Cottage artisans

 Well. Hopefully, this is the start of a whole new era. Mainly because I had to move and with very little money, few of my possessions and with no friends or family. So here I am in Derbyshire.  I DO love Derbyshire, though.

So, no stall, no goods to speak of, a house that needs a lot of renovation and the dog.  In the first lockdown, I was still hopeful of having a stall before Christmas. Ok, so all the work I did then is now in boxes waiting for another Christmas! Who knew?  But at least I'm ready for the next one.

This current lockdown has been useful. I'm making skirts for my 3 granddaughters. Each one a different colour and a different style (after all, at 15, 12 and 10, they definitely don't want to look the same as each other). I hand sew in the evenings when I sit down with the television on one side and Alfie (the dog) snoring on the other! I'm currently using this opportunity to finish a pieced quilt. Don't worry, though, I have more ideas in the pipeline.

Sewing isn't all that I do, well it is at this moment. I paint as well and not just walls. I have some wood for which I have plans and I have a painting on paper ready to go.  My other love is playing with paper, from papier machè to paper cutting and construction.

Another love is antiques. For me the thrill is furniture and quirky items. I do refurbish when it is needed but I do not paint good furniture. I don't want a beautiful patina on a four hundred year old table ruined with chalk paint or even a 100 year old item made of cherry wood daubed in a twenty first century colour. 

I will strip a chair's seat and give it a whole new cover. I know many just put a cover over the old one but I am happier if I know that the horsehair is clean and rusty nails removed.  Also I have seen stains that I would rather not think about and which must have gone through to the stuffing!

If an item is beyond being saved, then I will take it apart to be used with other pieces to create a new item. The same with scraps of material. I save them to either make patchwork or little items or to use in clothing I am making.

So now you know my two greatest sins. I am a hoarder AND a butterfly (flitting from one thing to another).

Enough for an introduction. I will fly off now and update you on the three skirts another day.

Keep creating with love!