A week away

It's all been a bit quiet here - sorry about that! We had a weeks holiday in Matlock, Derbyshire. How have you all been?

We had a lovely time: I was spoilt with lots of lie-ins, extra help with the Littlies and a trip to a fabric shop (more on that later!). What more could a girl ask for?!

We were quite lucky with the weather, and although there were quite a few cloudy days and heavy showers we managed to fit in lots of outdoor activities (aka wearing the Littlies out!) whilst it was dry.

A trip to Bakewell - a pretty little town. We had to cross over the river into the town - it was so high and the water was flowing so fast. There were little ducklings - literally balls of fluff! - which were trying so hard to swim.















There was a day trip to Chatsworth House. I've been there a few times now but I still really enjoy going - the gardens are just spectacular and so vast with lots of different zones - and the house is being constantly renovated.
 


 


In one of their tropical areas they had massive leaves which have always amazed with their sheer size - that's Little Mans hand and I can't even fit the whole leaf in the photo!













There is also a maze which bought us out at a flower bed full of peonies and lupins










(Apologies for the picture heavy post, I find Chatsworth so inspirational with all the colours and textures around the garden!)

Halfway through the week I was dropped off for a couple of hours quiet time at a fabric and embroidery shop, both of which I've visited before and have become a kind of Mecca for me when I'm in the area!!! Heirs and Graces is located halfway between Matlock and Bakewell in Darley Dale on the A6 and is housed in what I think is an old church/village hall. I always remember my first visit there a few years back and the 'wow!' I muttered upon first entering (which I still do!)















Look at all those fabrics! There are about five different aisles with fabric organised three bolts high and arranged by colour. It really is a sight for the eyes! And then, if you turn the corner, it opens up to another room with even more fabric and notions and thread!!!




















It really is a treasure trove! And Anne who runs the shop is lovely and helpful and was kind enough to let me take these pictures to show you. Their website is currently being re-done but I would recommend getting in touch if there's anything that you would like, or trying to pop in if you're in the area. Obviously it would have been rude not to buy anything......
















I bought a few cuts of fabric, most with projects in mind (looking at the colours, you might be able to guess the theme!) aside from the blue/red pattern in the bottom left which I just fell in love with and had to have. You know how it is!?! The accessories in the bottom picture are from the embroidery shop a few doors down which is also owned by Heirs & Graces and has a cafe which serves excellent coffee! From there I bought some curved safety pins for basting quilts - I promise more about the quilt teaser I showed you the other day very soon - and some perle cotton: I've been seeing some amazing hand-quilting across the blogosphere and I've been tempted into giving it a go.

So all in all, an amazing holiday. I'm going to leave you with an image of one of my most relaxing points of the holiday - it was evening, the sun had come out and the sky cleared after a fairly miserable day - and I sat out on the veranda in my pj's supping a glass of wine and enjoying the evening sky (you can just see my sock-clad feet at the bottom of the picture). Magical.















Hope you all have a lovely day (the sun is shining here today...at the moment, anyway!) and I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with more on the quilt!

S x

Today's sky ● blue with clouds

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