Making a Vintage Style Quilt

This year my best friend Lizi is turning a 'special' age (its the one when life begins).  We've been friends since school and over the years we've always stayed in touch and we now both live by the sea side - not in the same town but not too far away either.

I didn't just want to buy Lizi a present for her birthday, I wanted to give her something more memorable and unique, so I decided to make her a patchwork quilt with 40 squares (one for each year of her life) in vintage style, of course.

To start I needed to choose the fabrics and colours.  I went for blue, greys, and pinky salmon.  I didn't want to make it too girly as this isn't Lizi's style - so I chose classic Gingham, mixed with a few plain squares and a bold retro abstract flower pattern.

Stage one was pinning and sewing all the squares together.

It was quite tricky working out how to assemble the squares so that there were no doubles or similar fabrics close to each other.  

I just about managed it.

I added squishy thick wadding to pad out the quilt so it would be nice and cosy.

I then needed to find some fabric to back the quilt.  At first I thought I would do this in plain cream, but I came across this pale yellow and blue flower fabric.  It's actually from a duvet cover I found in a charity shop for £1.50.  I love a bargain and Lizi loves a bit of thrifting too so will definitely approve.

Pinning and sewing the backing along with the thick wadding was quite difficult but I managed it without any hiccups.

Finally I needed to quilt the quilt. 

This took quite a while and was slow going... but I got there in the end.

Here is the finished article.

 

There is also a little 'L' for Lizi hidden somewhere on the quilt for a little personal touch.

Sunny Saturday Vintage Fair

Yesterday I had a stall at the Red Rose Vintage Fair in Bexhill. It was an amazing summers day and lots of people stopped by to check out all the vintage goodies on offer.

I sold a real mixture of items including a few things I'd had for a while and thought might be destined for the bargain basket. It just goes to show I need to be patient - something I'm not very good at.

I also tried out selling some cute jam jars that I made up with pretty doilies and candy ribbons. They went down a storm. 

Small side plates were a hit as well.

Classic Vintage Penguin Books

A while ago I was having a rummage in the loft at my mums house and came across a little stash of classic vintage Penguin books.  Luckily my mum had forgotten they were there and was more than happy for me to give them a new home.  Since then I've managed to gather a few more to add to the ever expanding shelf.

Each of the different colours represents a genre.

The orange books, that we're probably most familiar with, are fiction.

The green books are crime.

I'm very chuffed to have found a book with the word 'vintage' in the title.

Blue is biographies and memoirs.

Pink is travel and adventure.

I have yet to find some in classic purple - essays, grey - world affairs, which I have never seen before and red - drama.  I expect there were less of these printed so are much harder to find.

Vintage Bank Holiday In Bexhill on Sea

Today I had a stall at a vintage fair in Bexhill on Sea.  It was held in a great location at a hotel over looking the sea.  The day started as a typical Bank Holiday, grey and cloudy but it didn't stop plenty of people stopping by. Eventually the sun did put in an appearance to finish everything off nicely.

I sold lots of pretty plates and glasses and was almost cleared out of vintage table linen.

Lots of people also took a trip down memory lane, remembering how their grandmas used to give them jelly in sundae glasses, not forgetting Angel Delight with sprinkles on top.

This pretty coffee set also attracted a lot of attention.

I displayed all my trio sets on shelves and popped some lilac from the garden into a tea cup as a finishing touch. 

(It smelt nice too)

My next stall will be on 26th May with Red Rose Vintage Fairs, also in Bexhill on Sea.

Pop-Up Vintage Fair

Yesterday I had a stall at the Pop-Up Vintage Fair in Hassocks, near Brighton. It was a very busy day with hundreds (over 900) vintage shoppers coming through the doors.  I didn't even get a chance to have a browse round any of the other stalls.

I sold loads of lovely items.  Vintage jelly moulds to be used at a wedding as table decorations, hand sewn table linen to decorate a kitchen table, pretty glass cake stands, small plates, sundae glasses and egg cups to be stuck together and turned into a cake stand!

It was a super-dooper fair, great shoppers, lovely stall holders and fantastically organised by the Pop-up Vintage girls.  The next Pop-Up Vintage Fair is 14th July - have a look at the poster below for details.

Vintage Furniture Revived

Today I brought (on impulse) a glass fronted display cabinet. Its 1930's style, but I can only hope that it was made in that era.  I love it's curved design and delicate style, but what to do with it?  Where would it fit in my house?

Eventually I came up with a plan.  Rather than use it for its true purpose as a display cabinet that you might find in your grandmas sitting room I thought I would put it in my bedroom.

After lots of polishing, shining and adding a piece of vintage fabric that I've had tucked away in a draw as a backing I was ready to go.

I decided to put all my cosmetic bits, bangles, necklaces, lotions and potions in it.  

I even managed to find space for a few bedtime reading books.

Now it's all done I'm really pleased with the way it looks. I think it adds a bit of glamour to the room in a quirky vintage way. All I need now is a carpet and the room will be complete.

          

A Vintage Easter - Polish Style

Its Easter weekend and time to enjoy the Bank Holiday.  For a bit of vintage style how about using pretty sundae glasses to put small chocolate eggs in? 

Or if you have one of the old chicken egg stores you could fill it full of chocolate treats.  So when the lid is lifted... its a chocolatey surprise. 

As my husband is Polish so I've decided to put all the gorgeous hand painted wooden eggs from Poland that I've collected over the years in to my chicken. 

Traditionally, Polish families make a special Easter basket with decorated wooden eggs, a piece of meat, a little salt and a slice of cake which is then blessed to celebrate the coming of new life.