Sowing Season

At last the spring we've been waiting for has arrived here and we can do some proper gardening again.....sowing, planting, watching the blossom open and the trees turn green............the cute little pins shown here were a gift from the easter bunny...........he knows i like crafty things as well as chocolate.............

 ............the pins have their own little pincushion which i made from a mix of flowery and veggie fabrics, some from a beatrix potter fabric line left over from a previous book project.......

 ............somehow once i saw the carrot pins it inspired me to make some fabric carrots too..........

                                         .............i like them as much as real carrots............

                                                     .............and so does ruby.................

 ................she is a very quiet and peaceful rabbit to have around the sewing room................

...............more sowing and planting was going on in the cutting patch this week, though first we had a day and night of sudden gale force winds which were very destructive to lots of trees and plants, though thankfully not here.............

                          ............ i brought these plants inside late at night to protect them......

 ...........i often keep flowering plants on a little table outside the back door in spring and summer...this is the first time they have ended up in the kitchen overnight......

 ..........they looked very happy to be out of the wild winds, and i have to admit that this time our kitchen really did look like a garden centre................................

..........i have had soooo many questions and emails about the ripple blanket i showed last time that i decided to answer everyone here :)...........first, the pattern is lovely lucy's from attic 24........her tutorial is so clear and easy to follow, it is a lot of people's favourite and now it's my favourite too :)...........secondly, the yarn i chose is all stylecraft special dk and the colours for the stripes are used in the following order: bluebell, cloud blue, citron, lemon, wisteria, clematis, shrimp, apricot, aspen, sherbet, magenta, clematis (used twice), pomegranate, fondant, candy floss...then repeat again ............you can buy the yarn online here............

 ............i was very lucky recently and won a treat in jane's giveaway....this sweet busy bee bag charm arrived and i love it............jane is a longtime blogging friend, and she also made me one of her special personalised cards, with patchwork hexagons forming the background....what a nice idea for a patchworker, thank you jane :).....you can find more of jane's lovely cards and beautiful jewellery in her etsy shop here..................

                           ..............jane's special card on my dresser, matching the daffodils :)..............

.............one last picture today............i bought this issue of prima spring makes because i loved the cover..........it is shown here with my latest granny squares.....(more of those another time).........and when i began reading the mag i discovered there was a nice review of my book, *pretty patchwork gifts* in it too ..........there are lots of lovely ideas in here...........don't you just love springtime crafting??...........thank you to everyone who has sent me an email this week.......i will be answering you very sooon :)..........and thank you to you all for dropping in and reading this, i love to see you......wishing you a wonderful week.................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooxxxxxxxx

Crochet Crush

 As i mentioned in my previous post....i have been having quite a crush on crochet lately........

 .........when i first learnt how to crochet, a couple of summers ago, i didn't realise just how addictive it was.........i began making the daisy granny squares for this pillow a few months ago, wanting to make it look colourful but keeping the daisy shape of the flowers...........it was going to be  blanket but i changed my mind ;)................

 .............now the squares have been made up into this spring like pillow just as real daisies are finally flowering in our lawn...........we have had some lovely sunny garden times lately so I took the pillow down to the potting shed to take a photo or two.................

 ..............there were new pot plants and a little dog there too (he came from grannie's attic)......

 ..............some of the left over daisy squares have been made into this little pincushion..........

 ...............and finishing the daisy project meant i could start on my new crochet crush.........a ripple blanket...........i have wanted to make a ripple pattern for a very long time.....it has been on my to do list along with lots of other crafty things..........but this easter i decided was the moment to begin my very own ripple........

...........using lots of bright fresh colours with a summery feel........no need to be shy of using colour when you're making a cheerful crochet blanket..........and soon the rainbow of ripples was appearing..........

.............hard to put down....just one more ripple, and one more.......i love working the pattern though you do have to be careful compared to a granny stripe.....if you don't pay attention the waves can become out of sync or even have a flat top and have to be undone ;)....... a bit of rippling has accompanied much of my family time over easter, the project has been out and about with me, on a little trip, in the car, in the garden, and watching movies.................

 ..............a coffee break during my working day means time for a quick bit of rippling........

 ...............the background for the pots of flowers in this photograph is an old door we found when mr p tidied out the old cellar last year.............i kept it as it looked interesting for photoshoots....we think it might have been from the old victorian kitchen cupboards............i re-found this one at the weekend and tried it out...............

..............now besides doing lots of crochet, i have also been busy working on new sewing projects which i will show soon, and some magazine work which will be appearing later in the summer.....

....and i have also been making plans for lots more ideas, makes and giveaways for the future.......but before i go today i must tell you who the winner is of my latest giveaway....the signed copy of my new book * pretty patchwork gifts* and package of crafty sewing notions is going to.....................
.......................amanda at the lovely blog crafty in the med........ thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway...........there will be another one very soon :)...............
................thank you for popping in to see me here today and for your sweet comments which i always enjoy reading..........i wish you all a happy week and hope the sun comes out where you are and you have plenty of flowers, crafty times or whatever you love...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Happy Sewing

 Today's post is full of happy sewing.......i loved making this happy scrappy quilt, inspired by the patchwork bag i made a while ago for crafts beautiful magazine..........i used many of the same fabrics for the quilt and included the same kind of mix of bright florals, text printed fabrics, checks and stripes.....

........and some dots of course........i also added  some haberdashery applique patches..........and a bit of cross stitch, embroidery and some buttons so it had a true 'sewing' feel................

 ...............i used some of my favourite pink and white candy stripe for the binding...........

 .....................................and this delicious pam kitty love fabric for the backing...............

 .............it's a very cheery little quilt and i know we'll enjoy using it as much i loved sewing it....

 .......i actually finished the quilt a little while ago and funnily enough over the last couple of weeks i haven't been doing as much sewing as usual because of things like doing some (grand)childcare over the holiday, working on non sewing design projects, having a business trip and having a big crochet craze :)..........more of that in another post........

 ...........i did find some great sewing books over the easter break at a local thrift shop.......

 ............when i bought them the lady took my name and number so she can call me if any other sewing book treasures arrive there..............i don't do actual dressmaking (apart from for bunnies and mice) but i love books on the subject, especially the illustrations...............

 ..............a new little pile of fabrics here waiting for my next project which is about to begin.............

 ..........and here is a special gift which was sewn just for me by fellow cross stitch designer gail bussi........many of you will know gail for her beautiful sampler designs....she lives in south africa but is internationally renowned for her stunning embroidery.......we have often worked for the same magazines and i was thrilled when gail said she was making me a little mouse....and even more thrilled when the package arrived........this is camomile and her colours were chosen to match my blog :).......gail sells these adorable mice, she has a catalogue and takes commissions.......you can find *the mice of rosebud lane* here.................

...............one more sweet gift came my way this week.........a thank you for the (grand)childcare posy.....aren't they pretty? ..............and i'd like to say thank you to everyone who has left lovely comments on my previous post for my book giveaway....(it is still open if you would like to add your name)..............your comments are a joy and make me smile............wishing you a wonderful week.....some sunshine and flowers and lots of happy crafty times............back soon xxxxxxxxx

Easter Week and a Giveaway

Here are some pictures of our easter garden........i'm glad to say that luckily the sun came out and we were able to have the much looked forward to egg hunt................

 ...............i loved the beatrix potter egg hunt signs as soon as i saw them.... and it was fun planting them in the garden amongst the trees and flowers, next to the victorian glass cloche and the potting shed........

 .............the children thought it was fun too :)..............the eggs were dotted about all over the garden, the shiny foil they were wrapped in catching the sunlight..........the children had little tin easter buckets to collect them in.............

 ................the finale was them finding chocolate rabbits in the potting shed...................

 ..........i had some chocolate too ;) .....the picture top right shows some of my delicious truffles from my parents............and also a little garden inspired gift tag i made for the april issue of crafts beautiful magazine here.................

 ............ruby, the big bunny, had an egg too and also a brand new spring green dress for easter and some stripy grey and white leggings.............(she is much beloved and played with which is why she needed a new dress)............(the pattern for ruby is in my previous book, *simple sewn gifts* and i enlarged it to make this big bunny version)..............

 ...............she had a new hat too............this actually belonged to another toy but when we found it fitted ruby we just had to customise it for her with some ribbon, fabric flowers and buttons..............

.............being easter week, the three sugar bunnies also popped out for a while to join in........they are shown here with the hearts and flowers cushion, and all are featured in my new book, *pretty patchwork gifts*...........

............i have a signed copy of the book to give away and i thought it would also be a nice idea to give away a package of crafty trims and notions like some of those i used in the book .........

 ............things like the scissor charm, bird button, ribbons and embroidery thread and a fat quarter of my much treasured lecien flower sugar fabric............if you would like to enter this giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post........if you are a follower and leave a second comment to let me know you will be entered twice :)........the giveaway will be open until april 15...................

.................thank you so much for dropping by to visit me here, it's always lovely to see you :)........i hope you have a good week and enjoy lots of happy crafty times............and plenty of sunshine too.......good luck in the giveaway................this week i am finishing my latest quilt so will be back to show you that as well as my new crochet.......................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx