Friday 20 September 2013

A bit of vintage patchwork.....and some vintage tins....


Hello again - thank you for calling in on this chilly day. Welcome to new followers and sorry again that I cannot see some of your blogs to return a visit - not sure what to do.  Thank you for kind comments on previous tin post - I still have those tins but they are now  in the vertical rather than the horizontal and in a different room!  Thank you Down by the Sea re: other half and thoughts about tins - the last tin that I bought was this one here and that is now used for wild bird feed so that is 'ok' (though I do have some 'proper' bird seed tins.....).   Oh - I did buy a pretty tin at the car boot in the summer and I have just 'planted it up' for next Spring - I had an extra idea for that one so we will wait and see if that works (all revealed next Spring if my blog is still going by then...change my mind weekly).  I have in fact taken some nice tins to the CS and they are still there.....

Finding more and more of my photographs being used elsewhere lately - that no pin code thing is clearly no good!  Here is an interesting page that has used a photograph of my cushions - that had found there way to you know where - with no link to here of course! Nice that someone else gets the credit......just in case here are my cushions in their proper setting - home! I shall leave this sitting here for a while and ponder....




So I am rather partial to a nice bit of patchwork....and a nice old tin to go with it... of course



Really - you too!  Now there's a surprise....





It is interesting to 'read' old patchwork don't you think? I have some 1950s bits that have pieced using the problems page of a 'woman's magazine' - all a bit surreptitious with implied meaning throughout.




This is from 70s do you think - a bit more of a cheery read - Kleenex and Cornflakes!





The pieces above I particularly like - much larger pieces from the late 40s possibly?

Anyway a nice bit of clashiness going on



I have made  cushions out of some of this though there is a limit as to how many cushions one person can use in ones lifetime.  I might make some shopping bags out of the rest





Tell me: do you use cake tins for cake?  Well - blow me down...things being used for their original purpose!



Please note that these tins do not feature in the 'Tons of Tins' post - these are patchwork tins, not haberdashery tins.


Pluuuuhhheze get it right - if we mix patchwork tins with haberdashery tins we will get ourselves in a right old muddle and we won't know if we are coming or going.  I use biscuit tins for cake purposes because it is good to take risks in life...



I do like a bit of colour...






Can you tell that I couldn't decide which photographs to eliminate from the post so there are too many....


Sorry for delay in Weekend Bag tutorial - sewing machine hitch - ditto with giveaway post.....normal service is not resumed....


PS: Have you turned the heating on yet?  The BIG debate

PPS: Did you watch 'The Fabric of Britain' this week?

PPPS: Did you watch 'Science Britannica' this week?

PPPPS: Did you watch 'The Great British Bake Off'? We would like Ruby to win because we think that she is nice.

PPPPPS: Watching more telly than usual as we hunker down for the season in front of the fire

PPPPPPS: I have got the lids to these tins!!!

PPPPPPPS: The book -  'The Custards - my life in tin' -  is coming on a treat: full of laughs and jolly japes in the world of tin.  Who knew!

PPPPPPPPS: I wish that I had thought of 'Jolly Good Fellow' that is a pleasing wheeze that I enjoyed muchly.

PPPPPPPPPS: The book - 'The Custards - my life in tablecloths' - is not so pleasing to write - full of stains and jam droppage.  Not so many laughs in that one sadly.

53 comments:

  1. ~Hello lovely Jenny! In answer to your first question..YES heating is on! Brrrr very chilly here! Haven't watched any TV as yet though... Tins, Tins, I could just look at your tins all day....Your colourful header is a feast for the eyes....I have tea bags in some tins and washing powder and kittie biscuits in another...they belonged to my 'spooky' Grandma, I wonder would she approve? More on her in a future postie from me! Good to catch up with you, Jenny! Hugs and September kisses xxx Maria x

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    1. I look forward to reading about your Grandma Maria. Tins are very handy things aren't they!
      Thank you for calling in
      Best wishes
      Jenny
      PS: Heating was on once but now off again as we have warmed up!

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  2. Morning Jenny. Holding out still. Felt temped to put the log burner on last night, but choose to snuggle with a granny blanket instead.. I only use my tins for storing cakes. I'm so boring. But I have not got any vintage ones like you. I love the different colours they look fantastic. with your patchwork in. Oh I'm not so boring I forgot I keep one for my dogs.......I bake them homemade dog treats.... I know more baking.
    Rosezeeta.

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    1. Dear Rosezzeta - keep going with the blankets and think of the saving we will makes! I am hoping for a late October turn on! Your dog tin sounds great and homemade treats even better

      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  3. We don't have any heating so the answer to that is s big fat NO! Want Ruby to win GBBO too, she seems genuinely sweet x

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    1. Oh dear - sorry to hear that (or perhaps you live in an exotic clime where it is not needed!)

      My friend tells me that a friend of her is best friends with Ruby! I will see what else I can find out!!!!!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  4. Hi Jenny, heating on - check (log burner too),tv watched - check (Ruby gets my vote too), tins still awaiting contents decision. 2 out of 3 better than most weeks. Philippa xx

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    1. Ho ho Philippa - our heating is off at the moment due to a flush of warmth coming in from the South. That said we currently have no back to the house as the builders are in.....again
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  5. Ceremonial first lighting of wood stove last night...did you see Cutting Edge,
    Fabulous Fashionistas?
    I saw a tiny Peak Freans tin yesterday, might have get it...I seem to have been touched by 'The Custard Effect'. xx

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    1. I have missed that programme Ethel so will try and catch up with it this week
      Please do purchase the PF tin - I think I know the sort and they were sample tins I think

      Thank you for calling in and happy to pass on any custard effect!!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  6. I love that you keep patchwork pieces in vintage tins! What a wonderful idea, and it suits both so well. Have to admit we have had heating on for baths (just had new system so excuse is have to test, hee hee). Minerva x

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    1. Good idea to test the system I think! Also a bath warms you up nicely (that sounds a bit rude but not intended)
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  7. Love the patchwork pieces Jenny in those lovely tins and yes to having the heating on :)
    x

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    1. Thank you Barbara - we have had a warm spell so all turned off again!
      Have a good day
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  8. Hi Jenny,no we don't have the heating on. Our catchphrase is "not until November" and last year and the year before we "did it in December"! Do you know that we don't own one cake tin. I am not a baker by any stretch of the imagination which is probably why and I don't watch the Great Bakeoff either for that very reason. I like eating cakes though!

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    1. I bow to your resilience and DECEMBER!!! I will aim for end of October this season. I like eating cakes too.........sadly............
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  9. Do you realise what a mess you've made me make on my iPad? I've drooled all over it....those tins, those bobbins....that fabric! Off to get a mop now there so much mess! Stop it please!!! (Not really, more, more, more!) :) x

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    1. Oh dear Ada Bea - you may have to use a bit of vintage sheet to give it a clean!

      Sadly there is plenty more...........

      Have the best day
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  10. Look at all those tiny pretty hexis!! We are guilty of turning on the heat last week, it dropped in the upper 30s one night here. I think I would be drooling over your books!!! (: Happy sweet Friday! xo Holly

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    1. Thank you Holly - that mix of pattern and colour is appealing isn't it
      One day I WILL write that book
      Have a great day too
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  11. Hi Jenny,
    No heating here but have brought and worn the thick jumpers and woolly socks in the evening! Wow more tins at least they are no standing there idle and empty. Which CS do you take them too, my daughter is back at Uni, I could send her off on a mission!! Love all those patchwork pieces and a view of them through the decades.
    Sarah x

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    1. Woolly socks and thick jumpers sound great to me. I take most items to the Cat Rescue on HIghland Road - simply because it is the nearest one and I can carry the load there easily! Maille's old mobile 'phone was in the window last time I looked!!!
      Thank you for calling in
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  12. No heating as yet. I did watch the Fabric of Britain- I thought it started off O.K. but but tailed off into ...a very thin end! What a missed opportunity! So many people love knitting, and there were other fantastic designers, not just Kaffe Fasset. Gripe over.Loved the Fashionistas though mentioned by Ethel.
    I am envious of your patchwork tins and the contents.The hexagons are another on my to do list before I die..I'd better get a move on.

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    1. Well done with the heating malarky! I too was a bit miffed by too much 'intellectualisation' of knitting and I just wanted to see more patterns and old bits! Watched the one about wallpaper last night and they visited the Birmingham back to backs - we went there in the summer too so that was more of an interest

      I am in the slow process of sewing together some embroidered hexagons for I don't know what yet - but it will come to me eventually. There is SO much to make and do!
      Thank you for calling in
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  13. Hi Jenny, no we havent got the heating on either but I am wearing a cardigan or jumper on top of my t shirts- a true sign that the weather is cooling (I am a big softy). Love your tins, I have wonderful recollections of being given a tin of toffees each year for christmas when I was a child and how I wish I had kept them. We called in at a house clearance place this afternoon (they dont know what to charge for stuff!!) and they had lots of beautiful ones with little kitties/puppies and other cutesies on for extortionate prices.

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    1. Indeed - a nice cardi will cover most bases. I suppose people charge anything they like for stuff and some will pay that I reckon

      Have a lovely day
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  14. I could look at these photos all day, they are as delicious as tins of chocolate!
    Twice in recent times I've found a bag of loose hexagons, the fabric looks a similar vintage to those brightly coloured ones in your tin. I love them, they are fun to stitch together, no brain power needed, and all the hard work has been done (the fabric cutting then tacking to the papers).

    I love your Tons of Tins, being a tin collector (hoarder) myself. Your collection is nothing short of breath-taking!

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    1. Aww - thank you Susan. I have no tins of chocco - which is a good think! Over the years I have found umpteen bags of hexagons - unfinished projects. My 'best' buy was for £8 - a carrier bag with a nearly completed patchwork quilt and all the remainder hexagons ready made. It is wonderful

      Can always make room for anothe nice tin.....
      Thank you for calling in
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  15. Hi Jenny thankyou for your comment.Tried to make a bag but the handles went wrong!I was rushing though, must take a deep breath and tackle things s l o w l y!!Spent a lot of time sorting out my sewing area and putting things into little drawers,jars and tins!!Watched Fabric of Britain very entertaining.My favourite in TGBBO is the girl that does style over substance!although I did feel really sorry for her when her sewing biscuit tower collapsed!I have a great creative surge going on at the moment don't know wether to sew,knit or bake!!!Think I'll just browse Mollie Makes for inspiration!!Also are you a Downton Abbey fan?I can't wait for Sunday.Sorry to have nattered on,I'm going now 'byeeee! Pam.

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    1. Dear Pam - please come round and we can make bags together if you wish. I do not do things slowly - I am a rusher (not Russia). Things are getting meaty in TGBBO and I get teary with the leaving thing. Sadly I stopped watching DA when that young man got up out of his wheelchair - sadly I thought that was so far fetched. I like the costumes but I am a bit fed up of Maggie Smith and her one dimension - oh dear is that ok to say. I assume that they have now reached 1970 and the place is now a theme parok - they were skipping through the decades like Dr Who in a Tardis. Oh dear!
      Have a lovely day Pam and willing to discuss DA further

      Best wishes
      Jenny

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    2. That should have been theme park - complete with lions and baboons....

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  16. 80 degrees here today (very unusual) so no heating - yet (supposed to drop right down over the weekend). I actually do use one cake tin for (shock) cake - namely annual fruit cake but that's it. Have I told you I LOVE your blog (seriously have I LOL). By the way I left a "tut tut" comment where your pic appeared - wonder if I will get any reaction.....

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    1. Thank you again for your extra kindness - that was most sweet of you - I was too nervous of doing the same so just fested.

      80 DEGREES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Thank you for calling in and I have only just got over the use of cake tin for cake!!!

      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  17. We're rooting for Glenn here, only have the heating on when temps drop to single figures, and tend to use pretty tins for planting spring bulbs in ... we're a rum bunch!

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    1. Glenn is interesting but he needs to pull his weight I feel - very sad to see Howard go though - I thought him very droll and funny.

      I have just planted up my spring tins (that would be a separate collection in the shed......) ready for next year so not rum in the slightest!

