I’m lucky that I have a BIG monthly fleamarket/collectors fair locally … it’s just as much fun as car boots and charity shops, and the treasure-to-junk ratio is slightly higher …. though sometimes the amount of little china shepherdess figurines is a teeny bit depressing. (Not that there’s anything wrong with them, per se, but they’re really not my thing)

I always go along with a ‘wish list’ of things I’m particularly looking for … it helps me keep my magpie instincts under control.

This time I was looking for a clock for my workroom … I saw an art-deco clock which I ummed over for a while, and then wandered off to have a think about …. and of course, once I’d decided I did want it and went back, it’d gone. And in a failing to learn to strike while the iron is hot, I did exactly the same thing with another clock, not ten minutes later! I’m consoling myself with the notion that they weren’t the RIGHT clock for me.

No such hesitation when I spotted these bad boys …. a pair of rusted old wine crates, covered in dust and spiderweb, but EXACTLY what I needed to replace the nasty old pine wine rack we’ve had since forever.

And the same with these vintage picture frames …. I have a project in mind for these, involving the wartime postcards in an old phot0-album of my grandfathers that I ‘inherited’.

A fair amount of cleaning is going to be needed first, though.

Taking the time to go slow paid off, when I had a good old rummage through the ‘everthing in this box 20p each’ on one stall … I turned up some old linen napkins in varying stages of battered, a couple of embroidery hoops and double-pointed knitting needles …. WIN!

But the star of the show – for me – was a stall absolutely DRIPPING with old linen, lace, ribbon … gloves, hats, oh, heaven! I could have just put the whole lot in my bag and brought it home, but managed to control myself (and I didn’t think the husband would be terribly impressed if I spent the summer holiday fund on old fabric!!)

My stash of linen and lace has grown just that little bit bigger … and do you see that little bonnet at the front there?

It is simply one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen … so fragile, but in such great condition. I can see it playing a big part in a memory cloth, very, very, soon … I have a scrap of a smocked baby dress that it will work with perfectly.

Happy sighs …. and as if old things attract, my lovely mother-in-law gave me a tiny travel secretaire that had been in the family forever, but she didn’t want anymore, when I saw her this week. AND THEN, as if my cup wasn’t already in a runneth-over state, my mum had cleared out some of her old linen and asked me if I wanted it. Umm, bears, woods?

This is one happy magpie!

A little progress update for you on my knitting!!

You might remember me telling you about starting work on the Beekeepers Quilt in Autumn last year? Well, I’ve been working away on my hexipuffs, filling the little moments here and there – and my count has hit 100!! It feels like a big milestone ….

(the downside is that I need 600 … so only another 500 to go!)

I love all those rich jewel colours …. let me show you my yarns

These are Kaffe Fasset Regia sock yarns …. two are self-striping – Landscape Canyon (4352) on the right, and Landscape Fire (4259). The other is Exotic Turquoise (4452) … blending those glorious colours together in a wave effect. I’ve got my eye on some Exotic Ember (4455) for my next batch of yarn for this.

Next we have my ‘Autumn Harvest’ – mini skeins from Lady Danio on Etsy … each package includes a dozen 5 to 6 gram (about 20-25 yards) miniskeins in a variety of indie, hand dyed, local yarn shop (LYS) and Knit Picks quality yarns. They did come labelled with the brand and colourway, but I forgot to note them down!! I didn’t use all the skeins in my package – some were a little too pinky for my colour scheme so I’ve put them into my stash for later!

I totally fell in love with these gorgeous golden miniskeins from Karma Suutra on Etsy … handpainted Bee Charmer miniskeins in dark honey. Just dripping with lusciousness …

And these are from my current skein … Blue Faced Leicester sock fingering weight yarn in Dragons Blood by Jelliebean Yarns on Etsy … so rich and brooding, and in that exact shade of dark crimson I adore most. I might, might, might have to add another skein of this into the mix.

That will have to wait for a while, though, because I have this little lot to work through first!

clockwise from top right …

Buffy Toughie Sock Yarn – Superwash BFL/Nylon – Mirage by Juno Fibre Arts on Etsy … now I’ve got it, I’m not entirely sure the colours are right, but for now it stays in the basket.

Moondust Sparkle Sock Yarn in Toasted Cinnamon by Solstice Yarns on Etsy … this is going to be next into the mix!

Then I have another one of the Karma Suutra Bee Charmer mini skeins – my last one. I thought I’d used them all up, and then that one popped up in the bottom of the basket.

The rest of them are some thrifted Debbie Bliss yarns, mostly unbadged, that I picked up at a yarn sale … I’m looking forward to seeing how that shocking pink, and those slatey blues, interact with the quilt.

And if there are any other Beekeepers out there, may I recommend the Beekeepers Quilt KAL Facebook Page  and for pure eyecandy, the Beekeepers Quilt group on Flickr.

too cool for school!

I’m really enjoying the new season 2012 interiors trend for neutrals – grey in particular – mixed with neon bright pops of colour – yellow, acid green and bright, bright pink, when it comes to soft furnishings ….

est magazine 'scandinavian sojourn', via decor8

Multistripe in 'Ember' by Melin Tregwynt

79-ideas

I love the way these colours work equally well in either a more traditional ‘shabby chic’ room, or a room that plays more towards the ‘mid-century’ modern revival, injecting a warm shot of vivid, energising colour and providing a fresh focal point without being too overpowering.

And loving colour as much as I do, I couldn’t help but get in on the act …

now available in my Etsy shop ... click on the image to get there

Strip patchworked in grey cotton mixed with hot fuschia satin, and that lovely monochrome oriental-style floral … and with an envelope closing secured with two co-ordinating buttons on the back, it looks great either way up.

Baby it’s cold outside …

We’ve got a whole inch of snow on the ground … rather less in our garden now the children have finished with it!

But it’s hot in here! This week’s stitch for ‘Take a Stitch Tuesday’ 2012 is Herringbone Stitch …. and I went bright and warm …

I’ve used herringbone before, in the central panel of my elemental quilt …

Something about this stitch that always make me think ‘oriental’ when I come to use it. Maybe I should have tried to break myself of the habit, but … well … I didn’t really want to!

I went further east than the islamic colours of the elemental quilt, looking to India. The design was inspired by one of my favourite reference books … I’ve been itching to use that bright silk for something, something hinting at vivid Indian colour, but without being a straight copy of a traditional design. The final design, now it’s stitched, makes me think more of mandalas than chintz, though …

I found a tutorial for the beaded herringbone over at Hand Embroidery from Sadalas and that, really, was my starting point – I wanted to use that, and everything else really flowed from there.

There’s a mixture of closed herringbone stitch – in the centre of the petals, and then more open around the edges. On the outside of the flower, I’ve used a double herringbone stitch, and then layered fly stitch over the top of the back-to-back herringbone framing the petals.

I adore this! (although I’m wondering whether to add a ring of orange french knots in the lozenges left in the border?)

I think it might end up as the central panel in a cushion … or perhaps a small lap quilt?

It’s nice to get a little bit of breathing space to work on one of my personal projects, even if it is little one hour snatches here and there …

I’ve gone back to the white work blocks I started during the ‘Embroider, Embellish, Create’ course I took with  Karen Ruane . Though I’d got all my blocks prepared, I only got 2 blocks (more or less) finished,  and then Christmas took over and January went past in a whirlwind … and now it’s time to pick it up again.

So I’m working on the first of the blocks for my children … this for my oldest daughter …

I’ve cut away some of the linen base, and buttonholed around the edge of it … and the buttonhole will continue along the edge of that strip of broderie anglaise, anchoring it into the base cloth. A pale pink ribbon to echo the colour of the thread got threaded through the trim fragment, and it’s all held down with french knots.

My grandmother – who I still miss, even after 7 years – knitted those little booties for her. They’ll be going into a special little pocket at the bottom of the block.

The whole piece … starting to come together, but still a long way to go yet …

I’m still waiting rather nervously for the gods of textile to smite me down for chopping up an antque doily … maybe if they like what I do, they’ll spare me?