Happy Monday

Happy Monday! I hope a good weekend was had by all. Mine was lovely, with a great combination of city visits and country walks. On Saturday I went to the Tower of London and I loved it! I hadn't been since I went on a school trip when I was about ten years old and I was very impressed by it. There is lots to see and even the views over London and the river are really spectacular from the ramparts. It reminded me of what a great city I live in. On Sunday I went for a lovely brisk walk in the Oxfordshire countryside, ending up at a pub for lunch. It's a stunning time of year and the leaves on the trees were all changing to vibrant shades of orange and red.

On Friday I ventured to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace to check out what's going on. It's always great to see everything under one roof, to see the fabrics I've designed and to also see what other people are doing.

It was great to see that bright colours were very popular. I loved the selection of scarves above and the use of the kantha stitching. I might use that technique for some of my Cheeky Leopard scarves.

It's always great to see the Liberty floral fabrics. They come in all shades and look so pretty lined up.

I love a folk-inspired print and have designed a few in the past which you can see on my website here. The one above is a lovely multi colour version.

There were a lot of quirky novelty prints at the show. I loved the polar bear print on yellow and the multi colour umbrellas.

Higgs and Higgs had a selection of lampshades made out of the Sophia fabrics I designed for Makower UK. They looked really pretty hanging up.

These cute panda bear heads would work well in a nursery. I love the gender-neutral yellow and mint green colour palette.

I came home with some beautiful sari fabrics from Bazaar. One piece is a vibrant pink colour and the other piece uses softer pinks. I love the combination.

 My sari purchases came in this pretty little bag, also made from sari fabric! I can't wait to get creative with the fabrics I bought and think both pieces would make stunning clutch bags.

An afternoon at Alexandra Palace

Yesterday I trotted off to the stunning Alexandra Palace to check out the Knitting and Stitching show. I'm embarrassed to say I had never been to Alexandra Palace before and I was impressed by its size and location - a rather awesome Victorian building sitting on a hill in North London, with stunning views of the city below. It was a lovely warm and sunny autumn day yesterday and I felt like I was in a foreign city!

Of course the main reason for going to the show was to pick up some inspiring fabric pieces as well as to see what other fabrics trends were around and to touch base with some customers. I saw quite a few of the fabric designs I have worked on for Makower UK, and it was great to see some of the fabrics I'd designed made up into quilts and hangings.

I bought these fabrics from The African Fabric Shop, who sell a stunning variety of items from Africa. I homed in on the brighter colours and came away with a collection of pink and blue fabrics that use a combination of resist and screen printed techniques.

Selvedge had a stall there, displaying beautifully delicate crocheted items. 

The Silk Route stall was a ablaze with colour and I came home with a stunning selection of pinks, yellows and turquoises.

The ribbons below would make a perfect match with the silks I bought.

I love the fabrics from KSDP and the money raised from the sales goes to a very good cause.

My lovely friend Jo had a stall there called Bazaar, selling an amazing array of items from India. I gravitated towards the embroidered ribbons.

  Such a lovely selection of woodblocks!