early birthday

Posted on March 28, 2013 by modflowers

Usually when I celebrate my birthday in April it is reasonably ok, weather-wise.

Barring those pesky April showers of course.

There have been years when we have gone for sunny-but-blowy walks in the countryside. There have been years when we have walked in short sleeves along the Dorset coast. And there have even been years when we have picnicked under cherry blossom.

So far there has only been one year when it snowed on my birthday. That was in 2008 in the Cotswolds.

Here’s the evidence:

I thought that was a freak occurrence. But this birthday could prove me wrong. To me it already feels like my birthday is happening early – some time around January.

But whilst the wintry weather is unwelcome, an early birthday present is always appreciated.

Especially when it is as special as the one I received on Sunday from Rachel.

You may remember this teaser photo from yesterday:

Well, hold onto your hats and stand by your beds for the full, glorious, vintage-fabric-to-make-you-hyperventilate monty!
Told you it was special, didn’t I?!

A huge thankyou to Rachel. I will be returning the favour next month with a selection of the pride of my stash.

I just hope it doesn’t snow on her birthday!

sunday besties

Posted on March 27, 2013 by modflowers

On Sunday, with my feet still aching after the previous day’s trip to the Selvedge Spring Fair (and a fair bit of snowy exploration of the finest that London’s King’s Road has to offer) I met up with the lovely Rachel from My Rainbow Vintage Home.

Rachel and I became imaginary friends* through a mutual adoration of classic Heals fabrics of the 1960s. But until last weekend we had never actually met.

Lucky Rachel had won a pair of tickets to Sewing for Pleasure at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham – and invited me along with her to make use of them. Lucky me!

The snow threatened to scupper our plans, but we weren’t having that!

And neither was my Cornish lady bus driver, for whom a bit of snow proved no obstacle to getting me there on time.

The NEC was GINORMOUS. Bigger than the biggest airport I’ve ever been in. The show itself was HUGE.

These were some of the show highlights. First up, quilts…

To be honest, there was a lot on offer that wasn’t exactly to my taste, but the beauty of such an enormous show is that there is room for all tastes.

The same was also true of the fabrics on offer. From old-school rag trade to young pretenders, you could find them all at the show.

These were some of my favourites…

Also worthy of a mention is The Eternal Maker, which had a vast selection of cottons on offer – far too many to picture here, but you can browse at your leisure on their website.

I found a local shop I never knew existed, and bought a lovely bit of trim from Dots n Stripes:

But for me, the real highlight of the day was meeting Rachel.

We nattered about kids, and fabric, and life, and fabric, and sewing, and fabric…

I gave her a teatowel bought from Koi’s Kitchen at Selvedge, for her new kitchen. And guess what she gave me?

Well, scroll back up to that pretty pile at the top of the page for a big clue…

All will be revealed properly tomorrow!

*imaginary friends – my partner’s term for people you only know on the internet!

how did she know?

Posted on September 23, 2012 by modflowers

I have only small bits of these fabrics, but I love the way they look together.

“Patchwork!” I thought the other day.

I pfaffed around with them for a bit, but couldn’t quite find the right arrangement or pattern.

So I left them in a pile and got on with the other things of life – cooking, cleaning, tidying up.

They have been sitting there on the table. Winking at me. Calling to me every time I come into the room…

Then, yesterday, I got a little package in the post.

The lovely Rachel, from My Rainbow Vintage Home, sent me a parcel of gorgeousness as a thank you for a small fabric favour a while back.
I remembered my pile on the table.