Sew Sweet

 We are having the usual busy time here this week, just like everyone else is at the moment......i thought we could do with a bit of sugar today :)................the red and white scandinavian look has long been one of my favourites for the home and especially at christmas time...............

 ............so i loved making stripy fabric sweets and candy canes...........

 ...........and some pink and white sugar mice...........

 .................what could be more yummy than a jar filled with red and white sweeties and lollies?.....

 ..........the lollies were made using pinwheel patches and i have been making a red and white pinwheel mini quilt this week too.............the patterns for all the fabric sweets and the sugar mice can be found here......................

 ..............some real sweets, of course, i needed to buy some jelly beans for a recipe i was making.......

 .........which reminded me of this wonderful wrapping paper i bought a while ago, covered with sweetie jars........i bought it in the cotswolds months ago and just can't cut it up..................

 ...........i needed the real jelly beans for this recipe........white chocolate rocky road, which every one loved so much i have to make more......(the recipe was from the inspiring madelief's blog)..............

 ..............charlie and daisy came to tea here yesterday and i put up the small sitting room christmas tree for them to decorate (i will be doing the main tree a little later).......the children are fascinated by things like these decorations that look like sweets but aren't really..........

 .............they did a great job distributing the decorations on the tree quite evenly, apart from two santa ornaments on one branch arranged by daisy, but there was a reason for that, they were keeping each other company :)................after tea they each had a (real) chocolate lolly in the shape of rudolph as a special treat for helping me...................

...............i know most of my crafty posts of late have been about patchwork and i still have a bit of a crush on it, but my crochet is not forgotten..........i have been making a throw in neutral shades as a gift for one of my dearies, and also this little alpine scarf is currently being hooked up........more about my christmas making sooooon.....................

..............thank you for your kind wishes for mr p's birthday, he had a lovely time and we all enjoyed our sweet niece emily's 21st birthday party too.............thank you also, lovely readers, for coming to see me here at this busy time, i do appreciate your visits and your lovely comments .................i hope lots of sweet things come your way this week..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooxxx

Starry Stitching

 A couple of posts ago i showed you the english paper pieced stars i had begun to make.........i LoVeD sewing these.............it was really quite addictive.............

............and last week i decided to turn the pile of epp stars into a cushion, joined with teal diamonds........the optical effects of geometric piecing is often surprising................

 .........i made the stars over a couple of weeks, mostly while chatting to family and friends or cosily watching movies in the evenings...........

 

............after i'd made the first starry pillow i decided to make another with the remainder of the stars, but this time joined with white diamonds...........

 ...........they will look nice in our spare room, i think, which has a white and teal colour scheme.....

 ............i am making more stars with my diamond paper pieces now, in lots of different colours, for a quilt.........and to help with that new plan a wonderful selection of fabrics was sent to me this week by the lovely shay of simply sweet fabrics.................

..........shay got in touch with me recently, and it was such a treat to discover her etsy shop which has so many gorgeous fabrics including lines from the big fabric houses and also japanese imports........

 ..........the little collage above shows the sweet collection in my parcel from shay, all the way across the pond :) ........i know many of you will recognise the cosmo japanese tiny roses, scrumptious by bonnie and camille for moda, briar rose by heather ross for windham and the 30's collection by atsuko matouyama.......i could hardly wait to sew with them and before starting a bigger project i made a starry pincushion with some of them.................

 ........i love to mix up fabric lines and to try different combinations together............

 .............and after the starry pincushion i made a postage stamp pincushion too............and now i have begun my next quilt using these bright and cheerful prints.....will show you soon :).........

 ........this week we will be celebrating my lovely mr p's birthday, and my sweet niece emily's 21st birthday too.........and then, when the birthdays are over, it will be time to put up the christmas decorations.............i love the christmas lights and candles the most and always love to see the advent candles in the house windows..............

............this week the hyacinth bulbs came into flower, making the sewing room smell gorgeous......thank you for visiting here, lovely readers, it is such a treat to have you stop by my little blog space..........wishing you all a wonderful week, and a very *HaPpY ThAnKsGiViNg* to all who celebrate it..................take care and keep cosy.................back soon xxxxxooooxxxxxxxxx

Daisy's House Quilt

 This week in my studio i have been making projects for spring magazines........as i can't show those makes just yet i thought i'd show you this little quilt.........it was made a while ago using gorgeous pam kitty morning fabrics and named after my lovely little grand daughter who was just beginning to enjoy playing with dolls and doll's houses at the time....................

.............i love house images and have often drawn, painted, cross stitched and appliqued little houses in my work.......i also love home making and am fascinated by other people's homes too :).......

