have I left it too long?...

Hello (waves tentatively)...I'm still here!  I really don't know why I have fallen out of love with blogging...it's not you, it's me...it's complicated.

I'm putting this picture in to avoid that dreaded beast, the text-only post. It has nothing to do with what I'm saying, but I made it, and it is pretty, so I thought you might like it.

I have been lurking, catching up with some of your blogs, but mainly just getting on with life, which has been the usual mix of delightful and dull, fun and frustrating, creative and crap...though always, on balance, far more of the good than the bad, thankfully.  There has been plenty going on that has been worth sharing, but I just haven't felt like sharing it...here are a few of the reasons why.

1. I am really not that interesting.  I know, I'm still the same person I was last year, when I was blogging  away like a very bloggy thing.  But I am somehow finding myself far less fascinating than I used to (this is probably a good thing).  I think it partially stems from coming across a few amazing and inspiring blogs, which are being written by people going through immensely challenging times.  Blogs like this one.  Somehow, wittering on about vintage fabric just doesn't seem that important after reading about stuff like that.  That's not to say I don't still enjoy reading your blogs about all those lovely vintagey, interiory, lifestyley, scandi-y things, I do.  This sense of mild pointlessness is directed squarely at myself, possibly because...

2.   I feel like a fraud.  I am starting to wish I had called my blog something different.  Like, um, my tiny messy home.  Or my teetering pile of crap.  Or my disorganised life.  Don't get me wrong, my house is full of lovely, colourful vintage things.  That bit is true. But it is even more full of the daily detritus of 4 messy people living in a tiny house.  I am not a tidy person; I do not like housework.  Although I love looking at gorgeously spare, airy interiors, I know that after a couple of weeks of me living in them, they would look a lot like my home does now.  MESSY.  I can aspire to minimalism, but I know I am incapable of achieving it.  This results in my life feeling quite un-blogworthy sometimes!

3.  I am a rubbish blogger.  Not just in terms of posting regularly, and writing interesting posts, but in terms of joining in all the lovely bloggy things that make blogland such a great place.  You know, linkys, awards, sharing the blog love, all of that.  It's not that I don't want to join in, it's that I am either too lazy, or too disorganised, or too shy to join in, so I don't.  And then I feel a bit crap about that.

Here's another picture to reward you for reading this far...it's not even a very good one...I told you I'm not much good at this!

4.  Most importantly, I was getting the balance wrong.  Too much time at the PC, not enough time living in the moment with my  gorgeous kids.  My youngest will be going to pre-school in September, and I did not want to waste my last few months at home with him sticking CBeebies on and farting about on Pinterest, or Blogger, or bloody Facebook.  I love all those sites dearly, and my Rainbow Vintage Home facebook page has been keeping me busy with fabric sales and likers and making lovely new online friends.  But I needed to take a step back. 

So we have been playing, and singing, and camping, and cooking, and making, and I've been buying fabric, and selling fabric, and making stuff with fabric (like the quilt at the top of this post).  But I have been very crap about keeping in touch with you lovely readers, and that has made me feel sad.  Because I genuinely like you, and have really enjoyed meeting you, and sharing with you, and I'd like to carry on doing that. I'm hoping that now I've got all this mildly discombobulating stuff off my chest, I will find it easier to just pop in here a bit more regularly, and share stuff with you without it feeling like a big deal, you know...'Oh now I need to write a blog post about that, what shall I say, oh it's too late now'...

If anyone has stuck with me all the way down to here, thank you, and here's another nice picture for you... 

As you can see, I'm as crap at ironing as I am at blogging!

I really hope you're having a lovely summer, and enjoying this amazing weather that we've been having.  I am going to go now.  But I'll be back soon.  

Rachel xx

I feel lucky, oh so lucky...

Hello, and happy Saturday!  The sun is shining, the sky is blue; I love these bright, crisp autumn mornings.  We're off for a walk along the harbourside in a bit, it'll be lovely to get out in the fresh air.

It's been a funny week, lots of busyness getting ready for the arrival of Floyd next weekend, and lots of germs being brought home from school...R has a rotten cold and M hasn't been feeling great either,  though I think he's mainly just tired from getting back into the school routine. 

One of the most lovely things that happened to me this week was the arrival of a parcel for me...I won another giveaway, over at The Custards...

Jenny had made 3 beautiful purses, and I had put my name 'in the hat' for this one...and I won, yippee!!  Isn't it gorgeous?!

And being the lovely person that she is, she had put a few extra goodies inside....

It took superhuman effort to take photos before unwrapping the parcel...

to reveal such fabulous vintage goodness inside....

2 lovely hankies, a lovely soft linen place mat, a gorgeous pillowcase, and a vintage children's book!  That Jenny knows how to do a giveaway, it felt like Christmas!  

So huge thanks to her for cheering up my week no end, if you're not familiar with her blog (but surely you must be?!) do pop over and have a look, but please don't 'pin' any of her images onto Pinterest if you're a 'pinner', she very politely requests that her images stay just on her blog where she chose to put them.

I hope you have a lovely weekend, wherever you are and whatever you're doing!

Rachel x

fabric, fabric everywhere....

...no, I'm not complaining, it makes me so happy!! Saturday brought me 2 lovely parcels, both presents from lovely bloggers....

a stack of vintage sheet fat quarters and vintage wallpaper pieces from the totally delightful Ada, aka Vintage Sheet Addict...

and, totally unexpected and stunningly generous, a piece of fabulous Dekoplus from my friend Jenny of The Custards...

big thanks to both of those lovely ladies, I am one lucky blogger!!

And inspired by all this gorgeousness (and by the need to make some space in my stash cupboard for these new arrivals) I rummaged in my piles of fabric today and pulled out some summer brights to play with...

Yum!!  Looking forward to getting my sewing machine out soon.  If you feel the need for a patchwork cushion cover, send me a message on this blog or e-mail me at rainbowvintagehome@gmail.com - I love putting fabrics together in unique ways to create one-off pieces for people, maybe you'd like one for your home or as a gift for someone?

Hope you're having a nice day. 

Rachel x

one of the reasons...

that I've been so lazy about blogging this week...

 

I woke up in sewing mode the other day, and didn't want to stop till I was finished...I still need to sew a backing on it, I'm thinking fleece for speed and ease, so that I can get on with the next one!  I've got a friend who's due to give birth any day now, so I want to get a lovely vintage fabric cot blanket made this weekend.

I am really pleased with it, it is not perfect but I have learnt loads in the process of making it. The fabrics are all vintage, and are pretty special - Heals, Marimekko, Graziela, Conran, Dekoplus, Tampella, Boras,scandinavian, barkcloth... the result of 2 years of slightly obsessive collecting (oh dear, I'm such a fabric geek!)!  I'll show you how it looks when it's finished, and hopefully the next one will be in progress soon.
 
If any of these fabrics jump out at you and make you wish you had a cushion cover or patchwork item for your home, let me know -  I would love to make something lovely for you out of some of my vintage fabric, email me at rainbowvintagehome@googlemail.com.  

Hope you've survived the half term reasonably unscathed, the weather here has been pretty vile but somehow we have come through smiling (so far - still 2 days to go!).

Hope you have a great weekend, love and thanks for taking the time to pop in, 

Rachel x

Woohoo, Ebay shop is go go go!!

Wow, I have been grateful for the sunshine today, the boys have been busy playing in the garden which has meant I got a moment to look through my fabrics. 

It didn't take me long to realise a tipping point has been reached (well, passed a while ago...) - I can't buy any more till I get rid of some of what I've already got!  So I decided to just crack on and get started, and take it one step at a time...no time like the present!  So here's what I've listed in my Rainbow Vintage Ebay shop so far....

some pretty 60s floral barkcloth (hmmm, slightly creased I notice!)...

 

a gorgeous 70s Scandi DIY cushion cover (if you're not into sewing, I take commissions!)...

and my favourite ever Dekoplus fabric (not all of it of course, but I do love to share fabric joy!) ...

so there you are, if you are a vintage fabric addict like me, maybe it's time to treat yourself?

I will be listing a few more pieces over the next week or so, so keep an eye on my Ebay shop!  

My Etsy shop is still in development, it takes a bit more time to set that up, and when that launches there will be a little giveaway here on the blog.  In the meantime if one of my lovely followers orders from my Ebay shop, I will waive the postage charges...so get in there and snap yourself up a postage free bit of loveliness, and please feel free to share this on your own blog if you think it's the kind of thing your readers would like to know!

Thanks for popping in, hope you're having a lovely day.

Rachel x

a visit from the postman...

I love the postman, look what he brought today...

some yummy cushion covers and lampshades will be made very soon, hurrah! 

And for those of you with slightly more grown-up tastes:

another recent purchase; each repeat is happily just about the right size for a rather wonderful looking cushion cover.

Hope you're all having a happy day.

Rachel x