Tulips and Toys

 Hello and happy new week everyone...........first i want to say a big thank you to everyone who has entered my giveaway on my last post....such kind and sweet comments from so many of you that were a pleasure to read........the giveaway is open until next sunday so there is still time to enter if you'd like to.....

 ............this week i am working on several commissions at once....creating a cross stitch chart, sewing a quilt and making a toy.....as all of these have to be secret until they've been published in magazines i have taken a few pictures of some i made earlier....

 ..............all the dolls and bunnies are played with by visiting children.......most small children seem to love tucking toys up in bed and i have lots of little doll's quilts to play with too.....

 .............it has been so cold, gloomy, windy and wet here over the past week that i just had to treat myself to a couple of bunches of pink tulips :)...........

 ............the bright colours of yarn, fabric, paint and thread have always cheered me up through the dark winter days.....and of course the flowers and bulbs are especially cheery and make me think spring is on the way....

 .............the bedtime mouse has been tucked up in this seed tray which does look rather cosy....

 .............this little dolly arrived home in time for christmas from her magazine jaunt.....

 ...............here is bobbi the newest bunny now tucked up at my younger daughter's house with her newest baby..............

 ................i love making little fabric projects like these, especially using up scraps and fussy cutting.....

 ...............rabbits keeping cosy with their crochet blankets.............

 ..............more pink tulips.........special treat...a delicious scone baked by chris, my son in law x....

 ...............a glimpse of a crochet blanket....i am so busy doing sewing and other crafts for commissions at the moment that i'm not doing much crochet so i am sorry to those who mentioned they long to see crochet here....i hope to get back to it soon :)............

.............back to work now charting on the computer.....rather an exciting new project to work on....more about it soon......remember to enter the giveaway on my previous post if you haven't already, and you could win a lucky dip package of fabric and other crafty treats.............

....thank you for dropping by dear readers..........wishing you a happy week ahead and plenty of crafty inspirations............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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