London Days

 London town is where we've been for the last few days, so if i've seemed rather quiet in blogland this week that's why :).....i do love a bit of london time....all the hustle and bustle......lots to see and do......we often stay near kensington high street....i used to stay there with friends when i was an art student years ago and since those days have often been involved in the stitching shows at olympia just down the road..........

..........love to travel in a london cab seeing well known street names and buildings as you go from place to place.......amongst other things this trip we had a day at the country living christmas fair at the business design centre in islington.............

...........a stunning array of stands with everything looking gorgeous and soooo festive..........i haven't sorted out all my pictures yet as we have only just got back, but i will show you some of my treats in another post.......

.........but here are some treats i had earlier......my adorable london blocks made by wonderful fee at chipper nelly for our recent london swap........they are made from an old ladybird london book and i just love them....i love the sweet tag that came with them too and the way they are packaged with dotty cellophane, red and white ribbon and a vintage button...............you can see fee's gorgeous new christmas makes here.................

 ............i made the little london house on the spur of the moment just before i went away....you know how inspiration suddenly strikes and you have to quickly make something ;) .....i used some scraps of the benartex cool brittannia fabric left over from my jubilee makes, and the new sewing print text fabric is from sew and quilt here which i know i will be using a lot................

...........the new magazine below is out now to inspire your xmas making.......can you see one of my little houses (made quite a while ago) on the front of this lovely cover?..........the magazine has lots of ideas and also festive at home features with debbie bliss, nicki trench and...me as well!!..........so exciting..........

.............i would like to say a big thank you for all the sweet comments about my farmer's wife quilt that i showed in the last post.....i have missed sewing it this week and am looking forward to a lot of quilting again now.......a warm welcome to my new readers and followers and my old blog friends too.....i love your visits.......wishing you all a wonderful weekend with cosy crafty times................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Joining the Blocks

 The farmer's wife quilt top is finally finished and today i have lots of pictures of it to show you.............

 ..........after trying various ways of photographing it i ended up putting it on the wall of my sewing room.....i am used to taking pictures of small things close up so this was quite a challenge :)..........i am thrilled with the effect of the quilt now that it has all been pieced together with the sashing and the little cornerstones......

..........i tried lots of different plain shades against the blocks until i found the one that i felt worked the best, this very pale pink picked up the colours in the blocks and contrasted just enough with the white fabric i'd used a lot in the blocks...........the fabrics in the quilt are some of my most favourite ones from lecien and pam kitty morning and cath kidston, plus some dotty and stripy ones which i always love to include in patchwork projects too.................

..........i'd like to say a big thank you to the author of this inspiring book, laurie aaron hird........it has captured so many crafters' imaginations and the great thing is that everyone has their own interpretation of the theme and each person's quilt is special to them.........

 .........i made the blocks gradually until i had the right number to make the small quilt..........it was a pleasant slow project alongside the work projects i had going on at the time, many of which had to be kept secret....

 ..............lots of shots of the different blocks on different angles......they have a mosaic like feel........

 ..........after i'd taken (dozens) of photos of the quilt top i took the backing (white with red polka dots) and the batting (wadding) and made the quilt sandwich using curved basting pins which is the method i find works best for me, as you can keep adjusting the pins as you work,  and smoothing out the area to be quilted so it is nice and flat.....i learnt this technique from my two sisters who went to a quilt class run by a canadian lady living in the uk :)...............

...........and now the quilting has begun..........lots of cosy stitching to occupy my autumn (and winter) evenings...........and as we are talking about patchwork today i thought i'd show you this exciting sneaky peek of my new book to be published in the spring time ...................

 ..........this is the top secret thing i have been mentioning occasionally over the past year and a half.....it was very hard to make a project i was excited about and then put it away ready for the book photoshoot  instead of sharing it here :)..........there are twenty five such projects in this book, and i look forward to sharing the making of them next year when the book comes out.........it is published by david and charles, and i will add all the details here nearer the time.............

                                      .......but for now it's back to my farmer's wife quilting......

....thank you  so much for the kind wishes for charlie's birthday, he had a very happy time and his halloween party was a great success, enjoyed by all the little witchlets and wizards...............sending you all warm wishes for a happy november.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

October Houses

 Some little stuffed fabric houses, made from scraps....such a satisfying way to de stash the scrap basket....and if i was to choose a colour of this week this bright yellow would be it....closely followed by orange........although the skies have been a leaden grey some of  the leaves have been so vivid against it and they seem to look even brighter in contrast on a dull day than on a fine one.........

 ...........these little october houses are part of my autumn home decoration this year.........

..........i love the text fabric on the roof of this one........the text-ed blocks appearing in these photos were all made for me by lovely fee at chipper nelly........... the tags are some i made for a project a while ago, and i love to mix one project in with another for something new..............i'm also loving this white pumpkin...i'll be sorry when i have to stop taking pictures of it :)

 ...........it has been such a busy week, with work projects to finish for deadlines, and at the weekend my daughter and son in law are holding a big birthday party for charlie (five years old and with lots of new school friends) so there has been lots of crafting and baking going on with plans for games and activities for the children to enjoy.......including a pumpkin treasure hunt, ghost bowling, decorate your own halloween biscuits........and many others too :) ...............

........tomorrow i shall be carving a big pumpkin and icing a LoT of  halloweenie (daisy's new word for the occasion) cupcakes.........my daughter has worked so hard  preparing lots of things and my younger daughter is coming home for the weekend too so it will be fun...........

 ..............i am still bringing some garden snippets in to brighten up the house.....we have masses of berries in the garden this year, many more it seems on some of the shrubs than usual, though the ones on the rowan tree have all disappeared now, eaten by the hungry birds..........

...........because i was busy making new projects this week guess what?....i have messed up my tidy fabric cupboard and there is a lot of fabric strewn around in my sewing room again now :)........i've also put the first few stitches into my farmer's wife quilt so will show you that  next time...........after i've finished the halloween party things...........and met the design deadlines........and knitted this tiny little jumper in a pumpkin shade....

                               ................one cake ready.............four dozen more to go................

.......thank you for your sweet comments and emails recently and a big warm welcome to my new followers, it's always delightful to have your visits...........wishing you a wonderful weekend and (if you are celebrating it) a very happy halloween :)...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flowers and Fabric

We have had some beautiful autumn weather here this week, as well as some rainstorms, but most days there have been at least a few spells of golden sunshine lighting up the richly coloured leaves and berries in the garden, and showing up the last flowers in the cutting patch..........

           ........i brought some posies indoors and put them in my favourite jugs and vases............

..........accompanied by the rather lovely white pumpkin they are such a pleasure to look at...........

..........these are the japanese anemones, still going strong..........they remind me of christmas roses in this photo with the berries and red leaves........ there is also a pink-tinged white rose tucked in there, surely the last one for this year?.......

...............time to get out the red and white things, the cosy baking things and a new tea towel to use...one of a set i embellished for a project for sew magazine a while ago.............

........................and time for new candles on the kitchen table as the nights are drawing in...............

 ......some fabric supplies have arrived this week for a new quilt :)....the pin tin contains the curved basting pins i love to use, we have the backing  fabric, the binding fabric and the wadding (batting) and the top is almost finished....yes, the farmer's wife quilt is almost ready to be quilted and i will take some photos of it very sooon ......i am so looking forward to the quilting part too....so cosy for autumn evenings......

....and as many of you so kindly requested, here are some of the websites i love to buy fabric from:

 fat quarter shop here, fabric rehab here, the quilt room here, fancy moon fabrics here, gone to earth here, the cotton patch here, ru craft here, superbuzzy here, quilter's cloth here, puddleducks quilts here...........and i must mention a  brand new fabric shop, just opened called sew and quilt here.......i hope all these links work ;).................

 

......the fabrics above all came from the fat quarter shop and are for magazine projects........the pam kitty morning fabric button bag is my project in this month's crafts beautiful magazine..........i love browsing fabric websites and find the quality of the fabric photos is just fine for choosing the colours........i hope the list here is useful to some of you, and do let me know your own favourite sites please too ........and for those of you who are not quilters or sewing enthusiasts, i hope you enjoyed the flowers :)..........thank you for popping in to see me today and wishing you all a wonderful autumn weekend to come.....back soon xxxxxxxxxx

Someone New

Sometimes when i'm working on a large project or i'm on the computer a lot, it's lovely to stop and make a smaller project....like this little doll who is called lottie.........when i  recently sorted out my fabric stash i re discovered some soft pink cotton fabric which i'd bought specially for making a doll.......and now here she is.........

