Skill swapping and Pretty Nostalgic

These last few weeks have been a bit of a struggle if I am honest.  I haven't been in tip top condition healthwise, nothing serious just this nasty flu that seems to be doing the rounds and flooring everyone. It seems to go away for a while and then come back with  a vengeance.  Consequently work has taken a bit of a back seat, which in some ways has been nice as I spent a bit of time on creative projects, something I rarely get time for these days.

First of all I arranged a swap with lovely Annie of Annie Montgomerie Dolls.  A very, very talented lady who seems to have no end of skills from sewing, cake decorating to animation and beyond. She has made me the most amazing full sized deer head, from a vintage Harrod's blanket no less.  In return I was to crochet her a striped blanket from the beautiful cotton yarn I bought from Yvestown. Crochet is not on Annie's skills list although I suspect if she was shown how, she could do it and be brilliant at it!

He is magnificent isn't he?!!

Here is the blanket that I made for Annie in return.  Hours of crochet and much love went into each and every stripe let me tell you (as well as a little bit of swearing when I realised I had messed it up a bit).  I am not a brilliant crocheter and am completely self taught but I do enjoy it.

And here it is in her home with her Donna Wilson cushions and blanket.  It's the Donna sofa!

After that I decided to have a break from stripes and have now started to crochet a giant granny square blanket using Rapido yarn again from Yvestown.  This is so lovely to work with and the colours are divine.

I am hoping to make this big enough to go on our King Sized bed but we will see.  I may get bored.

I have managed to list some new fabrics on the website.  I have had some great finds since Christmas and keep getting offered huge collections of fabrics  as people clear out relatives homes, more than I can cope with sometimes.  Here is a little look at a few that have been listed recently.

I was delighted this month to have my very first article published in the wonderful Pretty Nostalgic magazine (issue 6).  I wrote about collecting vintage fabrics and the history behind some of them, era by era.  It was accompanied by some really beautiful photos  shot in a vintage style launderette, using fabrics that I sent them.  I love it.

If you haven't seen this magazine before do check it out. It's wonderful, more like a book than a magazine, with very few ads and lots of gorgeous photos.

Finally, just to let you know, I have no fairs in March but my next one will be the brilliant Talent for Textiles fair in Ilminster, Somerset on Wednesday 10th April. This is held at the Meeting House from 10 am to 4pm. Free entry.

Then the one after that will be the  Vintage Bazaar   Spring Fair at the Cheese and Grain in Frome, on Saturday 20th April from 9am to 3pm.  Entry is £1. 

I have masses of new and exciting  goodies to bring along so hope to see you there.

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