Toile Bedroom Curtains and Tool Hunting

Have I mentioned before that as well as Jacobean, I also like all things toile.

 I guess it is the designs ( not the linen material) usually found and labelled toile that I actually love.  They are often rustic depicting scenes in nature, the country side, children and animals. Occasionally, you see rich people with their horses or picnicking.  These days you can get toile in a range of colours from the classics, reds and blues to tans and aquas.  I love this one with the birds in black and white.  So elegant.

                                        

I have had cushions made up in toile in the past and decided my bedroom curtains would be toile this time round.  I chose a soft red against an off white background.  It looks more pinkish in this night time lighting but it really is red.

There are two large windows in the bedroom and I needn't have worried about the design being overwhelming in the room.  Just like in the living area, wood seems to soak up colour.

On a different matter...

Looking for tools

With the move, I got to see for myself how many tools Hubby has amassed in his collections.  He takes having the right tool for the job important both for making the job easier and also achieving the result he wants.

I decided to take a lesson from that.  It's time I take tools more seriously.  I've always kept my "tool collection" basic and just last year for the first time bought fancy quilting templates.  I've always used Freezer paper from the grocery store instead of buying the nice applique backing papers.  I'm going to invest in some and start building my own tool collection for my stitching hobbies.

After reading the Every Stitch post where Hilda  explains how she makes great use of a simple tool called the HERA,( Hilda, by the way, is a master quilter and generously shares information about her tools and materials.) I did some research about it myself.  Marking fabric for the all important final quilting is a bit of a challenge.  Quilters use all kinds of things...chalk, pencils, pens, tissue paper, cellophane.  As Hilda describes, the hera doesn't leave any permanent mark on fabric but it does make a delible mark that can be followed to stitch on.  I found the video below on Youtube which explains how the hera works.

The hera seems like a good tool to have on hand.  What do you think?

And on another note:  Turnips or Swedes

A reader asked if Swedes and turnips are the same thing, this in response to the Cornish Pasties post.  No they are not identical and have a few major differences.  Swedes are bigger, sweeter and yellower than our turnips.  Having said that, turnips are used exactly like Swedes in recipes.  I grew up with us calling them turnips even if sometimes they might have been small Swedes or rutabagas. Thanks for your comment, Daisy.