 ......... the pattern for my*daisy's house quilt* appears in my pretty patchwork gifts book.........

...........it is easy to sew, the applique fabrics are all backed with bondaweb, the pattern shapes traced on from the book, and cut out, then ironed in place and stitched round the edge with blanket stitch....or you could machine them in place...........i loved making daisy's house and plan to make a whole quilt filled with scrappy houses sometime soon :)................

............i also loved using the pam kitty morning fabrics, they were the perfect choice for this quilt, being both bright and very pretty.......now i am looking forward to working with some pam kitty picnic fabrics next.......... the little doll's moses basket here with bertie the bear cosily tucked up was brought back from barcelona for me by a kind friend, to use for the bunnies..........

 ..........lots of people kindly got in touch with me after my last post about english paper piecing and making doll quilts...........both are very easy to do and a great way to start patchwork and quilting......so if you are considering giving it a try please do :)........choose fabrics and colours that you really like and enjoy the process..........and make what you love...............

 ...............the daisy print from pam kitty morning was my choice for the backing of this little quilt....

 ............below is a picture of the new 2014 quilter's desk diary that i received this week.........it would make a great christmas gift ..........

.............and i was very pleased that my little hexagons quilt was featured on one of the spring pages.........there are lots of lovely quilts in the diary, a very varied selection from lots of beautiful quilting books........................

............you can buy the quilter's desk diary on amazon as well as in good stores...........and you can find the pattern for my little hexagon quilt in my pretty patchwork gifts book too..............

............are you feeling christmassy yet??........here are some more houses, this time snowy little cross stitch houses made into christmas tags for the latest issue of crafts beautiful magazine which is packed with fun festive ideas..........i stitched these houses when the weather was warm and sunny and the garden was full of flowers...............

 ..........i haven't actually started decorating for christmas yet, honestly....... but i wanted to make the tags look festive so i opened a box of baubles especially for the photo............it's been such a mild autumn here that i haven't felt christmassy at all and going into shops filled with christmas decorations and playing christmas songs just felt strange...................but i am making some christmas gifts and have sorted out some paper to make some pretty tags and it is nice to get all those things done in plenty of time without rushing at the last minute................

...........thank you for dropping in here, lovely readers, and for leaving me such sweet comments and emails..........i am looking forward to going on some blog visits myself now.............wishing you a very happy, crafty week............keep cosy............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Patchwork Pieces

It's a bright and sunny autumn day here, and i am glad to say that i managed to finish a few wip's this week.....not many, and not helped by a reminder from my lovely lady accountant that my paperwork was due on her desk :(.......but here is the little big dipper quilt i showed you when i first began it, using fresh lights, brights and whites.................

...........i love making doll quilts, they are a great way of exploring patterns and colours that may inspire a bigger quilt or other projects, and i have always liked to have colourful textiles around me while i work..............i am planning to make more little quilts to use as wall hangings..........

..............the big dipper pattern is one i have always loved for its liveliness and sense of movement.....

.............i took a few pictures with some cute creatures, like winnie the winter doll in the top picture, the little china bunny above, and below the mousie (who has her own bed) in a maileg high chair (perfect fit!).............you can also see some of my new rupert blocks from chipper nelly.............

 ............the quilt fits the much-used and now rather knocked about ikea bed that featured in one of my earlier books and is played with by daisy all the time......she loves it so much.......i might re paint it soon, maybe  pale blue next time.................

 ..........i wanted a fabric for the backing which had a sense of movement too and found this one in the depths of my fabric cupboard......

 .............although i finished some works in progress, as in two magazine projects, my tax paperwork and the little big dipper doll quilt......i also began some more wip's :)...............a while ago i bought some ready cut diamond paper pieces from sew and quilt .....i absolutely love english paper piecing and was so looking forward to making something with those diamonds.........

 ..............i picked out a pile of pretty fabrics for the kind of thing i had in mind..................

                                        .............and began making the six point stars..................

 ..............this is such a lovely, simple way to create lots of stars for an eventual quilt........

 ..............i have made patchworks using english paper piecing all my life and find it so easy and relaxing to do, and also the best way for me to make accurate blocks ;).......i like how it is portable and how you soon build up a collection of blocks..............it also means i can sew it while chatting to my dearies or watching a film or listening to radio 4.....................

 ...........besides the small six point stars i'm making, i also began cutting out some big eight point stars a while ago from a template in an old patchwork book.............i have only made one big block for that so far but will have a proper starry progress post soon, i think.............

.............thank you for visiting my little blog space, lovely readers..........it is so wonderful to see you and thank you for the sweet and interesting comments you leave, i enjoy reading them so much..........
wishing you all a wonderful, happy, sunny week......................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx