like they aren't quite finished? They have lots of air bubbles and the glass is sort of wrinkly. They have no letters or numbers on them. They came from an antique shop in Croydon one month ago (they were my Mother's Day present - happy dance - LOL! Love' em!)

The little squarish clear one at the front was found in a paddock after some ploughing down the farm by my FIL ( coast of Western Victoria).  Portland is noted as Victorians Birthplace (having a natural deep sea port) so its a likely place to find stuff. The photo doesn't show it well but the corners are squared off.  It has what seems to be a rest in the top edge. I wonder if that was for the pen? Or a label? It looks as if it would have had a cork plug. Anyway my FIL  saw it and thought "Cath would be interested in that" He cleaned it up for me and put it on his shelf to await my next visit. What a kind thing to do xo

The clear round one with the screw top says  1  1/2 ozs Swan Ink. I think it came from Camberwell market with some other stuff many years ago - bit vague about that one. On the base it states " this bottle always remains the property of " and it looks as if the name is Mable Todd???? Hey Mable Todd I got your bottle and I'm keepin' it!

See the tall conical one at the back? - we think it is an old glass Clag bottle. It has "contents made by Angus and Co Pty Ltd" embossed all over it - front/back base AND rim. I bought it this week in Belgrave for $4. Isn't it great!

If you love to fossick around for old glass too you will enjoy these links. 

The first one is a PDF and you need to scroll down to page 38 for photos (its ok you can do it fast) to see what they found in the ground at No 1 Smith Street in Parramatta Sydney. A very detailed report with some really interesting historical info dating back to 1880.
This link is to The Aussie Bottle Digger - wow - check out his site - there is a wealth of knowledge here!!! Brilliant site Chris!!!!

xo Catherine

P.S. Happy hunting!