Cornish Blue

 When we arrived home from cornwall i was determined to finish sewing my blue and white quilt as soon as i could.............inspired by all the beautiful cornish blues we saw in the sea and sky....from the palest turquoise sea blue and the bright blue of the crashing white topped waves to the deepest navy of the night sky..........

 .............the quilt was hand quilted (as i mentioned in an earlier post) using circles made from card which i drew around using a washable pen for the white fabrics and tailor's chalk for the dark......

 ...............i sewed with navy blue thread.........it took quite a while compared to simple straight line quilting but it was nice to sew and to see the circles emerging all over the quilt.......

 .............i bound it with kona cotton solid in hyacinth after auditioning various other fabrics like stripes and checks this one just looked right..........

 ..................the backing is a navy and white polka dot............

 .............so there it is, another work in progress finished and in use, giving me a seaside feeling whenever i see it.............

 ...............below is a picture of my studio sofa/day bed this week which also has a bit of a nautical feel.....the mini star quilt is from my book *modern vintage gifts* and so are the two red and white cushions........

 .............here are a few more pictures from our trip.......this is zennor, a tiny village close to st ives, and special to us as it is where we used to stay with my parents when we were young....you can just see the roofs of 'our' cottage in the bottom picture.....the cottage is tucked away up a long lane and is no longer rented out as someone lives there permanently now.........we had a long walk along the coastal path to zennor head seeing the waves crashing below and blackberries gleaming in the hedgerows with the blue blue sea behind......

 .............now i have finished the blue and white checkerboard quilt i am working on the trip around the world one, my st ives quilt (and creating some cross stitch charts for magazines in lots of different colours)........and it is really autumn now here even though it has been feeling quite summery still until this weekend....so it is time for blackberry picking....and knitting.....and pumpkins.....and lots of other cosy autumn-y things........

.................thank you for dropping by to my little blog space dear readers and a big thank you for the kind comments you leave for me....i always love to read them.......wishing you a happy week ahead with lots of crafty inspirations........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

St Ives

 This is where i was all last week.....staying in sunny st ives in cornwall....(a place filled with cherished childhood memories for me and my sisters as our family came to devon and cornwall every summer from when we were tots)............thanks to my mister p for the above image :)........

 .............counting the waves on porthmeor beach, st ives............

 ................the famous sloop inn dating from the 14th century.......there was live music outside here on the wharf (the st ives festival was on and there was art, music, theatre and poetry to be found everywhere)..............

 .................little harbour cottages...and if you walk up behind the sloop inn there is a maze of narrow cobbled streets and fishermen's cottages in the old heart of st ives known as *downlong*..........there are lots of galleries, exhibitions and cafes......lovely coffee too to take out and sip while relaxing  on the wharf in the sunshine......

 .............the rocks all along the rugged cornish coastline make for the most spectacular sea views.....

 .............here is molly enjoying the trip....she was so good all the time even on the seven hour car journey there and back again.............

 ..............there are four beautiful beaches at st ives, some perfect for surfing, some for sitting, some for fishing........it is still a working harbour and this is smeaton's pier built in 1767 enclosing the harbour beach where fishing boats are moored.......

 ................just outside the town, on the moorland landscapes are many ruined tin mines.........

 ..............here are a couple of pictures especially for everyone who loves the poldark series ;)......

 ...........talking to my father recently about our imminent trip back to cornwall, he said he remembers me drawing in the streets of st ives when i was an art student and it made me recall the little black sketch books i worked in at the time, filled with line drawings of tiny cottages and lots of blue and white watercolour thumbnail sketches of the sea and sky..............

 .............this time i began making a picture with fabric........the start of a st ives quilt......

 .............most of the time we were out and about, exploring and enjoying the warm september sunshine but i just had to do a little bit of crafting in the evenings........

 .............i have more pictures of our trip to show you but will save them for another time.......leaving you with this splashing waves picture, one of my favourite sights of all...........

....thank you for dropping in to see me here dear readers and for your kind comments........wishing you a happy week ahead enjoying the new feeling of autumn in the air (or spring if you are on the other side of the world) and lots of happy crafty times..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Quilt Inspiration

 I've recently been showing you sneaky peeks of some english paper pieced squares.......and this is what they were for............a trip around the world quilt in soft vintage shades..............

 ..................the top is now completed and ready to be hand quilted............just waiting for the backing fabric to arrive..........i love how just simple squares slowly stitched together can create a big pattern across the whole quilt............

 ...............lots of pictures of the quilt top in progress..........and i am sure i will take plenty more when it is quilted :)...........

 ...............most of these pretty fabrics are from tilda's recent ranges, a little bit is from the candy bloom collection that i was given for the blog hop not long ago....

 .............i used some white kona cotton solid to give a bit of contrast too.............

 ................do you remember the little bear from my book modern vintage gifts?........here is another version of him made from an alphabet fabric...............

 ...............and below is my newest fabric acquisition....a gorgeous jellyroll of miss scarlet fabric......

 .............. i have been inspired by antique quilts recently..........when i went to the wonderful quilt exhibition at the V & A in 2010 i brought the book home with me and have been re reading it lately, along with the fascinating old swedish quilts.............

 .............i have always loved the look of antique quilts and over the years they have often inspired my work from greetings cards to china designs as well as actual quilts.............

 ................sweet roses from the garden.......late flowering and with a delicate scent they look pretty with the white japanese anemones which are also flowering prolifically at the moment.......

 .............above is my trip around the world quilt being ironed for its next step of 'making the quilt sandwich'........below is the spare room bed with a different quilt on it this week (making the most of not having ironing baskets in the way any more).............this is of course the red and white checkerboard quilt, always one of my favourites...............

..................thank you for dropping by dear readers and for your sweet comments............i will be taking a little trip myself next week....not around the world but to one of our very favourite places......we will be in cornwall where we spent so many happy childhood holidays......so looking forward to seeing it all again...............x wishing you all happy sunny days and plenty of crafty inspirations......................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Quilt Love

 Happy September everyone............time for a new season and a fresh start for many with the new school year beginning......my own fresh start is that i am trying to sort out my house and be more organised.....

 ...............this room is a spare bedroom and i have kept a lot of children's toys in here for my grandchildren to play with..........i also do the ironing in here (though sometimes i don't actually do the ironing but let it remain in baskets waiting to be done)......

 ..............last week i began a bit of a tidy up and cleared lots of clutter, did the ironing, and hung up all the clothes......

 ...............then i spread out the farmer's wife quilt on the bed and arranged some white pillows and some pretty cushions..............

 ...............this sampler quilt is one of my favourites and i am part way through making blocks for another one.....

 ..............i have also been very busy recently making quilts for future magazine projects which is very exciting and a pleasure to do....but they have to stay secret for now, until publication next year when i will be sure to share them a lot..........

 .............some quilts piled up....and an old sampler of mine, the one called *thomas tusser* from my very first book..............

 .................sweet posy from the garden with a little bit of the recent dimity quilt..........

 ...............choosing softly coloured fabrics for a new applique quilt..........love choosing the fabrics from my stash or adding a few new ones by browsing online..............

 ................below is a pile of my old and new quilts............

 ..........i love to use them, display them and pile them up as part of my home decoration...........

 ..............there can never be enough quilts for me and i am always wanting to begin another.....below is the beginning of the last block of a new quilt that i hope to show very soon.....

.................thank you for dropping in to see me here dear readers and thank you so much to those of you who leave me a kind comment, it is such a pleasure to hear from you................wishing you a wonderful week ahead with happy crafty times and plenty of inspiration..........back soon xxxxxxx