Happy Scraps...and a Giveaway!

 Happy new week everyone and welcome to my crafty space today......(the scrappy hearts cushion shown here is my project in the february issue of crafts beautiful magazine out now.).....

 ............molly and i have been very busy in the sewing room and the studio having a sort out.....so much crafty stuff in the cupboards and drawers....in boxes and baskets.....and the quilt cupboard was very over-stuffed.....

 ............in the end i took all the quilts out and they are being stored or used in new places around the house.........

 ...........below is a pile of quilts ready to put in a new cupboard..........

 ...........and when my new quilt, fabric and crafty materials storage arrangements are complete i will do a photo shoot :).....

 .............in the meantime we thought it would be nice to share some of the crafty materials in two lucky dip packages for two lovely readers of my blog..........

 .............there will be fabric scraps (some quite big ones)...........

 ...........and buttons....and beads.....

 .............lace and ribbon.............

 .................pretty specialist threads...........all ready to inspire lots of new crafty creativity.....

 .................and each lucky dip giveaway package will have a little pin cushion handmade with love  by me too..............so if you fancy winning this crafty bundle of treats all you have to do is leave me a little comment on this post.......there will be two winners....the giveaway is open until january 28 and anyone can join in anywhere around the world..............

 .............the tidying up continues here this week and so does the crafting and creating.....

.............the hyacinths are scenting the air and it is nice to get the older quilts out and use some of them and display others......this one is my strawberry stars quilt made with some of my favourite pam kitty florals....some of you may remember it...the pattern is the same one as the star quilt in my book modern vintage gifts.............

.....thank you so much for your visits here dear readers and for your sweet comments and messages.....i wish you all a happy week ahead and good luck in the giveaway.......back soon xxxxxxx

Winter Quilt

 It is so cold and frosty here at the moment we are certainly glad of our winter quilts.......

 ............today i am showing some pictures of the winter quilt i made recently using beautiful nordic stitches fabrics by wenche wolff hatling of northern quilts for moda..........below is the charm pack i bought......i alternated the prints with white kona cotton.....

 ................and bought some of my favourite prints as yardage for the border and backing.....i added applique deer, some stars and a pine tree too............

 ............i love the swirly quilting which makes me think of snow whirling.....the design was longarm quilted for me by debbie holland here....................

 .............this is a cosy quilt to use all winter........the deer remind me of the ones we have often seen on our walks in various country places....the way they can leap so high and elegantly still surprises me.....so a few were sewn in place on here...........including leaping ones......

 ...............such pretty fabrics and in my current favourite colour way too............

 ..........i made card templates for the deer applique so i might use them again on another project....maybe a cushion....

 ...............the red fabric for the applique is kona solid in tomato..........

 ............a crumpled quilt shot below....always like these as i love how the fabrics look randomly next to one another..........

 ....................below is the backing fabric i chose from the nordic stitches collection....with deer leaping all over it....love this design....

 ..............this was a pleasure to sew and i am loving using it too especially right now in the middle of the cold snap....

.............we have cheerful tulips here today....such bright and happy flowers in my sewing room catching the frosty winter sunlight.........lots more designs to show you soon..........thank you lovely readers for dropping in to my little bit of blog land today......and thank you so much for the sweet comments you leave me..............happy new week, enjoy the january days and keep cosy (or if you live on the other side of the world keep cool!)..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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