I fell asleep beneath the flowers, for a couple of hours, on a beautiful day....

Well, here in the land of Pie Country of Staffordshire, there has been some rather troublesome goings on.

Dixie, One Eyed Wonkey and Wonkey Donkey found out by pure chance that there had been a celebration of the first day of Summer, in the Pie Country of Central California, where there is a smell of brine in the air, warm sunshine, flowers and birds... farmerjulie , donkey, hedgehog and all their friends gathered, to eat delicious home baked pies to celebrate the coming of Summer...and to be honest with you, 

my three donkeys felt left out and told me so... 

 So I quickly rustled up a party table for them, spread with the prettiest of patchwork, the sweetest plate in all the world, bedecked with Violas and party flower hats...

 but see, no hand baked pie for this hungry threesome, what is a person to do in such circumstances?   (Answer:   run to the local Spar and buy a packet of French Fancies) Pretty cakes, sickly sweet, full of E numbers and not quite in the spirit of the magnificent farm party over the sea and a bit, but .....

here they are, tucking into their cake...

Wonkey decided to change his hat to match the cake....

 Then without any kind of warning, in comes Mechanical Mike, most put out that he was not invited to the first day of Summer Pie/French Fancy party, pushed Wonkey roughly out of the way, pinched his hat and helped himself to the cake, tut tut...

 Dixie and One Eyed Wonkey were very upset and told him so, but you know how monkeys can be when they decide to get upto monkey business.

~0~

Now I have a dilemma....my sister in law, who lives in Australia, has arranged for many family members to meet up and stay in the Loire Valley, France soon, which we are looking forward to very much....but I am worried sick as to whom I should asked to accompany us.   Wonkey Donkey came with us to Kent for the seaside air, but who should come to France?   Should it be One eyed Wonkey's turn or Dixie Donkey?

I may have to toss a coin.  

Mechanical Mike will certainly not be asked after his dreadful and anti-social behaviour of today.

Any help in this matter would be most welcome.
All of this aside, happy summertime to all our dear friends near and far.

Thank you for stopping by.x

Oh you pretty things, don't you know you're driving your Mamas and Papas insane....

Lyrics:David Bowie

Hello, hope all is well in your world.

Goodness me there has been a debate over at at my friend Niki's blog nostalgiaatthestonehouse    Niki raises the worrying issues of small business High Street shop decline, amongst other points.  

The girl works so hard at keeping her beautiful shop going in very difficult times, she must be exhausted from trying to stock and run the business.   She is so talented and makes beautiful bags and dolls too, aswell as having the most gorgeous home...

I really don't know how she does it.

Hard economic times faced by us all, so to me, it is such a shame that some people have to leave upsetting comments and not have the bottle to put a name to their point of view.

If you have the time to read Niki's post and comments, I am sure you will join with me in congratulating her in being hard working and tenacious in keeping her wonderful business alive,  for us all to enjoy and feel inspired by, in the flesh at Shepton Mallet and/or online.

~0~

I think I am going to have to blog more regularly, as I seem to be losing the plot.   I can't keep tally of what I have uploaded, where I have stored my pics, what pics I have taken or not...what a bloody tizz I've been in...so I'm going to make life simpler and post more regualrly, if you will visit me of course!

Is it me????

Here are a few of the 'makes' from the past week or two, hope you like them...

Bunny Brooch...

 Dirk the Dog brooch...

 That wonderful young upper torso does not, I'm afraid, belong to me..... showing two shoulder bags,

one linen and one cashmere...

 Shorter length purse, from the usual size, with machine embroidered drawn bird....

 Below, well this is out of sequence, one of the shoulder bags I have already mentioned (see what I mean , I couldn't organise a p*** up in a brewery at the moment)...

 A textile, collaged brooch with a very pretty, time worn Suffolk Puff, which I have attached just at the top of the Puff, so you can lift it up and admire the pretty print on it's underneath.

 A cross looking Prim Bunny Brooch...

A close up of the Cashmere shoulder bag !!!!!

To finish, a custom order of brooches from letticeleaf ... xxx

Well, thank you so much for sticking with me.  

Your kindness and support is so very much appreciated.

Thank you for stopping by.x

Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur....

Hello .. Happy June!

Thank you to all new Followers for my new blog shop and all the good wishes too...I have even had some sales...so a HUGE BIG thank you to you all.

Sorry to be a misery but I have not been well just of late ...Doctor's advice to stop taking anti D's, cold turkey, believe me, not advisable....so all my plans, ideas and ambitions for my blog etc. have been  on the back burner over the last week or two.

But I have the Fair on Saturday, I spoke of in my last post and it is such a lovely evening here to take a photo or two, I thought I would show you a little of the stock I am taking with me....

A stunning quilt, all the way from Texas...

 Another, from Kentucky, all hand stitched, with hundreds of individual pieces of 30's? fabrics...

 Look at all of those tiny stitches....

 Just had to pop this one in....the apricot  peach pink of this David Austin Rose 'The Mayflower' is breathtaking.

 Continuing....A pair of Sanderson 50's single twin bedcovers with one matching curtain...

handmade long handled bags...this one is made from a cashmere cardigan.  Embellished with Feedsack patchwork, hand and machine embroidery...

 Anoher bag made from French linen and embellished with Feedsack patchwork and a hand embroidered, antique French monogram.

 Again French linen with American patchwork and Suffolk Puffs, again American Feedsack (Yo yos).

So there are a few items coming along to the V&H Textile Fair at Chipping Sodders on Saturday.   I have the current husband doing all the driving and donkey work.   He deserves some sort of Medal for his constant support and patience.
~0~
Anyroadup...sitting having a natter at my Mum and Dads the other day, I had half an eye on this dog ornament.   You know when you are familiar with things and then one day they strike you in a different sort of way???  (He is made from one sheet of very heavy metal, moulded, somehow, into this shape).
 So, I 'borrowed' him from Mother and had a practice on the sewing machine, trying to recreate his shape....

 along with bunnies and
 birdies too...

 and here he is, still wip but sort of transformed from 3D to 2D.   He's waiting for his master/mistress to come home...hoping to make into a purse tonight.

 A brooch or two too.

Don't know why I've added this one really but the brooches all have the basic outline machine stitched.   More stitching to do this evening.

So that's me for now.   I hope all is well with you in your world and I hope to be posting a little more regularly soon.
Thanks for stopping by. x
Ps:   If anyone watches the 'Big Bang Theory' they will know that you only sing Soft Kitty, if you are sick :-)

Here we come, walkin' down the street, we get the funniest looks from everyone we meet...

Hello!

Thank you so much for all your interesting comments on the last post...I'm glad it's not just me!

~0~

Just a short little post today to tell you that I am very happy to have created a new blog, which is my

hens teeth shop!  

All thanks to this lovely lady lettice-leaf who suggested that I should sell my work direct from my blog.

I wanted to keep my usual blog free of selling and merchandising buttons, so I created hensteethartshop.

As you can see I have also created tabs at the top of this blog that will take you directly to all my links.

I am very happy to have this new blog and a little excited about it...your support would be greatly appreciated and it would be brilliant if you, 'follow me' and add the new blog to your reading list and this will keep you updated with new pieces for sale, just in ase there m ight be something that hits the spot one day :-)

This is my first piece for sale in my bloggy shop below... a (although I say it myself :-)) sweet, tactile clutch bag ...

there will be more pieces added shortly.

Thanks so much for stopping by. x

I am human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does...

Hello!

 I had to share with you, pics of what is currently gently blowing dry on my washing line.  

Very old patchwork, recently purchased, hand stitched, with the most delightful, colourful prints.  

A joyous hand crafted creation, with a story no doubt, to tell.   For me, a pleasure to own.  

 Not only have I gloried in the texture, print and coloures but also in washing it.   I find I am now of an age, I  have to admit, that buying an old textile and gently soaking it in a bucket (only if appropriate, of course) and gently stirring until the water turns an ugly brown, brings a smile of satisfaction and when the washing is complete and the piece has either been hand or machine washed and is ready to dry, the feeling is almost excitement...

Huh, what is that all about?   

Excitement used to be when Earth, Wind and Fire released a new LP.  

 Or I got asked out by the fella I fancied (sadly, that rarely happened),

receiving my wages in cash in a brown envelope and having the lot to spend on clothes and going out to the pub and dancing to Boogie Nights.  

Then life changed, I met the current husband and let's say, life got all of a sudden...different.

 Now, don't get me wrong, I am no domestic goddess. A launderess I am not.   I do not iron socks and knickers like my dear mother in law...but as time has gone by, I am getting a strange sense of deep satisfaction to have a washing line of clothing drying on a warm, blowy spring day...unlike in the winter when washing is draped over radiators and airers etc. etc.  (I am probably one of the remaining few who do not have a tumble dryer).

 So here I am, having bared my all and confessed that bringing out stains and dirt from vintage fabrics does it for me!

Oh gawwwd... 

I hasten to add that this is not my only pleasure in life :-) 

If vintage fabrics are part of your life too, don't forget that there will be many gorgeous fabric, haberdashery and vintage textiles to be had at the  vintageandhandmadetextilefair  4th June, at Chipping Sodbury.

Hope to see you there.

 Billy couldn't give a hoot!

Thanks for stopping by.x

Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer...

Hello!

Thank you for all your wonderful comments about Wonkey's trip to the seaside...he is glad to be back with his friends though... One Eyed Wonkey, Mechanical Mike and Dixie Donkey!

~0~

I was recently asked to make one of the above brooches with a name, instead of the happy little ditties, I apply.

Just a thought... that I would be very happy to make brooches to commission...the same heart shape, using very old and worn patchwork, with your special word/s/phrase added.  

The cost would be £17. or $27. Postage free.

Check out my Etsy for more details and size etc. of the brooches.

Could make a unique little gift for someone!

Send me a love letter, if interested.

Thanks for stopping by.x