Blog Tour day 6: Happy Appliquer

Magazines may be able to dig up quotes and photos from years gone by, but nobody can dredge up the past like a mother! Thankfully she only shared the minimally embarrassing anecdote of my childhood cartoon creations (Mo-om!), and today I’m honored to present a guest post on my talented mom’s blog, Happy Appliquer. Be sure to look around to ogle the work of a truly accomplished appliqué artist.

Felt photoshoot

I've been stitching up a storm of felt sweets while watching TV, and we've been finding lots of fun vintage dishes in thrift stores. It was time to get them in front of the camera, so I staged a little photoshoot. So here are the dishes and felt food together, showing you the latest looks coming down the runway from the House of Feed Dog. With snacks from both sides of the Atlantic, this collection also draws on Japanese patterns, making it a truly international felt statement. Head to the linked books and websites for some patterns to whet your appetite for the original patterns that are on their way!

Our first look is a pair of doughnuts flanked by two saucy little French fancies. Oh la la! These desserts sparkle on Modern Star dishes by Taylor, Smith & Taylor. The sprinkle doughnut is from this pattern and the cruller comes from My Favorite Felt Sweets. The fancies are an original pattern.

Showing off the lovely Franciscan Antigua is a tasty spread of cakes and pastries. The strawberry pinwheel and caramel-banana square are straight from the pages of My Favorite Felt Sweets, while the raspberry tart pattern comes to us in its native language, all the way from the Land of the Rising Sun, in Felted Sweet Treats . Thank goodness for help interpreting!

But there's more Franciscan in this line—just take a look at this Merry-Go-Round teacup, dressed to the nines with a pretzel biscuit (again from My Favorite Felt Sweets) and an off-brand Oreo cookie, a Feed Dog original.

Ravishing on Taylorstone Etruscan, our next plate of puddings offers an eclectic range of treats, whether you fancy a luscious mixed berry pie or scrumptious strawberry shortcake (apparently taking a 16th-century ruff as its inspiration). Both are from My Favorite Felt Sweets. But what's a mouse doing amidst these sweets? It's a sugar mouse, of course! Adapted from Runo's pincushion pattern.

A daintier selection of chocolates (My Favorite Felt Sweets) look just as tempting on the classic Midwinter Cassandra, though the marshmallow Peep seems an unseasonable misstep in this fall collection. The design is appealing, but the gaudy color seems at odds with the more subtle tones of the chocolate mint, berry cream chocolate, and mocha meringue drop.

While Franciscan Starburst is an old favourite, this piece is a relative newcomer to the collection and makes a charming backdrop for a sneak peek at two dessert prototypes cut from the same original pattern: that English teatime delight, the Bakewell tart, and a cream-filled chocolate cupcake, found in the lunchboxes of so many American schoolchildren. Look for the two-for-one pattern soon as an Anglo-American Snack Pack!

Let's bring out the models one last time for a final walk, all together. Divine! Delectable! Fierce! Fabulous! These girls know how to work it.

Unearthed from the basement

My great aunt passed away a couple weeks ago, so the Mother went up to help sort out the treasure trove of stuff she'd amassed in her basement. Aunt Mary's basement was legendary when I was growing up—linens, clothes, antiques, and probably the lost city of Atlantis were down there. She was a lot of fun, and I wish I'd known her better.

The Mother rescued some of the linens from the basement and put the things in the photo aside for me. The glass bowl is really a deep ashtray, perfect for my collection of blobtastic, somewhat creepily shaped art glass. I already have several pieces in this color, but they're all taller, so this will be a nice contrast.

Even better is the unassuming aqua bowl in the background. It's the Fashion Shape sugar bowl from the Midwinter Modern series of dishes, of which I've collected the teapot, coffeepot, cups and saucers, various plates, and a cream jug in the Cassandra pattern. The creamer had come with the coffeepot, so it was pure luck that the Mother happened across the one piece I needed to complete the tea service. I should really post some photos of the other pieces, since the sugar bowl doesn't even hint at the deliciously graceful curves of the rest of the series. The spare teapot lid is an extra score.

Less soda, more tea for me, I think.

A visit from the Other

Hurrah! At the last minute, the Other decided to come visit this week.

We've been having a splendid time, and when we had some people over on the weekend, I was finally able to use the sunshiny face plates I'd picked up at a thrift shop. I don't know anything about the designer or manufacturer (the back just says "Trend Setter Collection"), but the plate reminded me of Alexander Girard's suns.

A Thanksgiving prayer

A couple years ago my grandmother presented my with a stack of index cards, requesting that a write a prayer to say before the Thanksgiving meal. By stack, I mean at least half a dozen cards: she evidently thought I was going to prepare a heartfelt, touching, lengthy statement on the bounty of the previous year and hopefulness for that ahead.

She should have known better. I don't do sentimental.

This is what she got:

Dear Lord,
Thank you for food, family, and Franciscan Starburst dinnerware.
Amen.

My parents and Youngest Brother, endowed with more of a sense of humour than Grandma, were amused. She herself, of course, was less than impressed by the brevity and lack of solemnness. But it was not going to be a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving meal anyway—with a resident alien (the Mother) in the room, my grandfather's comments about the irrelevance of foreigners guaranteed a tense dinner. So much for the family part.

Franciscan Starburst, however, continues to be worthy of gratitude, so I offer my prayer once more. Happy Thanksgiving.