                         .........i loved making lottie....i think there might be more dolls here soon too.........

........the small doll's bed was one i painted as a prop for my previous book, and it has since had a new life being played with by my grandbabies and used to tuck up all sorts of dolls, bears and bunnies......at the moment daisy spends ages putting her dolls to bed, tucking them in gently and speaking to them so tenderly it is very sweet to see............it is also lovely to see these projects being used and enjoyed.......the quilt on the little bed was published as a magazine project and the one rolled up is my embellished doll's quilt also from my book.......i loved making this quilt and adding cross stitched patches, yo yos and buttons to it........

                     .........more pictures of the doll's quilt from my book simple sewn gifts.........

 .......the small desk we found in granny's attic has now been transformed with annie sloan chalk paint in old white (left over from the hall table).......it's a cute little desk....funny to think that it once belonged to mr p as a small child :).......now i am filling it with children's stationery and crafting things......

........and daisy can pretend she is at school, like charlie........the sweet nursery blocks are from clever fee at chipper nelly here......these are mine (though i do share them with the grandchildren of course) ........

 .......inspired by dolls and their quilts i have begun another little doll quilt using some of my favourite pam kitty morning fabrics for a bright and fresh pinwheel design......(with added buttons)........these little quilts are so quick to make....... i'm also glad to say that my (not so quick) farmer's wife quilt is also making progress and the top is almost pieced together now so i hope to have a show and tell of that very soon :).................

.........a quick question to reply to today, but one that i am often asked and that is where do i buy my fabrics from and especially where do i buy the lecien prints: well i often buy them from the states via various websites but there are some uk websites that do stock some of the ranges i love to use too ........if you would like a list of websites i use please let me know and i'll compile one............thank you for dropping by to my little bit of blogland, it's lovely to see you.........wishing you lots of sunny, happy, crafty autumn times............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Make and Do

It's been a busy week here, and i've been making something i'd love to show you.....but it's for a magazine project for next year so i can't yet........but i've been doing other things too that i've taken a few pictures of, like enjoying the last flowers and the bright red berries from the garden.........

 .............there is a gorgeous mix of late summer and early autumn flowers which i'm making the most of......

........the very last sweet peas, and the last of these cake decorations and sugar flowers too....we have had a lot of these over the summer and my stocks are low so time to buy some more.......i love the green icing........ i think halloween cakes will be next though.........

.............i can also show you a peek of my current crochet blanket too.........the dotty pink and blue crochet hook came from my  lovely blog friend robin here.........i will be ordering some more pretty crochet hooks for christmas presents soon........

 ...........the hidden gardens blanket is almost finished, i'm now onto the shell border so will hopefully have it all done soon...............

.............the sewing room is still being organised, at the moment i'm just sorting through the ribbons and trims.........thank you so much for all the great ideas you gave me for fabric storage.....especially what to do with unrolled jellyrolls :)...........such wonderful tips you gave, dear readers, and i will be implementing them all very soon............(and taking some pics too).........

 ...........the fabric ironing, folding and stacking continued into this week.........it took such a long time......

                                                   ............now the cupboard is filling up...........

                                               ..........i finished stacking the yellow fabrics.............

                                                           ...........and the green................

..........and here is what i did with the big bright orange button i mentioned last time.....it was to sew onto my crochet project bag.....i knew it was just the right button as soon as i saw it.......it reminds me a bit of a licorice allsort too.......and how nice to discover that the book someone lent me matches my project bag so well :)............
......a couple more things to say thank you for before i go today.........one is to say thanks for all your kind words about my two christmas projects in the last post and to those who asked about the red and white fabrics in the gingerbread houses, they are scandinavian fabrics from fabric rehab.........thank you too to those who have written to me to say that they have used my patterns either from my books or magazine projects and shown them on their blogs and credited them back to me.....Thank You so much for this, it means a lot :)............
...........i hope you are all enjoying these early october days, with lots of autumn sunshine, homely times and cosy crafting as the days shorten and the evenings draw in........thanks for visiting me here..........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx