October

 October is the one time in the year that you find a pumpkin on our step.....and the one time I have lots of orange things around the house....i love the warm and earthy colours of this mellow month and am sorry it has gone by so fast  so that here we are already on its very last day....

 .......i found some lovely decorations this year......sweet little pumpkins on sticks, golden yellow gourds...

 .............which i kept in the potting shed until it was time to decorate the house.........

 .........and my favourite florist in our little town had made adorable little garlands of chinese lanterns ....

 ......perfect to festoon the potting shed, or the kitchen windows, where they look beautiful when the sun sets  behind them and they form a delicate silhouette.....

 ......the Halloween bunting i made last year is making a spooky reappearance on the mantlepiece, and there are lots of sweeties waiting in a bowl near the front door ready for this year's little trick or treaters to call......

 ......before i go, i'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who is taking part in the Battersea Doggie Bag campaign mentioned in my last post...and thank you to The Making Spot for featuring it on both the Mollie Makes blog and the Cross Stitcher blog....the campaign is set to run for quite a while so i am leaving a link in my sidebar.....

.....and i couldn't go without showing you this little doggie too....it was my dear grandson Charlie's fourth birthday last week and he is a born dog lover.....so besides all the classic boy's toys he wanted for his birthday i made him this special little felt doggie too......
Thank you for visiting me today, and for all your sweet comments on my last post...and the lovely emails too....wishing you a happy Halloween and a wonderful week ahead.....back soon. xxxxxx

Stitching Scented Doggie Bags

 Last week I mentioned that an unexpected and very cute design project had arrived in my inbox, one which I was delighted to make and began on straight away......it was from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, that wonderful charity which has been caring for dogs and cats ever since it was established in 1860. Their aim was never to turn away a dog or cat in need, and they also reunite lost dogs and cats with their owners.

As part of Battersea's kennel enrichment plan, the project i was asked  to create was a scented doggie bag that pet lovers could make easily, and that could be filled with scented herbs such as lavender to help keep the dogs calm while they wait for new loving homes........

 ...........i was asked to use a motif of a staffordshire terrier as part of the home's campaign to show the softer side of this breed..........so here are my scented doggie bags........

 ......it was hard to stop at one so i stitched three.........there are so many combinations of colours and fabric that you could use.....

                        ........here they are packed up and ready to be sent off to Battersea...........

 .....and now the important bit....if you would like to help Battersea Dogs and Cats Home by making a scented doggie bag too you can download a doggie bag pattern and instructions from www.battersea.org.uk/doggiebags today..........

Even if you have never sewn before these little bags are very easy to make.......it's a sweet and easy way to help such a good cause.......
Thank you so much for visiting me here today, and for your lovely comments and emails too.....i hope you are having a wonderful autumn week and the sun is shining where you are.....i'll be back soon xxxxx

Happy Weekend

 This week seems to have gone by exceptionally quickly, with lots to do....but still time to make this little doily cone and fill it with snippets of flowers, leaves and berries......

 ....some little bits from the garden and some tiny heads of cut flowers......you can put a tiny jar with water inside the doily cone and the flowers last quite a few days........
I think the week went by so fast for me because a rather cute and interesting little design project came my way (which i look forward to sharing with you soon) so i was quite engrossed doing that as well as my planned commissions... ...you know how time flies when you are busy making things .....and now i am looking forward to the weekend and spending time with the family......

              .......as well as looking for some buttons to finish off my cornflower cardi........

           ..........and looking for a nice one of these ready to make our pumpkin lantern next week......

 ..........and maybe sorting out these lovely old mending thread cards someone gave me....not sure if i'll sew with them, but i love the cards themselves, speaking of bygone days when everything was neatly darned and mended .......

........and i'll also be sewing just a little too as i finally finish off the great autumn mushroom craze i've been having........what will you be doing this weekend, i wonder?........thanks for popping in to see me here....i wish you all a sunny and happy weekend....Back soon xxxxxx

Time for Tea

 Weekend walks followed by afternoon tea are a favourite of mine, and this weekend the weather was so beautiful it was wonderful to be out walking in the fresh autumn air and bright sunshine.....

....and then home to tea with scones, rock buns and cupcakes.....and my new tea cosy which was commissioned a while ago and is my project in this month's Crafts Beautiful magazine, in the shops now ;-)...

......i am not an adventurous cook though sometimes i try something new, like this delicious vanilla frosting from the  Humming Bird Bakery....

 There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. Henry James

......i have collected a lot of quotations about homely things over the years to use in my stitching, and there are quite a number about tea and the taking of it......

                       ....a little close up of the CB teacosy, with its ribbon and button on top.......

 ............and its decorative ribbon bow at the side......i enjoyed making this commission, and in the magazine there is a cupcake card to accompany it, if it's to be made as a gift.........

 ....some pictures of the colourful flowers and berries we saw on our walk yesterday afternoon at our favourite nearby gardens....it was stunning to see how just many things were still in flower there and to enjoy the sight of so many beautiful shrubs full of berries or rosehips......

             The mere chink of cups and saucers turns the mind to happy repose. George Gissing

There are still some mushrooms being made here, and i found some to photograph on our walks too, but they will have to wait for another post.....Thank you for dropping in to tea today in my little bit of blogland it was lovely to see you, thanks for your sweet comments and emails...and a big hellooo to my new followers. Wishing you a wonderful week with plenty of moments of happy repose....back soon xxxxxx

Autumn Days

Sewing and making is the theme today.....more toadstools - or mushrooms - are appearing around our house, some decorated, some not.....all dotty whether they are large or small....

...i am really enjoying exploring this idea and have lots more mushrooms that i want to make yet......

 .....i made some simple card templates to create the top of the toadstool and the stalk which can then be used to draw round and make lots of others quite quickly.......

 .......so far for decoration i have made some felt flowers, but have some other ideas percolating too....

 .....as i'm working on spring themes in my studio this week, it's fun to also make something with an autumn feel in my spare moments.....it feels just right to be making these just as they might be appearing in the woods nearby or even in the garden almost hidden amongst the leaves.....

 ......i had a wonderful surprise this week when a parcel arrived for me...the next picture shown below is of the gorgeous bag that i won in Karen's wonderful giveaway over on her blog Karen's Crafts here....i was thrilled to receive this lovely gift as you may imagine, and even more so when i discovered.....

                                 ......lots of other treats and surprises hiding in the pockets....

 ....an adorable pincushion, a pretty tissue cover, and  lovely crochet jam jar cover so beautifully made by Karen, and a sweet little strawberry pink candle, too. Thank you so much Karen for these generous gifts....do go and visit her lovely blog it's lively and inspired and full of crafty things....

 .....my autumn days wouldn't be complete without a quilt or two on the sofa, and that thought this week inspired me to tidy up my quilt cupboard, which i have mentioned and shown before and is in the sitting room, handily next to my sofa where i spend many happy hours stitching away. Sometimes i keep fabrics in the cupboard too but at the moment i have taken them all out for a grand fabric sort out...so there are just quilts in there which seemed like a good time to take a photo....

 .....while they are tidy and folded neatly.....the fabrics are now in the dining room also known as the sewing room in a huge pile and i am going to organise them ready for a big project that is about to begin....

.....so much sewing and quilting and mushroom making this week.....i love it! Other things i'm loving are: berries, crunchy leaves, cosy evenings by the fire, candle light, apple and blackberry crumble and custard, home made bread {in a breadmaker so didn't take me long ;-)}, reading a Persephone book, piecing a quilt, watching the grandbabies laughing and playing together, hearing the front door when Mr P arrives home from work...so many simple things to enjoy and make the most of......i hope you are having happy times this week too. Thanks so much for dropping in to see me and for the lovely comments. I'm off to do some crafting again now....but i'll be back soon. xxxxx

Sew Autumnal

It's been a wonderful autumn week here, with all kinds of autumn weather and so many of the things that mean autumn to me....plus a little autumn sewing too.... like this stuffed toadstool i made....

 ....i've spent a bit of time in the potting shed too this week, here is the outside of it with the lovely hanging toadstool garland that Mr P bought me last year, such a nice surprise....

 ....the potting shed is a great place to arrange flowers and berries, as well as potting plants and bulbs....

 ....i bought some new ones to plant this autumn, narcissi and hyacinths as last year i was mad on tulips and planted a whole lot which hopefully will appear again next spring....

 ...the toadstool  above was easy to make and there will be more of them in a future post, as like many crafty things, once you make one you just have to make another....and another....and then try out different fabrics and decoration....so look out for more to pop up here (as real toadstools do) .....

 ...i treated myself to an adorable set of garden buttons from Jenny, and here is the toadstool one fitting in so well with my autumn week....these are so beautifully made and designed...you can find Jenny Arnott's gorgeous shop here.......

 ......this glass jar is filled with a bunch of small rosehips from my favourite florist in our little town, she always has something special for the season....

 ....autumn supper table ready for friends visiting..... it will be cosy with candlelight when the evening draws in

....loving this autumn time, even with a night of gale force winds that knocked the runner bean canes flat  to the ground, and even with the chill and damp...there are also sunny days and that wonderful low light you get at this time of year, as well as all the autumnal nature finds for my nature table....hope you are enjoying a very happy weekend. Thank you so much for popping in to see me here, and for your lovely comments too, enjoy your autumnal times.....Back soon xxxx