The last of the fall leaves are hanging from the trees. But, the next few days with the storm coming up the coast, and another heading in from the west should send them whirling down.
The last two months have been a roller coaster ride, starting with what is now termed “THE BEE INCIDENT”. While still dealing with fallout from that, there has also been quite a lot going on with my family.
I would like to thank everyone for their patience last week, when I had to take a sudden trip to check on my father, who is in his 90’s and is having some problems. I truly appreciate your understanding!
Going forward into the late fall, there is a lot going on, and hopefully I can do a better job of keeping up with writing, the blog, news about fabrics, etc.
In that vein I would like to introduce to you, Valerie Hart, the Visual Vamp, who bought a piece of Clarence House Fabric, around the first of September! Read about what she did with the fabric, and about her blog- which is well worth while!
VALERIE HART
is
The Visual Vamp
Read about her in
Sewing Notions
Interesting People Who Work with Fabric.
MONDAY- October 29, 2012
All eyes here in New England seem to be fixed on the hurricane Sandy. Here it is a warm 55 degrees F. and the wind is blowing out of the East… like a Nor’easter. The leaves are blowing UP the driveway! I talked to a lady in Washington, D.C. this morning. She said it was blowing slightly, but nothing outrageous. Even so, we decided to hold off shipping her fabric until Wednesday. I heard from my favorite rep, who lives just north of New York City… he had to cancel a trip, and around 10:15 it had just started to rain down there… we will keep you posted!
Over the last week fabrics with patterns with East Indian elements, have been the fast movers. Many of them have a slightly whimsical feel.
The Alligator Fabric
always makes one smile!
There is a small amount of it in the blue, as well.
The Indian Fantasy Beast Fabric
has to be one of the most unusual patterns ever.
It has tigers and hippos…
but there are also flying beasts, dragons, and a large alligator like creature.
At the other end of the spectrum
is the understated brown toile
with exotic animals in pavilions,
set against a cheetah printed background.
Indian toile fabric
with elephants, horses, peacocks, and deer.
There is one small piece of the vintage green Indian toile fabric left.
Vintage India Fabric- destash piece.
For something really different with exotic animals the
African Animal Lace Fabric is a fun choice.
African Animal Lace Fabric
When something like last week happens, and all sorts of one type of fabric start moving, I always wonder if there was an article people read somewhere, or if it is just a strange co-incidence! But, if you are looking for an exotic fabric check out the Asian fabrics and the exotic animal fabrics. There is lace, a true crewel work fabric, toiles, and more!
Speaking of trends… I see a lot of things change over time. Eight years ago paisley was hot. Every company was making them in all arrays of color. That segued into the ikat craze. While that seems to be fading, the newest trend from companies is the batik look. We don’t have any of the new batik look fabrics in yet. But, if that is of interest, the Lee Behran Silks Fabrics have that look.
Lee Behran Silks
batik fabric is available in charcoal and brown on tan
or indigo and beige on white.
There is also a single piece of a Greeff fabric,
with a more traditional look.
A batik look fabric
by Greeff
It’s around 2 pm here, and the wind is picking up. The loose leaves have come down, so not many leaves are flying around. There is a slight spitting of rain, but nothing major… Because of the storm, I thought I would do a double post, in case there isn’t any power tomorrow…
So, continuing onward… I got a call around 11, and it was a trucker. He had 18 bolts of fabric on board! So, for those of you who don’t know how this works, here is the scenario. The trucker, usually it is Jim, but this was a new guy, calls, a few minutes in advance, letting me know they have a load to drop off. Large 18 wheelers are not allowed to go onto private drives. Plus, an 18 wheeler would not be able to come up our hill, and there isn’t enough room at the top to make the turn around the house. So, I have to go down the hill to meet them. The trucker can also not help. They are a driver, and they can hand stuff down to one, but they are commercial, so they really expect to drive up to a loading dock, and unload pallets with a dolly. They do not expect to unload to a grey haired lady at the bottom of a driveway!
One gets to know most of the drivers, they have their own runs, and are pretty friendly! Jim is a gardener, and we like to talk about our gardening. He also was going to grow a large pumpkin this year.(I got him seeds from some of the really giant pumpkins at Pumpkinfest last year) And I wanted to know how they turned out!
Anyway, with the storm coming, the wind blowing, and the rain spitting, speed was of the essence! The guy slit open the pallet of bolts, and started handing them down to me, and I loaded them into my car. We waved goodbye- he was heading north, and not looking forward to the return trip down the coast with an empty trailer in high winds… I drove up the driveway, and unloaded the bolts into the barn entrance.
WHY I HAVE A LARGE CAR!
Bolts tend to be fairly dirty… it is good to change one’s clothes prior to all of this! The bolts have their outer covering of plastic removed, they get inventoried, and then put where needed.
