life moves pretty fast...

...you don't stop and look around for a while, you could miss it.

Well apparently my blogging mojo is on some kind of extended holiday...hope it's not a gap year!  To remind myself, and you, that I am a blogger (of sorts), here's a few pics of recent shenanigans round my way...

Amazing bundle of fabric joy for my birthday, from the gorgeous Modflowers...

cushions made for our local Arts Trail (and my quilt - for display only!)...

 

Gorgeous birthday presents from my boys!!! Brooch from here, purse from here...

and a couple of new tins to add to the kitchen collection.

The boys enjoying Upfest, our local graffiti festival...

a happy picture by eldest boy that makes my heart swell with joy...

 

and him playing on our new family toy.

Wild garlic picked on a woodland walk...

and our walking companion!

Recent boot sale booty, a Figgjo Flint casserole dish...

and a small but powerful bit of childhood nostalgia!

 

In among all this I have been buying fabric, selling fabric, and trying (and failing miserably) to not let my house get taken over by piles of fabric!  I desperately need a studio or sewing room, but our house is tiny and we're not moving any time soon so for now I just have to muddle through.

I hope you're well and happy, and enjoying the sunny weather we've been having...long may it last!  Thanks so much for reading, sorry it's been so long since my last post, hopefully it won't be as long till my next one!

Rachel xx

local loveliness...

Hello, how are you this week?  I'm slowing down, getting ready for Christmas and looking forward to time off from all the usual routines...the school run seems to get harder every morning!  It's been so cold here, though we've been lucky with bright sunny frosty mornings...but I'd still rather be tucked up under a duvet watching movies with my boys than hustling them out of the door...

I had a busy weekend, starting with the Christmas Fair at Max's school; I'd been staying up late to make stock for a few days beforehand, but as usual the buzz of the fair kicked in and I enjoyed setting up my stall...

 

 

I had great fun painting and decorating this little display house and styling it with little vintage goodies; though I'm not sure about my lovely assistant's novel method of 'helping'...

Luckily lots of M's friends were there so he frolicked off to wreak mayhem while I enjoyed some quiet moments before the crowds flooded in....well, not crowds exactly - but it was busy enough.  I sold enough to make it worthwhile being there, and got some commissions for the New Year, so all in all a fun and successful day! 

Later on M's school took part in the local annual Lantern Parade, which was a brilliant community event involving children from at least 3 different schools and many individuals from all over the area.  It was a cold evening, but the kids had an amazing time as the traffic stopped and we took over the streets as dusk descended...

M's class have been learning about ancient Egypt this term, so they designed a Zombie Mummy lantern...

it looked pretty spooky as the sky got darker!

the parade finished in a park, where as well as all the handmade lanterns we were treated to a glowing hot air balloon...amazing.

After all that we went to a friends house where the kids ran riot while the adults warmed up with cocktails...a busy but very lovely day! 

Sorry it's taken me till now to share it with you...as you probably know I am guest blogging over here this week...if you haven't popped over to see what I'm up to there, please do!

Hope your Christmas preparations are going smoothly, it can be a stressful time of year.  I'm feeling pretty calm so far, but there's still a lot to do!

Rachel x

so pretty!

Look what the lovely Modflowers has made already with one of the pieces of fabric I gave her in our fabric swap - she only got that lovely big flower in the post yesterday!  I love how she's combined it with the other fabrics to look like a landscape with the sun setting behind a field of flowers.

Pop over to her blog to see more, she's a very talented maker with a fabric stash to rival mine.

Hope you're having a nice relaxing Sunday,  I've just been for a potter around our local monthly Vintage & Flea Market, I was very restrained this time! I only bought one little bit of fabric for the grand sum of 2 whole English pounds.  If I get a chance I'll take a photo of it later to share with you another day. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Rachel x

a busy day...

So as well as pottering around our local treasure troves the other day, I had time to get my sewing machine out to try to make a dent in the list of cushion covers I'm supposed to be making...and here's the result  -

 

I'm afraid I only managed one, its a vintage 1960s Conran fabric called Prince of Quince - the first ever vintage fabric that I saw on Ebay and recognised from a favourite book, 1000 Patterns edited by Drusilla Cole. It's a lovely thick cotton (maybe with a bit of linen?) that looks like it was printed yesterday, it's in amazing unused condition. It's backed with a nice purple and blue thick woven fabric which I was worried wouldn't look right, but actually I think it works really well.  

The other cushions you can see are another one of mine made with Boras fabric, and one of Jane Foster's gorgeous vintage fabric patchwork cushions which was a present to myself a couple of years ago.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to get a few more made soon, in preparation for selling on Etsy and through local retailers.  Let me know if you're in need of cushion covers, I've got a fair bit (massive understatement!) of fabric ready and waiting for the right home! 

Rachel x