Cottage by the Sea

 Hello again lovely blog friends............here i am back again from a lovely trip to beaumaris on the isle of angelsey..........just getting back to normal and catching up with things here after feeling very relaxed.....

 ....we stayed this time in quirky little apple tree cottage built in 1770 .....lots of nooks and crannies and interesting details......

 ............as regular readers know i always take a quilt or two away with me and this time it was the turn of two blue and white ones......they suited the cottage very well and i had fun photographing them in the different rooms....

 ...........i loved all the nauticalia in the rooms and the wonderful little sliding windows dating way back....behind the cottage was a garden winding up the hill with a summer house at the top.....hope to share some pics of that too later....

 ............we were staying here so my hubby could sail in the menai straits regatta which he really enjoyed.......

 ..........my elder daughter and two older grandchildren came to stay for a couple of days and we had some fun times......

 ...........crabbing on the pier, having fish and chips and ice creams....pottering round the shops....watching the boats and looking out for grandpa's boat especially.......and enjoying the blue sky.........and not minding a bit of rain now and then.......

 ...............love a blustery walk along the pier and the fresh sea air.......

 .............watching the boats......and shopping in this stunning new home shop recently opened by the lovely janet bell........

 ............here's a peek inside......loved the sweetpeas growing round the door......lots of wonderful things and you can buy from their website too here.........

 ............a last view of the menai straits for this year............such a peaceful place........

..............thanks for dropping by to see me here dear readers it's always lovely to have your visits and to read your kind comments........wishing you a wonderful week ahead..... back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Quilts and Gardens

 Happy new week lovely readers...and happy august too....it's been a busy week for me with lots going on...above is one of my 'quilts in the garden pictures' with my flower market quilt.....it has cherries appliqued on it and so has my new little quilt below.....

 .........this is actually called the little cherries quilt and is the third in my series...little apples is already in my etsy shop and little plums is finished and nearly written up.....

 .............i used lots of tilda scraps in this quilt combined with a beautiful soft and subtle lecien fabric...a very peaceful project with lots of hand stitching which i did in the garden.....

 ............we had a very inspiring day at the amazing festival of quilts at the nec, birmingham....it has been described as the ultimate patchwork and quilting experience...and that is so true.....there are quilt galleries filled with historic and modern quilts, stunning competition quilts and art quilts....and there are shops filled with gorgeous fabrics and notions, patterns and kits......and there are workshops and demos and wonderful designers from all over the world to meet..............

............this little historic quilt is the bloomfield coverlet 1850 now in the quilters guild collection....it is pieced and appliqued in a beautiful and unusual way and has cross stitched quotes in squares which really appealed to me......this quilt inspired a series of new quilts by members of the quilter's guild which were also on display.....beautiful and so inspiring............

 ...........one day last week was world embroidery day so i had to photograph some of mine....above is an applique and embroidered flower pot which will be part of a new project....and below is one of my red and white samplers stitched years ago on a holiday in france......

 ............i designed the sampler, printed the chart and packed the linen, needle and thread so i had my own kit and stitched lots of happy holiday memories into it......this one has never been published so i might make it into a chart for my etsy shop soon...........

 ...........the cottage garden is frothy with cosmos at the moment..........

 ...........i picked all the sweetpeas last week and now a new crop has grown...love how sweetpeas do that ....

 .........this has become a hot border............the heleniums love it here...........

 .............and here is the flower market quilt in the garden again on my lovely white picket fence..... still enjoy having this little fence and gate that hubby put up for me last autumn.....and i'm sure i always will...so much potential to hang little signs on and style up with quilts and flowers.....

...........thank you for dropping by to see me here dear readers and for the kind comments you leave...it's so lovely to hear from you.....next week i'll be taking a blog break as i'll be away on the sunny isle of angelsey...........you can still find me on instagram or see you back here after my trip.....wishing you happy times and sunshine till then.......xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Patchwork and a Heatwave

 Happy new week lovely readers................it's a patchwork week here at my house...lots of it...beginning with this little cushion made with english paper pieced diamonds which i showed you recently as a work in progress......i stitched most of it when we were in norfolk...............

............i used a pale grey polka dot fabric for the backing..........

 ...........i love the yuwa fabrics used in this patchwork..........and as there were some scraps left over on my cutting table i decided to use them up and made some tiny fishes...........

 .............such pretty soft colours.............and i always love a stripe or two.............

 ................the sweetpeas in my last post were snipped and brought into the house to enjoy......

 ..............i even had some next to my sewing machine so i could savour the scent....just gorgeous..

 ...............some patchwork being sewn....in sweetpea-like shades......

 ..........these flowers look beautiful in any container including an old jam jar.....but i do love them in a susie watson spotty jug.....the small neck of the jug holds them so nicely....

 ................last week we had a heatwave here....it was no fun at all.....just soaring temperatures and humid days and nights......the heat was so intense and unrelenting that it was hard to get anything done....(and we aren't used to it here in the uk!) ......the coolest place in our victorian house is the cellar which is always icy cold so a good place for a cool down......

 ............anyway the heat passed and little molly our dog has stopped panting now.....and the pretty summer quilts are back on the beds..........

 .............this is my farmer's wife quilt from a few years ago......with jack rabbit on the bedside table...

............thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for your kind comments........wishing you a wonderful week ahead with sunny days (but not too hot!), sweet flowers and some lovely crafty inspirations too..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sweetpeas and a Nice Day Out

 Happy new week dear readers...........we have lots of sweetpeas flowering here at the moment so i just had to take some pictures to show you.....

 .............every year we plant sweetpeas and watch anxiously to see how they are growing.....worrying when they seem not to be making progress or appear rather small......and then usually they do get going and we have some nice bunches to pick.....

 ..............this year was the same, with cold and wet weather at the start of the season......but now we have lots :).................

 ..............and some pretty posies indoors...on my work table matching the threads......

 ..............and the fabrics....i even made a log cabin block for my quilt with sweetpea colours....

 ...........and here are some pictures of  our nice day out at the RHS Show at tatton park in cheshire.....

 ..............i went with my eldest daughter  (my ticket was part of my birthday present) and even though we picked the rainiest day it was still lovely and  lots of fun (it didn't rain ALL the time)...

 .........all the plants and flowers were amazing....look at these magical sweetpeas......

 .......we love the little back to back gardens most and this one was the winner....so pretty.....

 .......we definitely need more clematis in our garden so it looks like this......

 .......and what did i buy from this lovely flower show...?   some beautiful delphiniums for the cottage garden.............i will be planting them this week and on slug and snail watch for sure......

.........thanks for dropping by to my little blog space lovely readers and for such kind comments.....it's always lovely to hear from you....wishing you a wonderful week ahead with sunny days, blue skies and plenty of flowers.................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bright Summer Sewing

 Happy new week dear readers......it's a sunny bright and cheerful one here.......

 .........with lots of new sewing supplies brightening up my work table.....and i'm busy sewing projects for my new book every day.......

 ............we have just had a very busy weekend which didn't leave much time for gardening.....

 ............or photo taking.......but here are the super bright petunias we planted at the base of the new clematis flowering happily.......and below is a pretty pink hydrangea of a type i haven't seen before tucked into a corner of the cottage garden.....this one was a birthday present from one of my girls (they know me so well) xx..........

 .............the lavender is out and the bees are loving it......the fence got splashed with mud after heavy rain......might have to wash it....:)

 ...........here is a block for my log cabin quilt......looking forward to joining the blocks (some day!)...

 .............there is a roses and stripes theme that seems to have developed all by itself.....which i'm very happy about....

 .............the diamond english paper piecing i began on holiday is almost finished....

 ............i might be able to show you what it's for next time....

 ................and on a red white and blue seaside theme here is my cross stitch project in this month's crafts beautiful magazine out now.............

 .............off to unroll one of my delicious sushi rolls from lecien fabrics now and stitch up something pretty............

..........thank you so much for visiting me here lovely readers and for taking the time to leave me a comment.......it's so nice to hear from you........hope you have a lovely week ahead with sunny skies and flowers to fill your days.................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx