Flower Garden Quilt

 Today we are enjoying a floral theme......this summer our flower border has been especially colourful and it's a pleasure to make little posies of these bright blooms to enjoy around the house.....

 ............one of our favourite quilts is the flower garden quilt shown here.......

 ..............i made it years ago, inspired by a flower power project i did for a magazine......i love bright applique flowers on a white background and the lovely texture the quilting creates..........

 ..................here it is in the potting shed for a quick photo shoot of the whole thing (practising for when i go out 'into the wild' with my quilts :)............

 ................in the garden now, on the metal bench.........

 .............i might make a version of this quilt again using some of my current favourite fabrics.....

 ..............this one was a real scrappy quilt and i used anything i could find at the time to create the bright flowers, including cutting up a recycled dress.............

 ..............it's nice to still be enjoying it...........below is a picture of the gorgeous snapdragons in our flower border.......

 ..............and we have masses of these sunny daisies (i think they are heleniums).....

 .............below is a new work in progress.............the scrappy stars quilt is well underway now.....

 .............it's fun to do because each one is different and the variety of blocks should make a very lively design when it is all sewn together..............

 .............we are having a fun summer here indoors and out, with family and friends......i am fitting my work in too and have a lot of new things in the pipeline which i will be able to show soon..........

...............thank you for dropping by lovely readers and for the sweet comments you leave me.......wishing you a wonderful sunny week ahead filled with happy days and crafty inspirations......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Summer Blues

 Happy new week everyone...and happy new month too.......today's theme is blue as you can see....

 ................i love blue and white together any time of year but especially in summer.......

 .............the blue and white cushion i made last year is in use a lot this summer both indoors and outside in the garden.........here it is with the beautiful blue agapanthus flowers which are having a good summer here on our patio.......

 ...............here is the blue and white checkerboard quilt also having an airing in the garden.....

 ......i haven't yet tried taking pictures of my quilts 'in the wild'....the garden is as adventurous as i get........but i think i'll try and go further afield soon :).......

 .............blue lavender.......one of my favourites and now it is time to cut some for drying to make lavender sachets again.......

 ...............adding more hearts to my red and blue hearts quilt each week as well as working on a gazillion other projects......

 ..............this time of year is super busy for me as i look after my grandchildren for some of the holidays too.....they are so adorable and such fun.........

 ..............making these little heart blocks using hand sewn applique is a quick crafty fix.....and they soon sew up into a bigger block by machine when a few have been made......

 ................next i have some exciting news.....here is a peek at the christmas design i created for sew and so's secret christmas stitchalong......if you join the modern folky inspired stitchalong you'll have a handmade cross stitch piece ready for the start of the season.........

 .....a new motif will be released weekly (12 charts in total) and a materials pack is available to pre order........find out all the details at sew and so here............

............thank you lovely readers for dropping by to see me here and for leaving such sweet comments.......wishing you a wonderful week ahead with lots of happy crafty times......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Summer Brights

 Here is a post filled with summer colour today......both indoors and out we are surrounded by summer brights..........

 ....i've been making lots of english paper pieced diamonds inspired by my star quilt (on the cover of my book below) and using the same templates but with a few tweaks for a different effect......

 ............using old fabrics, new fabrics ....exploring my fabric stash anew and even snipping bits off long hoarded favourites i am making a huge scrappy diamond collection..........

 ...............and then turning them into scrappy stars.....and then hexie blocks with some solid fabrics....

 .............and a little applique circle in the middle, a bit like a dresden or a flower.....

 ................having a lot of fun with all the pattern and colour...........

 ..............and still in between times working on our garden........lots of flowers and colour inspiration there like these daisies......

 ..............and the border becoming even more lush after the torrential rain we had last week.....

 ..............and look....we have a hollyhock.....it has grown to a wonderful height (and has only a tiny bit of snail and slug damage to the lower leaves!)......so happy we grew a hollyhock and now we'll get more......

 .............here's a close up...........it looks so beautiful with all those petals though i love the simpler kinds too............love these flowers...they look like pom poms.....

 .................a quick picture from the greenhouse below with busy lizzies and geraniums flowering in the heat..............

 ..............and now here we are already at the end of july....it has gone so fast my star-spangled birthday month.........looking forward to august though with lots of time with our little grandchildren....seaside....gardens......outings....friends............lots of crafting and sewing.....

.................thank you so much for dropping by dear readers and for the lovely comments you leave me..............wishing you all a very happy august wherever you may be with lots of sunshine and plenty of crafty inspirations........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

House and Flowers

 Here is a new little house pincushion ......it is my project in the latest issue of crafts beautiful magazine and i loved making this from felt and adding flowers, buttons and embroidery.........

..............there is also a paper crafted tag to accompany the little house as a gift for a stitching friend...

 ................it's been a busy week here with gardens to grow and tend, sewing to sew and design and now school is out for summer more time spent with my little grandchildren too..........

 ...........i put some bright flowers in this vintage jam jar on the kitchen windowsill......

 ..............here is the newly planted flower bed next to the new arbour.....the flowers are growing up very well..........we have lots of lavender, mallow, nasturtiums, snapdragons, daisies, honeysuckle and euphorbia.............

 ................there are pots too filled with bright petunias and other summer flowers.....

 ............and some beautiful...but fleeting.....pink poppies which i planted from seed just a few weeks ago into the spot where they flowered....so pretty......the hollyhock is almost flowering now too which i am very pleased about....:)

 ............some sweetpeas to bring indoors..............these were in my studio for a few days....such a gorgeous scent to work with.....

 ...............i did a bit of baking and made some scones....... i sewed this little cloth to fold around them in a little white basket......blue gingham fabric bound in red gingham readymade binding......

 .............new fabrics have arrived from the wonderful pretty fabrics and trims....these are arbor blossom by ellis and higgs for riley blake...........such a pretty collection...........new sewing is on it's way right now :).......

 ...............this week i plan to cut some lavender for drying.....do some exciting new magazine work...and begin a new english paper pieced project for the evenings.... i find can't just watch tv any more i have to sew, knit or crochet at the same time.....

...........thank you for dropping by to see me here dear readers and for your lovely comments.....wishing you a wonderful week with happy crafty times wherever you may be....and some flowers and sunshine to enjoy too................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx