Day at Charleston Farmhouse

Charleston Farmhouse



Last Tuesday was the perfect day for our visit to Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex. We had a choice of Emma Bridgewater
Cups for our coffe and home made biscuits.

Charleston Farmhouse Garden

We had a very interesting tour of the house and I had time in between a talk and lunch to look around the garden.

Quentin Bell's Levitating Lady by the pond

The Garden is a fantastic mix of plants and sculptures.

Roses From The Heart

One of the most unusual exhibits at the Festival of Quilts was the Roses From The Heart project.

As I discovered the display, I was amazed to see what looked like a sea of doilies...I then realised there were hundreds of embroidered Bonnets.

Each bonnet represents a convict woman sent to Australia in the 1800's.It was a very moving sight. I felt compelled to find out more and talking to the Australian women on the stand I decided to join in the project and adopt a convict woman.
I choose Charlotte Dwyer as she was from Dublin (My maternal Grandfathers birth place)and I got all the details to make her a memorial bonnet.
All the bonnets are made of plain calico or a white fabric, I embroidered Charlotte's name and the ship's name 'Soverign 1827' on the brim.I found some of my Great Grandmothers hand made lace to use for the ties. It is now off to join all the others in Tasmania!
http://www.christinahenri.com.au/index.php?/ongoing/roses-from-the-heart/

 

Festival of Quilts

Another fantastic trip to the NEC in Birmingham to see the Festival of Quilts with the patchwork group from Castle Coombe.
It was an amazing impact of imaculate Quilts from the first scan of the festival. I was in awe of all the work that had gone into creating these works of art.
Having just finished my first ever quilt I was soon taking in inspiration for my next quilt.
I had bought myself three lovely Liberty prints and took swatches of these to find some more fabrics from the hundreds of trade stands at the show.I found a wonderful supplier that had some perfect cotton lawn to go with my ideas for my next quilt.

On my last trip to the V&A took some pictures of this amazing tiled floor and decided this was going to be the inspiration for my next design.

Quilt inspiration

Festival of Quilts 2010

Surprise Arrives in Seaford

I Called my Mama this morning and all she said was "I can't believe it" about ten times! She absolutely loves THE QUILT OF THE YEAR.
I had a lovely chat to her about all the blocks and she loves the 'Somerset, folded star' (Block 4 on my quilt)

Folded Star

Each piece of fabric is folded into a triangle, a very fiddly technique I found.When the quilt was ready to be quilted I machined around the outside in rows and rows of spiral stitches.
Even my Pa was impressed and we had a chat about THE QUILT.
I am so happy it has gone to its new home with love and my parents can both enjoy it being on their bed.'Some magic to wake up to' I told them.


Another favorite block, ( although I know she loves them all), is the vintage Liberty Print 'Grandmothers flower garden'. I bid for these fabrics on Ebay and got carried away!
The little house hexagon is a favorite of some of the ladies at my Castle Coombe patchwork group.

Grandmothers flower garden

We had a quick chat on each block and my Mum recognised  many of the fabrics I had used, many of the vintage curtains were given to me by her. Also she knew the 1920's fabric that was my Grandmothers ( crazy patchwork block).

Stained Glass Window

My mum loves Kaffe Fasset and when I told her this 'Stained Glass Window' block was one of his prints she was surprised as she had only seen his knitted work and tapestry work.
The vibrant print works so well for this block as the window looks so real, and I loved the idea of having the rose print background as it looks as if the window has the roses growing around the window.

Here it is at Last! The Quilt of the Year!

It has taken me almost a Year to make, well at a rate of 2hours per week that is not too bad!It is technically a sample quilt,each block showing a different patchwork technique.
The first patchwork sample was the 'Tumbling Block'(Block 8 on my quilt) definitely one of my favorites. I hand pieced this one in linen and vintage curtain material.

My first quilt

It was such an eyeopener, being a Dressmaker for so many years to then discover the art of patchwork.
My Third block was my own design and I named it 'Peace Doves' for my sister (Block 12 on my quilt).
Another favorite of mine, and my teacher Ann's, is the Crazy Patchwork. I used linen, printed silk from 1920's ( this was from my Grandmothers collection of fabrics left from things she had made as a dressmaker in the 1920's -1930's)and Crushed velvet, the whole thing is finished off with feather stitch embroidery.

Tumbling Block

Peace Doves

The finished quilt has been lovingly finished in time to be posted to my Mum for her Birthday, she will have such a surprise.

Crazy Patchwork

It was a difficult decision to choose the fabric for the sashing ( the strips of fabric in between each block, most of the ladies at the Castle Coombe patchwork group had used a plain colour for this. I felt the urge to be different and had a strong feeling that I had to use a vintage print! These linen curtains were ideal ( although the loose weave proved difficult for the final leg of machine quilting).
More pictures to come soon and an update on my Mama's reaction when she opens her parcel on Saturday 14th August!

RedHound Collection is on its way SOON!

Dave The Greyhound in the RedHound raincoat

Chiffon Queen is soon off to TOTNES to RedHound headquarters to get the new collection ready for a photoshoot this weekend.

I have been getting all the patterns ready for these Waxed raincoats this week and created a more fitted new design for smaller dogs.

RedHound also has a great range of knitted Jumpers and coats for all sizes of pooch!

Sue Beer in the knitted coat

My Textile Designs

Butterflies and Flowers

I have produced a collection of textile designs using silks,linen,embroidery, and beading.
Some of my designs include lace made by my Great Grandmother and vintage buttons, buckles and beads I have collected over the years.
This collage was sage green silk satin mounted on white linen.

A satin stitch hand Embroidered Linen Cushion

Another of my vintage finds that I made into this stunning cushion. It is such a fine example of the disappearing art of hand embroidery of this quality.

Beautiful Claire

Andy and  Sophia

I really can't believe it is over a year since my lovely JP and Claire tied the knot and the whole family went to Richmond Park for their fantastic wedding!

The ever organised Claire had some ideas of what she wanted me to make for 'The Dress' and here it is. Gorgeous Duchesse Satin, with a tulle overlay of beaded embroidery, it is a stunning look on Claire with her fantastic figure.

Claire was the perfect client and she was a joy to make such a special dress for.

To see more picures of the Wedding of 2009 go to my website

www.mrsbdesigns.vpweb.co.uk

 

 

Vintage Embroidered Hearts.... filled with lavender

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I have a fantastic collection of my great grandmothers' (on both sides) hand embroidery and hand made lace. This one of meadow flowers is particularly beautiful, and the colours are so bright and vivid.
It was hard to cut them up to make my vintage lavender hearts but as the linen ground fabric has many stains on ( mostly red wine, which is impossible to remove) I found it a bit easier, especially when the hearts were filled with French Lavender.



Look for my Lavender hearts on Etsy coming soon or available from Redhouse Gifts in Totnes, Devon. http://www.redhousegifts.co.uk/

Vintage Fashion

This is my lovely friend Samaya Ling ( in the white beret). We met at Shepton Mallet Flea market last year while I was selling my vintage textiles. Sam bought some lovely 1940's shoes from me and we got talking about fashion and textiles of course....

Sam sells vintage at all the big London Textile markets, Hammersmith, Chelsea etc and she has a blog http://www.samayalingvintage.blogspot.com/
We meet up at each others place for coffee and a chat about our latest finds and projects! I recently took some of my John Galliano to show her and I have a fabulous Zandra Rhodes dress from the 1980's. All from the early days of my career in fashion and I have pieces from the designers I used to work with.
Last year I put some of the Galliano's in for a sale at Christies ...with amazing results!

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Welsh Tapestry... a fabric I love

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I made this cushion out of a piece of a Welsh Tapestry. It is an amazing woven material and is reversible with a totally different effect on both sides.



I inherited thousands of vintage buttons from my grand parents, and adorned this cushion with all the Art Deco 1930's buttons in the collection. My husband had been given a beige (shocking beige!) sweater and it was an awful colour on him , so I pinched it off him and cut it up to make the back!

My Visit to the V&A Quilt Exhibition

My first coach trip in years was a trip with my patchwork group from Castle Combe to the 'ol smoke, another first in years, to go back to London! I started with a good look, of course at the fashion section of the V&A. I did of course get there via the museum shop! where it was impossible to resist buying the Repro vintage print fabrics. These I have used to inspire my latest patchwork cushions.

The Quilt Exhibition itself was amazing and I had my sketch book to hand for getting down some ideas for my first quilt.

With tired feet after 3 hours sketching and taking photos on my phone of some of the main V&A exhibits, I wandered down to South Kensington to reminisce on my London working days! I found a lovely Charity shop ( which I had to ask the assistant if I was in a vintage shop or a Charity shop! due to the price tags). So watch this space for my pictures of a completed quilt by ME!

Charlie Boots Launches New Collection

 

This is one of my favorite designs from the new Charlie Boots collection

One of the unique selling points of Charlie's designs is they are all reversable. CB is a very creative pattern cutter and I am impressed for the fact that this is her first collection and each piece is so different to anything I have seen before. Darts and seams are cleaverly placed on the inside and out.I must also say they are beautifully made! http://www.charlieboots.com/

Pattern Cutting and Knitting

John, our new postman (shhh dont say postman too loudly or Milligan will go crazy woofing at the door) has just  delivered my latest assignment. Redhound stuff has arrived at last and I can start creating the latest in doggie fashions!
Also a lovely Tweed and suede throw was lovingly wrapped for a belated birthday pressie from my friend in Devon, Debs, and some more French lavender for my hearts.

First, I will finish the knitting I started on Monday for the doggie Jumpers.Work came to a halt after an industrial injury when a knitting machine needle went straight into my right index finger nail! outch....
I know this looks like a Cat ( it is in fact Periwinkle the Siamese cat/dog I inherited last year from my Nan!)
But he does look good in a Redhound handknit!

My Patchwork craze!

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After my visit to the V&A quilt exhibition with the Castle Combe patchwork group, I have been passionately stiching my seminole patchwork using ribbons and Repro vintage print fabrics into heart shaped cushions.
The smaller ones are filled with French lavender from Provence and they smell heavenly, of course they are perfect to hang by the bed if you have trouble sleeping! Find my hearts for sale on Etsy at
my Etsy shop called* heartsofengland*

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• Quilts at the V&A (thefword.org.uk)