Stars and Baubles Quilt

 We have quite a festive theme here today, as a new quilt is complete..... the stars and baubles quilt is finished.............i promised to show you what the stars were for last time........they were to applique on my little quilt.......

 ...............i used the flower sugar holiday fabrics from lecien and i hand quilted around the stars and created a little bauble stencil to draw round for quilting the patterned squares..........

 .............this was a really quick quilt  to make as i rotary cut all the squares and machine sewed them together so the top was made in no time at all....i then slowed it all down by blanket stitching round the applique stars by hand......but it was relaxing to do while we watched *the crown* on netflix...........

 ..............i love the fresh vibrant colours of this collection and still have more to make with it :) ....

 ............a flat shot showing the quilted baubles and the echo quilting round the stars......

 .............pinning on the binding in my (untidy) sewing room............

 ....................some fabric sweeties from my last but one book (pretty patchwork gifts).......

 ..............and here is my make for december's crafts beautiful magazine.........a little christmas mouse.........she has flower sugar fabric ears and skirt, a hand knitted jumper with a cross stitch star patch, and a nice woolly scarf to keep her cosy..............you can find more about crafts beautiful here...............

 .................also in the picture above is a festive pincushion and scissor keeper....more about these soon.........

 ............we have just returned from a lovely wintry weekend at the seaside....we went to beautiful beaumaris on the isle of anglesey, and stayed in a gorgeous cottage with our younger daughter, son in law and sweet littlest grandson.............we had such a fun time..........i took lots of pictures especially of the pretty cottage interior which i haven't had time to sort out yet, but will do soon.......meanwhile here are some atmospheric twilight shots my girl took, and one of the cottage front door............

 .................and one of the sunset over beaumaris bay.........more about our mooching there soon ......

...............thank you for dropping by to see me here dear readers, and thank you to everyone who takes time to comment....it is always a real treat to hear from you.......wishing you a wonderful week, keep cosy and enjoy plenty of happy crafting..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bright and Crafty

 As the days are growing shorter and darker all the bright and festive fabrics are being stitched here.............and the crochet colours seem to echo them too...........

 ..................some of you may remember this gorgeous pile of lecien flower sugar holiday fabrics i bought back in july...........as soon as i saw them i knew i needed them right away :)...........

 ................at first i made a small project to get over the 'cutting into the fabrics' moment....i will show you that project soon...........then i had a big half square triangle cutting crush and combined the festive fabrics with white solid kona cotton..............

 ................which i turned into a little cushion with a cheery festive feel...........

 ...............i can't wait to show you what else i've been making with this fabric but will have to wait just a bit longer till it is finished..........

 ................i began this crochet blanket in the spring, using lots of fresh green shades as well as pink, red and aqua..........

 ...............and then i realised it blended with my new fabrics rather well so i am getting it finished now by quickly crocheting a big granny stripe border round it.............

 ..............stars for my new project ;)...........and below is a picture of the craft and design centre in manchester.........we had a lovely day out to the city last weekend...........mister p and i had a nice mooch there soaking up the beginnings of the festive atmosphere............

 .............we had a gift voucher to use from our lovely youngest daughter and son in law for afternoon tea at the radisson blu edwardian hotel, shown below........originally the free trade hall, this building has been renovated but kept the historic façade............(mister p and i went to concerts there when we were students, many moons ago............)

 ..............inside the building the christmas lights were already bright..............

 ..............we were shown to a table in the window..........and treated to a delicious afternoon tea......and the cakes that were left were packaged in a traditional square white card cake box to take home :).....

 .................it is my husband's birthday this month ...a special one......so we are having lots of celebrations for it spread over the whole month...........

 ...........more of my bright and crafty makes.........loving crocheting the border for this blanket and can't wait to do the next colour :).............now is the time to make some festive gifts and tiny treats too and this fabric is inspiring me to craft some more sewing sets, pin cushions and scissor keepers as small stocking fillers.................

