Spring Sewing

 I have been doing so much sewing here :).... spring inspiration and lovely fabrics are making me keep adding to my 'to make' list everyday.............

 ...............when i was tidying up my sewing room and my studio, looking for various mislaid items, I found some unfinished objects including this little lollipop flowers block.........

 .............and also these pretty little french flower cards..........i might pin these up in my studio for a bit of spring decoration....maybe peg them to a little line of baker's twine........

 ................the lollipop flowers block was inspired by the picture of the same name in my last but one book pretty patchwork gifts...........i added a butterfly to the block and finished sewing the blanket stitch round the applique............then i sewed on some borders of this delicious pam kitty garden fabric.........

 .............i added a backing and turned it into a spring / summertime cushion........it will actually be used with my other summer patchwork cushions on the garden bench........hopefully quite soon........

 .............i never tire of seeing patchwork with other patchwork.......it is the often unexpected interplay of fabric and colours that i always enjoy seeing and find fascinating.......

 ................i am planning to make a quilt of lollipop flowers....it is on my to do list.....

 ................as are more summery cushions..........

 ..............these pretty fabrics arrived here last week and they were so beautifully wrapped i could hardly bear to undo the ribbon and take them out of their neat little package.............these are strawberry biscuit fabrics designed by the talented elea lutz for penny rose fabrics.............i got mine from the fat quarter shop........

 ...............they are a lovely mix of prints and colours which work so well together........i will be making lots more projects with them very soon but to start with (and to get over the actual cutting into of this sweet new collection) i decided to make another block for my sampler quilt......this one is called sarah (like my eldest daughter).............

 ...............love the tiny prints with little dogs, song birds and flowers tied with bows........

 ..............much more sewing to do and much more to show you next time........here is the cutting garden beginning to fill out with plants that i sowed in the greenhouse..........looking forward to masses of flowers here very soon :).........

...............thank you for visiting here dear readers and a big hello to everyone new who has visited me here this week :).............thanks to those who left a comment last time on the candy bloom post to win my little giveaway houses......you can still enter the draw for these until may 28 ........... wishing you all a wonderful and creative week.............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tilda Candy Bloom Blog Hop and Giveaway

 Welcome to my stop on the candy bloom blog hop today.....you can imagine how pleased i was to be invited to take part by the team at stitch craft create a little while ago......the limited edition candy bloom fabrics are just as lovely as tilda fabrics always are........featuring folklore inspired motifs and using rich shades of red, blue and cream which work so well together and with previous tilda fabric collections too..............

 ............i decided to make some projects from my book modern vintage gifts........and began with the tumbler flowerpot pillow which uses patchwork and applique and this time i added some quilting with little circles to echo the flowers in some of the prints..............

 ...............i used bondaweb to fuse the leaf shapes to the background and then stitched around them with blanket stitch........

 ...............the cushion is made in my favourite envelope style and i used the beautiful tree fabric for the backing and some vintage buttons..........

 .............next i made some button houses which are always fun to sew and it is always a pleasure to make them out of different fabrics........

 ..............these button houses are specially for my giveaway........if you'd like to win this set just leave me a comment on this post ............(more details of the giveaways at the end).......

 ..............you can hang the button houses as a garland or use them individually dotted here and there.......or hang them on a decorative tree...........

 ..............my star pincushion is a lovely paper pieced project and i made a two sided one .....

 ................here is the red side.............

 ...............and here is the blue side.............

 ..............even a half finished sugar bunny that was lying on my work table when the parcel of fabric arrived was finished off with candy bloom ear linings and a candy bloom dress..........the flower motifs remind me of my favourite bellis daisies, so pretty.................

 ..........so if you would like to win a bundle of fat quarters of the gorgeous candy bloom fabrics you can enter the competition here.........and to visit the rest of the blog hop the link is here........

 ..............if you would like to win my set of button houses all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (if you don't have a blog please leave an email address so i can contact you if you win)........the giveaway will be open until may 28..............

..............thank you so much for dropping by and good luck in the giveaways.........wishing you all a happy sunny week filled with crafty inspirations ................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bloom and Grow

 The past week has been all about flowers........the glorious sunshine and warmth combined to make everything in the garden begin to bloom and grow.............

 .............we had jugs of tulips from the cutting patch brightening up the house........

 ..............the ones we grew from the bulbs we planted in the autumn are so large, strong and colourful, they are a pleasure to see..........

 .................they might even have influenced my crochet colours a bit this week.....

 ...........the potting shed has been tidied up and some pots of flowers and little signs added .......

 ............this little potting shed sign and mug wrap are my projects in this month's issue of crafts beautiful magazine which you can read more about here...........

 ...............the garden themed mug wrap is a nice little project and i will be making more as gifts for gardening friends...........i already like using mine.........

 ............so many flowers are opening each day and the world is becoming a colourful place again....

 ...............below is my grand daughter daisy's sweet bedroom.....her windows look out onto a cherry tree filled with blossom............

 ..........i leaned out of the window above and looking up took the blossom and blue sky picture shown here......one of my favourite things each spring..........

 .............our own garden has many more bluebells this year, popping up individually all over the place as well as growing at the bottom of the garden like a real bluebell wood............

 ...........can you tell i just love this time of year?!..........below is my latest block for my sampler quilt...this one is called viola and it was fun to make with its minute checkerboard piecing......

 ...........this week we are planning to plant some of the seedlings out......and to enjoy all the new blooms and sweet springtime.........i will do some sewing in the garden and some crochet too....

............thank you for dropping in to my little bit of blog land dear readers and sharing my springtime crafting.......and thank you so much for the kind comments you leave me too x.....i hope you all have a happy sunny week with plenty of flowers and crafty inspirations to enjoy.........back soon xxxxxxxx

Sewing Notions

 Happy may, everyone..........as the weather has turned so chilly and wet here in the uk lately there has been more sewing and less gardening going on at my house.........this little quilt that i began in the winter is now being quilted...........

 .............i am quilting this one by hand and it is very cosy work,  such peaceful and contemplative sewing...

 ..............sometimes i sew a few stitches on this quilt in the kitchen while i wait for a cake to bake....

 .............sewing and baking remind me of my mum..........she was wonderful at both..........

 ...............these are some of my mum's sewing things....or sewing notions..........

 ..............like me, she had several sewing boxes filled with all kind of sewing related items.....

 ...............these are my two main sewing boxes (both were presents from my girls)....and i have lots of tins and little drawstring bags too filled with buttons, beads, ribbons and all kinds of threads......

 ..........my latest quilt is a mix of 'quiet' fabrics, strip pieced quite quickly by machine.....

 ...........the fabrics have flowers, buttons, little houses, cotton reels, old postcards, words, bunting, berries, dots and stripes among the patterns, all in quite subdued colours.........i am loving sewing it, surrounded by jugs of spring flowers............

 .............i made a new block for my sampler quilt too....i just had to make a spool block :) .....

 ...............it is such a simple block and really easy to sew but so effective..........

thank you for visiting me here in my little bit of blog land, dear readers, and a special thank you too for the kind comments you take the time to leave....... i do appreciate each and every one of them........wishing you a wonderful month of may with sunshine and flowers and some happy little sewing notions...............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx