CHARM ABOUT YOU

Colour has a big impact on us, it can affect our mood and bring us happiness, especially when its in the form of a rainbow 🌈 We currently have three rainbows displayed in our windows for passersby to spot and smile about! I don't usually work in rainbow order (more on that later) and in fact I don't even arrange my fabric stash by colour but I do enjoy playing about with colour and the satisfaction that comes with choosing fabrics for a project.

Today is my stop on the book tour celebrating the launch of 'Modern Rainbow Patchwork Quilts' by Paula Steel. I am thrilled, not only because Paula is a real life friend who I have had the pleasure of spending time with in our little craft group and I am chuffed to bits for her, because she has created such gorgeous projects in this book! It will entice you to create and the projects in the book include quilts, cushions and mini projects, such as the purse I made. She has thorough and really useful guides for colour, tools and techniques, which makes it super accessible for everyone. Paula's writing style is so personable and honest, just as real as getting great advice and tips from a quilty friend that knows her stuff! It would be hard not to feel happy reading it, I found myself nodding a lot and smiling, I was really inspired.

The project I picked out to make is the rainbow star purse, here is Paula's original from the book: 

credits: photography Jesse Wild @wildjesse and stylist Jaine Bevan @jainebevanstylist

Cleverly Paula used waterproof fabric for the lining on hers so it's perfect for a washbag. I didn't have any nice waterproof fabric though so mine is regular quilting cotton. And now for my confession...

A few weeks ago I visited the Whitworth Art Gallery in my home city of Manchester. I was so inspired by the exhibitions that I was going to write a post, life kind of took over and it's been sitting in my drafts. Since we are now on lock down and most of us are staying home, I thought you might like to see a bit of artistic inspiration from the 'Tapestries' and 'Unreformed: Wallpaper and Design Diversity' exhibits, amongst others. 

The colourful mural above was created by Ibukun Baldwin, showing a little about how tapestries are made and reinforcing the skill involved. I also really love the colours in this piece.

From bold and modern to an absolute classic beauty from Morris & Co. ...