CHSIstitches 2017

Stick a fork in me I am done! I spent Monday at the CHSI stitches show in Birmingham and boy was it a fun day ! A long one but a fun one! 

CHSI stitches is a trade show that held every year, a few months ago I signed up for some information and low and behold I had a ticket in my inbox the next day it was one of those pinch me please moments. Naturally as its a trade show you can't buy anything unless you have a shop but it was a great opportunity to talk to some traders about what new products they had and some of them were even kind enough to give me samples to try!

Which is why I caught a train at 6.50am to get there! #sleepyfrankie 

I also got to meet the lovely Jo from three stories high and have a cup of tea in the press room! Oh yeah I had a PRESS PASS guys! I actually did a little squeal when the lady printed it out for me so she clearly thinks I'm nuts!

Anyway there were some really great stands so here's a few pictures of some of my favourite inspirations from the show [I'm going to do separate posts on some of the samples I received!] I warn you this post is pretty picture heavy but its all so pretty!

These large scale building blocks from the west yorkshire spinners are just about the cutest things I've ever seen and they felt so soft!

This is a kit from Knitty Critters that you knit up and then put in your washer to felt! Its such a cool idea and gives a real heirloom feel to the bear! 

I got to see some real life samples on the vogue/Butterick/mcalls stand and boy are they well made! They also had catalogues off all of their patterns and I don't think I'd ever really thought about how extensive their range actually is! And the two ladies I spoke to just oozed class! Kind of reminded me of my Grandma!   

Toft Uk had these HUGE crochet project at their stand and now I'm starting to think I might actually need a six foot flamingo in me house! I darn't touch but I definitely spotted more than one person giving them a cuddle! 

The quilts guys! I saw so many beautiful quilts but this one might be my favourite, the colours were so vivid and the work was really intricate!

I loved the display on the Korbond stand and I had a really nice chat with Jenni Bob Taylor, and she was kind enough to show me a pre copy of her book! Its available to pre order now and looks like its going to be a good mesh of up cycling projects and sewing projects. Also shes just as nice as she appeared on the telly! 

These little felt monkeys stole my heat they are by Corinne Lappierre and can be brought here. Everything you need comes in the kit so I think they'd make a great gift for crafty kids!

I had a great chat with Elspeth Jackson of Ragged Life at her rag rugging stand. We also found that we were both taught crafts by our mums! And she had her mum with her! Shes also got a book out but the main thing that struck me was how great these would be for recycling fabric scraps! Oh and keeping cosy of course! 

This unicorn was made using quilling and they had hands down some of the coolest stuff I've ever seen done with quilling papers! All the designs were by Beca Russell and its a whole new take on quilling! 

I found this cheeky gnome on the Cygnet Yarns stand I have been reliably informed that he'll be a free pattern on the website soon too! 

I also spent a good amount of time hanging out at the Craft cotton company stand and It was so nice to put faces to the people I've been emailing over the past year! Plus they let me sit down and after so long on my feet I definitely needed that! 

This is a new product from EQS and its basically quilt by numbers its hands down the easiest way I have ever seen of quilting! I can't do it justice but you basically work all three layers of your quilt at the same time, whilst piecing and then you join them together. Its genius!  

I also got to meet the queen of sewing Tilly and the buttons and she was kind enough to try and answer some of my questions [She was being very cryptic!] But basically they have 4 more patterns coming out this year and shes also working of a BIG project! Which she couldn't say anymore about. She also said that whilst there's no plans for a TATB coat pattern at the moment she does have the idea for one in her head so if you want to see that harass her with tweets! 

She also called me the queen of Lilous which was pretty cool and made me really glad I chose to put on a lilou dress that morning! 

I also got to meet two of the directors from Abakhans with was really cool and I got to tell them about how awesome the staff is in Hanley! 

These Mannequins at the Caron cake stand made me want to make woollen wigs to match my knitted garments and they gave me an actual cake! They were promoting their Caron cakes which is going to be new to the uk. You can find it here on amazon but I'm not sure what the shipping fees will be like but guys believe me when I say the wool's were softer than a babies bottom. Its like a cross between a babies bum, a peach skin and a horses nose all wrapped up in a ball of self striping goodness!  

This stand is from Clara, A company that operates out of Cornwall and has some really cute craft kits from ages 8+. Its a mixture of 100% cotton fabrics and a wool mix fabric which is 100 times softer than any felt I have ever handled. Plus theirs some really cute designs and the lady who runs it was super nice! They also do party packs which contain four projects and are perfect from kids to do at parties, And ya know me when its my next birthday!

These Scissors from fiskars have flowers on and so do the rotary cutters so I'll just leave this cuteness right here! 

This stand was from Hoooked and they have a range of yarns and crochet kits! I especially liked these speech bubble which were made by crocheting over a plywood frame [Definitely giving these a go!] And I loved how passionately the man spoke about how being a sustainable company was important to them. They have a huge focus on recycling which is cool even down to the stuffing that's included in their kits! 

 And thats it guys! These are just a few of the things I saw and hopefully I'll be able to write up some more of it later.

As lovely as my day was It couldn't pass without some form of disaster! first of all I've got a mark on my shoulder from where was bag was rubbing me all day and secondly my train journey home was a nightmare!

My train was delayed, Its was packed and I ended up stood by the doors with 8 men. Then I missed my connection because of the train delay. Then I got on another train and low and behold its didn't stop where the man at the desk said it would. Their is nothing me soul destroying than being exhausted, having a sore shoulder, aching feet and watching your hometown flit past you. Luckily my mother in law was able to pick me up when to train finally stopped but I was still pretty miffed!

Anyway Much Love!!!

Frankie

xxx