2012 Craft Fair

I've been a bit quiet lately on the blog front ... getting my breath back after the mammoth task of finishing my C&G.  I've still not entered the chaos that is usually my work room, for fear I might disappear among the mountain of clutter.  What I have been doing is painting and decorating the house which no one wants to read a blog about, so I've kept quiet, until now.  Last week I took myself off to the city for the day and went to the annual craft fair with one purpose in mind .... to see the amazing Cheryl Bridgart.

 What an exceptional machine embroidery artist she is.  Cheryl never draws the designs onto her fabric with a pen or pencil, but instead, intuitively draws with the sewing machine and gradually builds up her designs.

She always works on cartridge paper, not fabric.  Yep! Surprising heh?  But it works brilliantly and is very soft.  She washes the paper first to soften it and it seems to hold the embroidery without breaking or tearing.

Cheryl's clothing is something to behold.  She never wears anything that she hasn't made herself and has a great collection of funky hats. 

A totally inspiring lady and one worth searching and reading more about.

The rest of the show was okay - very much the same old thing as last year, and the year before.  Maybe my brain's in creative overload and nothings inspiring me much anymore, but I'm waiting for something new and exciting to grab me.  I think the economic down turn has something to do with it all - there wasn't as many stall holders there as usual.  Everyone's feeling the pinch.

Or maybe it was the fact I was coming down with a terrible head cold that curbed my enthusiasm. Once I'd been inspired by Cheryl, nothing else really mattered.

I did manage to pick up a nice jelly roll of fabric to try and do a lap quilt as a house warming gift and couldn't come home without Sarah Lawrence's silk book.  So now its just a case of finding some spare time to read Sarah's book and make my quilt.