30 April 2014

Vintage Cottage

It all started when I heard about a new (to me) company based in France which specialise in silk embroidery threads - The Silk Mill, they have a wonderful website full of temptation - you have been warned! http://www.thesilkmill.com I purchased their country cottage garden pack, it is even better in real life :) I love the countryside and thatched cottages with their pretty gardens especially; while I live on the edge of a town and don't (yet!) have such a pretty garden, I do live in a thatched cottage and there are fields across the road!
For a while I have wanted to stitch an embroidery of a vintage cottage, a bit like these...
I even bought a vintage embroidery transfer...
However much I admire these pieces, what I really want is to stitch something I have designed myself, something based on my own cottage...
I am still working on the garden! I bought a couple of second hand books for a penny each
which are full of wonderful illustrations of victorian cottages and gardens

Although it looks older, our cottage was actually built in the 1930's. I have decided to base my colours on the 1930's palette, lots of sugary pastels and bright colours. I bought some silk ribbons when I went to London with a friend and added a few more from my stash; I thought the raffia tape would be perfect for 'thatch'

I had a bag of DMC rayon and variegated threads I bought as a job lot and so pulled a few of those too

I think I will use linen as the background, but I am not sure which colour, I think the pure white is a little too bright ?
I am leaning towards the cream at the moment as it is almost the exact colour of our cottage :)
I still have to design the piece and somehow fit in Jasper in the garden if possible :)  It will be a romantic impressionist idea of how our garden could look :) but I can see this hanging in our spare bedroom with the GTSB quilt on the bed, now I just need to finish it too!

12 comments:

  1. What an amazing cottage you live in it is just gorgeous and I am sure your embroidery work will be amazing too. Love those threads must go have a look.
    Bunny

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  2. I love your cottage! all that you show is so lovely. I think the darker of the two linens would be better as you say the white maybe a bit too bright

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  3. Your yard and house look so nice!

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  4. Well it is a very BIG beautiful cottage Elaine LOL and a very big garden area too. I'm sure there use to be a herb and vegetable garden out the back also. You have lots of eye candy thread to play with also. I'm looking forward to seeing this master piece grow as I know it will be a master piece. Happy designing first though. Glenda

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  5. Wow! What a precious home you have, must be like living in a fairy tale. We don't have such things here in the states. How exciting to be planning your gardens.

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  6. Oh so pretty! Wow! Love the colors! I can't imagine living in a thatched cottage. You are so lucky!

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  7. Your cottage is positively charming! I can't wait to see how you draw and embroider it.

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  8. I can't wait to watch your progress on this piece! The silks look beautiful.
    Liebe Grüße,
    Kathy

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  9. I love the idea of this project. And yes, I think I'd go for the cream fabric!

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  10. Well done for doing your own thing, so much more special then a kit :-) Good luck!
    I would say NO to white, natural would be better.
    I came across The Silk Mill before, oh dear, so tempting!

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  11. I agree with you - the cream would be very nice and it would have a lovely vintage feel. You've got a great selection of threads and ribbons. I'm sure your cottage will be beautiful!

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  12. You have the most beautiful cottage, I would never have guessed it was so new! I am so looking forward to seeing how you stitch your design.

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