Tree Fall

A Purl of a Shop!

A friend asked today what was the absolute best part of the trip and both Jim and I answered how you'd pretty much expect us to - the shopping, the excitement, the shopping. But tonight as I was looking at this photo I realised that the best part of the trip was being with someone that was totally onboard with every day starting with a list that included fabric shops and button shops. I am afraid to say that there are times when I don't fully appreciate just how unusual it is to be with a (straight) man that totally gets why I would want to spend 2 hours in one fabric shop. Not to mention understanding how important it is that there be room in the suitcase for my fabric, even if it's at the expense of room for the boys toys.
It's something special to have your partner tell you to make sure that you get enough fabric or enough magazines. Especially when he's stuck with a partner that gets all 'uh oh, I'm not sure we should' when it comes to his shopping list (in my defence, Jim always goes for the big ticket items!).

And it's even more special that when I suggested this morning that I had not in fact bought enough fabric, Jim did not look at me in complete disbelief, but instead agreed that it would be impossible to buy enough fabric. Regardless of any other problems that we may have to endure, I'd say that that kind of understanding is a pretty good basis for a marriage. And I should remember that a little more often.
You see, fabric is indeed a wondrous thing!

So, where was I?
We've visited the Cooper-Hewitt. We've been to the book shop. Walked through the park.
We also managed to get to Kates Paperie , very briefly on Sunday. And I'm telling you, if you can get to one then don't walk, run! I'm a complete stationary freak (who isn't?) and we just don't have shops like this in the UK. Fantastic.
On Monday, we decided that it was time to face the big guns. In the morning we visited the Museum of Art and Design and saw the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit, which we both enjoyed far more than we expected to. Then we popped across the street to MoMA, which was as fantastic as we had hoped it would be.
I have to admit to having a huge crush on all of Hoppers work and was so excited to finally see a piece up close.

After the museums we decided to finally head down to SoHo and visit Purl (I know you've just been speed reading up until now!).
For some reason (my fault) we decided to walk the 60 blocks to SoHo and therefore didn't get there until 40 minutes before closing! Can you imagine how stressed I was? Only 40 minutes? Nightmare.
That was until the wonderful (get used to it, there's going to be a lot of superlatives in the next few paragraphs!) Joelle told me to relax because she would just lock the door at closing time and I could shop for as long as I wanted!
Yup, the entire store To. My. Self.
The thing is though, you know when you have a really great time but you don't want to tell people about it because you know that you can't convey just how much fun it was? Well that's how I feel about this post. I just know that I can't do the afternoon justice with my lousy writing style. So lets have a look at some photo's instead shall we?

The front window reminds me of a sweet shop, with it's jars and gorgeous colours. And do you spot that Kitty?

Of course we all recognise this wonderful wall.

I wanted it all! But I was sensible. And I can always get it online . Can't I?

That little pile of bolts on the cutting table was a good start, don't you think?

The shop really is a lovely place to be. It may be slightly smaller than some quilt stores, but it makes up for lack of space by stocking only quality, beautiful fabrics. Every single fabric was tempting and there were none of the dingy, dark prints that are so prevalent over here.
But the best thing about it was the atmosphere. It is such a welcoming place, with great lighting and lots of warmth and colour. Everywhere you look there is inspiration. And unlike a lot of quilt stores there is no snobbery. The easiest way to describe it is to compare it to The City Quilter, a quilt shop in Manhattan.
The City Quilter is bigger and has a lot of fabric, and a lot of it is good fabric, but the atmosphere sucks. It totally suffers from the same attitude as most quilt shops. The staff were older, condescending women that were far more interested in ignoring you than helping you. And everyone under 50 was treated the same. It's something that drives me nuts and is just as common over here. And it's a major reason that a lot of younger people (and by younger I just mean pre-menopausal) are too scared to start quilting.

However, Purl is the complete opposite. While I was in there a number of customers came in before closing and confessed that they had never quilted or really sewn anything and yet they were immediately made to feel welcome. Joelle didn't act for one second as though they were just beginners and therefore not worth her time (which is exactly how the staff in the City Quilter did act).
Seriously, Jim and I intend to own a fabric store some time very soon and Purl is exactly how I want it to be. Warm and friendly and welcoming.
And as for Joelle? Well, what can I say? The lady is as lovely as she is talented. And I spent a very interesting couple of hours talking to her about all the things that interest us all so much. We talked japanese craft books, blogs, fabric (duh), quilts, patterns and more.

It was truly wonderful to meet someone so like minded and if I hadn't felt so guilty for keeping her at work, I could have spent many more hours talking and shopping.

Oh and I'm sure that Joelle won't mind me saying that she has a new Book  out in the Fall, and I can tell you that I'll definitely be buying it. I can't wait. You can pre-order it now!

So after all of that, what did I buy? Well, here's the blue pile.

Tomorrow, the magazines that I was going to share with you today, and the other piles of colour! And oh! We haven't even touched on Grayline Linens or Tinsel Trading yet!

Where to start?

We're already experiencing that weird feeling of having never been away, whilst simultaneously feeling like we've been away forever and can't understand why nothing has changed.
I don't want to bore you all, so I'm not going to give you a minute by minute account of the trip, but I will start by saying that I loved the flight out there. Because security at Manchester Airport is so good, we didn't have any time to worry about getting on the plane by the time we got through all the checks. So we were straight on the plane and up in the sky before I knew it. I then had a couple of glasses of wine, and watched a Diane Keaton movie (love Diane Keaton), ate the best plane food I've ever tasted and before I knew it I was looking out of the window to see JFK looming.
I can honestly say that it was the best flight I've had, including the many flights that were pre-phobia. But I must also say that I was disgusted by the lack of security when we were flying out of JFK. I absolutely don't want to get in to a pissing contest here about who has great security and why, but regardless of who it may offend, I have to say that I thought is was a disgrace that coming into the US took (quite rightly so) hours of security checks, both in the UK and at JFK and yet leaving the US to fly to anywhere else in the world it became very obvious that no one could care less if we were going to do anything wrong because we were leaving the US and would be doing it in another country. Hmmm.
Anyway, on to much better things. For a start I have to say that every single New Yorker that we spoke to was super polite and friendly - starting with the very handsome immigration guy at JFK - although it was very unfair that he was hitting on Jim and not me!
The hotel that we stayed in was great and super cheap with a fantastic location. If anyone wants a very cool, trendy hotel then I highly recommend The Pod Hotel . The rooms are tiny and I really do mean tiny, but they have some great extra's like an IPod dock. And it was really clean. It's midtown and only about a ten minute walk from MOMA. It was perfect. Oh and it's above a really, really nice french restaurant, where Jim threw the butter pot across the room and I threw my bread knife, and that was before the drinks arrived!

We did try to follow a daily itinerary, but we were inevitably waylaid by more and more interesting shops and streets and food. So we didn't see even half the things we wanted to. Which, oh dear, means we must go back again!

On the Sunday morning we walked the 24 blocks to the Greenflea market on Columbus, via Central Park, which was beautiful in the gorgeous bright sunshine. And just as we entered the Park we saw a red cardinal, which made both of us very happy indeed! What a lovely welcome to the park.
The market was well worth the walk, with such friendly people and some lovely items to buy. We were sensible though and just bought a few small pieces. Including some vintage clothes for Bella, a fantastic vintage brooch for me and a vintage, leather, genuine Salvatore Ferragamo satchel! I haven't  had time to take photo's though, but I promise I will.
We also visited the Cooper-Hewitt on Sunday, which I highly recommend.

And then, just before it closed (boooo) we managed to get to Kinokinuya, a rather amazing Japanese book store that Liesl mentioned in passing to me. I'm telling you, I nearly cried when I saw the craft section. I did drop a book on an already very sore toe in all the excitement though!

This is just a tiny part of the craft section and a really tiny part of the entire store! I didn't have enough time to see the rest of it though and just didn't have time to get back another day. But I did buy enough books for the woman at the checkout to say "All of them?". But you know that still wasn't enough. Not even close.
I've yet to get photo's of all of them, but I here's a couple.
This months Cotton Time, which has some very lovely things in (these pictures are from elsewhere and don't show the best stuff unfortunately).