      Enjoy the weekend Annie
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  19. glad that standards are being kept up - well done for having tins for separate purposes (wouldn't happen here i'm afraid i'm too much of a slut) - had a hiccup with the central heating this week - it has been cold and we thought there was a problem with the boiler because our water wasn't hot so we had to use the immersion heater - we waited a few days to see if the fairies would mend it and decided to phone british gas this morning and then my husband suddenly remembered he had turned the water temperature down because i had complained it was too hot!!! which i also remember now .... oh dear crisis what crisis? well you did ask!! i think i'm the only person in the world that doesn't watch TGBBO and i don't buy cakes on account of the fact that i cannot just have one piece!!! BUT i did watch the programme on the lovely old ladies in the week xx

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    1. Hello Lynne - I have done that fairy thing many a time (wishful thinking.......). I usually eat an entire cake - I cannot imagine eating JUST ONE SLICE!! I will try watch the 'old lady' programme this week

      Thank you for calling in
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  20. So many amazing looking patchwork pieces! Other than a couple of cake tins, I've only got one tin and that's full of hollyhock seeds. Yes heatings on! so is the continuous war of me turning it up and him turning it down.

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    1. Ah yes indeed the woolly dog - I have not yet shown the seed tins.....
      I am of that age where the heating has to be turned down due to internal heating......
      Thank you for calling in
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  21. Oh Jenny you do make me laugh..PS can I borrow you cushions before I have to pay royalties !!
    Love the tins, yes we do have the heating on just for an hour in the morning and again in the evening, now what was the next question, (hold on a min I shall have a peep)
    Yes Ruby we do like her..I think she wears my mums old cardigan
    Back Soon
    Thea xx

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    1. Sadly royalties would be due Thea ( ho ho). A burst of heating to take that early chill away is often all that is needed.

      We too like Ruby's sense of style - I have lots of cardis that my mum knitted and will dig those out.....oh dear
      Thank you for calling
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  22. Hi Jenny, your patchwork is almost as pretty on the back as it is on the front, and a jolly good read too!

    Heating has been on, then off, then on again .... Soon will be on permanently though ...

    Have a lovely Sunday

    Love Claire xxx

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    1. Indeed Claire - once it is 'properly' on we know that we are heading for winter!

      Have a lovely weekend Claire
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  23. Lovely tins of patchwork pieces, what glorious fabrics. I have a hankering to do some hexagon patchwork, it reminds me of my Grandma.

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    1. Patchwork is a great evening activity I think and mobile too - for years I used to patch during my breaks at work and could take a little bit in with me at a time
      Thank you for calling in Kate-Em
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  24. Glorious colours and a lovely story, Jenny! My grandma's Quilting Bee in Idaho quilted me a lovely Double Wedding Ring quilt for my wedding in 1981 and I saved all kinds of patchwork. But I can see where my life has gone wrong now. I mistakenly placed my haberdashery in a biscuit tin and my patchwork in a basket and my biscuits in a cake tin. My cake is in a 1970s gold Tupperware thing that I brought to England with me in 1977. Ohhhhh, it's all gone wrong and now I know why. Thanks for setting me straight.


    Shelley

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    1. Dear Shelley
      What a wonderful keepsake that quilt is though I fear that you need a little guidance on the tin frontage....
      Gold Tupperware sounds a wonder in itself - I have a bit of Tupperware but none of the gold variety. Was this an Californ-I-A import?
      Glad to be of service Shelley....
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  25. Jenny you are so funny! I chuckled aloud reading this. Gorgeous tins. I am jealous of your tins/fabric/plates/cups/everything whenever I stop by here and today is no exception. I like the look of those little hexies. I have been flirting with the idea of embarking on a hexagon patchwork project for sometime but have yet to start snipping away. And yes, cake is jept in cake tins here - very boring, I know. Haberdashery bits and bobs go in those awful chinese takeaway style boxes with lids which have the merit of being both clear and cheap. x

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    1. Patchwork is a great thing to make Gillian and if you make it from memorable clothing it becomes extra special - I will dig out the quilts that I made as a teenager I think. Clear and cheap sounds good to me Gillian
      Thank you for calling in and have a great weekend
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  26. Bonjour Chez Custard comment ca va? Just wanted to let you know that I was talking about your bloggy blog with friends last night. So that they can see you in your full glory I have shared a link to your blog on my FB page. Having clearly stated that this is not my blog . Hope this is OK? They are all keen blog followers and some write as well. They are friends of mine and I'm a good egg so they should be OK as followers :-) have a good day Madam. Joan Glen-Martin aka Mad Bird

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    1. Ca va bein et vous/toi (don't wish to presume and make a faux pas!!)
      Thank you for sharing the link - that is kind of you. You are indeed a good egg (an excellent phrase that should be in daily usage). Thank you for calling in
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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