Project 365 day 34: more from the work basket

I didn't manage to step outside at all today. It was very wet too, so it would not have been a good day for outdoor photography. I had a plan B, and left it too late to discover I couldn't make it work to my satisfaction, so it's back to the work basket. 

The bright, solid pincushion belonged to my aunt. I think she once told me it was a school handicraft project, probably in the early 1940s. The brass thimble belonged to my great aunt, and came to me with the basket when she died in 1974, but I don't know if she was its first owner. It's far to slim for my fingers, suggesting a daintier time. The needle case was my first primary school needlework project. I think I was six or seven, so it was probably 1967, and I have been using it ever since, for well over fifty years. We (just the girls, of course) could choose our colours of felt for the cover and flowers, which were pre-cut for us, and the colours of the thread for the appliqué and the decoration of whipped running stitch. I was praised for my even stitches - I was already doing some sewing at home, so it was not a challenging project. However, I enjoyed both the choice of colours, which I still remember approaching very methodically, laying out all the possible permutations before making a decision, and the quiet absorption of the stitching. I still enjoy such things.