Greek bliss, purse kits and Quilts UK

Gosh, it seems such a long time since I last blogged, what a busy month! Even though it seems like an age ago now, we had a wonderful time in Kefalonia. We had been before, and it was still as wonderful and unspoilt as 13 years ago! As it was May and early in the season, the island's flowers were in full bloom and looked spectacular - why can't my garden look like this!! 

We stayed in Skala in the south of the island, and being shattered and only there for a week, we decided not to hire a car, but to explore the local area on foot instead... which one day turned into a 10mile hike up into the hills. We were headed for Old Skala but I have a feeling we took a wrong turn and ended up going much further, but these things happen for a reason, and man, was it worth it, the views were amazing! It was quite hilly with loose rocky paths, so a little tricky at times, but I'm so glad we got 'lost' on this stunning island!

On our return, I just had time to release some new Purse Kits into the Sewmotion shop. These were actually meant for the following week's show, but proved really popular with my newsletter subscribers. These kits come with all the fabric, plus zip, you need to make this cute English paper-pieced purse, and are £10 each. You can find out more here.

And then of course, it was Quilts UK in Malvern. As I may have mentioned in the past, I used to live in Hereford, about an hour west of Malvern where I worked for Doughty's. When we do this show, we're very lucky to be able to stay with Mrs Doughty who not only knows how to cook a fantastic Hereford steak, but also makes a damn good gin! Thank you Ruth!

This was my second year doing this four-day quilt show for Sewmotion, and I think this one was hottest one yet! We were in the marquee, and once it gets to a certain temperature, customers don't fancy hanging around too long when they could be in a nice air conditioned hall, and who can blame them! And of course, there was a certain Royal Wedding to compete with too... don't they make a beautiful couple!! Anyway, we still met lots of lovely people, including many newsletter subscribers - its always nice to put a face to a name. 

As those who were there know, I have added a third kit to my EPP Flower Cushion kit collection, this time using one of the bright and beautiful floral prints from Liberty's Cottage Garden collection together with a Makower spot. Click here to find out more about this kit, plus a link to my video tutorial series on how to make these cushions.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday.