Fibre fever book page.

I belong to a Yahoo group called Fibre Fever. I'm quite a new member and this is the first swap I have joined. Each member makes a fabric page for a book. It can be any type of stitching but has to be in the theme chosen by each recipient.
This month I am sending a page to Anne in Germany, her theme is '' anything oriental- Persian or Indian.

Oh goody! I thought as it has given me a chance to practice some more 'Sheesha Embroidery'. You may have read in a previous post from last summer, that I went to a workshop with Surjeet Husain. I bought her book but haven't done much embroidery since. after a frantic search I found the mirrors and racked my brain to remember the rhythm of the stitch. Heres how it turned out!
I have tryed to keep the Indian theme but with a modern look.
It's in the post and heading to Anne, I hope it's ok and she likes it.

I hope you are all enjoying your week out there in blog land.
I would like to give all my followers new and old a big THANK- YOU.
Thank you for all your kind comments, you always make my day and you will never know how much you have all helped me when things get tough.
Warm HUGS to you all.
xox Angela,

A Mothers love.

I found this picture postcard when I was shopping in Spitalfields market in London's Eastend. It's one of my favourite places to buy vintage.

These two are so pretty so I had to give them a shabby feminine look with coffee dyed fabrics and lace.

Hope you like them.

xox Angela.

Escape to the sun.

England in late Februay, cold, wet and gloomy. So what do you do for some warm sunshine?

Answer! you book a late deal and fly off to the sun.

We did just that and after a four hour flight from London we arrived in the beautiful island of Madeira.

What a delight, warm sunshine, blue skies and Delicious Portuguese Custard tarts.

Anyone who knows me will be aware that I  'LOVE' these little sweet creations but I can only usually eat them on my trips to London. These were enjoyed sitting outside in a pavement cafe in the old town in Funchal near to the beautiful cathedral.

 This was on Sunday morning when the bells were ringing.

Next day I went inside.

 What a lovely calm space and stunning with gold everywhere.
The island is full of amazing flowers, lizards basking on the rocks and warm sunshine.

                                                        Flowering trees.                                   

                                           Bird of paradise by the road side.

Isn't this so pretty?

We took a bus tour to see more of the island up to 1600 metres above sea level where you can stand and look down on the clouds.

This is the view from the highest sea cliff in Europe, the second highest in the world.

                                     Pretty scary standing at the top.

We loved the Atlantic Oceon on the north side of the island.

The colour of the sea reminds me of our own North Cornish coastline.

Our last stop on the tour was in a pretty village with this stunning church in a beautiful courtyard.

Another highlight was the trip on the cable car. I have to admit my legs felt very strange hanging up in the air in a small box!

I feel wobbly just looking at these pictures, but it was a great experience. At the top a visit to the famous botanical gardens.

                                         A patchwork of succulents.

and Joes favourite an 'upside down Christmas tree'

On our way back to our hotel we just managed to get a picture of 'Columbuses ship' this is a replica built by a local man in the 1990's. it takes people for dolphin and whale watching  trips .

We had a wonderful holiday and Madreira is a must visit destination. I will be going back again when I need some winter sun.
It was one degree on landing at Gatwick' mmm... lovely'
Nevertheless I'm glad to be home and looking forward to an English summer.

xox Angela.

My Exciting News

This was a very special week for me. I had a visit from Judi who is deputy editor of Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. We met last November at the Cowslip Christmas Fair. She saw some of my work and asked if she could interview me for the magazine. I really was overwhelmed.

I love making my books and boxes and made up some new designs to show her.



A little fabric book just for a quilter to keep by her side.

                    
                                                  With pockets for her special things.

                                           A lovely box to hold her quilting needs.

                     Another book for a Lady gardener with a box to keep her seeds.

What a joy to make these things. I hope to be teaching classes throughout this year and I am loving every minute.

I think the article will be in the April edition. I wait in anticipation!

xox Angela.

Winter sunshine and spring flowers.

The first day of February and what a change from the last day of January. Yesterday was bitterly cold, down to -8 degrees C in the morning but today has been warm and sunny around 10 degrees C. Just the day to walk along the River Dart and visit my favourite gardens.

The Dart is a beautiful river that has its source high up on Dartmoor and flows through the Devon countryside to meet the sea in the historic town of Dartmouth. I love to walk beside it.

I don't have my own garden so I regularly walk in the gardens of Dartington Hall. Today the sun was warm and carried the scent of the winter flowering shrubs all over the garden.

Here's some of todays blooms.

                                                          Deliciously scented Myrtle.

                                                    Banks of Snowdrops and Crocuses.

Citrusy scented Mahonia.

                                        
                                    This is a walled avenue of Witch hazel, smells divine.                               

                                                          I love those spidery flowers.                                
                                                                              

The first Camellias and Rhododendrons.

 Near the end of my walk a stunning view across the fields and a magnificent church standing in the afternoon sunshine. What a great day. Hope yours was too.
xox Angela.                                                                                    

Decision made.

I finally made my mind up to paint the duet stool and here it is.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I used Annie Sloan's wonderful paint. There is no need to do any preparation and it goes on like a dream. I've rubbed it back for a distressed look and waxed it.

Now I've got the painting bug and as I badly need more storage when I saw this sideboard in a charity shop I snapped it up.

This is how it looked before painting.

....and here it is after a coat of Country Grey Paint rubbed back for a distressed look and waxed.

I'm so pleased with the results. My room is looking so nice.

Oh! here's the sofa that was next to the sideboard in the shop, of course that had to come home with me too.

I'll be painting some more pieces of furniture soon, I'll show you the results!

xox Angela.
                                                                              

and.the winner is.

I want to thank everyone who left a comment or became a follower or even sent me an email. It's been a joy to read all your comments every morning. I've visited all your blogs all around the world. a fabulous trip discovering all you great people.

My daughter has picked the winners, she is here from London for a couple of days.

The winner of the pretty pocket is... Jody at Home and Heart. Congratulations Jody, please email me your address and I'll get your gift in the post on Monday.

I'll be having a Valentines giveaway so watch this space.

XOX Angela.