We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who took part in my calendar giveaway; a name has been picked out of my hat, ---- drum roll----- and the winner is Kerry O’Gorman.

In my last post I mentioned our trip to London where we visited The British Museum and just managed to catch the Shakespeare exhibition. As that has now closed I will move on to our visit to The British Library where we saw an exhibition called “Mughal India, Art, Culture and Empire

The library itself is based next to St Pancras station; both buildings are worth visiting and could not be more different. The photograph shows the station in the background and the library in front. The new library building reminded me of a Japanese temple. It has simple, modern lines but has a great beauty, not in its ornamentation but in its proportions and in the choice of materials. I love being exploring this wonderful space and if you are anywhere near you should take a moment to go inside. There is always something to see for free, there are places to sit, eat and rest and of course a lovely shop!

The main exhibitions are ticketed, having said that they are not overly expensive and the ones we have seen have been unforgettable. I can honestly say that the current Mughal India exhibition is truly spectacular. There are so many treasures on show the effect is dazzling. I was particularly interested in the exquisite miniature paintings and illuminated books. The artistry on display was amazing, the tiniest of brushstrokes, the brightest of colours, pattern everywhere, on the clothing of the figures in the book illustrations, on the carpets they sat upon and in the borders around the pictures, so much detail it hurt the eyes. If I had to choose one piece it would be a painting of squirrels being chased up a plane tree, you can explore this for yourself here by following the link. As you zoom in over the image bear in mind that this painting is a really small, so much detail has been packed into a tiny area, painted by Abu’l Hasan, 1605-08.

And now, it is time for me to get back to my desk, I have more hand made, limited edition books to parcel up for my Etsy shop. This time I remembered to make a note of the edition numbers outside the boxes, before the final wrap. We live and learn!

And the winner is .....

We have a winner, the first name to be drawn out of the virtual hat, or random number generator if you prefer is ……. Rosie !

Thanks to all who entered in the giveaway and left such kind comments, I read each one with a happy heart and gratitude.

And now, back to work, I have a lovely newly stretched piece of paper on my drawing board but my mind is elsewhere. I left my inspiration somewhere in William Wordsworth country and forgot to pack it in my suitcase. I read this inspirational quote recently, which has been attributed to the poet “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart”, despite searching I cannot trace it to any of his writings, do you know?

The lovely kitchen photograph was taken at Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, I did think of attributing it to my own larder but you would not fall for that now would you?

Two hundredth blog post and a giveaway!

The time is flying by at an alarming rate, my garden is knee high in nettles and brambles, my laundry basket is groaning and my desk is piled high with work. One reason for this backlog is our trip to The Lake District where we attended a book repair workshop followed by a short holiday based in Ulverston.

I have of course taken a zillion photographs, which will have to wait for another day. Today I wanted to do something a little bit special, as it is my two hundredth blog post. I started this blog originally as a place to share inspiration and for me this normally comes in book form so today I am offering as a giveaway a hard back, cloth bound, (second hand, I pounced on it in a charity shop!) of one of the most exquisite books ever- “In and Out of the Garden” by Sara Midda. When I had my first child, some thirty years ago, my husband bought me a copy of this remarkable work of art, which sits here on my bookshelf and is a constant source of delight.

For those of you who do not know the book let me try to describe it; every page is hand painted or drawn including the text. It is a collection of garden lore, images and quotations, which have been exquisitely rendered in minute detail, the book was three years in the making and in my opinion is outstandingly beautiful. I am sure many of you will already own a copy but for those of you who don’t you can enter my giveaway by leaving a comment below and please indicate your wish to participate. Maybe you have a special, treasured title, which we should know about, please share your recommendations too. I will pick a winner at random on the first of June. Oh yes, and I should say that the edition that I am giving away is a second edition printed in 1982, Sidgwick and Jackson, London and is missing its dust jacket but everything else is good.

And now, back to the workshop. We learnt, over the space of three days, how to reback a Victorian cloth bound book. You know the sort, one that has torn endpapers, a tatty ripped spine and bumped corners; my shelves are full of them! We separated the text block from the bookcase; I needed to do some secondary sewing to secure the sections. We dyed new cloth and paper to match the original cover and endpapers. We then went on to reback and repair the book, taking time to make a new spine, repair the endpapers and consolidate the corners. You can see some of the stages below, click to enlarge.




the finished book! Just so we are all clear, the giveaway book is "In and Out of the Garden".

Vintage Christmas Collection.

Thanks to all those who took part in my giveaway and thanks especially for all your kind words of encouragement throughout the year. It really does make a difference and although I don't always have time to respond I do read and appreciate every word.

The winners are Alexa, Nan, Milly, Heidi, Elizabeth and Michelle. I hope you enjoy your app this Christmas.

The illustrations above and below are part of a new quilters Christmas Collection that I have designed for Makower. Hopefully it will be available in a quilt shop near you in the next few months, just in time to do all your Christmas 2011 projects!

In the meantime I would like to wish you all a very warm, safe and Happy Christmas. Take care x

And the winner is.... and an Invitation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner to my first ever blog giveaway. The first name out of the mug (for want of a hat), selected by my husband is Nettie from a quilt is nice. Congratulations to Nettie and thank you for everyone else for taking part.

And now for the invitation:- After reading about Elizabeth's idea from (About New York) on Weaver of Grass's blog about "Plate Friday" I suggested that perhaps "Mug Monday" might be fun. This idea has rather gathered momentum with lots of eager bloggers keen to show off their special mugs. It seems that many of us get an emotional attachment to a certain mug, the one pictured above is my husband's favourite mug which I bought for him at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, made in Portugal, so you see we are not completely Anglophile!

The date has been set for Monday 22nd June, if you want to participate and would like me to keep track of blogs taking part you can send me an email or leave me a comment, and I will post the list next Monday, that way you can get to see other peoples mugs. I think that Pat from Weaver of Grass will also post a little invitation.

First ever blog giveaway!!!

I have been thinking about doing a blog giveaway for some time but for one reason or another have never actually got around to it until now. I have been contacted by CSN Rugs who asked if my readers would like a free rug to which I replied, “Yes please”, never being one to look a gift horse in the mouth! Now the only thing that you need to enter this free blog giveaway is an address in the USA or Canada, that is because the company only ships to these countries and the rug will go directly from them to the lucky winner.

I got to choose the prize rug, which was great fun, and reminiscent of a game I used to play as a child. We called it “bagsy” but my husband called it “jigsy”; the rules were simple, you looked through a catalogue, page by page and if an item caught your eye you had to claim it by shouting out “bagsy” and then you had to place your hand on the picture. There were no actual prizes but it kept us amused for hours! Now this time the prize is real, except I don’t get to keep it, I just get the pleasure of choosing it and hoping that the lucky winner likes it too.

So, what did I choose? Well, it was hard to pick just one of the many rugs on the CSN website but I eventually settled for a lovely braided rug that I am sure will appeal to all you quilting fans. It is a Lynette Jensen’s Thimbleberries Sea Glass “Four Seasons” braided rug by Colonial Mills. It measures 27 inches by 46 inches and has an oval shape. I think its warm, rich colours would fit comfortably into most homes; I hope you agree.

All you have to do is have an address in the USA or Canada (sorry to everyone who lives elsewhere, I will do another giveaway soon which everyone can enter). Just leave me a comment and I will be back soon to pick a winner at random, so come on, don’t be shy, help to make my first giveaway a big success.