Saturday Blog Shoppers

Hello everyone! It's Saturday, I'm not babysitting, I'm at home watching the Yankees beat the Indians, and blogging and commenting and reading and posting my SBS sale for the MeMorial Weekend. Big parade here in Freeport, NY, so come on down if you're in the neighborhood.

So my SBS sale is $10 off my newest piece:




This weekend only, this beautiful tablecloth now $50. It is a one-of-a-kind, I cannot make another exactly like it, and it is so pretty and cheerful, I'm sure you can find a nice home for it. Please write SBS in messages to seller and I will refund your paypal $10.

And please see the other Saturday Blog Shoppers on the link to the left! Thank you for reading and commenting and browsing all the wonderful stores and their sales!

CREATIVE PROCESS PART II

Another quickie to update you on the progress of my new tablecloth. The table top is done, and now I'm sewing on the lovers toile print for the border:





I started cutting and measuring the lovers toile last night, and hope to complete the piece today! Oh the excitement!

THE CREATIVE PROCESS PART I

I haven't felt creative in a long time, but lately I am coming out of my foggy bottom and have begun sewing again, and I feel more like myself again. I made some purple Laura Ashley toile placemats/napkins:




So, happy with that result, I pulled out more toiles and started playing, trying different colors in different ways, thinking of how much I have of any one fabric and what I could do with them all together. This is the fun part, playing with the fabric, weighing the cloth in my hand, thinking of the cloth itself as well as the colors and patterns, just playing and imagining:







HOURS later, this is the decision I came to. I was always thinking of a tablecloth using the country scenes as placemats and a complimentary fabric for spacers between the mats, with a masculine and feminine top and bottom, at the narrow ends of the table, to signify where the man and woman of the house will sit. I used the blue and yellow country toile with the server, the fiddler, dancers, and picnicers and the other Laura Ashley toile, in yellow, the vine print, in 10"x12" pieces, and use the yellow Laura Ashley lovers toile for the border:





Finally, I could start sewing. You can see how I measure and cut in my other blogs, so I'll just jump to sewing and sewn:






I haven't gotten technical in this description, gone into measurements, etc., but I am using my own table as a guide. My table is approximately 48"x30" and seats six comfortably, two on each side and at the head and bottom of the table. The yellow lovers toile will be the skirt of the tablecloth, with a 10" drape, or hang. This will be a lovely versatile tablecloth which can be used anywhere in the house. In your bedroom, over a cafe table, or on the breakfast table, it will always be bright and cheerful.

I will be posting more pictures as I progress, and of course the BIG announcement when it is complete and listed on etsy!

Saturday Blog Shoppers

Hi everyone and welcome to Saturday Blog Shoppers, home of excellent etsy shops and great deals on Saturdays! This weekend only you can save 10% off any item in my shop, including my brand new Laura Ashley toile placemats




And be sure to click on the Saturday Blog Shoppers link to see the other fine shops participating this Saturday.

Saturday Bloggers Shopping Spree

It's time for another Saturday Bloggers Shopping Spree! This Saturday and Sunday only Feb 20 and Feb 21 I am offering 20% off any item in my shop. Please write like "20% off" or "Saturday Blog Shop" in notes to seller and I will refund the difference. Some of my newest items are just in time for spring:

This is the Asian Music Tablerunner. It measures 52" x 11 1/2", backed with silk:





Let the sunshine into your house! Spring is coming, yes it is! Yellow toile "Lovers" in yellow:





Verstatile tablerunner: spring on one side, fall on the other. Just turn it over when the seasons change:




And this is just cheerful. You can't help but smile every time you see it:





And be sure to click on the Saturday Blog link on my sidebar to connect to other bloggers offering more great deals. Happy shopping!

TOILE

As you can tell if you have visited my etsy store , I like toile (pronounced twal). Toile is a French word which means "cloth". Toiles were first produced in France in the late 18th century and quickly became Marie Anhtoinette's favorite fabric, depicting romantic bucolic scenes of lovers picnicing on a riverbank, or hunting scenes, or peasants working in the fields, and other imaginary scenes. Benjamin Franklin sent toiles home to his wife while he was in England, thus introducing America to toiles. They were used primarily for decoration, in upholstery or drapery, in cushions and, printed on paper, as wallpaper.

Genreally printed in black, red or blue on a white or cream background, these days toiles are available in many colors and fabrics. Most of the toiles I use are a Laura Ashley copywrited design which I call the "rural scene". I have the same pattern in many colors:












I like to mix and match my toiles to make tablecloths. This one is brown and yellow, using the Laura Ashley print



This is an elegant black and white print




I do have other toiles besides the Laura Ashley rural scene. One day I played around and mixed and matched big time, and created what I think of as my masterpiece:




It's really hard to sell tablecloths, though. Everyone has a different size table, different color schemes, different taste, etc., etc. and so forth. Also they are time consuming and expensive to make. So nowadays I am making placemats/napkins from my toiles, cutting out different scenes approzimately 21"x15" and hemming them to approximately 20"x14", a generous sized placemat, which can also be folded into a napkin. I think they're charming. I sold this set:




And now I have this new set ready to list on my etsy site. Here is the original full-size piece of fabric:





I can only get 4 placemats out of each yard of this fabric, so I try to center each scene. I used 2 yards and produced 8 placemats/napkins, so you could use 4 for placemats and fold the other four for napkins!


















These are the two big scenes, which can be folded to highlight a particular part, like a bowler, or the dancers:





I have another yard of this same pattern and colorway, and will make an apron today, and after I go to the fabric store and buy more batting, I will make at least one tablerunner, and several potholder/trivets. Stay tuned, and please see my store where these goods are available for sale.