As well as a copy of Marche, which is wonderful even though I can't crochet yet!

I can't wait to show you the book I got about Fabric Prints and the one about Scandinavian design, not to mention the one with the most gorgeous patterns in for little girls clothes. I just wish that I'd had the chance to go back and get more. Oh well, we'll definitely need another trip then.

Tomorrow, my trip to one of many magazine shops and the trip to the wonderful, wonderful Purl Patchwork.

Home again, home again, jigiddy jig

We're back. And the above picture says it all (not the people, they were strangers). Fantastic and wonderful and marvelous. But I've been awake for 22 hours and I must go to bed.
I'll be back tomorrow, with a little more info.
I will leave you with this though - Joelle is definitely one of my favourite people ever! I had the best time locked in Purl with just her, me, Jim and a credit card. Uh huh....

See you very soon!

Alrighty people, I'm packed and ready to go! I have a ton of space in my luggage, so I can commence with the spending of dollars without too much worry about how I'm going to get everything back home.
I have read the guide books and have a (very) vague idea of where we're going and I've printed out every comment and email you've all sent about what we should see and do.
I bought Rescue Remedy, and I shall be taking that along with a special brand of courage that comes in a gin and tonic glass.
I have a book to read and an IPod to listen too. And I am intent on banishing all those awful thoughts that keep trying to shove their way in to my mind.
After much deliberation I've decided not to take the laptop. I don't want to feel tethered to it. But it does mean that for the first time in 6 months (bar a couple of days here and there) I won't be posting every day.
But trust me, I'll make up for it when I get back!
One thing that I have wondered was  whether there was anyone that would like to meet up for coffee or something while we're there? If so, drop me an email.
Ok. We can do this.
Wish us luck.
See you when we get back.

I don't care how safe it is...

Shit.
I just wrote a post about how badly I was coping with the idea of getting on that friggin plane and how crappy I am feeling and how irritable and you know what happened? DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?
Typepad lost it.
Is there anything that makes you think that I can cope with that kind of crap today? Because I can't.
There is a knot in my neck that has got me looking sideways on a permanent basis at the moment and Typepad (who I normally love) have just made it a MILLION TIMES WORSE. And yes, I am shouting.
More to the point, I don't want to get on that plane on Saturday. I don't want to.
Shit.

Lets look at my lovely new mug instead shall we? It's by the wonderful and fabulous Orla Kiely. And looks perfect in my studio.

And whilst it may be smaller than I usually like a mug to be (tea gone in 3 gulps), it more than makes up for it's lack of stature with it's absolute beauty.

I also wanted to show you my new fabric. It's from the new Denyse Schmidt line - Katie Jump Rope. I got it from my lovely friend Cia, who has it in her shop right  now.

I'm not overly keen on the brown colourway in the collection, but I am loving the blue, greens and yellows. As Cia says, they are indeed the 'summeriest' of prints.
(The fantastic buttons were a surprise from Tif!).

Well, the original post was a lot better than this one. Sorry about that.
And that did not distract me at all.
Shit.

Lucky? I should coco!

We bought luggage today. So you know it's official. We're going on holiday. I've just got to get on (*whispers*) the plane...

Is it very sad that the main reason that I'm even willing to try and get on the plane is that it means I can go to Purl  and buy more fabric? Obviously I don't think so, but I have to admit that I've had some  pretty strange looks when I've mentioned that to my 'normal' friends! But I'm telling you Purl , I'm on my way and I'm bringing a pretty big suitcase!

Before I decided that my new patchwork curtains could no longer be curtains , I had already started making this new cushion.

Which, as you can see is a combination of linen, vintage fabrics and hand embroidery.
The red fabric that I mentioned the other day, is a 50's bark cloth and is my absolute favourite ever, so I really did use it sparingly, but I just love the way it jumps out at you.

I've hand bound the cushion using my favourite Kaffe Fassett print, which takes a little longer than using bias binding, but I really do love the way it looks, so it's worth it. I also have to admit that I find it pretty therapeutic sewing binding on, especially on something as small as a cushion!

The cushion is approx. 17' x 17' and the inner is also handmade, removeable and washable. Yay.
It's in the Shop  right now.

You know, NYC is one thing to be excited about, but if you want real excitement, you should have been here this morning when a package arrived addressed to Bella, with a return address of L. Roberts. Squeal much? Why yes I did, thank you very much!
Look what I got Bella got... (prepare yourself)

Ack, have you ever seen anything so cute? I love my Bella loves her little chicken so much! And as if the chicken herself wasn't enough, look what's in the egg...

Words truly fail! Although there are quite a few superlatives that I could be throwing the fabulous Ms. Roberts way! We. Are. SO. Lucky. Thank you so much Lyn! You really, really shouldn't have, but I'm bloody pleased you did!!!

Right, I'm off to see how much a suitcase of fabric weighs!

Recognising the mistakes...

Sometimes no matter what you do, you just have to finally give in and admit it doesn't work. And with that in mind, I had to admit to myself today that as much as I like the curtains, they just don't actually work in this room.
I was unsure about it from the beginning. I wanted something all floaty and diaphanous but because of the lining it turned out quite stiff and didn't hang the way I wanted it to. It was also a little too narrow and a little too long.
Then there's the fact that it's hanging from a wire that sags ever so slightly in the middle. Oh and the fact that it was hung slightly too high up the window.
And as if that litany of mistakes wasn't enough, the final nail in the curtains coffin was the fact that it looked bloody awful from the outside. Something that I didn't discover until this morning.
I always struggle with giving up on something that I've spent so much time on, but if I've learnt one thing in the last couple of years it's that if it doesn't look right then it's worth changing it. Regardless of how much work you've put in to it!

Not that it doesn't cause me to wince slightly at the thought of taking the seam ripper to all that work, but if it's wrong, it's wrong. I am thinking though that maybe I can turn it into a couple of new pillows, or maybe the start of a quilt.And in the mean time, the fabulous rose fabric that I found on Sunday is the perfect size and looks wonderful, especially as a backdrop to the beautiful roses that Jim bought me a couple of days ago.
I'm a little torn now though. Because I love the way that the 'new' curtain looks, but I also like the clean lines of the wooden blind. I think it's just going to be seeing what I can live with and what looks best over the next few weeks, before making a permanent decision.

In other news, I am pleased with the new cushion that I made last night. Although once it was made I realised that it deserved more than a tip of the hat towards the wonderful Tif's latest cushion!

It's actually a combination of two different cushions and yet another lesson in if it doesn't work, change it. The bottom patchwork piece of the cushion was actually supposed to be the back piece of another cushion, but I just kept taking it apart and putting it back together again and again and eventually just left it thrown to one side. Until last night when I put it together with a piece of my 'new' vintage rose fabric and voila! Very happy with it.
Isn't it funny though how something new can influence you? All of a sudden I'm aware that I'm working with designs that  look good on my new armchair! And I have to say that the new colour of my studio is having an influence on both my designs and my fabric buying choices. I'm wondering how much of a long term difference it's going to make.

And finally, today  was a very good mail day. Look what I got!

That object of true beauty is my slip from Tif (she's going to think I'm stalking her with the mentioning her twice in one post!). And it really is already my favourite item of clothing. It looks wonderful as a summery dress and just as good over a pair of jeans. I put it on as soon as I opened the package this morning and both Jim and Bella immediately ohh and ahhed. And when I said that I was going to have to buy another one (this one's a swap - lucky, lucky me) Jim agreed straight away that I should buy as many as I want!
Thanks so much Tif - and you should never question your very obvious talent!

Is it curtains for me and Jim?

Oh dear, I'm a little worried that my new studio may well lead to the end of my marriage. You see, it's such a lovely room that I simply don't want to leave it! I don't think I've spent an evening downstairs with Jim in almost a week.
Ahh well, they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, don't they? And in just a few days (!!!) we'll be in New York together, so I'm sure we'll catch up with eachother then.

In the mean time, I am managing to get a little work done other than the studio refurb, but there isn't any to show you yet (maybe tomorrow), so I'm going to show you the new cafe curtain instead. Although I must apologise for the photo quality - I've yet to learn an effective way to photograph curtains, so if anyone has any tips I'd be grateful.

This is them in the daylight (duh) with the lovely stained glass effect that you get with patchwork curtains.
As you can see, I've just made one cafe style curtain and then have wooden blinds above it. I know that may look a little strange, but it kind of works for me at the moment.

I've hemmed the bottom of the curtain with a white crochet trim that I picked up a few months ago. And the center panel is linen, of course.  I appliqued  circles of a fantastic vintage fabric that the incredibly kind Paula sent me recently and then hand stitched around them and gave them 'stems'.

This photo was taken tonight, with artificial light, so the colours are a little harsh but it's the only way I can show the curtains properly.

I've used a combination of vintage and repro prints, including my favourite vintage of all time - the red one with grey and yellow flowers. It really reminds me of the work of Angie Lewin (one of my favourite artists) and I use it very sparingly. But I love the fact that I've been able to use it somewhere that I can see it constantly.

The great nautical print is another one that Paula sent me and most of the others are thirties repro's. The traditional linen tea towel, is actually a couple of 19p tea towels that I got in Ikea.
It's not perfect and it did involve an awful lot of seam ripping, but I think I'm pleased with the end result. And it did lead to a new design of cushion that will be in the shop soon.

So nearly there.

Oh, its' so frustrating. The studio is very nearly finished, but it's just not quite finished enough to take its official portrait. I still need to finish the curtains and to find a way of hanging them (it has us stumped at the moment) and I still need to find homes for those few pieces that must be essential, because otherwise why would I own them and yet they don't fit anywhere. I also need to fold my fabric, so that it looks even prettier and paint my blackboard. And then I need to paint the doors and the window sill. And then  there's the finishing touches of cushions and a sewing machine cover and lord only knows what else.
So, still no proper photo's I'm afraid. (don't you love how I'm assuming that you're all as excited about this as I am??).

But in the meantime I have a few thrifted items to share with you. It is of course Sunday, which means Car Boot sales. And since we're big believers in turning lemons in to lemonade around here, when Bella woke up having an asthma attack a five this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, we took advantage of the early hours and headed off to a car boot sale!

It wasn't the best, despite getting there nice an early, but I did manage to pick up some vintage fabric that I am very much in love with.

Definitely destined to be a pillow on my new armchair (although I'm very tempted by this one - gorgeous!)

And all of these were a bargain at £1. I love when they're still on their cards. And I need to get out more.

I also picked up a good stack of books for Bella and a few embroidery books for me.
As I said, not great, but what else are you going to  do at 7 in the morning?

And now I want to share one of the special moments of parenthood. One of those moments that makes your heart sing. You know, one of those little moments that make those 26 hours of labour so worth it.

Yes, we have that special moment of Daddy and his daughter....

having a shave!!

That girl! She's a loon. But she's a clean shaven loon.

My Own Space

Right this very minute I am sitting in my beautiful, beautiful studio, in my new arm chair, watching my new Columbo dvd, and it all looks so very lovely. And I know I'm so very lucky.
I've never had a room to myself like this before. And I've never spent that kind of money on a room just for myself before.
But I know it's worth it. This is where I have worked every day for the last two years. And for the last two years it's been makeshift and messy. Instead of my sanctuary, it's just been another room in the house that reminds me exactly how much I am failing as a housewife!
But now it truly is a sanctuary. And I am already totally in love with having my own space.

And yet, as I came close to finishing it yesterday, I found myself sitting on the floor, crying.
This is a bittersweet room. It represents so many good things. It represents a certain amount of success for me. It represents a certain amount of self belief. A self belief that's been a long time coming (and that I wouldn't have if it wasn't for all of you). And it represents a huge amount of satisfaction and fun and joy.
But it also represents loss.
This room was the room that my children where going to share.
And a part of me knows that I have just sanded and wallpapered and painted that dream away.
I also know that I have replaced it with another dream. And I'm lucky to have another dream.
I love this room. It's beautiful. And I appreciate so very much that I have it.
But it's not the room it was supposed to be. And it never will be.