Three Little Serendipity Rugs or Mats

So far, I have completed three small rugs using scraps of needlepoint canvas (24ct) and loose and odd threads drawn from a left-overs pile in my embroidery supplies.

The first one is varieties of browns, creams and greys accented with assorted rust shades. It has a very mid-century modern feel to it, I think. Some of the stripes were worked with a blended needle, i.e. two strands of different colours. If you choose closely related colours, the end result can appear to be a single colour; however, if you use contrasting colours, the effect is that of tweed.

The middle one I call Denim Blues; that was the starting point, and is also a little like a rag mat we have in our powder room. It has accents of thin red stripes on various blues and greys. The size of this one would make it work nicely in many eras, from an updated bath to a servant's bedroom.

The far one is Graphic Greens, and is the most planned of the three. I pulled out many shades of green for this one, then bordered each one with a deep, nearly black green. It is definitely a modern rug.

The problem is, of course, that in my part of the world most people live and breathe Victorian miniatures, so finding a buyer for these in my small circle of miniaturists is likely going to be very difficult indeed!

Most of my stairs for the wooden shoe workshop are ready to attach, but I am trying to come up with a way to make a section of them removable. That would allow me to hide the lighting batteries and wires very neatly, and allow good access to them when the batteries need replacing. I chose a dark red-brown colour to paint the stairs, the colour I remember our stairs in Maastricht being; they dated to before WWI, thus fitting neatly into the period of my workshop.