It all started with a little blue jug... Part 1

On second thoughts, it probably started with old valve radios.

In the early 1990s my first husband became interested in the restoration of old valve radios and as a consequence we started frequenting secondhand ,antique shops and the odd garage sale looking for radios to buy. 

First husband had a huge work area in our 'rumpus' room, set up to do his 'tinkering'....

After a few of these shop hopping expeditions with him I thought that maybe I could start a collection. Then I would have added incentive to trail around with him. After a bit of thought, I came up with the idea of collecting jugs, in particular old milk jugs. 

This was my first find...I still have and I still love it!

But it wasn't long after that I abandoned the 'jug collection plan', and decided to indulge my love of the Blue Willow design. I had fallen in love with it as a child as many of our elderly neighbours had pieces and I had really liked this china. My MIL also had many pieces as well, as she shared the same interest. So many of the shops we visited had Blue willow, so it quickly became a 'done deal'; I would collect reasonably priced pieces. My goal was to find examples of the different companies which used the design. I found a lot but have forgotten the exact number. 

In the home I shared with my first husband, I displayed much of my china...

We found the antique hutch in one of our regular haunts...

We always used to use the Blue Willow china when my MIL visited... :-)

The magnificent tablecloth was made by my MIL for my 40th birthday; a real treasure, both her and the cloth :-)

When I moved into a little rental house I had a little of my Blue Willow with me... I took that to the house where DH and I live now...the photo below was taken here about 10 years ago...I'm doing some uni work at the dining room table...and in the background some BW china.

In 2004 I was able to pack up my belongings from the other house. I gave a lot of items away and threw a lot away but not my china or old embroidered linens. But there was no where really to store them as this house is smaller and was already filled with DH's 'stuff'. Much has languished in plastic crates under the house or in various cupboards and shelves throughout the house. About 2 years ago I had decided that I would get rid of my collection as my girls weren't interested in inheriting it. However...reading other people's blog about their love of china etc, I thought no. I will keep it and enjoy it for now any way. 

The other day I spent the morning collecting all my BW together. This involved using a little ladder to get to the higher shelves in cupboards, or crouching down low to bottom shelves in some cupboards and even involved getting out some stored in plastic crates. 

But these items in the next photos were at the bottom of the linen cupboard...on my trips to the secondhand shops all those years ago, as well as BW china, I also found BW designs on table linen...

This one was quite expensive but after a few trips back to have a look at it, I eventually bought it!

 Some close-ups of the sections...

This tablecloth had a deep BW border...

This cloth had the blue willow design embroidered on each of the corners

Another beautiful table cloth with a narrower border...

This might have been a cushion front. I still haven't done anything with it :-(

And this is my collection of BW doilies, including a sandwich tray one...

And my friend Pamela even bought me BW items when she was OS in the 90s. 

2 yards of patchwork fabric from the US; I have used some but there is still lots to play with!

 From the UK, she bought me this tin full of tiny sweets...I love Blue Willow and cats, so this was perfect!

 Now in the early days of my collecting, I found this plate in the Aladdins Fair which is held here a few times a year and raises funds for Meals on Wheels. This is my oldest piece of BW; the dealer dated it Circa 1820 and he had scribbled out $35 but I can't remember what I ended up paying for it but it was less.

Well I think that is enough Blue Willow for Part 1...more next time!