A Week in the Country

 Hello lovely readers here i am back again after a relaxing break and a week in the beautiful cotswold countryside....

 .............we stayed in this beautiful historic thatched cottage which dates back to the 1500's.....

 ...........it was comfortable and quirky....lots of fascinating details like the ancient windows and the arrow shaped handles.....the garden was so peaceful with sheep bleating on the hills above, wood pigeons cooing....there was a small pond with water lilies and newts.....and a tiny herb garden, a huge apple tree and a plum tree filled with ripening fruit.........i could have lived there :).....

 .............a jug of garden flowers and a bit of english paper piecing for the evening made it feel even more homely....

 ..............the bedroom window looking over the fields..............

 .................the back garden and back view of the cottage...lovely lavender round the door and you can just see molly in the shade of the table.....

 ..............we wanted to visit some of the gorgeous gardens in this lovely area which is one of the reasons we chose to go there now.......all the roses were in bloom and the scents were heavenly...

 ................and this is my new floral crush....astrantia....i am planting some in our own garden.....

 ..............the borders at hidcote gardens were breathtakingly beautiful in the hot sun.....

 ..............(when we got home to our own garden we replanted a pot bound everlasting sweet pea into the ground after seeing this beautiful one blooming at hidcote)............

 ..............as always with my posts, just tap on any image to see them larger........

 ...........up the lane....quite a steep climb on a hot day and we were grateful for the shade....then at the top we found a glorious wildflower meadow........and masses of butterflies.....and as we walked back down via the fields i took this picture of the cottage from the front.....

 .............we visited lots of pretty places and i'll be sharing a few more pictures in future posts.....the wildflowers below were at snowshill gardens.....lovely to see that so many places now set aside areas for these lovely wild plants as well as the traditional beautiful gardens.............

............thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for the kind comments you leave me....i will be visiting my blog friends too this week and look forward to catching up again....wishing you a happy new week with sunshine and flowers.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the Garden

 Happy new week everyone......here is my latest english paper pieced project inspired by a wonderful lucy boston quilt....i am loving making these blocks and love how portable this project is too......great to stitch in the garden or to travel with....

 .............cornflower blue is such a wonderful colour it just popped into my current block .....

 ............the past week has been all about the garden......designing in the garden, sewing in the garden, eating in the garden......weeding, watering and potting on seedlings in the garden :)............

 ............such gorgeous weather and day after day of sunshine is something to make the most of here...

 .............sitting in the arbour with the new squishy patchwork seat cushion....nautical bunting ......

 .............and being photographed in the potting shed is a beehive applique cushion, my project in the july issue of crafts beautiful magazine out now....below is the accompanying cross stitch beehive tag...........

 ..............besides having garden days i have been out and about elsewhere too.....this was a trip to treacle market with my youngest daughter....do you see that blue vintage enamel bucket in the middle of the stall? it came home with me......just what i need to store cut flowers....or maybe to plant red geraniums in.....

 ..........lots of flowers to enjoy now....i try to grow my favourites to photograph and to draw...

 ...........the foxgloves were self seeded...love it when they do that.....

 ..............and the rambling roses are beginning to flower.....the one below is covered in rosebuds...

 ..............down the garden path.....and next week we will be wandering down lots of other garden paths too....we're going on one of our beloved little country breaks and will be staying in a thatched cottage and visiting some beautiful british gardens.............i will take lots of pictures to share when i get back, but will be taking a blog and facebook break next week....you can still find me on instagram though in the meantime......

.............thank you so much for visiting me here and for your lovely comments dear readers...wishing you sunny days and lots of happy crafty times....back soon   xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Garden Sewing

 Hello lovely readers...it's good to be back here after an unexpected week away from the internet..... we had a huge thunderstorm here when lightning struck our neighbourhood and our computer network router was damaged.......

 .....we felt lucky that's all it was.....and i spent a lot of time in the garden, sewing projects for work and for me.....including making this squishy tied quilt seat cushion for the wrought iron bench....

 ..........i cut the squares out using my accuquilt cutter and strip pieced them on the machine....then i backed the patchwork with some pretty striped fabric, placed the wadding inside and sewed up the end......and then used some lovely powder pink petra thread from dmc to tie the quilt in each of the squares corners....

 .........it was lovely to spend time in the sunshine with flowers all around and the beautiful sound of birdsong.....but every now and then i had an impulse to look up something on the internet, or to order something, download a book, do my food shop, look at friends blogs.......i was worried about the work emails i'd be getting and wasn't able to answer...... so not quite such a blissful break!.....

