Friday 4 August 2017

Vintage Treasure! ... I am a magpie for it.











One mans rubbish is another 
mans treasure and all that! .....

And its competition time again,
read on .....






Well our lovely friend has arrived and so this is the beginning of a week and a bit off for me.  We went out to dinner last night to start off the proceedings and of course my husband works from home today as well so when work is over there is no more commute than walking down the stairs to enjoy the frivolity .... and there is always an abundance of that, my sides are still aching from last night and the laughter!

I will be doing some hand stitching today and have a few project baskets on the go but I am hoping to start and complete the Kindness design this week and that should be very possible.

When I was packing away all my bits and bobs in the sewing room and of course looking at bits and popping the threads and buttons needed to complete the project baskets, I wondered at some of the things that are treasure to me.  I have a few vintage spools of cotton and some only have a little of the original thread left on them.  They are quite bare really and you can see the wood of the spool.  

Anyway it got me thinking because I do not want to use what thread is left so that I would never see that colour or hue again so I got a pad out and wrote down what cottons they were and the colour number so that when I go to the vintage fairs this Month I can have a search for some. I would like to use some of the threads, will not use the last little bit for it to be gone forever!

I have been told there are a bundle of vintage threads going to the Cotswold fair on the 19th August so I will have my list and have such fun looking through them all, I am sure there will be ones that actually are not on my list but will come home with me anyway, its the thrill of the treasure hunt!

I love the Sylko threads and the Coates ones.  Ah the Coates ones remind me of my lovely neighbour who died ( three years ago now) and as you all know he worked for them all his working life.  I miss him so much and his stories of threads.  I have such a collection now he would be thrilled with it.  His lovely wife and I talk about it and of course him.  I know he would have some stories about some that I have picked up of late.  Just before  he died I took him round some Coates threads I had truffled and I still have them but especially one of them.

 He took one look at this particular thread and with a look of disdain that came across his lovely face he said " In my opinion this one should never have been made!"  tickled me pink.  He said it was a problem from the start and not strong enough for use.  He was right of course it easily breaks and  I keep it purely for the memory of Ray and those last words about threads to me.  I am as you may have guessed a sentimental Gal !


So many lovely things to look forward to this month and it looks like it may be busy in September as well which is wonderful.  December through until March is so quiet on the vintage fair front and by then we are all getting fidgets to get out and meet and look at beautiful things... only this year I am sorted by making my patchwork wall hanging so I have to make sure I have all the fabrics I require and any other bits that will make it unique to me.  I would like to do some hand embroidery on some of it with of course some words .. it is my one weakness!! (of many!!)

I have a little pile of delicious fabrics tied with string that is going to be used in my Winter Star wall hanging, I love the fabrics, the colours that blend and so some diamonds and hexagons will be cut from them all.  If I see some other gorgeous fabrics then of course they will be part of it too I should suspect.  I like enough of my fabrics to use on my projects too but this way when that piece of fabric has gone ( and generally forever as you might never see that same one again) I will always have a memory of it as well.  So it is a kind of memory quilt in a way as well.

I am not saying I want to hurry up to the Winter at all but this year I have things to keep me going so that I am happy curled in front of the fire with my personal project.  I will have a couple of things to do for magazine work for the following year as it has to be in very early but this will keep me busy when they are finished.  It is a quiet time over the January/February months and although I can design and doodle and cross stitch well this is something else that will keep me happy.

I think if I have a Winter project and my work as well I will not get so stir crazy and can light candles and the fire and dream of the Spring when the birds start to become busy being parents and the earth starts to wake up and the little spring flowers poke through to say hello once again.  This then gets me designing for Summer again!!



I would like to design my next Christmas/Winter sampler as well having finished last years ( late because of the happenings with mum but there it is) I have got to fill my design book up for the months that will soon be upon us .... I know no one wants to talk Christmas in August but the time just flies by or it has this year for me, so my nesting instincts are getting ready so I can hibernate inside by the fire and create without having to go find thread or some such thing.  I like to have lots of bobbins pre wound as well just in case ... I am not one for wind and rain if I have to go out in it.... Watch it out of the window whilst cosy inside that is wonderful but walk out in it ... not for me!

Through my quieter months as well I like to sketch new designs for the coming months and for Wedding samplers or Baby samplers, so if I am approached for a commission work I have some things to show the prospective client and then we can tweek it for their needs and likes but it is a great foundation....

But before I leave you for my week off it is about time I did another competition and that is what I am going to leave you with.  The competition is open to all, even if you have entered ones before and won or not as the case maybe.  It is open to anyone reading this even if you live abroad.

If you are reading this via the link on Facebook then you can enter but please enter on here on this blog page as ones on face book will not be counted I am afraid.

All you have to do is write a comment on the bottom of this blog as to why you would like to win this gorgeous new book.  That is it!  you have to be in it to win it and I will put all the names in a bowl and get my husband or neighbour to pick a name out after the closing date which is Monday 14th August at 6 pm and the winner will be announced the next day!


The hand stitched surface is a really lovely book and I thought I would take some photos of inside as well to wet your appetite a little.  It is a book of slow stitching and mixed media techniques for fabric and paper it says ...  So please join in and let me know why you would like to win this gorgeous book even if it is because you do not actually have it and would love it ... What ever the reason your name goes in a bowl.... the why is just for fun and for others to read, and it makes me smile so please indulge me a little.

 Get typing and I will have fun reading them and writing all the names out and folding them up upon my return.


Well that is it for today and for a week.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a great week ahead of you.  I will be back here on Monday 14th August bright and early and bushy tailed from my rest and time with a great friend. Lets hope the weather behaves for us. It is now time to join in all the fun that we will inevitable get up to today, we should have been brother and sister because that is how we feel.  One has an outrageous idea and the other one follows like a lamb!! .... Laughter really is the best medicine after all.

All that is left to say is Happy Stitching! XX




23 comments:

  1. Have a wonderful time with your friend. Must ask will you be going to Liz's fair in September at Lydeard St. Lawrence?

    Julie xxxxxxx

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    1. Hoping to Julie! Are you entering give away? X

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    2. Yes please, if I may........

      Julie xxxx

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  2. I would love to win this glorious book :) Ps i'm christina (cinderella)

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  3. I would love to win this as I mostly hand sew these days when doing fabric postcards and other mixed media so this would be great for some new ideas. Love to have discovered you and your blog.

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    1. Your name will go in ., thank you for entering x

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  4. I would love to win this book to give me some new ideas. I mustly hand sew my mixed media pieces these day so would love to read it. Also lovely to have discovered your blog. Thanks for opportunity to win the book.

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  5. Morning Sarah, I would love to hear more about Ray and the cottons, how strange that he should be living next door to a lady who has such a love of thread.
    It made me smile when you said about watching the wind and rain from indoors as I'm out with doggies in all weathers and as much as I sometimes don't want to go out in it there can be a lovely feeling of freshness and connection with this earth. In fact, I wonder if you could make a rainy day piece? Now there's a challenge.
    Have a lovely happy time with your friend.
    I would love to win the book please. I need to study hand stitching as I so enjoyed stitching the quilt block by hand.
    Love Dawn xxx

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    1. Thank you Dawn and your name will go in the bowl xx

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  6. I'd love to win this book Sarah. It's very kind of you to be having such a great giveaway.
    I need some inspiration to get me out of my crafting rut which I'm sure this book would be great for.

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  7. I would love to win the book as it would help focus my mind on what project to start from the millions rushing round my head and piling up in a heap of inaction.So many lovely things. x

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  8. I am just getting into hand sewing, winning this book would give me inspiration

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    1. Thank you for entering.. you are in the drawer. Good luck! x

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  9. I know what you mean about the time flying by; it feels very autumnal up here today. We were in Peterborough at weekend where it was still high summer! I would love to win this lovely book, because I need a kick start-busy year which has prevented me stitching as much as I would like. Have a lovely week with your friend. Mo xxxx

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    1. Hi Mo

      Thank you for taking part. Your name will be in the draw later today. Autumn is whispering here too as you can see the changes in the garden.

      Hope to see you on Saturday.

      Sarah xxxx

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  10. I love Lynn's work and I have been following her blog for some time - I'd love to win a copy of her book!
    I hope the weather is better for you today than it is for us Sarah! A good excuse to stay inside and sew!!

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    1. Hi Gill

      So good to hear from you! We have has some very rainy days but yesterday was fabulous.

      Your name will go in the draw for after six today. Good luck xxx

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  11. Would love to win th book - hand stitching is so relaxing and helps slow the cogs down in the brain. Love reading your blog and I wish we had some vintage fairs and markets near where I live. Rhian

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    1. Thank you for your kind words,
      Competition is done now but there is another one in next few weeks .. be sure to enter Rhian.
      Where about do you live?

      Sarah x

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