Hearts and Hexies

I've been having a lovely week so far, filled with hearts, hexies, fab fabrics, some delicious flowers from the garden to enjoy inside (while it was raining!) all topped off with a few scoops of mini eggs a day!

This little heart was made for someone special and I loved making it - choosing some of my favourite fabrics and adding embellishments. I actually made the heart a little while ago, but finished it off this week with the embroidery, felt flower, button and little stamped message.....

I bought the felt flower ready made - one of my online crafty purchases. It was just the right shade of blue that I wanted to use here....The other heart I finished this week is for a magazine so I can't show it yet, but I loved making that one too and will put it on here as soon as I can....

And my other love this week is making hexies - I'm using lots of pretty fabrics, and cutting lots of papers from old charts and  printed text from past projects that I keep for scrap paper and recycle in various ways. Last year at the Quilt Exhibition in London there was a very old patchwork quilt with all the papers still in the back - wonderful bits of old letters. My first ever quilt - made in the 70's (shhh) was a hexagon one, and although colourwise it's not really my taste now it's a fascinating archive of Laura Ashley and Liberty fabrics of the time, and the strange thing is when I look at it now I remember all the dresses they came from, and the friends who donated pieces of their left over dress fabric too.....I rather wish I'd left those papers in the back too......

It has been raining for part of today which was probably a good thing as I got on with the work I needed to do. Nearly all done now....and time to play with some more fabric. I received a new order of really yummy ones this week - I'm sure the postie loves calling here he gets such a delighted reception as he hands over the parcels to me!! The sight of really inspiring new colourful fabric designs really takes my breath away sometimes, and I'm glad when it does too - there's nothing worse than being un inspired by the things you want to create with is there?!

These spring flowers are looking very cheerful on my kitchen windowsill today - I began by picking the hyacinths as the rain made them lie down on the soil! then I snipped a few primroses, scillas, grape hyacinths, pulmonaria and forget me nots so I had a proper little spring posy. The hyacinths scent is gorgeous too, of course, and it's lovely to have some of it floating around the house again.... Hope you're having a lovely week too. Thank you for visiting me here in my little space....Back soon xxxxx

Sweet Spring

The sky is blue, the sun is shining and spring has really sprung here! I have been dividing my time between the garden, design work, family and friends over the last few days....and this afternoon have been pottering with the plants a bit too long and must get down to some serious  work stuff this evening. But it's hard when the birds are singing out there and the blossom is blooming, and the flowers are so pretty...best to make the most of it on a beautiful day....

Something else sweet came my way last week. I was given this award  by the lovely Carol at Naturally Carol. It's the Irresistably Sweet Blog Award -( how delicious it looks too)....... Do go and visit Carol's blog - it is always so happy and cheerful and filled with fabric-y goodness..... Thank you very much for the award, Carol.

In return for the award I am supposed to tell you four guilty pleasures...well, here they are:
one:  chocolate - you probably already know that one...  two:  working from home and never having that Monday morning feeling....  three: internet shopping - for books, fabric, yarn, pretty things, clothes, shoes.... four: gardening instead of working at the computer...feeling quite a lot of guilty pleasure today then!

Sewing in the garden - a non guilty pleasure is something I love to do whenever possible. I used to stitch cross stitch samplers in the garden all summer as the light was so wonderful to see stitching on fine linen. Now I'm doing a bit of patchwork for a magazine project, in some lovely flowery colours.
Thank you to everyone who visits me here and for your lovely comments. Have a wonderful week, filled with the joys of spring! Back soon. xxxxx

Feeling Quilty

Here are some quilt pictures today - I have quite a few of them saved up to show you, it's hard to resist taking photos of them when they pose nicely for me. There are quilts all around us here, because not only do I love making them, I use them all the time too....

The house is filled with dappled sunlight again today - such beautiful sunny weather with blue skies and flowers blooming - it's hard to stay in and work - yesterday I took a sewing project into the garden...

I do try not to get side tracked though and actually start gardening...but sometimes you just find your self planting a few seeds, pulling a few weeds, tying a few sticks together to make the new bean canes....

These sweet creamy white narcissus grow under a tree part way down our garden, and each morning some of them are flattened to the ground, so I rescue them...maybe it's mr fox treading on them on his nightly prowl?...

Sometimes I actually do have a quilt on a bed....though more often than not they are just heaped here and there.....

This is a cross stitch cushion from my Home Sweet Home book....quilts mean home to me....

...some new hexies for the next patchwork project, made by hand so I can sew it in the garden and take it away with me...

And here are the first flowering tulips from the bulbs I planted in the autumn...yesterday I went outside with my cup of tea in the glorious spring sunshine and there they were all in bloom, all of a sudden...they are called Heart's Desire..such a perfect name! In a moment I am going to get back to work again...but first I'll just pop out and see how the garden is doing...
Thank you so much for visiting me here. I hope you are all enjoying a diamond day too...with that wonderful uplifting feeling that the first real days of spring bring to us all...back soon xxxx

Knitting, Stitching and Planting

 The title of today's post sums up a lot of what I like to do at the moment...first the knitting, lots of progress has been made on the blue fluffy cardi while chatting this weekend - it's so lovely, light and quick to knit too.

Stitching: well, this little Easter bunny toy was my project for this month's CB and was obviously made a wee while ago! I took a new photo of it - in fact several -  and here it is on the front cover of the magazine, in the top left corner to catch the eye and (hopefully) tempt you in! It is a funny thing to catch sight of something you made or designed on a shelf in a shop or supermarket...

 ...rather like spotting a familiar face in a crowd unexpectedly. I still like to see my designs appear when I'm out and about even after all these years...

 Planting: one of my most favourite flowers - violas. I picked these up last week - they have a rose scent and are called Rose Wing ...so beautiful and fresh and delicate, I love them massed together and try to plant a few close together to keep that effect...

...at the bottom of the garden is an old lead hopper, left from when the Victorian rainwater goods were replaced before our time...in the spring and summer I plant different things in it each year, but this time some sweet violets have kindly planted themselves, so I popped a few violas in there too...

I'm loving this time of year - as I'm sure everyone is too - the promise of later, warmer spring and then summer in the garden is just so uplifting..seeing things begin to grow - especially now we've cleared away much of the winter leaf fall, and general debris left by the gales - is just wonderful...

I'm off now to continue stitching, this time for an autumn project!! It's a funny thing, being a designer - I do love all the seasons at any time of year!
I hope you all have a beautiful spring week, with sweet flowers all around and soft spring sunshine every day. Back very soon. xxxx

Bright and Flowery

It's been a bright and flowery week at my house, for several reasons. One is the posy of red anemones, blue iris, white narcissus, orange carnations, and yellow narcissus that was calling my name at the flower shop...

And another reason was that I won this fabulous bright nasturtiums print in the artist Claire Leggett's wonderful giveaway on her lovely blog paint drops keep falling!! I was so excited last weekend when I discovered I was one of three lucky winners! I so admire Claire's fresh, decorative and colourful style - her paintings have a real joy and zest about them, and her blog reflects her work and home beautifully...

This week I needed to send some pictures of my work to someone for a possible commission, and as I was looking through pictures from my books I decided to include this one from Home Sweet Home, in today's bright and flowery post .....

We even have flowery cakes - because Rosie, my younger daughter, will be home this weekend, and we now have a tradition that I always make some homemade cakes for us all to share when she arrives here...

                    I decorated them with roses and daisies as we have one of each in the family....

Here is my posy of bright spring-y flowers - they are also beautifully scented too, just delicious....I'm off to do a bit of my knitting now, having been working very hard the last few days on design commissions, mainly on the computer, but also running up and down to the sewing room stitching things, charting things, cutting out, sewing up, ironing on...what a busy bee I've been trying to meet the deadlines, and no time for day time knitting SO I am looking forward to some now!
I hope you all have a lovely (nearly) weekend - the sunshine is due here I've been told, and I hope it shines on you too. Thanks so much for visiting me and for all your sweet and sunny comments. xxxx

Spring Gardening

 Hello - I hope you've all had a great weekend! I've enjoyed many happy moments  of mine outdoors, gardening, pottering and enjoying the spring....Saturday wasn't sunny here so I did more potting - and pottering - in the potting shed. Lots of spring plants to divide and grow on, and to give away or swap with friends and relatives....and a few new anemones to add to my spring border...

The potting shed is much nicer to work in now that it's been painted inside - much lighter for a start. I'm still choosing the colour for the outside - I keep changing my mind...should I do it grey, or blue, or blue green...all the pale shades are lovely so I will pick one next week and get painting very soon, now the weather is warming up...The little Bees Seeds post card was one I found recently at a nearby garden shop - the seed company originally began not far from here....

I love the delicate anemone blanda flowers - I think they look lovely with other spring flowers and bulbs, just so pretty and colourful... and here they are on Sunday when it was very SUNNY indeed.....Mr P and I worked very hard clearing the beds, borders and paths of leaves, cutting back and generally tidying...

