Dish-aholic Part 2: Romanced by Pretty Pink

Many of you have complimented on some of my Lady Carlyle pieces, and some have asked about the history. So, for this Friday’s “Show-and-Tell” hosted by Kelli, I decided to do a post on my girly girl dishes.

My husband had actually helped with the selection of this pattern in my moments of indecisiveness years ago. I have really appreciated it more and more as the years go by. Looking back, I am ever so glad for his intervention:

Royal Albert is known for the timeless beauty of its emphatically English romantic and chintzy patterns, frequently trimmed with gold. While Lady Carlyle is not as popular as the Old Country Roses, it has certainly managed to capture the fancy of many. It was introduced in 1944 after the “Victorian Chintz” fashion using fresh posies of English country garden flowers, including roses, bluebells, and forget-me-nots. Elaborate gold scrolls, which recall the curvaceous and extravagant rococo styles of the 18th century, highlight the rich pink floral panels and borders:

Let’s have some tea while we say hi to these beauties, shall we? You may certainly pick the choice of your teacup since there are two different shapes:

Oh, for those who favor coffee, do help yourselves with the coffeepot. Also, go right ahead if you prefer to use the beakers (mugs):

You probably noticed that the Lady Carlyle pieces look a bit different from the Old Country Roses pieces. That’s because the Lady Carlyle pattern takes on the Hampton shape, which means a more gentle scallop or a melon shape (especially on the lids). It’s really hard for me to pick out a favorite Lady Carlyle piece, but this tureen comes really close :

These serving pieces are just elated to get out of the cabinet and show off for a bit. I like the butter dome the best out of this particular grouping. A side note: My “collecting process” wasn’t without challenge, in that about 6 years ago, I got word that Royal Doulton (who had then bought Royal Albert) was moving their manufacturing to Indonesia from England. Being a purist, I wanted to keep my set purely English. So, I spent the next couple of years focusing on getting the pieces I wanted to complete my own set:

I actually bought the licensed Lady Carlyle fabric to make a set of 12 napkins back in 2001 (I have a thing with collecting things in twelves). I was not into sewing or quilting then, or I would have bought a whole lot more of this fabric and the coordinating fabrics to make a tablecloth and a quilt to go with the collection:

These are from a recent dinner I had for some guests – the dessert is Happy Wonderer’s Hummingbird Cake:

When not used, the large fruit/salad bowl doubles as a sandbox for my bear “Lady Carlyle”. She is shown sitting on a rimmed soup bowl in the fruit bowl:

Oh my… look at the time! My three minutes is up, and the carriage clock is telling me I’d better let others take the stage for their show-and-tell:

I have thoroughly enjoyed collecting my Lady Carlyle pieces. I love being able to look at the pieces and relate them to the different stages of my life throughout the years.

Have a Fun-Filled-Friday, everyone!

A beary special gift

My little patchwork bear, Lady Carlyle, says “Konichiwa” (translated: hello) to you on this Monday morning!

You see, she officially joined our household during a snowy afternoon in December last year. She had come with a package packed with other goodies from Japan. Can you see the snow pelting down outside the window?

LC is handmade by a very gracious lady Mrs. M from Japan who is a hand quilter. Her sweet daughter had stayed with us for three weeks as an exchange student last August. We were honored to host Kumiko as a guest in our home, and I was definitely honored to receive LC as a gift from Mrs. M. LC is named after my Lady Carlyle dishes (how original eh?). You see, LC has taken such a liking to the Lady Carlyle pieces, so what can I say? I would also be remiss not to mention to you that LC hosts some mean tea parties too!

LC thinks she is the queen of my 3-tier server:

Mrs. M and I have sent each other quilting-related things from time to time even though we have never met or spoken with each other. It is a unique friendship I share with Mrs. M because of our love of sewing and quilting. I hope one day I would get to meet this wonderful lady in person.

Mrs. M is one many women that have become special to me in my sewing world. I look forward to sharing with you the other sewing friends I have met and come to love over the last couple of years.

Thanks for such a special gift, Mrs. M! Have a “beary” wonderful week, everyone! And Happy Crafting!!

p.s. A very beary Happy Birthday to my sister!

Pretty Tea Strainer

I was inspired by all the tea pictures posted by those who have participated in the “Sweet-and-Savory-of-Yummy” hosted on Gracious Hospitality. I have to admit I probably drink more coffee than tea, but I am also a dish-aholic. So, even if I don’t use them too much, I have a couple of tea strainers in my collection. I am showing you one of them today that compliments my Royal Albert pieces.

Some close-ups: