Sweet Things

 We have had a lovely easter time......i hope you have too...........the sun shone much more than we expected and we had some lovely garden days, including our easter egg hunt for the children......

 .................my daughter hid the eggs and put up the signs.......it only seems like a moment since we did this last year..............the children really love the hunt :)........we had our family party too and it was lovely to spend time with my parents and sisters and their families...............

 .................the bluebells are just coming out here..........perfect for rabbits to hide among.......

 ...............we had a walk in the nearby bluebell woods one day, and a walk by the sea another......and plenty of tea and cake and chocolate too...................

 ..........the tulips are giving us so much colour indoors, in small jugs and vases................

 .........and i decided to use the cream coloured dartmouth pottery vase that we found in grannie's attic a few years ago when we cleared it out.......when i brought the vase down from our own attic i discovered it had a wire plant holder inside which was perfect for holding each tulip..........

.............a close up of the beautifully patterned red and yellow tulip which looks as if it has been painted with a very fine brush........there is a bigger picture of the vase at the end of this post.........

...............daisy and i have been putting bunnies to bed this week, using this new little doll quilt that i made with pam kitty picnic fabrics............the pillow is one of my favourite ones and i would like to make some pillowcases for us in this sweet fabric too..............

 .............i added lots of applique hearts and red quilt stitches, as well as some yo yo's and a few bright buttons............the pam kitty picnic fabric can be found here and here.................

 ...............on the first day of the easter holidays a small, surprise parcel arrived here from a very good friend of mine........and inside the parcel i was delighted to find this adorable knitted baby bunny in a crib.............my friend is such a wonderful knitter, and has made the bunny, her clothes, the basket crib, pillow, mattress and blanket.............the lovely pattern is from dollytime here.......

 .............daisy loves playing with the baby bunny and her crib...........we had fun taking photos among the flowers too..............

 ..............i haven't had time to sew this week, but have lots of things planned and ready to go soon.......i have done quite a bit of crochet though and the granny stripe is growing quite well......i even made myself sew in some of those ends while watching a movie one evening so there won't be too many to do when the blanket is finished................

........thank you for visiting me, lovely readers and for leaving me such sweet comments.......it is a pleasure to hear from you and to find some new to me bloggers to visit too.....wishing you a wonderful week with sunshine, flowers and sweet things to enjoy..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Happy Easter

 We are just beginning our easter break here........we have plenty of flowers and chocolate eggs to give (and some fabric eggs to just look pretty) and of course some bunnies............

 ............here is this year's easter bunny, her name is lolly and she has just hopped home from an exciting time being featured in april's crafts beautiful magazine, and even being the cover girl.....

 ..............she is joining the other bunnies here, and is already a big favourite with daisy who knows each one by name and chooses different ones to play with on each visit here ...she has her own bunny, candy, at home too :)....................

 ................i made some fabric eggs a while ago, just for fun and because i love making old patterns with new fabrics and seeing how they turn out......oldies but goodies :)..........

 .............i seem to be collecting white pottery bunny egg cups..........

 ................half a dozen fabric eggs........china chickens looking a bit puzzled..............

 ...............we have also made (and already eaten) a batch of easter biscuits in the shapes of bunnies, eggs and chicks............i am going to make some more for our party on sunday.............

 ...........i love the pretty cookie cutters too, and store them in my new little drawstring bag.......

 ..............we have new bunny mugs for our morning tea..............i bought these and showed them to my daughter sarah......she had already bought the same ones :).............

 ...............this week i have been finishing three work projects, including a christmas one......(i am used to working out of season so luckily it doesn't seem strange any more).......i needed to get the projects made so i can fit in the writing and instructions over the next two weeks between family times..........

..............i have been out in the garden with my flowery patterned secateurs picking flowers for the easter decorating , and of course filling the big white bucket with tulips from my specially planted tulip cutting patch.....though i still feel a bit guilty actually cutting them.............they last ages in the house and look lovely indoors.............

 ..............my easter crochet project.........a granny stripe for my daughter rosie to match a quilt i made her a long time ago from amy butler fabrics in lovely fresh pinks and greens......it is for the sofa in their cottage conservatory.............i have also promised to make a grey stripy ripple for their sitting room........i have more small crochet things i want to make too and hope to fit them in soon........

..............thank you for visiting me here in my little blog space, lovely readers.......it is always a pleasure to have your visits and to read your sweet comments.......i wish you all a very happy easter, with sunshine, flowers and some special treats too.................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Home and Garden

 It's been a busy week here in my home and garden, what with working on some new design projects, having a crochet crush, tidying up for easter visits, finding the easter decorations, gardening,and watching for the ducks to arrive to dabble in our new pond..........

 ..............this pretty house applique is part of my crafts beautiful magazine project in the may issue....

 ..........there is also a cross stitched house for a spring-like new home card............

 ...........this week my sewing room is filled with patchwork and crochet...............

 ...............the blanket here is my work in progress autumn blanket, which i decided to finish by adding a few more granny squares and a border.......it is not actually finished yet, but nearly is......

 ..............the colours seemed to match the chickens which i'd got out for the easter decorating......

 .............and the tulips in my special tulip cutting patch this year are a mix of lilac pinks, yellows, peachy pinks, and very bright orangey reds...............

 .............i managed to snap some pictures of our visiting ducks, mr and mrs mallard.......they swam for a long time round and round the pond and slept side by side next to it for even longer.........at the weekend we added some more pond plants but i haven't taken pictures of those yet.........

 ...............the tulips are looking very bright and sturdy here but the heavy rain was making the shorter red ones bow over onto the soil, so i had to pick those and bring them inside yesterday.......

 .............indoors, in the warmth, they opened up their petals to become big blowsy flowers......

 .............i have lots of new easter makes and some baking to do, and some easter baskets to fill......next week i will spend some time with my little grandchildren which i am so looking forward to.............luckily i have found the beatrix potter easter egg hunt signs from last year as they want to use them again :)......we are having a family party on easter sunday so everyone can join in................

...............thank you for your visit, lovely readers...........it is always a pleasure to know you are here, and of course i lOvE reading your comments very much :)...............wishing you a happy week with lots of sunshine, flowers and time to craft, wherever you may be...............back soon xxxxxxxxx

Sowing Season....... and a Winner!

 Happy April everyone!.........the new month - as the old rhyme says -  really is bringing the primrose sweet and scattering daisies at our feet and i have a flower packed post today :).........

 .............all the daffodils and narcissus are flowering in our garden this week and there are lots in jugs and other containers around the house too.........as well as lots of flowery fabrics like the ones in this finished hexie cushion made with gorgeous, colourful pam kitty picnic fabrics............

 ...............the cushion will look perfect on the painted garden bench this summer............

 ............i may just have to make a few more too though my next project is going to be a flowery quilt..........and i began a new granny stripe crochet blanket requested by one of my dearies at the weekend.....

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 ............the bellis daisies have been a real pleasure to have in my sewing room over the past couple of weeks, such a cheery little flower shape and pretty colour................

 ..............the hexie cushion on the rocking chair, a nice and simple painted chair looks lovely with a patchwork cushion, i think..................

 

 ............some of our garden daffodils in full bloom.......this week i am sowing seeds and weeding the tulip patch which has begun to flower and as soon as more flowers are open it will be time for a photoshoot......a family of newts have moved in to the completed garden pond and last week two big ducks (mr and mrs mallard)  arrived to inspect it but didn't stay long, just had a paddle and a little rest...........

 ...............i love browsing through garden books and catalogues, including vintage ones, at this time of year especially........love all the ideas to try, and tips from gardening friends too..............

 ...............i was a very lucky mother this weekend and had lots of gorgeous gifts from my dear girls for mother's day............lovely things which will be appearing in my photos for quite some time :).......

 .............and speaking of gifts.......it is now time to announce the winner of my recent springtime giveaway.............the random number generator had to be used this time as there were a lot of entries (too many for a hat).....thank you so much to all those who took part and for your very kind comments..........and the winner is..........farmgirl sam...........congratulations, sam, and if you would email me your address i will send your parcel of gifts straight to you :)......................

 ...............i am busy working on some patchwork projects this week, so will be returning to the cutting table in a moment or two.........i'm creating a magazine commission as well as a new quilt for me so all the fabrics  neatly stacked in the fabric cupboard will soon be scattered far and wide while i choose the patches.............love it.....though not so much folding them all back up again later..........

..............thank you, lovely readers, for visiting me here and for your lovely comments which i do appreciate so much..............i hope you have a happy sunny week with plenty of flowers and crafts to enjoy..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxx