Cushion-o-rama

Quick!!! There are new cushions over at the website
I've had this beautiful star burst red silk for ages and never quite figured out what to put it with to get the best out of it, but I've been on a bit of a red theme lately and it all came together. I often find as I put the fabrics together for one cushion, the ideas for more spiral out faster and faster and I can't sew quickly enough to get all the ideas and colours out into three dimensions.


And what about this pineapple flavoured beauty. It's been so bleak and grey here every single day that I really needed a fruity pick-me-up. More pom poms Lulu to keep us smiling. I could just about eat them. Maybe if I dipped one in chocolate I could get it down...

I've been selling lots of cushions lately and I'm not quite sure why but I'm not complaining especially when I get to know the people who buy them and they say things like this... "Jo the cushions have come - blissful, wonderful, delightful and gorgeous I could go on and on."
Thanks to all the cushion addicts out there, it absolutely makes my day to be in such good company.

Freeze your tits off at the beach..

One of the hardest times living in England is in winter when it's three degrees here and thirty three in Melbourne, Australia and everyone seems to be off to the beach.
I rang my sister last week and she said it had been 44C that day and so hot that they had to go to the movies to try to get cool. On their return at 11pm there had been a tiger snake in the bedroom! Yikes maybe that's not worth the sunshine.
We had our own trip to the beach on Saturday with a whole gang of friends to celebrate the lovely Brondie's significant birthday. Even though it may look bleak at Holkham it was still an enormous amount of fun.
Being the eternal optimist I realised there are many good things about going to the beach in winter. No sunburn to worry about; you never get hot and sweaty when playing rounders; there aren't many people about and you can wear all your best clothes at once!

Welcome to wet and wild.

Richard and I both cracked up at this sign as you would have had to have a flamethrower to start any kind of spark in the damp.
The fashion icon that is Ricardo had worn his best British boots so the birthday girl had to give him a lift over any rivulets in her pink wellies.
We had a most hilarious game of rounders where nobody knew the rules and we ended up with five bases. Brondie and Russes dog Indiana Jones was the best team player, for as soon as anyone hit the ball (or missed it for that matter) he would pick it up and run as far away as possible. Needless to say everyone scored a home run so all ended up very happy.
After our enthustiastic sports fun there was lunch to be had in a yurt! Though it looked bleak from the outside
it was incredibly warm and comfy inside. The food was simple but delicious. That big round room rang with laughter and squealing children.
A great day had by all.
Thanks Brond & Russ. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Macaron not macaroon

I think I'm getting better at them!

Some more Exotic Cushions for you

I've been sick with a cold since before New Years Eve but my inner work ethic has kicked in (luckily it's been too cold to spend much time outside) and I've been sewing, sewing sewing. Here are the latest gems from the Exotic cushions website to you.My lovely sister sent me this absolutely gorgeous peacock feather print in silver and lilac on a gold background by Florence Broadhurst and with the silk satin that I bought a while ago from Berwick St and the embroidered panel from my latest vintage kimono buy it looks pretty good I think.
It's always hard to cut up a kimono, but I've justified myself by thinking that I might be making new heirlooms with the pieces. Ahhhh pom poms to make you smile.
I've had a bit of a peacock obsession since a client asked if I ever made cushions in peacock colours; so I tried sewing real peacock feathers onto this bolster but they all went weird and wouldn't sit flat. We'll just have to make do with the inspiration instead.
Despite seeing this dress in which they seemed to work.

SNOW

It has been snowing an amazing amount here in the UK. Here are a few pictures to show you that it's real. This is the view out our window early this morand the apple tree outside our back door.
I've been house bound for a week and a half with a truly dreadful cold and have been going slightly Shack Wacky so I rugged up nice and warm and stepped out into a magic land this afternoon. Everywhere is like Narnia. Everywhere beautiful.

Paper moon

Here's something that may cheer your New workaday year.

NYE

Well, well, well it's New Years Eve already, gosh before we know it, it will be Christmas again.
We had a great time this New years eve. We had a party to go to at friends nearby and the theme was a Space Oddity. I was coming down with a cold and lacked enthusiasm of any sort, but Ricardo the Magnificent had ideas of going as Flash Gordon! How could I let him out do me? So we spent the day making pairs of matching yellow velvet hot pants and mantle things for our super powered shoulders. Richard even bleached his hair but it ended up looking a little reddish rather than the platinum it said on the box. We had such fun making those outfits. As you can see by the photos my shorts were a lot tighter than his! When he tried his on over the top of his long underwear, all I could think of was some sort of cartoon character, maybe Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse. I thought even if the party is a dud, we will have had a ball anyway.

I've got no idea how I got my hair to stay so poofy! Here we are ready for anything.

The party was great. At 11.30 we ditched it though and raced along quiet country roads to a Church nearby to join our more sober friends for midnight bell-ringing activities.

Jeremy made sure we did the whole thing according to bellringing protocol. At first we rang for 10 or 15 minutes with bells half muffled (Muffles are leather pads fitted to a bell's clapper to reduce the volume. They attenuate the bell's strike note whilst retaining the hum. By only muffling the clapper on one side you get an 'echo' effect as blows are alternately loud and soft. Bells fitted with muffles in this way are said to be half-muffled). Then as 12 midnight approached Jeremy raced up the stone spiral stairs and took off the muffles. Richard then rang the heaviest bell (the Tenor) for 12 strokes before we all kicked in to ring out that glorious sound all through the quiet village of Great Ellingham. Here we are flushed with success and a little bubbly. If you look closely you can see my yellow shorts! Hair slightly less poofy now though.

Happy New Year to you all, my blogger Buddies.