Happy New Year

 Happy New Year to all my lovely blog friends..........wishing you all a wonderful 2018 and hoping you will join me here again for another crafty year of making and sharing............

 ..........today we are de christmassing the house which means lots of trekking up and down the stairs of our three storey house with boxes, baskets of decorations and trees...........

 ............and dusting and sorting out the bare looking shelves and finding (always) a few decorations we missed.......we had a lovely family christmas and it was a pleasure to see the grandchildren enjoying all the excitement and fun.......i hope you enjoyed your christmas too and have had a happy holiday time......

 ............here is one of my sweet surprise presents.......my kind husband bought this little white dog for me from the very talented northfield primitives...........

 .................such a sweet little face........another precious one to add to my collection.....

 .............here is my project in the latest issue of handmade magazine australia........i love making hexie quilts and hand sewing them using english paper piecing like this......

 .............this is my newest little bunny made for my newest sweet little grandson louis......

 ...............this bunny was finished just in time for christmas .............

 ..........he doesn't have a name yet (might be bobby though) but here he is with hector the bunny i made for rhys (louis' big bother) three years ago..........hector has been very well loved and is soft and squishy now and needed some little stitched repairs when we visited last week ;).......

 ............the bunny's sweater was made with yarn left over from a shawl i made for myself.....it's a sock yarn but i am afraid i have lost the label............

 ............looking forward to lots of new crafty makes this year, i am gathering inspiration and sketching ideas for lots of new projects, both for publication and for myself..........now it's time to enjoy the green things growing.........the bulbs and shoots of the new year and all the lovely spring days to look forward to......in the meantime i shall be keeping cosy with my quilts and knitting, books and tea, bright fires and glowing candlelight of this winter season..........

..............thank you dear readers for visiting me here all through 2017.....for your kind comments and support......thank you for sharing my bit of blogland.............wishing you all you wish for yourself in the coming year and sending love and hugs to you all...............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Merry Wishes

 We are certainly feeling very festive here now...........these are some pictures of my studio this week........i've been working on a magazine commission with a deadline just after the new year.....

 ..............and i've been wrapping presents in here too as it's quite a good place to hide them....

 .............. we found a cute little tall thin tree which is just right in here.........

 .............one of my red and white cushions, old letters tied up with christmas ribbon and a pretty cath kidston mug from a few years ago.......

 ............downstairs on the china cupboard is a handmade fabric bird (from my 'modern vintage gifts' book) in a holly heart (from gisela graham)............and below in the sitting room is the maileg pixie boy on the quilt cupboard (which has been sorted out and lots of the quilts moved to a new storage place...more about this later)......

 ...........so much sorting out going on here and having less 'stuff' around is very peaceful.......

 ..............molly is so happy snuggled among the quilts, blankets and pixies.......this is how she looked before her christmas hair cut........she looks different now :)...........we tried on her christmas collar today but it was a bit too big so will have to be adjusted to fit..........

 .................the flowers below are happily blooming and all the little xmas signs are reappearing....

 .............as well as red and white quilts i also love red, white and blue ones too..........this is the evening star one i made a few years ago...........

 ............and this is the nordic stitches one made with moda charm packs and  some red applique reindeer....this is just a peek and i'll show the whole quilt properly in a future post.....

 ............the lists are getting ticked off and the food shopping is ordered.......the mince pies and christmas cookies have been baked.............we have been to the children's carol service and listened to the sweetest young voices singing and enjoyed the candles lighting the darkness...........

 ..............next week i will be taking a little blog break to enjoy the festive family times......

............thank you to everyone who visits me here through the year and special thanks for the kind comments you take the time to leave me, i always love to read them............ wishing all my dear readers a very merry christmas and happy holidays, peace, love and goodwill...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Snow Days

 We have been rather excited here for the last couple of days, ever since we woke up to a winter wonderland outside our window............all the trees were dusted with snow and looked so pretty.....

 ..............we've been keeping cosy with lots of quilts, twinkling lights and the heating on as well as the fire lit.........of course we did venture out in the chilly outdoors a bit too......

 .................can you see molly in the picture above?.......little snow dog.........she has never seen snow before and was inspecting it carefully.........

 ...........i am slowly sorting out the house ready for christmas....this means lots of tidying and stuffing my crafty things away in cupboards and then trying to find them again later......

 .................lots of red and white quilts this year...a few more than last year.....

 ..............and some cosy cushions too.......the cushion below was designed by kate toms and i bought it at the country living christmas fair in london a few years ago.....

 ...........all my little houses are finished now (using tilda cottage fabrics)........

 .............one or two are for gifts for lovely friends............

 ...............below is a double page spread from the january issue of crafts beautiful magazine showing two of my projects...........

 .............fresh makes for the new year.....cross stitch jam pot covers and strawberry applique egg cosies in bright lecien fabrics................you can find out more at crafts beautiful here........

 ............we had lovely friends over at the weekend..........

 .............they gave me this gorgeous rustic pot filled with winter plants arranged by my friend.....so pretty and i love it............

..................a last snowy picture....the sun shone today and the snow is melting fast off the trees now.....thank you for visiting me here dear readers and a special thank you for the lovely comments you take the time to leave, i love to hear from you.............wishing you a wonderful week ahead in the countdown to christmas...............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Christmas Stocking

 Happy December everyone!........we are feeling very festive now having celebrated my lovely husband's birthday last week we are now moving into christmas mode and have put up the trees, the decorations and the lights....

 ............i have had a lovely crafty time making this quilted happy scrappy stocking..............

 ...........i used many of my favourite scraps in this piece of patchwork and used the pattern for the stocking from one of my earlier books.............

 ..............it was the perfect project for hand sewing while watching christmas movies with the fire lit and a delicious scented winter candle too....and all the little lights twinkling.......

 ...........the stocking is lined with one of my favourite pam kitty morning prints...........

 .............it has a simple backing, simply quilted.....and white pom pom trim around the top......

 ..............here it is.............ready for santa to fill it with treats.................

 ............or here used as a decoration on the dresser in the sitting room.............

 ............we are keeping the decorating simple and a bit nordic here this year.............

 ..............these are the little girl and boy pixies that my sweet daughters surprised me with last christmas............

 ...............and below is a medium sized boy pixie keeping me company as i paint berries in my studio.........

 ...............i love this time of year and the cosy house and decorations..........even though there is a lot to do and to organise i try to make time to enjoy quiet and peaceful moments and hope you do too......

.............wishing you a wonderful week ahead in the countdown to christmas with lots of happy cosy times.....thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for leaving me such kind comments........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx