A Grand Day Out

I was back up to Stratford-upon-Avon yesterday. I had a purpose to my visit but got there early so, as it was a pleasant day, I went for a walk along the river.

Considering you are right in the middle of town it is an incredibly peaceful place to stroll along. The river punts for hire all have names of Shakespearean characters. I like that. The canal boats were done up with flags and bunting for a festival this weekend. Rowers were busy rowing. It was a wonderful way to start my day.

But, as said, I was in town for a reason. And that was to go to Sew Me Something where Pat Bravo was having a little talk and demo. She showed us how she sews together hexies by machine, which would have saved me a heck of a lot of time a few months ago! Mostly we got to browse through swatches of Art Gallery fabrics and Pat talked about the upcoming lines and showed us some of her quilts.

It was a fine way to spend a couple of hours. She is the nicest of people and really easy to chat to. Her fabrics are lush, always have been and always will be I am sure. They have a wonderful silky feel that I love.

Above is a photo of my most favourite fabric of the day. I want a dress made from it. A quilt made with it. And anything else anyone can think of. So, so beautiful. A huge thank you to Pat Bravo for taking the time to visit Sew Me Something and being so friendly.

Meanwhile, I decided to do my first ever giveaway on Instagram as I had reached 1000 followers on there. I couldn't decide what to giveaway so thought I would leave it up to my followers. They could regram a photo of one of my makes that they liked and would like me to use as inspiration to make a cushion, hoop, pouch, or the like, for them.

The reaction was overwhelming, and totally unexpected. In 24 hours my following increased by over 250! Never expected that! Lots of people are putting their name in the hat and it is very interesting to see which items are popular with other people. There is peak at just some of the choices below. And isn't that photo of Em a fab one to use for the giveaway post.

If you are on Instagram, please do join in and chuck your name in for the draw too. If you have been thinking of joining Instagram then maybe this will swing you one way or the other in your decision whether you should join. If you haven't the phone or access to Instagram, I am really sorry, but all my giveaways have been on here up until now. I will look at doing a similar giveaway here after the summer is all over.

Susan