 ..............the first roses opened and many more were in bloom by the end of the week when our new router arrived and was installed.............

 ................ just a few lilacs are left now...almost over for another year....

 ...........here is little molly dog under the eleagnus tree where she has been resting in the shade.....her knee injury is improving with rest (mostly in her crate) and she has been so good and patient about it......

 ..........the rosy pillow is in use again here...i designed this for crafts beautiful a while ago and you can download the pattern for free on their website now....

 ..........pinning the squares together for another seat cushion, this time for the arbour seat....

 ...............and doing a little bit of watercolour painting for a floral illustration.....this is the concise british flora in colour...a book i've loved since my student days and still use to identify wildflowers now.......so many different white lacy fluffy flowers in our hedgerows at the moment.....

 ............and our pretty sweetheart roses blooming against the bluest of blue skies.....hubby has been carefully nurturing all the old roses in our garden and it shows......and as may ends and june begins the garden is my favourite place to be.....

........thank you so much for dropping by dear readers and for the kind comments you leave me.....i am glad to be back here again after my enforced break........wishing you all a wonderful june with sunny happy crafty times.......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Red White and Blue

 Happy new week dear readers.......those of you who read here regularly know that i love using the colour combination of red white and blue in my designs and my crush on these colours just grows stronger :)...........many of the pictures in my camera this week featured these colours too because of the beautiful royal wedding..........lots of bunting and flags everywhere......

 ............and i got out all my red white and blue quilts........but decided i really want to make a specifically royal/patriotic one so am beginning to plan and to gather fabric for that idea.....

 ...........here are the little bears choosing their bows ready for the special day......

 .............the gorgeous ribbons were from hobbycraft and my little bear pattern is now available to download at sew and so here..................

 ...............love hearts quilt....nearly finished this one now......

 ............we had strawberries....and all the other english afternoon tea treats too...........

 ...........some of my quilts were made a while ago and have some favourite fabrics in them....

 ............some are more recent and it's exciting to find new fabric designs i love to sew with....i find it interesting  to work within a colour palette and to see the different effects you can create........

 .............a hexie quilt to snuggle under............and the little cot quilt being hand quilted below....

 ..............love my union jack mug from emma bridgewater....it was essential for my tea all weekend.......

 ..............the bunny below fitted the theme with her red white and blue liberty print ears and her dress made from cool britannia fabric by benartex from a few years ago..........you can now find the sugar bunny pattern at sew and so too.........

 ..............the garden is full of flowers....still lots of bluebells, masses of lily of the valley which has spread beneath the trees and has such an evocative scent, roses in bud and some just opening, alliums all beginning to open too so i must take lots of garden pictures this week......

..................thank you everyone who visits me here...so many of you have become friends over the years and it's so nice to know you by name and to read your kind comments.... wishing you a very happy week enjoying the may days, the colours, the flowers, the sunshine, and of course plenty of crafty inspiration................................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fresh Florals

 Here is my finished flowery four patch quilt...........perfect for the spring days we are enjoying at the moment.............

 ...............last spring i began cutting and piecing four patch blocks using a mixture of my favourite scraps of lecien, pam kitty morning and riley blake fabrics.....i planned to make a floating four patch quilt.....which i did (will show you that another time) and here are those first blocks as a work in progress last year......

 ..........i also loved the simple look of the plain four patch blocks so i made that one as well.....

 ..............it was quilted for me by the talented longarm quilter debbie holland in this gorgeously twirly design......

 .............it's all about the flowers and the spring here at the moment......last autumn i planted some tulips under the cherry tree in the front garden and now here they are............

 ............looking so pretty with the bluebells...........

 ...bulbs are so easy and so rewarding.......reminding myself *must plant more bulbs next autumn*..........

 .............when i was at my daughter's house at the weekend i snapped some pictures of their lovely lilac tree........that is my granddaughter daisy's little playhouse tucked behind the lilacs and rhododendrons.............

 ...........such beautiful blooms....the lilacs in our own garden are only just opening and i look forward to cutting some for the house soon......

 ............i have lots to do this week and it's very tempting to slow down and enjoy the sunshine and potter in the garden isn't it?............every day brings new flowers and nice floral surprises........

.............thank you for dropping by dear readers and thank you to those who are so kind and leave a comment for me...i love to read them......wishing you a wonderful week ahead with sunshine and flowers and plenty of crafty inspiration..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx