Floral & Paisley Eiderdown Quilts

Last week I was looking through my stock for interesting items to list for sale and found some eiderdown quilts. The one above is very pretty... very summery.

These cotton fabrics are so evocative of an earlier age but they can be used very sucessfully in a contemporary interior too.

This one has a more of a paisley design with a lovely duck-egg blue background.

This one I have described on Ebay as pistachio green with pink/red flowers. It is actually prettier in "real life" than it appears in the photo! Cath Kidston has taken many of these old designs and reproduced them in her fabrics but I think that the vintage designs are just that little bit better!

Set the table for Spring

This week I have bought a quantity of linens from the estate of a large house in Northumberland. Not a big country house but a home that enjoyed entertaining and the lady of the house liked to present a well-dressed table for dinner or lunch. So I have acquired a number of sets of table napkins and mats.  The reticella lace napkins above are unused and an ideal size for lunch or supper.

 

These unused Irish linen damask napkins above are a more appropriate size for dinner.

These three pretty sets wopuld set off a spring lunch table very well.

This collection of linen did not include any dining table cloths but did have many place mats and table settings in a variety of styles. So perhaps the family had a beautiful table that they didn't want to hide under a cloth. In that case table mats are a great alternative to a cloth - and they are easier to launder, iron and store!

This Reticella needlelace place mat is one of six and matches the napkins.

                                                                  

These green linen place mats with hand embroidery also have a matching large centre mat and could be used with plain green  or white napkins.

The crochet lace mat above left is one from a setting for twelve and the Maltese lace mat to the right is from a setting for six.