This is the spring border, right next to the terrace where we can sit and enjoy our cups of tea and look at the flowers in the bright spring sunshine...such bliss to be warm enough to do that again....

And when I wasn't gardening this weekend I was knitting....on Friday this beautiful kid mohair yarn arrived and I couldn't wait to begin knitting it up - it's absolutely gorgeous, so soft and warm but light, and not too fluffy! The yarn came from the Honorwood Flocks here.

And for a pattern I have to thank the lovely Vivienne at Green Rabbit Designs who sent me lots of mohair patterns when I mentioned that I'd lost mine from the 80's! Isn't that kind?! Vivienne crochets and knits gorgeous scarves, bags and corsages from wonderful yarn, such a clever lady.

So, I'm off now to knit some more of my lovely yarn. Thank you for visiting me here and for your sweet comments.I wish you all a wonderful week with sunny days and blue skies and sweet spring flowers. xx



Seaside Quilt

Here are some pictures of the seaside themed quilt I made for Charlie's first birthday...he is now three and a bit and how the time has flown since then...

I loved making this quilt - I sewed together large patches of red, white and blue fabrics, with a deep turquoise panel in the centre for the sea...then I had fun adding applique images of boats and bunting, a little bucket, stars and badges and flags...

...and lots of flying seabirds giving a feeling of movement across the quilt...

Earlier this week Charlie excitedly showed me his new big boy's cabin bed, complete with little ladder to climb up and underneath the bed is a play tent with red gingham curtains... and his little seaside quilt still fits his new bed. I'm working on a seaside project again today, doing a summer magazine project - it's a theme I never tire of...

Thank you for visiting me here, and for all your lovely comments on my newly painted potting shed! I will be out there again this weekend and will take my camera too. So many flowers are popping up, each day something else has unfurled. I wish you a happy weekend, full of sunny days, spring flowers and crafty times. Back soon. xxx

The Potting Shed

After spending a lot of time at the computer and working in my studio last week, it was great to get outside and do something different....not exactly gardening, though I did do quite a lot of that too...but cleaning out and painting the inside of the little potting shed at the bottom of our garden...

 It was sunny, as you can see but soooo cold - my hands were freezing when I was painting! After the new coat of white on the walls and a coat of blue green from farrow and ball on the bench I was very pleased with the fresh clean look...

The little blue birdhouse was painted by my sister for me a few years ago and I love it - so that went straight back in when the walls had dried...Lots of unwanted things which had been put in there were disposed of, and clean pots and tools came back in and were stacked ready for use again...

...and the seed packets stored in their special little container (a present from one of my daughters), are ready for the planting days to begin...

I was glad to get this job done. The next one is to paint the outside of the potting shed - but it will have to wait for much warmer weather!! The little picture below is a book illustration I did a few years ago - showing a fanciful shelf in an imaginary potting shed - I find the subject very appealing and have often drawn and stitched it!

Just before I go I would like to say a big thank you to Gill for giving me the Stylish Blogger Award last week! Although I have received this award twice already I'm delighted to accept it again, so thank you, I do appreciate it! Do go and visit Gillyflower - it's such a pretty blog and full of lovely pictures (and a giveaway at the moment too!)
Thank you so much for visiting me here and for your lovely comments. I hope you had a lovely weekend, and wish you all a wonderful week - with lots of sunshine and if the temperatures where you live are still a bit chilly - keep cosy too! xxx

Sew Purple

 I'm so loving all the purple spring flowers around at the moment - in so many shades  from deepest blue purple to palest pinky purple or mauve. The local flower shop has buckets filled with bright jewel coloured anemones, and some hyacinths added in for scent as well as colour... I treated myself to a small bunch at the weekend...

 Some of the dotty lilac shades of fabric seemed perfect for this new project...a  little purple pincushion..

Big applique flowers with button centres, a four-patch patchwork square, and some little labels...

Lots of people kindly asked about the labels I used on another project I showed recently...I made them by printing words onto strips of cotton fabric using alphabet rubber stamps and an indelible ink pad. You can back the labels with bondaweb, or just fold and stitch them - they can also look nice with frayed edges in some projects...it's an easy way to add a greeting to a hand knitted or stitched gift too...

We saw these beautiful crocuses at the weekend - there was a vast area of them beneath some trees and on first sight they really were breath taking! So much colour about at last, and lots more to look forward to. Thank you for all your lovely comments about the bunnies in my last post, I enjoyed reading every one. Have a great weekend, wishing you sunshine, blue skies and masses of spring flowers. Back soon xxx