.................thank you for dropping by dear readers and for leaving me such lovely comments........wishing you all bright and crafty days as we move on through november........keep cosy and be happy..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Trip Around the World Quilt

 When you have lots of works in progress (as i always seem to do) it is always nice to finish something and this week i finally finished my trip around the world quilt......it was all english paper pieced and hand quilted...so was a true labour of love...........

 .............as regular readers know, i love epp and find it very relaxing to do......i had to be very organised with this pattern though and make sure each square was in the right place in each block so i made the epp squares, numbered them and stored them in a separate bag for each block, then made a diagram to remind myself of the layout i had planned...........then i could just relax and stitch stitch stitch............

 .................i love the soft tilda fabric colours and think the quilt looks lovely on my grey sofa.......

 ................a work in progress shot, quilting at the kitchen table listening to radio 4 and waiting for a cake to bake........

 ................the way fabrics look together in a crumpled quilt shot always pleases me..........

 .................the quilt is a single bed size..........here it is complete with a little sugar bunny.............

 .........the backing fabric is a beautiful soft blue floral, also from tilda..................

 ...............it has been a cosy week here, with halloween at the start and bonfire night at the end....we have been lighting fires and candles and all the twinkle lights are on as soon as the dusk falls......

 ..............loving my latest candle called seaside memories........these 1803 candles are so stylish.....you can find them at the little green door here.............

 ...............the stitchery you can see here is for the centre of my on going st ives quilt.....

 ...............i add a bit of applique and another block to two to this quilt each week between other projects......this week i will also be baking something else from my favourite baking book.....

 ..............and as the weather here has turned very cold indeed i shall be glad of a new quilt to keep me cosy on these chilly wintry evenings...............

.................thank you for dropping by dear readers and for your very kind comments....such a pleasure to hear from you .........wishing you a wonderful week ahead with happy crafty times........keep cosy :).....................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Woodland Walks

 Here are some bright new makes inspired by the colourful autumn days and the woodland walks we have been enjoying.........there have been lots of mushrooms and toadstools this year, both in the garden and in the countryside.............the red spotted ones have been a favourite motif of mine since college days...........

 .............i made two little pincushions which may be given as gifts soon...........

 ..........and a needle book which i might keep :)...............i used some of a sweet minny muu charm pack from lecien fabrics, some pam kitty morning fabric too, and some matching felt and ribbon from my crafty stash.....

 ..............i put little pockets in the inside of the back and front covers so i can add small sewing items to take with me on an outing..........when the ribbon is tied the whole thing is secure..........

 .............front pocket with threads........vintage haberdashery items from my growing collection...........

 ...............the flower was from a child's hair ornament.....i often see inexpensive decorative things on my travels and know they will be useful one day for my makes so into the crafty stash they go.............

 ............the back pocket with the quick unpick or seam ripper...such a handy little gadget sometimes ;) .........i might make some more of these needle books as gifts and fill them with stitching treats.......

 ....................here is a close up of the pink pincushion..........i added a piece of decorated ribbon to the seam, as i always like to do.....

 .................and here is the yellow pincushion, with a piece of liberty binding to decorate it......you can see the back of each pincushion in the top image.........i added small patches with tiny toadstools on them from tasha noel fabrics.......

 ................we had a lovely woodland walk at the weekend.........wonderfully atmospheric autumn weather made it a pleasure to be outdoors......mild and fresh and the air filled with leaves and mushroomy scents..............below is the lane we walk up to the woods and common, just a few minutes from our home........i always love to see this little cottage..............

 ..............here is a picture i took at the edge of the woods, of bright berries and greenery and a few autumn leaves............the ivy is plentiful and reminding me it will soon be the festive season...........

 ..............after our walk it was home for a nice cup of tea and a piece of teabread.....this was made from mary berry's recipe borrowdale teabread and it is delicious sliced and spread with butter...........

 ..............i love autumn more each year and want to make the most of each day while it lasts....

..............thank you for dropping by dear readers and a special thank you to everyone who takes the time to leave me a lovely comment....so kind of you and so appreciated.............wishing you a wonderful week ahead with cosy times and crafty inspirations.............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx