Cosy Times

Hello lovely blog friends....it's been a week of cosiness here.....taking a few pictures in my sewing room....

.......lot of candles, lamplight, quilts and cushions....and a few christmas decorations appearing....

.........tasty treats were baked for last weekend but no pictures were taken of them....i was too busy and then it was mostly all eaten....though here is just one little treat i made....chocolate cinnamon crumble squares from bbc good food.....very yummy.....

....we went on an outing to chester.........here are some photos of the day......

.....feeling very festive and it suddenly turned very cold too........

......... a favourite (very) old pub.......such amazing historic buildings in chester....always love to look at them even though i've been doing so all my life.....

..........and the lovely river view when the sun came out as we walked along the groves.....

.........river boat approaching (it's called the lady diana) and the bandstand in the foreground where we have often enjoyed music being played......after this we went to a cafe for tea and cake and a nice chat....

............at home again and here is my little toadstool house from our half term outing to the pottery cafe.....i secretly love this very much ;).......

..........this is a gorgeous fabric stack of new tilda windy days fat quarters.......this time i didn't wait to cut it up but launched straight in to make.......

...........this quilt.....featuring the little dog walking ladies in economy blocks......and lots of nine patches.....lots more pictures of this to come as i hand quilt it......the fabrics are delightful and create such a cosy effect......

.........thank you for visiting me here dear readers....and for your sweet thoughtful comments......i hope all my american friends had a very happy thanksgiving.....wishing you a wonderful cosy week ahead.....take care and stay safe lovelies.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Jingle Bell Houses

Hello everyone and welcome to my little blog space this week......where i have been sewing tiny houses....

..........these are jingle bell houses and they have been fun to make this week using scraps of red starry fabric, and lots of low volume prints, with red wooden buttons and of course......jingle bells.....love these rusty vintage style bells very much.....(pattern for these is in my etsy shop link in sidebar)....

.........we also had a nice outing to a real house last week......the beautiful rufford old hall in lancashire.....

..........so full of atmosphere and steeped in history...it is a small property and has a rather cosy feel...

.........the great hall with a carved wooden screen dating back to the 1600's......

........here is the tea table (tomorrow i am having an afternoon tea party at my house so this might be inspiring me)...... 

..........cosy bedroom with carved four poster bed and beautiful textiles........ 

...........althugh it was grey it was a mild day and we enjoyed walking in the garden and grounds.....

.....beautiful autumn colours and leaves whirling slowly through the air.....canal reflections and country views......we had lunch in the tearoom and a delicious cup of coffee......

.....and when we went back to the car i spied this right next to me......a spotty red and white toadstool waiting there just for me...even though it had been nibbled it was still lovely to see....(i know they are poisonous and wouldn't dream of touching it to those sweet friends who worry!!)......

..........off to do some house cleaning and baking now for friends coming tomorrow......

 .....thank you for dropping by dear readers and for your very kind and thoughtful comments...they are so appreciated......wishing you a lovely cosy crafty week ahead......take care lovelies......back soon xxxxxx

Lovely Liberty

Hello to all my lovely readers....thank you for joining me here again....we have lots of lovely liberty fabrics to look at today......

...........these were very kindly gifted to me recently by alice caroline fabrics......

..........so far i have made two items (though there will be more) ....the first is a dottie drawstring bag.....

........so lovely choosing the different little floral prints to go together........

.......it was fun deciding which cords and stops to use....the finished bag is at the top of this post (it's a gift for one of my dearies) and i think i might just make some more......

..........the second make is a tumbler cushion using liberty florals with a solid off white for contrast....

........this was made with english paper piecing.......and once the patchwork was finished i hand quilted it before making up the cushion......

........it is finished off by tying ribbons at the top opening.......

.........both the pattern for the dottie drawstring bag and the tumbler cushion can be found in my etsy shop link in sidebar......

...........here is this week's quilt stack topped with a baking bowl full of vintage spools.......

.........and finally a peaceful autumn scene from our lovely walk today.....

.........thank you as always for coming to see me here and for your very kind comments.......wishing you a wonderful autumn week ahead with happy days and crafty inspirations.......take care and stay well lovelies........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

A Nice Day Out

Hello and happy november everyone......we went on a lovely day out this week and here are some pictures to share with you (just click on the photos to enlarge them if you'd like to)......this is erddig hall in north wales (about a 40 minutes drive for us)......it was built during the 17th and 18 centuries and is one of our favourite places to visit and to walk in the grounds and gardens.....

........the gardens were bright and colourful and it was a very sunny day with blue sky as you can see....

..........the house was partly open this time......just the servants' quarters which are my favourites.....

..........love the aprons hanging up.......i always enjoy seeing dairies and sculleries......

.........as well as laundries......love the old textiles often on display......

.....love the sense of the past and the history of the house.......you can find out more about it here......

..........the pattern of tiles on this floor is exactly like a quilt.......

.........this greenhouse is full of winter pansies getting ready for planting out.......

.....we went into the cafe for some lunch and bought a couple of things in the gift shop....its always a pleasure to support the national trust and we love visiting these properties......

.........heading home along the lane between the autumn leaves.........home to my quilt which i have almost finished hand quilting......i hope to show it all finished very soon.....think it's one of my favourites......

 ...........thank you for dropping by dear readers and for your sweet comments......hope you enjoyed our little outing today.....wishing you a happy week with lots of crafty inspirations......take care lovelies......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

October Stars

Hello there dear readers.........here are some pictures of the little october stars quilt i showed you a peek of last time.....

.........i have made many star quilts in the past but never one in these colours....i had lots of black and indigo charm squares left over which were perfect for making a variety of appliqué stars.......

.......and i used some peachy Kona cotton solid for the background squares and lots of low volume cream fabrics for the alternate squares.......here's the quilt with some of the many mushrooms growing in our gravel path........

.........and below in the potting shed.......

.........a crumpled quilt shot...always a favourite of mine....love all the quilty squishy texture......

.............here is a close up showing the border (a French general red and cream floral) and the binding....a nice black and white stripe....

.........because this quilt is very newly made i haven't written the actual pattern for it yet, but you could make my star gazer quilt pattern in these colours and get the same effect.....(star gazer is in my etsy shop link in sidebar).....work in progress shot below.......

.......we've had lots of pets in our family over the years...but never a pony..... till now.......this is beautiful bluebell who belongs to my daughter sarah and grand daughter daisy.......she is a lovely pony with a very sweet nature.......she has settled down well, is perfect for daisy to ride and is keeping my daughter especially busy.....

..........we have had a lovely half term week with family times, outings (one to a pottery cafe where i painted a toadstool house....) and a birthday celebration too....my beloved eldest grandson charlie was 14 years old yesterday and we all went out for dinner.....he is a lovely thoughtful boy and taller than me now.........

............beautiful berries on one of our walks.........

..........and the cottage garden with lemon yellow leaves on the tiny willow tree and bright pink flowers blooming on the hebe......there's even a late pink rose still flowering there........but the leaves are falling every day and soon the trees will be bare.....

 ..........finally a cosy quilt stack and some pumpkins to end today's post as we arrive at the end of october and halloween weekend......it's been such a lovely month.......thank you for calling in to my little patch to see what i've been up to......and thank you for the kind comments you leave me, i do so appreciate them..... wishing you a happy week ahead as we move into november.......take care and keep well lovelies....back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx