Friday 21 May 2010

Alive and Kickin'

I'm back!

Had a really great time in the UK.   Lots of walking, eating and talking.  Catching up with relatives, shopping AND hitting the charity shops (thrift stores for you guys in the US).  Bought so many books I had to leave most of my winter clothes with Mum so I could get everything else back :-)

I finally made it to Doughty's in Hereford and spent a happy couple of hours perusing and fondling some gorgeous fabrics.  I was bowled over by the choice and it took ages to decide what to buy and what to leave behind.  I could have happily bought up their entire stock of solids.

Finally decided on these.


The black with red, white and yellow stripes is a huge night shirt I picked up in a charity shop in Kent.  I so surprised that the shirts in these shops were so expensive.  £5.00 each!  However, I found two priced up at £2.00 - that's more like it!  This one and and a blue, red and white checked plaid which is in the wash.  There must be at least a metre in the night shirt.

I've created a Picasa album of photos I took whist on holiday.  Keep popping back as more will be added over the weekend.





Oohhh - I nearly forgot.  I travelled by TGV and Eurostar to the UK and had 3 hours to kill in Paris.  I finally managed to meet up with Will. We met outside Tissus Reine (the only place I could remember from my trip to see Tonya) and had the most gorgeous lunch at a lovely restaurant nearby.  Funnily enough Tonya and I also ate there!

We chatted for ages about all sorts of things - quilting, fabric, lliving in France, specifically Paris - and I've gained another lovely quilting friend.  Quilting friends really are the best!

I'm stilll unpacking and washing so will pop back soon.  I've got a few projects up my sleeve so watch this space!

12 comments:

Michele Bilyeu said...

Fabulous fun! Looking for your photos next!!!

Amanda said...

I've found that shirts are very expensive in the charity shops too, so using them isn't a cheap option, but at least there's the satisfaction of recycling something.

Fiona said...

Glad you had a good time - the rainbow solids are beautiful. Shirts are expensive in some charity shops - I think you can pick them up cheaper at car boots but I can never get up early enough!

Joyce said...

I love those dotted fabrics. Shirts are much cheaper than that here but it's hard to find 100% cotton ones.

Tonya Ricucci said...

Welcome back - glad you found some great fabrics. Isn't Will such a sweetie? No surprise you ate at the same restaurant since Will is the one who took me there in the first place!

Lily Mulholland said...

Welcome back! Glad you had such a great time on your travels and nice fabric scores too!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Welcome back - will be viewing your photos soon!

kwilta said...

Good to have you back Clare, seems like you had quite a hectic holiday. Just sorry we couldn,t meet up while you were in the UK.

YankeeQuilter said...

Sounds like a wonderful holiday!

Sharon said...

Glad you had such a great vacation. It sounds wonderful. Good fabrics too!

I haven't found many bargains in the thrift stores around here, for the most part. It's kind of discouraging. Oh well.

Will go look for your pix!

Unknown said...

Nice fabrics purchased! Can't wait to see what you create.


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Unknown said...

We are very lucky here - we have a Barnardos shop which sells all adult garments at 99p each - that's where I pick up virtually all of my shirts - I have to say that I think charity shops have become rather greedy our other shops are often pricing shirts at £5 plus