Remember Tank Tops?

I remember tank tops well!  I got my Mum to knit me one of these - probably in the 70s.  Doesn't this knitting pattern bring back memories!

My tank top was in a variegated pink yarn and I loved it.  Worn with Oxford bags - they were what we called big wide legged trousers back in the 70s.  Underneath the tank top I wore a white blouse with enormous pointed collar.  Wish I still had a photo!  I thought I looked fab!

I also came across this knitting pattern from the 50s.  I suppose a slipover was that era's variation on a theme.

These headless ladies look so classy, don't they?

Ah, memories!  Did you wear a tank top in the 70s?

Love, Liz

Love Lives Here

I recently got this lovely book of cross stitch patterns "Love Lives Here" by Teresa Kogut an American artist and designer.  The patterns are so beautiful I think I want to stitch each and every one of them!  Check out Teresa's blog - there are lots of lovely things on there.  She paints the most beautiful angels.

Started Quilter's Home last weekend and got it finished yesterday.  

The threads are all DMC.

I found a frame in a cupboard which will fit very well.  Think I might stitch the Saltbox next!

Have a great weekend.

Love, Liz

NOT a sampler wall

It seems to be the in thing that all the "cool" cross stitch ladies show off their sampler walls.  I have nothing like that to show.  The nearest I have to any kind of collection is what I've decided to call my 90s wall.  All my old fashioned stitching in one place.

All some of the stuff that I stitched when my boys were young in the 90s is displayed in the spare room.  Hardly anyone is ever in there so no one really gets to see it.  Would be considered very uncool today, but a lot of time, love and care went into making these.  I've got more hiding in cupboards ... somewhere!

They are all from various issues of Cross Country Stitching from the 1990s.- an American magazine (no longer printed) I used to have a subscription to as it wasn't readily available here in the UK.

So today they are considered dated, but I still love them and I suppose one day these might even be considered "vintage"!

Love, Liz

Robert Burns' Cottage

Yesterday hubby and I visited the cottage where Robert Burns (1759-1796), Scotland's national poet, was born.  It is now part of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum run by the National Trust for Scotland in Alloway in Ayrshire.  It is a wonderful place to visit if you are in the area.  

My favourite part of the visit was seeing the actual cottage where Burns was born.  With its thatched roof, it has been restored to how it might have looked in the 18th century.  I loved the atmosphere of the place.

There's even a chair with a quote from Burns' poem The Cotter's Saturday Night "The Mother wi her needle and her shears, gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new".  I don't think it needs translating and is a wonderful testament to stitchers.

I found this little baby gown quite touching - there's one for all Burns' siblings.

There are some hornbooks on the kitchen table - it is from these that children learned their alphabet and other essentials.  Once these printed alphabets were protected by a layer of animal horn so thin that was see-through!

The cottage also has a lovely little kitchen garden which is well looked after.

The actual museum is a little fit further away from the cottage and has a cafe and gift shop.  There are some wonderful exhibits of Burns' work here.

An interesting and worthwhile day out!

Love, Liz

Good Company cross stitch

The name of this lovely pattern is Good Company by Plum Street Samplers.

I finished it yesterday and I absolutely love the colours.  The little fox is so cute!

Of course, houses are my favourite things to stitch, so I had no problem stitching this one.

Love, Liz

Autumn Kitchen & Stitchin'

I love this little corner of my kitchen which I have decorated with some autumnal bits and pieces.

I stitched these last year - some freebie smalls.  The pumpkins are an adaptation of a free pattern from Tiny Modernist.  I think that the house is one from Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Stitching.  (Melisa has the best houses to stitch!)

The house is Autumn Saltbox by Plum Street Samplers.  

The little box is filled with an autumn garland and some pine cones.  I will probably add a few more bits and pieces (if I can find them) over the next week or so.

Autumn is my favourite season.  I just love the colours.  I'm stitching a few more autumn patterns.  I'll show you them next week.

Love, Liz

Bringing it all together

Fully finished all my little summer smalls into pillows.

Put them all together on my bureau with some other little stitchy bits and pieces.

Checked the fairy lights which have been redundant for five months - yup, still working.

Aren't these little ladies just so cute together!?

All set for darker evenings.

We all need a little sparkle in our lives!

If you would like to know where the patterns come from check my previous post here.

Love, Liz