The bolts with new patterns go in one section of the room, to be photographed, the bolts with patterns I am low on go in their fabric section. The back-up bolts get carried upstairs until needed. If one sells fabric, one moves it a lot! LOL!
TUESDAY- October 30,2012
Well, the storm turned inland, as I am certain you all know. It was a very dark, very windy night. The trees look like seaweed at the bottom of the ocean in a high wind. I think of the sky as an ocean of air, and we are the ocean floor. There was some rain at times during the night, but not much. We lost two trees, but never power, though the towns all around us are out. This morning the weather continued- windy, with rain, until around 10:30 when the skies opened up and it poured… I mean POURED! And now, at 12:15 the sun is out! So, I am assuming the worst of Sandy, for us, is over, except for flooding and storm surges.
We hope other people are as lucky as we have been, as Sandy continues her way north.
INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS
International customers that order more than can fit into the USPS box,
we will now be shipping the fabric via Fedex.
The reason is the fabric does not get lost in customs, does not go undelivered,
and if there is a problem the fabric is still within their system,
and the problem can be dealt with easily.
JUST IN
New supplies of the following came in yesterday.
Paisley horse fabric
Race horse document fabric
Multicolored seashell nautilus on tan
The shipwreck fabric in red
Fern fabric on white
Paris postcard fabric, colored
Tropical postcard palm tree fabric
WEDNESDAY- October 31, 2012
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
I hope all have a happy, safe evening!
Today dawned grey, with rain expected. But, surprise, there have been long stretches of sun, between clouds, as the remnants of Sandy dissipate along the coast. There is a lot of standing water after all of the rain from the past few days. And with the higher than normal tides, due to the full moon, the coast has had a difficult time.
JUST LISTED
Three small destash pieces:
A piece of the brown squid lobster turtle fabric
A piece of the turquoise squid lobster turtle fabric- it has a small dye flaw
A 24″ piece of the tan hot air balloon fabric
Multi-colored seashell nautilus fabric
Type destash into the search bar to see all of the discounted fabrics.
IN SHORT SUPPLY
The lighthouse island fabric- 5 yards are left.
THURSDAY- Novemeber 1, 2012
It is hard to believe it is November! Time does fly! I always think it should be around June 1! The leaves tell a different story. But, last night was the warmest Halloween I remember! Most of the time children are in their winter clothes, but not this year, due to the warm winds from Sandy.
A spectacular tree,
at the end of the River Road, Damariscotta
We will be working through all of the new fabrics over the next week. There are a lot of them. There are toiles, two new music fabrics, an angel fabric, and many more! If there is something you are particularly interested in, let me know! Starting in no particular order are two very different fall patterns.
The first is a very intriguing mushroom fabric.
Though very retro, it makes a modern graphic statement.
Reminiscent of the block prints from the ’20’s,
it is perfect for a stark minimalistic room, or craftsman decor.
RETRO MUSHROOM FABRIC
It is available in the
Retro Fabric category.
The second fabric is also unique. It is a grape pattern that is perfect for anyone who deals with wine, or loves cheese, or wants a document print for the kitchen with some color.
GRAPE CHEESE FABRIC
with Vintage French Postcards
See the Grape Cheese Fabric
in the France Italy fabric category.
SATURDAY- November 3, 2012
The leaves that were under the outer leaves last week, and were green are now pumpkin orange and gold. They have lasted longer than most can remember, but this week does signal the end of fall. Pictures were taken before the hurricane Sandy, and they will be edited and up tomorrow.
END OF AN ERA
Sometimes one has a pattern for so long one takes it for granted. It is just there, in the background. So it was with the pink angel toile. We have carried it forever.
We look for angel fabric, and have had many nice patterns. But, there was something about the pink angel toile fabric that was quite special. It was produced by Braemore. It came in blue and taupe on cream, green on cream, bright pink on cream, pink and green on beige, and the shell pink with taupe on cream. The shell pink was a perfect color for a perfect angel pattern.
PINK ANGEL TOILE FABRIC
Eventually it was discontinued. At that point we bought as much of it as we could. Well, this week the very last end of bolt pieces went to California, for a lady who wanted it for the nursery of her first baby. Which, for me, is the perfect ending of a wonderful fabric! Though truly sad that the fabric is gone, we wish them all the very best!
JUST LISTED
While we bid a fond farewell to the pink angel toile fabric,
we bid hello to a new angel toile fabric.
This is unique!
It is an angel music moon toile!
The music is from a nocturn, making the moon most appropriate!
A linen fabric, it has a je ne sais quoi all its own!
ANGEL MUSIC MOON TOILE FABRIC
See the new angel toile fabric
in the
Angel Fabric category.