Country Living: Crafting a Business
new book with wonderful business inspiration
June K. Laval: Antique French Textiles For Designers (Schiffer Book)
Cath Kidston: Cath Kidston's In Print: Brilliant Ideas for Using Vintage Fabrics in Your Home
Kumiko Sudo: Omiyage : Handmade Gifts from Fabric in the Japanese Tradition
Tricia Guild: Tricia Guild Pattern: Using Pattern to Create Sophisticated, Show-stopping Interiors
Marlena De Blasi: A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure
romantic & tasty morsels to boot
Kumiko Sudo: Kokoro no Te: Handmade Treasures from the Heart
inspirational handmade Japanese goodies; scrumptious colors
Janet Allon: The Business of Bliss: How to Profit from Doing What You Love
great ideas & creative inspiration
Jo Packham: Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women
Inspirational photos & stories of women designers & their studios
Julia Cameron: Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
a wondeful & practical way to get in touch with your creativity
Anne Lamott: Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
real life reflections on faith
April Cornell: April Cornell Decorating with Color
wonderful vignettes; great color advice
Country Living Country Quilts
wonderful vintage quilt inspiration
Sarah Hoggett: Country Living Making & Displaying Quilts (Country Living)
wonderful quilt inspirations
Kate T. Williamson: A Year in Japan
currently reading. charming sketches & anecdotes
Kaari Meng: The French-Inspired Home, with French General
enchanting & scrumptious colors & decorating ideas
Mireille Guiliano: French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure
currently reading. will keep you posted.
I did go on vacation with my kids after all....
This is one of the favorites from Spring Market in Portland. Called Figgy Pudding and named by many of you in our blog naming contest a few months back. It is a great scrappy quilt that can be started with any of your favorite collections. I recommend using 1 Layer Cake of your favorite grouping, this one was started with Dandelion Girl. Then for the extra fabrics you will need, I recommend using a selection of fabrics completely different from what you started with. That way when you look at your finished product, you will never even know that it started with one pre-coordinated collection. It will truly look like a scrappy creation from your stash or from your Grandma's attic. I just love that look!
I just can't seem to find one good descriptive word in the English language that describes what the Cotswolds look, smell and feel like. Storybook. Lush. Romantic. Cottage. Provincial. Charming. Inspiring. Childlike. Green. Earthy. Here are just a few of my favorite shots from our wanderings.... our favorite cafe, our hotel, traditional thatched cottages, houses on the street, village scene.
Felt like I wanted to add in a quilt or two... here are 2 of the patterns we released at Spring Quilt Market. My drifted back to these colors over and over as I walked around the Cottswalds. Fresh, saturated and yet nostalgic....
Made with Fig & Plum which will be out in September... stay tuned for more. Plum Rose [in Fresh Vintage #9] and French Quarter made with a fat quarter bundle...
As I walked around the British countryside known as the Cottswalds, I kept thinking about how I was going to capture what I was seeing. I mean I took 5 cards worth of pictures, many of them of my family, many of them of the traditional thatched roof cottages prevalant in that part of the country... but yet somehow I wasn't sure that I could explain what I was seeing. So I thought I would take a short late afternoon walk, after our traditional tea [now there is a custom I could get seriously used to... tea with scones covered in clotted cream... uuummmmmmm] and take as many small shots as I could. Here is the result of my walk and the hope that at least you might be able to imagine a tiny bit of what I saw....
Talk to you soon.
Home at last... Without going into tediously boring detail, our family has arrived back in more or less one piece after 2 weeks in Poland & the English countryside. Our trip was an eclectic mix of traditional Polish celebrations, quaint strolls through Old Town Warsaw, complete family insanity, rolling green hills of the British countryside, all of my favorite family comfort foods, London sightseeing, beautiful lakes and blueberry picking.... just to name a few. I think I might share our adventures with you in various categories but I have to admit that among the strange things that I love are.... British countryside doors! I know, doors, who would have thought. But there is something so charming and personal and quaint about these doors that I just can't resist. I go around like a dork, taking pictures of doors while people stare at me with polite smiles! On top of it all, did you know that in Britain most of the homes have no physical address, only the "name" of the house and not just any old names like House 12... oh no, names like Burburry Cottage, Mill House, Brambleberry Manse, Peony Cottage, Countryside House, Honeysuckle House, Birch Lane Cottage, Geranium House, Rose House, Chester House... just to name a few. Aren't those just wonderful? I think I have decided I am going to name our house. I just don't know what exactly. Fig Cottage. Fresh Vintage House. Fig & Roses Cottage. Figs & Insanity House :-)..... I'm open to suggestions...
Talk to you soon.
Day #1 of our trip..... London! No pictures yet... beautiful weather... will post when I have a better connection...
Well... here are a few more shots of the booth from Market and look someone actually managed to get me in the shot... that's a rarity! I have a few more to share after this with a couple more great MODA booth shots but with all that has been going on around here... Well lets just recap: We are still trying to tie up Market orders as they have been pleasantly overwhelming; Fresh Vintage auto ships are almost all out; working on tieing up our next collection; designing patterns to go with it; we're trying to work out the kinks in a couple of website updates we are doing; I'm training a few new people this week; our entire network and phone system crashed a few days ago and we have been building it back up from scratch ever since... you don't even want to know more about that; all 3 of my munchkins have end-of-year activities this week and my beloved husband is in Tahoe for a conference for his other job... need I say more? If you have emailed and I have not responded, please bear with me. I am not ignoring you all! On the sane side, Ella and I have picked some beautiful herb and flower bouquets this week; I have played card games with the boys and I have completely redecorated my living room... well, maybe I have just reslipcovered and redecorated my couch, but it makes the whole room feel brand new! What do you think?
Talk to you soon.
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