I have almost finished a piece about a girl and her chickens, it has a lovely lavender filled border and a summer blue sky, I want tomorrow, to start a piece about the snow and little hungry birds being fed by a lady on her way home from the shops, weighed down by her shopping. I am having more space around my figures and trying very hard not to be tempted to squash as much in as I can, I keep listening to Janet Bolton's voice in my head "Less is more, less is more" like a mantra.

I listened to Cath Kidson http://www.cathkidson.co.uk/ today on Woman's Hour BBC radio 4 being interviewed by Jane Garvey and it made me nosey to go into one of her shops in Winchester's high Street. The shop has been opened for quite a few weeks and until today I had not ventured in. I have seen her fabrics so many times in magazines and catalogues that now it leaves me quite overwhelmed and numb, however what I did enjoy looking at very much was the real vintage pieces of fabrics, ironically I thought, put into frames and dotted around the walls of the shop. I also enjoyed looking at her crazy patchwork which was hung in the stairwell and crazy patchwork upholstered chair on display in the window.
I think she has done a great deal of good for textiles in general, this warm comforting feeling that is portrayed by 'homemade is cool' and 'have a go yourself'. I like to think that this confidence boosting marketing will not only encourage all women under the age of 30 to pick up a needle and thread or a pair of knitting needles but will make the youngsters have a go at sewing to, I am all for that, I can not think that there is anything more satisfying than the pleasure of making something yourself, either to eat, wear, use or to look at. I would be truly lost if I stopped making.
The Colouricious television programme that I was filmed for is very much about the pleasure of sewing, it is all scheduled to be shown later in the autumn http://www.colouricious.com/ it is going to be shown on Sky TV on www.countrychanneltv I wonder how it will be received? I hope it inspires the love of textiles.