i posted last weeks stash photo a day early, so i’m balancing that out by doing this week’s a day late!

i don’t know who designs or produces this fabric - i just bought a fat quarter of it from a mottley collection on the counter at patchwork on central park. it was so cute i couldn’t leave it there, though i have no idea what i will ever do with it…

if you recognise it and know anything about it, let me know in the comments!

essie xoxoxo

my mum is a collector of nick-knacks. she loves old tins and bottles, and when you visit her house you will always find tiny inkwells or glass bottles with specimens from her garden in them.

sometimes her choices are less than orthodox…

so it was a given that at our not-quite-wedding earlier this year my partner and i would decorate our tables with flowers in mismatched bottles and vases collected from my mothers house, from the glen harrow antique shop, and from around our own home. our nieces and sister in law helped us arrange them…

… and i’m sure you’ll agree that the result was very pretty!

so in honour of a long-loved theme, here are a few more photos that i have stumbled upon, of lovely bottles used as vases…

left to right top to bottom:
1// garden roses from ink and post
2// from seven poppies too
3// from aimee herring’s beautiful portfolio.
4// also form seven poppies too
5// from bird & banner.

hmm… maybe i will go and pick a few little blooms from my own garden, and put them in a spot that needs cheering…

essie xoxoxo

this is a palette i can get into - dreamy and soft…

left to right, top to bottom:
1// i love this photo by winter whisper on flickr. it makes me think of ancient magic and old wisdom.
2// this photo is by flickr user danske. i adore wooden spools so it’s a favourite with me.
3// original artwork ‘freefall’ by ashleyg on etsy.
4// can i borrow a cup of sugar? i’d probably return the sugar and keep the cup in this case! photo by simplemoth on flickr.
5// i defy anyone not to love the disney and fairytale inspired art created by mary blair.
6// i so want this print by hooraydesignshop for my house - my partner and i both wear specs, so it’s perfect.
7// i am in love with this beautiful photo by my friend nixwilliams. it’s my idea of paradise - you can keep your sandy beaches, give me a frosty countryside!

it’s saturday here, but i am going to the royal melbourne show tomorrow, and i expect i’ll be too high on fairy floss and creaming soda to make my sunday stash post then - hee hee.

this week i want to show you some of my favourite fabric of all time: heather ross’ “far, far away” range. this woman seems incapable of designing a print i don’t adore. i don’t know how she does it!

anyway, here’s what i have in my stash, waiting for a VERY special project:

i’d love to see anything you’ve made out of this beautiful range - post a link or a photo in the comments if you like!

essie xoxoxox

here are some lovely things i have found in my webly-wanderings:

left to right, top to bottom:
1// wallet by nancybird. i actually own this wallet and it is lovely to use.
2// fabric from the west hill range by heather ross. i completely love every fabric that heather ross makes. they’re whimsical, pretty, and unusual.
3// “paris during the occupation” by flickr user juffrouwjo. evoking a distant moment.
4// photo by max wagner photography. flowers in bottles always to it for me, and the light in this image is just perfect.
5// this pail of apples, found via frolic!, reminds me of my friends j & d who are walking in england. i expect they are picking snacks from apple trees along their merry way.
6// this delicious recipe is so beautifully presented (i heart typewriter fonts). i found it via oh so beautiful paper.

my mum was reading the paper the other day and came across a tiny little article about john and margareta kristensen’s beautiful hand-turned, hand-painted sewing tools. she fell in love with them, and she knew i would too, so she got onto the nice people at mac pelican and ordered a couple of their cute “quick unpickers”. when i dropped in at her house on the way to my day at the stitch-in this was waiting for me:

it’s so cute that i can’t quite stand it! i don’t think the kit of any dedicated crafty-person can be complete without one now. you can get all different kinds of little people on top (gentlemen in top-hats and morning suits, african women with their heads tied with kerchiefs, and more!) - i’m sure there must be one to suit everyone’s style and taste.

if you can’t resist and end up buyng your own, please take a picture and show me - i want to see them all!

essie xoxoxo

friday’s spring stitch in was lovely in many, many ways, but the best part of the day was the moment i discovered that rosalie’s new range of fabric was on sale there! it hasn’t been officially launched yet, and it’s not available in shops, so you can imagine how excited i was to discover that i could take some home with me that very day!

i hope you don’t have to wait too long to get some for your own stash!

essie xxx

yesterday was a lovely day for stitching - which is just as well, because it was the day i was signed up to attend the glen harrow spring stitch-in!

when we arrived, there was a goodie bag there with patterns from rosalie and leanne, as well as dmc stranded cotton, and fabric (including two fat 1/8s of rosalie’s new fabric!)

we stitched and stitched, and nattered, and stitched… this is leanne’s completed version of the project i worked on (mine’s still a work in progress!)

rosie and leanne demonstrated all the techniques we needed to know

there was even a candy bar!

all in all it was a lovely day, and i managed to pick up some VERY exciting things to show you in tomorrow’s sunday stash post!

essie x

i’ve decided to participate in the “sunday stash” project that tamara at 1/4 of an inch is running. basically, the idea is to celebrate the awesome fabric that we all manage to collect.

i have ummed and ahhed about where to begin with this, but in the end i had to start with the cream of the crop: liberty.

i have a few pieces of liberty stashed away waiting for the perfect project (you can’t just use this stuff for any old thing!), and then my friend jen came back from london with a couple of delicious surprises for my stash:

i think i’ll use them in a very special quilt one day.

i hope you’re having a lovely sunday! i’ve had brunch with my honey, done a little window shopping, bought some lovely fresias for my desk, and now i am working on a paper about how mood effects memory. it’s very interesting, so i’d better get back to it!

essie xxx

my honey has recently taken up the ukelele. she has a red one and his name is eustace. she plays him all the time, and it’s basically the cutest thing i have ever seen:

he had a soft case that came with him from the shop, but it was kind of boring, and i have been promising for weeks now to make him a new one, with a little more personality. last weekend i came good on that promise:

it was a lot of fun to make this from scratch without a pattern - it definitely boosted my confidence in “freestyle” sewing (for want of a better term!).

it even has a little pocket for her pitch pipe, though i still have to sew a button on there so it doesn’t escape.

sajee says that eustace is now he best dressed ukelele in the land - hee hee!

essie xxx