Oh Jemima, what a lot of feathers!

Now, this is a tale of caution from one who now knows a thing or two!

It all began quite nicely, one rainy day about last Saturday, when we stumbled out the door, squelching through the puddles, to arrive bright & early for the St Matthew's autumn fair... 9.00am sharp.
A brisk little bee line & I arrived at the linen department, my bleary eyes peeled for anything old & interesting of the textile kind. Immediately I was drawn to the sweetest rosebud strewn feather eiderdown, right within my reach (don't you hate it when someone gets there just before you & then suddenly you no longer have a choice!)
$5 sounded just fine to me!

 After heaving the said eiderdown & a pair of barkcloth curtains

 into a voluminous Farmers' bag, the little elderly Parishioner serving me really needed a cup of tea & a lie down, but instead, kindly kept guard over my bag behind the stall while I had a look around the other offerings. Without such gracious assistance, one is quite likely to wallop small children on the head with large bag in tow & for some reason they don't seem to like that very much.
We always go well equipped with various bags & lots of change & as usual found some interesting bits & pieces like crabapple & chile jelly, feijoas preserved with lemon, spiced apple butter, some pretty gardening gloves, a dear old childrens' book & a wee brush for the larder.

 Once home, coffee brewing, I got my prize eiderdown out of the bag to better assess it's condition. Mmm a bit musty..oh dear very heavy dark stains. Straight into the nappy soak it went. Sometime later, alas the stains & odd wiffy smell remained. Quite recently, I had read of a veteran textile lover carefully unpicking many vintage eiderdowns & happily retrieving the precious chintz to use for special projects. Right I thought, I can do this & heaved the bedcover on to my protesting washing line. About half dry might be about the time.."does it have a lining asked sensible Rob?"
Better have a look I thought...

 um NO! It does not, I quickly realized, as the first clump of damp duck feathers fell lifelessly to the paving below. Jemima! We've been foxed! Oh dear what to do! Do I sew it back up, leave it to dry & pass it on (to the next unsuspecting victim) or do I keep going? Well Nikki did it, I thought, surely I can manage. Two buckets full of feathers later I was deeply regretting such a decision & came up with another plan. "Turns" should do it.

"Ro-ob would you by any chance fancy swapping jobs?"
Look, it's just leaves for feathers..

He hopped from one leg

 to the other & then he said NO..mean!

Images of Jemima in my head

A little hum seemed appropriate, to take my mind off matters.
"The more it snows tiddily pom, the more it goes tiddily pom , the more it goes tiddily pom, on snowing"
oh yuck, now they're tickling my nose! It must have been the foxgloves/rosebuds that did it,

made it all seem so much more appealing in the story...what rot! Where's a collie when you need him?

CHARLIE! (borrowed cat) phew, here he comes

I am never eating chicken again!
And I am most certainly going to be "nowhere to be seen" on Wednesday morning when the bin man comes..no, don't tell me now that they could have gone in the compost.
It really is such sweet fabric..

reminds me of one of my favourite Sanderson prints

Anyone have any clever strategies to remove the remaining clingons on the underside?
Later in the week, I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw this basket in Connections, so like Betty's find over at Mrs Yappy Dog.
 My hard won rosebud fabric might be quite sweet to line the basket with, but I worry that we may find feathers in our sandwiches for some time to come.

I loved this idea over at Beehive Cottage so simple & so nostalgic somehow. Maybe it was the lick..you know the one..there's something on your face, out comes the hanky, lick & wipe it off. There, that's better isn't it! Lovely touch for Mothers Day..a little bunting of pretty hankies.

SO... do not under any fanciful, bright vintagey inspired, imagination think, that it is (or ever will be) a good idea to repurpose a feather eiderdown by disengaging the fabric from the eider!!! It is not.

Come on Jemima.

 Hope your week is light & free & fun.
Much

 ♥♥♥♥♥