Saturday, May 20, 2017

Revisiting vintage...

In 2015 I shared a redwork block of the month celebrating memories of my childhood in Nana's kitchen.





The Vintage Kitchen was such a popular project that even women who didn't stitch picked up needle and thread to make it. 

There's something quite comforting about the simple yet loving memories of family meals around the kitchen table and time spent watching Mum (or in my case, Nana) baking delicious treats, and I'm sure that's what resonated most with the many thousands of homemaker hearts who stitched the little blocks each month.



Though I first made this mini quilt with redwork blocks, over time I restitched a couple in pastel hues to show how versatile the small designs could be.

The kitchen scales embroidered with variegated pink and blue threads became embellishment for a kitchen towel...





...whilst I stitched the preserves block in blue thread on a pink and white background fabric before displaying inside a sweet little hoop. 








One day I'll stitch all the blocks again, but this time in pastels because I still love the designs and have always wondered what a pastel version in my own style would look like.


A few weeks ago I received an email from Angela, a lovely German lady living in Malaysia.
She'd stitched four of The Vintage Kitchen blocks onto a cover for her toaster and it's so lovely I wanted to show you.
After all, you may be inspired to do something similar! I know I am.







Isn't it beautiful?!

When I saw Angela's toaster cover my mind immediately wondered what needed covering in my own kitchen and there's a few things like the juicer, food processor, toaster and blender, which would not only look pretty with these kind of covers but would also be protected from the dust blown in by the Trade Winds most of the year.
She's such a clever lady and I love her toaster cover!

It's Saturday morning here and after a lovely coffee with my husband to start the day we made housework a priority. Mr E takes care of the cars, yard and washing, whilst I scrubbed the bathroom,. kitchen and did the vacuuming.

Now that's finished we're going to settle down for a relaxing afternoon watching Lord of the Rings while I stitch.

What are you planning for the weekend? 
I hope there's some restful downtime in there somewhere.

hugs


12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, yes, sort of restful. Saturday will be sandwiching a quilt and starting the quilting, and Sunday is church activities all day. I plan to relax as much as possible because it's a busy week ahead!

It was lovely to see your stitcheries in other colors and on the covers. She (Angela?) did a wonderful job, and I wish there were a point to covering my toaster - but the men here would just toss it on top of the microwave and never put it back! Maybe a sewing machine cover? I'll think about that.

Maria said...

Loved your Vintage Kitchen and I made it as a wall hanging and gifted it. The stitcheries look lovely in different colours and Angela's Toaster cover looks great but I'm afraid the same thing would happen here as at previous ladies comment...LOL.
YEP busy doing the house now and then spending time in the Cave to Quilt.

Julie said...

I love the Vintage Kitchen stitcheries Jenny ... I did this myself but did not begin until you had released month 5 so I had some catching up to do. Everytime I look up from my dining table & see mine, it makes me feel happy & pleased with myself that I completed it. That ladies toaster cover is just stunning .... inspires me to do it again :-)

Smily-Света said...

What a lovely thing! Here, in Hungary, such motifs are still popular

Helen Philipps said...

Such pretty designs, and such a cosy homely theme. I love all the different versions and Angela's cover is a gorgeous way to use the embroidery.
Helen xox

Allie-oops Designs said...

Love seeing these designs again, I still have mine in the "waiting" pile, with the border fabric. Enjoy the movie - I need to watch those again too, I re-read the books every year, lol!

Susan said...

Sweet designs - the vintage look is always so cute and I enjoy your posts. Thanks so much!

cucki said...

Aww so cute..pretty designs ..
Sending you hugs and smiles x

Little Quiltsong said...

These are some of my favorite designs of yours, Jenny! Love what you have done with the pastel embroidery and what Angela has done with her toaster cover. Beautiful!!

Michelle said...

I've finished sewing the Vintage Kitchen stitcheries in red, and they're waiting to be sewn into a wall hanging to be gifted. And I'm working on a set of them in blue for my own kitchen. I love the way Angela used them on her toaster cover, and I really like your pastel versions. I think I'll have to use some of my favorites from this set. Jenny, thanks for a great design.

Christine M said...

Hi Jenny. Your Vintage Kitchen is still one of my favourite stitcheries I have done. A pastel version would be so pretty. Angela's toaster cover looks wonderful. Enjoy your Sunday. Hugs, Christine xx

Angela said...

Thank you again for the wonderful vintage pattern, Jenny, and thank you all for your loving comments on my toaster cover... and yes, often I have to close it after hubby's use (smile smile). Have a great stitchery day, Angela