Counting the Blocks

Time for a little look at the farmer's wife quilt blocks i've been making, i think.....every now and then i make some and put them in the little white basket where i keep them....but this week i decided it was time to count them and see how many i'd got now.......and with perfect timing and serendipity two beautiful flower blocks arrived from lovely fee at chipper nelly......the strawberry and rose one  shown here was my heart's desire :) .......

...............these quilt blocks are called basket weave and homeward bound and are two of my favourites.......

...................fee's chipper nelly blocks came wrapped in dotty cellophane and tied with sweet matching ribbon and a vintage button.....they are as delicious as chocolates to open :) ...........

..........the rosy strawberry one looks so pretty on my dresser with the rosy china, as well as with the patchwork quilt blocks made with rose and strawberry fabrics...........

.......so i counted my blocks so far....here is the little pile.......i have made forty three........the lap size quilt needs fifty!!! .....but i'm so enjoying this project and the slow pace of it that i think i'll maybe carry on a bit longer and make it bigger than that......we shall see :)

..........this one is the strawberry basket......some of my old cath kidston fabrics came in nicely for this one....

 ...........these two blocks are also favorites, they are evening star and snowball.......using lecien flower sugar and pam kitty morning fabric.......

 ............my second beautiful block from chipper nelly is this richly decorative floral one shown here with a bit of  lecien yellow paisley fabric and some adorable rosy pink pkm.......

                                           ..........this one is called duck and ducklings................

 ............and here is my latest wip.....the small triangles are all ready to sew together to make up the block called windblown square..........i'll be sewing this watching the olympics tonight .......since i started using the patterns from the farmer's wife quilt book i have improved my traingle making a lot ;) ....they are much more precise now and i have stopped accidentally chopping the points off :)

..........it's been a busy week here this week, filled with friends, children, grandchildren, working on my book's first pages, doing magazine work, and being held up sometimes by an on/off internet connection.....life certainly is BuSy...hope you are having a happy week and enjoying some sweet summer days .........back soon xxxxxxx

Sewing Strawberries

 Someone new has hopped into our sunny flowery garden today and her name is little strawberry.....i made her a while ago when i received an order of gorgeous pam kitty morning fabric and i just knew the strawberries on blue design would be perfect for a bunny.......these little rabbits just seem to multiply here...a bit like bunnies do in real life :)................

                             ..............my favourite cereal bowls have strawberries on (and in) too.............

 ...............there are so many ways to pose a bunny......i decided to show little strawberry with the strawberry sampler page from one of my books, published a long time ago and called the cross stitch garden notebook..........i've had a thing for strawberries as decoration since way back to my early designing days....

 ...........lots of people have kindly asked about the rabbits i make and if i have patterns for them.....there is a bunny pattern with lop ears in my book simple sewn gifts, and next year the new bunny pattern will be published too....i will tell you all about it nearer the time......

 ............more strawberries....fabric ones this time.....i love these, having first seen fabric strawberries in a textile museum a long time ago i was thrilled when i found a pattern to make them myself and have done so ever since....they have been made as pincushions for centuries but making them now in fresh new fabrics instantly updates them....there are lots of patterns of varying sizes, and you can find them easily on the internet or in general sewing books...............

                                          ...............a yummy pot of strawberry jam..............

                                            ..........and a dish of fabric fruits to enjoy...............

 .........yesterday, just in time for my strawberry themed post a lovely gift arrived for me from my sweet friend koralee at bluebirdnotes..............it was a copy of the latest issue of the wonderful  creative magazine called where women cook....

.....this is koralee's gorgeous project...so deliciously designed, styled and photographed as you would expect if you know her lovely blog......i will definitely be trying some of these recipes myself as well as enjoying the rest of the magazine......thank you so much, koralee....i will be emailing you x

 .........one more thank you too today before i go this time to victoria at tangled sweetpea who gave me this pretty blog award.....thank you so much, it is so appreciated :)

........little strawberry and i are off for a little wander round the garden now, a bit of evening watering is needed as we had a very warm and sunny day today in our little patch :)......and then i will be sewing a block for my farmer's wife quilt....yes, still doing it....must have a show and tell of the blocks very soon..........
thank you for dropping it to see me here, it's always a pleasure to have your visits......wishing you a wonderful  week......with sunny  summer days and maybe some strawberries and cream..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flowery Things

 A few weeks ago i decided to make a crochet project bag using some of the yarn left from my first ever big bright crochet blanket that i made last summer..........as you can see i made the bag with simple granny stripes....

..........and lined it with a sweet tanya whelan rosy aqua print....i also lined the strap with the same fabric.....these flowers are from my cutting patch....some of them turned out to be a very bright orange (unexpectedly)......

.........when i'd begun to make the project bag i decided to have lots of crochet flowers on it, and made some simple ones in matching colours...............and then i found i had won a surprise giveaway over at green rabbit designs, from my lovely long time blog friend vivienne.....three lovely flower corsages.........perfect for pinning on my coats, cardigans....and  especially on my new project bag too :) ....i was delighted ..... vivienne is so talented at knitting and crochet and makes some lovely things...you can find her shop here.............

.........thank you again, vivienne :)............. here is the biggest crochet rose corsage pinned in place and matching so well.......

...........some flowery cross stitched china is next....this is my little vintage kitchen design made recently for a  crafts beautiful project...... i decided to mat the little design on card to make a hanger rather than framing it........this is a good inexpensive way to show small pieces of needlework...........the pinny hanging up with it was a gorgeous birthday present...........

...........lots of charts and patterns are now available to download for free from the craft beautiful site, including ones from earlier issues, so have a look if you'd like to see what's available here.............

............this is my set of beautiful new cards from the talented painter claire leggett, who is also a long time blog friend of mine (her blog is paint drops keep falling)...........i love claire's work and ordered a set of her new cards as soon as i saw them....in fact i was the first person to do so and claire  kindly sent me some special extras to celebrate...some lovely fabric, buttons and ribbon and a sweet print....all of which i will show you soon........the card pictured above is from a painting called 'tea at the pavillions' .........

 .........this one is called 'teatime'...........i think they are all lovely and if you would like to see more of claire's work her online gallery is here................

.........off to work on another project now......i have several on the go as usual, and as long as i keep working on them all a bit at a time that's fine......work projects in the day......things just for fun in the evenings and weekends.........each one in a special bag like my new one :)  ......i am working on something for a giveaway and soon it will be ready.............wishing you a wonderful week.........back soon xxxxxxxx

Rosy Lavender Quilt

 This little quilt in soft and pretty rose and lavender fabrics is finally finished and hanging in my studio for a few days for me to enjoy looking at.......i began making the four patch blocks and joining them together by hand last summer after being inspired by the lavender farm at cheristow in devon.......i got as far as partly quilting it also by hand, when a top secret project intervened and it was put away till now..........

 ...........i used a lovely piece of lecien rose paisley fabric for the main patches and the binding....this fabric just made me think of vintage eiderdowns as soon as i saw it.........the lavender fabrics and the aqua ones i used for contrast all came from my stash............

.............i love all the shades of purple around in the garden at the moment too..........

 ...........some of the lavender is in flower especially the deep blue purple and the french kind with the mauve frilly tops.......and there are lots of sweetpeas in these shades.........these are from my cheap and cheerful pots bought from the greengrocer at the start of the season and quickly planted in the cutting patch with a wigwam of canes......the other sweet peas i ordered from a leading grower were very late arriving and are still tiny, nowhere near flowering yet........i'm hoping they will make up for it soon but in the meantime the cheap ones are providing me with a sweet posy or two every day..............

 ................i received some pretty presents for my birthday like this gorgeous greengate latte cup.............

........the rosy lavender quilt was washed and tumble dried to achieve that wonderful crumpled vintage look....my new favourite thing........i can't wait to make another quilt now :)............

 ..........a little bunch of our own lavender that i managed to harvest this week when it had dried off a bit in the brief sunshine we luckily had...........i love to dry big bunches of it and save it for lavender bags and to add to pincushions and pillows..............

 ...........these are the cakes i made for my daughter rosie's birthday last week..........she was with me when we found the vintage rose cake toppers and cases in a tiny shop in manchester, so i knew she'd love them on her cakes.............

 ...............a sunny moment for a quilt photo, yes... we are having a few of those this week so it's not totally grey and rainy here but it certainly hasn't been feeling very summery that's for sure.........

 

......................before i go today i want to say a special thank you to claire at the gorgeous design blog heart handmade .......i was thrilled when claire featured my quilts and crochet on her wonderful blog recently, do go over and see her......such an inspiring place to visit, if you don't already know it you'll love it...........i am off to work on my book illustrations again now, they are almost finished......and then i am going to be making something especially for my lovely readers as it is almost time for another giveaway here in my little bit of blogland :)...............
................wishing you a wonderful week and hoping the sun shines (but for those lovely readers in other places who are too hot then i hope your temperatures become just right :)......back very soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tea, Cakes and Sewing Things

I have been having a very busy week here, sewing things for magazine deadlines, drawing illustrations for book deadlines....and most important of all celebrating my birthday and my daughter rosie's birthday too!

 .........it's fun having our birthdays so close together as we often combine part of our celebrations and she was home last weekend........we have all had plenty of tea and cakes during this week.....

 ........and new pip china to use too :).........we had some delicious cakes made by my elder daughter sarah helped by charlie and daisy....they are especially fond of the part where you add the sweets to the top.......

.........i made some cupcakes  in yellow cases and added yellow roses to the top.......a bit of sunshine....

 .....because i can't yet show you the sewing i've been doing this week, i am including instead this little needlecase made a while ago and featuring a tim holz haberdashery rubber stamp and a scissor button from duttons for buttons in york......i've been using this needlecase this week for my projects.....and have also got lots of my quilt sewn too so hope to show you it finished very sooooon..............

 .....i want to say a big thank you today to two sweet blog friends who gave me awards recently......first was victoria from tangled sweetpea who gave me the versatile blogger award, and then mia at handmade by mia who gave me the sunshine award.........thank you both so much, lovely ladies :) and if you don't already know their lovely blogs do go and visit them here and here............

.........a bit of sunshine for us all today, in case some are in need of it :) ......i am loving the bright yellows of these summery birthday flowers.............

..........and here is my project in the july issue of crafts beautiful......a cupcake stitched patchwork cushion using yummy pam kitty morning fabric, and with added sparkly beads sewn onto the cake....you can now download lots of the patterns, charts and templates here.............

...........and a little cupcake postcardy tag....i love making these and adding them to each project to tie in with the theme....i also love to see how the magazine photographers style the shots using my projects.......

........there are still some cakes left here at my house....here is a virtual one for you, and i'll put the kettle on and make us all a virtual cup of tea shall i?..........thank you so much for visiting me here..........i hope all my sweet american friends had a happy fourth of july......i always love my birthday for being on that special day!.......off to do some more sewing now and hopefully i will have a finished quilt to show you next time......wishing you happy days and sunshine in the meantime........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxx