Summer Sewing

 Happy new week everyone..........it is hot and sunny here at the moment and summer has really arrived..........i have been sewing some small things over the past week..... some are for magazine commissions for future publication so have to be kept secret for now, but some i can show, like this new cushion made with lovely tilda circus fabrics.......

 ............i made two economy blocks with the red elephant print fussy cut for the centres.... and two scrappy nine patch blocks............

 ............they were joined together and two simple borders added, one red floral and one aqua stripes...

 ............i have had quite a crush on the reds and blues in this range but there are lots of lovely greens and teals to use too in other projects...........you can buy tilda fabrics from sew and so here.......and visit tilda's world here................

 ............i added a little applique star and a tilda button to the finished cushion...just love a bit of extra embellishment here and there......

 ............think i will just have to make a quilt with these fabrics...i love the look of them with spotty and striped prints too and can just visualise a nice textured quilt made with them......

 ........below is a little work in progress picture of the quilting being done.........i don't always quilt cushion fronts before making them up but i do love the vintage modern texture of these prints that quilting gives them.....

 ...........and some flowers to match....picked from the garden and arranged in my new little strawberry jug from susie watson............perfect for summer time.....

 ...........the roses are all blooming and the scent on these warm sunny days has been gorgeous.....i will do a rose post  here soon i think before the time of roses is over............

 ...............it is also coming up to strawberry time too...the little pot below was a plant i bought from the garden centre and put in the greenhouse while we were away to keep it from marauding snails and so my daughter would water it........it repaid me by producing delicious ripe sweet strawberries very quickly.....they may be early fruiting ones though as my daughter bought some of the same plants and put them in her veggie patch and has also had fruit already even outdoors..........(am so happy that both my girls are now interested in plants and gardens and growing herbs and produce!!)......

 ..............when i'd photographed the picture above i realised that i wanted to make a bigger heart quilt (the one above is a mini that i showed here a while ago).......so before i knew it i was pulling red fabrics from my stash and finding pale background fabrics for the blocks....and then i had another work in progress ;) .......that's my summer sewing for now.......more to show you soon......

..............thank you so much for dropping by to see me here lovely readers....and thank you so much to those who take the time to leave a comment....it is a pleasure to visit your blogs too and i hope to do more of that this coming week...........wishing you happy sunny days and lots of gorgeous crafty inspirations as the days unfold..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Garden Days: Great Dixter

 Home again after a lovely week staying in the countryside in east sussex and visiting beautiful gardens...today i am showing you some pictures i took at great dixter.......above is the long border showing the ladybird poppies in full bloom......

 .............i've wanted to visit this wonderful garden for a long time so it was very exciting to finally get there on this trip......great dixter was the family home of gardener and garden writer christopher lloyd..........you can find out more here........

 ..............the flowers were just breathtaking.......so beautiful, so colourful, so densely planted and such a joyful mix.......(click on the pictures for a larger view)........

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 .........we loved all the contrasts of colour and shape........we also loved the nursery and the garden shop filled with pots and gardening implements as well as books and other garden treats.....

 ..............near the front of the house was a stunning border filled with foxgloves and poppies....

 ...........and below...more poppies in a bright tangle planted in the round steps designed by lutyens...

 ...............seeing this border below made us want to go home and plant a million more plants in our garden.....

 ...............loved the purple alliums with the yellow aquilegia....and rustic fencing and plant supports..

 ..............we stayed in a cottage on a farm a few miles outside tunbridge wells.......it was a grade II listed building beautifully converted to be comfortable for modern living but conserving many original features...........below are a few pictures of this pretty place......

 ..............i found a little bit of time for crafting in the evenings and added a few rounds to this granny blanket...........it is made up of granny squares and then a granny stripe border.........

 .............and here is a peek at another work in progress.....my new patchwork cushion made with economy blocks and scrappy nine patch blocks using tilda circus fabrics....more of this project coming soon...........and more garden pictures soon too .......

 .............one last view of great dixter's long border..........with blue sky and warm sunshine it was a paradise garden for sure.........

................thank you for dropping by dear readers it is lovely to see you and to read the sweet comments you take the time to leave too...........wishing you a wonderful week ahead with flowers and sunshine and blue skies.....................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Garden Notes

 A garden posy on my worktable to begin today's post..........after a week of sunshine and high temperatures, today we have had rain and the garden is glad of a nice cool drink.......

 ...............here is a view of our garden with the tree that my grandchildren love to climb in and sit on the low branches......

 .............this is my project in the new issue of crafts beautiful magazine out now....a decorated garden notebook and some pretty seed packets (below)....you can find out more here.............

 ..............for years we've had this beehive composter tucked into the cutting garden...i often show it on here as regular readers know.....and for years i've been telling people that no, it's not a real beehive and no, we don't have bees...........well we do now!!.............some wild honey bees have moved in and are busy buzzing in and out and round the garden gathering pollen from the flowers....quite an exciting and special thing to happen as we love to encourage wildlife in the garden..........

 ........(the bumblebee pincushion is from the tilda bumblebee blog hop in january........i am using it now in my sewing room ...)

 .................this is the new little arbour also called the sun downer seat as it catches the last rays of sunshine each evening so is the perfect place to sit for a cool drink at the end of the day.....the flower bed next to it has been replanted and is now beginning to grow and spread out...more pictures coming as it develops.....

 ..............and the flowery wreath quilt top is finished........i added butterflies to it.....

 .................lots of butterflies appliqued onto the blocks and fluttering around the borders...........

 ..............it is being long arm quilted at the moment so i hope to show you it finished very soon now.....below is my greenhouse this week, just to keep the pink theme.....

 ................the wisteria has been just gorgeous this year....we bought it only a few years ago and luckily we bought a scented variety (some of them aren't we have discovered)....the scent of this one is a bit like phlox and a bit like sweetpeas..........

 ...............one more garden picture.....the pink daisy pot and the iron bench..........

 ................and the roses......just beginning and i'm just picking a few each day......

.............thank you for visiting me here lovely readers and for your kind comments...........i will be taking a blogging break next week as we will be away.......staying in a grade II listed cottage deep in the countryside and visiting some beautiful well known gardens..........we are so looking forward to a nice rest and break but i will take lots of pictures to share when i get home..............have a happy time in the meantime everyone..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

May Gardening

 Here is a peek at the potting shed this week........there is a lot going on in the garden at the moment with plenty of things to do, like potting up the geraniums for the bright summer displays.......

 ..............of course there is a huge amount of weeding to do too and we have been working on that over the weekend....but mostly i love to potter between the greenhouse and the potting shed....

 ..............taking pictures and faffing with the things that seem to collect all by themselves there....

 .............there are lots of pink flowers to enjoy at the moment...and a pink patchwork cushion made for a magazine project a while ago..........i'm working on a patchwork magazine project again this week and loving it........

 .............the little terracotta pots are ones that belonged to grannie (my lovely mother in law) and i use them for displays as well as to put small plants in....each one is a slightly different quirky shape and they are very old and special to me................

 ........these bellis daisies were crammed into an old blue and white bowl and they seem to like it...

 ............and of course there is some garden inspired sewing to show you today too......

 ..........i have finished one of my two four patch garden quilts and this one is now in the pile ready to go to my lovely long arm quilter............i love the fabrics which are almost all pam kitty morning and lecien ones............they are so pretty and the pkm garden catalogue text print smothered in roses is a great way to evoke the garden feeling i think..............

 ................here are just a few pictures but i will show more when this has been quilted and bound...

 ............i look forward to using this one a lot...........

 ...............now i am back working on the floating four patch version and think the two will look pretty together eventually............one more picture now.......

 .............and finally here is a picture of our wisteria which grows at the back of the house, on the house and on a trellis fence which encloses the patio...........we are thrilled with how quickly this wisteria has grown and just love the flowers, the colour and the delicious scent.........

...............thank you for your visit here dear readers..............it is so nice to see you here and your kind comments are such a joy to read...........wishing you a happy week with sunshine and flowers and crafty inspirations too................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx