Starry Stitching

 A couple of posts ago i showed you the english paper pieced stars i had begun to make.........i LoVeD sewing these.............it was really quite addictive.............

............and last week i decided to turn the pile of epp stars into a cushion, joined with teal diamonds........the optical effects of geometric piecing is often surprising................

 .........i made the stars over a couple of weeks, mostly while chatting to family and friends or cosily watching movies in the evenings...........

 

............after i'd made the first starry pillow i decided to make another with the remainder of the stars, but this time joined with white diamonds...........

 ...........they will look nice in our spare room, i think, which has a white and teal colour scheme.....

 ............i am making more stars with my diamond paper pieces now, in lots of different colours, for a quilt.........and to help with that new plan a wonderful selection of fabrics was sent to me this week by the lovely shay of simply sweet fabrics.................

..........shay got in touch with me recently, and it was such a treat to discover her etsy shop which has so many gorgeous fabrics including lines from the big fabric houses and also japanese imports........

 ..........the little collage above shows the sweet collection in my parcel from shay, all the way across the pond :) ........i know many of you will recognise the cosmo japanese tiny roses, scrumptious by bonnie and camille for moda, briar rose by heather ross for windham and the 30's collection by atsuko matouyama.......i could hardly wait to sew with them and before starting a bigger project i made a starry pincushion with some of them.................

 ........i love to mix up fabric lines and to try different combinations together............

 .............and after the starry pincushion i made a postage stamp pincushion too............and now i have begun my next quilt using these bright and cheerful prints.....will show you soon :).........

 ........this week we will be celebrating my lovely mr p's birthday, and my sweet niece emily's 21st birthday too.........and then, when the birthdays are over, it will be time to put up the christmas decorations.............i love the christmas lights and candles the most and always love to see the advent candles in the house windows..............

............this week the hyacinth bulbs came into flower, making the sewing room smell gorgeous......thank you for visiting here, lovely readers, it is such a treat to have you stop by my little blog space..........wishing you all a wonderful week, and a very *HaPpY ThAnKsGiViNg* to all who celebrate it..................take care and keep cosy.................back soon xxxxxooooxxxxxxxxx

Daisy's House Quilt

 This week in my studio i have been making projects for spring magazines........as i can't show those makes just yet i thought i'd show you this little quilt.........it was made a while ago using gorgeous pam kitty morning fabrics and named after my lovely little grand daughter who was just beginning to enjoy playing with dolls and doll's houses at the time....................

.............i love house images and have often drawn, painted, cross stitched and appliqued little houses in my work.......i also love home making and am fascinated by other people's homes too :).......

 ......... the pattern for my*daisy's house quilt* appears in my pretty patchwork gifts book.........

...........it is easy to sew, the applique fabrics are all backed with bondaweb, the pattern shapes traced on from the book, and cut out, then ironed in place and stitched round the edge with blanket stitch....or you could machine them in place...........i loved making daisy's house and plan to make a whole quilt filled with scrappy houses sometime soon :)................

............i also loved using the pam kitty morning fabrics, they were the perfect choice for this quilt, being both bright and very pretty.......now i am looking forward to working with some pam kitty picnic fabrics next.......... the little doll's moses basket here with bertie the bear cosily tucked up was brought back from barcelona for me by a kind friend, to use for the bunnies..........

 ..........lots of people kindly got in touch with me after my last post about english paper piecing and making doll quilts...........both are very easy to do and a great way to start patchwork and quilting......so if you are considering giving it a try please do :)........choose fabrics and colours that you really like and enjoy the process..........and make what you love...............

 ...............the daisy print from pam kitty morning was my choice for the backing of this little quilt....

 ............below is a picture of the new 2014 quilter's desk diary that i received this week.........it would make a great christmas gift ..........

.............and i was very pleased that my little hexagons quilt was featured on one of the spring pages.........there are lots of lovely quilts in the diary, a very varied selection from lots of beautiful quilting books........................

............you can buy the quilter's desk diary on amazon as well as in good stores...........and you can find the pattern for my little hexagon quilt in my pretty patchwork gifts book too..............

............are you feeling christmassy yet??........here are some more houses, this time snowy little cross stitch houses made into christmas tags for the latest issue of crafts beautiful magazine which is packed with fun festive ideas..........i stitched these houses when the weather was warm and sunny and the garden was full of flowers...............

 ..........i haven't actually started decorating for christmas yet, honestly....... but i wanted to make the tags look festive so i opened a box of baubles especially for the photo............it's been such a mild autumn here that i haven't felt christmassy at all and going into shops filled with christmas decorations and playing christmas songs just felt strange...................but i am making some christmas gifts and have sorted out some paper to make some pretty tags and it is nice to get all those things done in plenty of time without rushing at the last minute................

...........thank you for dropping in here, lovely readers, and for leaving me such sweet comments and emails..........i am looking forward to going on some blog visits myself now.............wishing you a very happy, crafty week............keep cosy............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Patchwork Pieces

It's a bright and sunny autumn day here, and i am glad to say that i managed to finish a few wip's this week.....not many, and not helped by a reminder from my lovely lady accountant that my paperwork was due on her desk :(.......but here is the little big dipper quilt i showed you when i first began it, using fresh lights, brights and whites.................

...........i love making doll quilts, they are a great way of exploring patterns and colours that may inspire a bigger quilt or other projects, and i have always liked to have colourful textiles around me while i work..............i am planning to make more little quilts to use as wall hangings..........

..............the big dipper pattern is one i have always loved for its liveliness and sense of movement.....

.............i took a few pictures with some cute creatures, like winnie the winter doll in the top picture, the little china bunny above, and below the mousie (who has her own bed) in a maileg high chair (perfect fit!).............you can also see some of my new rupert blocks from chipper nelly.............

 ............the quilt fits the much-used and now rather knocked about ikea bed that featured in one of my earlier books and is played with by daisy all the time......she loves it so much.......i might re paint it soon, maybe  pale blue next time.................

 ..........i wanted a fabric for the backing which had a sense of movement too and found this one in the depths of my fabric cupboard......

 .............although i finished some works in progress, as in two magazine projects, my tax paperwork and the little big dipper doll quilt......i also began some more wip's :)...............a while ago i bought some ready cut diamond paper pieces from sew and quilt .....i absolutely love english paper piecing and was so looking forward to making something with those diamonds.........

 ..............i picked out a pile of pretty fabrics for the kind of thing i had in mind..................

                                        .............and began making the six point stars..................

 ..............this is such a lovely, simple way to create lots of stars for an eventual quilt........

 ..............i have made patchworks using english paper piecing all my life and find it so easy and relaxing to do, and also the best way for me to make accurate blocks ;).......i like how it is portable and how you soon build up a collection of blocks..............it also means i can sew it while chatting to my dearies or watching a film or listening to radio 4.....................

 ...........besides the small six point stars i'm making, i also began cutting out some big eight point stars a while ago from a template in an old patchwork book.............i have only made one big block for that so far but will have a proper starry progress post soon, i think.............

.............thank you for visiting my little blog space, lovely readers..........it is so wonderful to see you and thank you for the sweet and interesting comments you leave, i enjoy reading them so much..........
wishing you all a wonderful, happy, sunny week......................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sewing Notions

 It has been a nice quiet week here so far, with time to catch up on some of the many wip's i have piling up.........there has been lots of sewing going on, so i thought i'd show a few pictures of some sewing notions...  first, here is the china bunny i bought in the cotswolds earlier this year....those of you who guessed i might turn him into a pin cushion were right :)...........

 ..............i am rather fond of this little sewing project bag that i made using a tanya whelan jelly roll....i loved adding pockets for scissors, tape measure, threads and a removable padded flower pincushion too.......

 .....and then i had fun adding buttons and hand stiching, little ribbon tags and other embellishments.......if you would like to know more you can find this project in here...............

 ............the kind of sewing i most enjoy is the decorative kind, and embellishments are one of the most important things....i have lots of them around my sewing room and studio.....too many to keep track of so i am always rummaging through baskets and boxes however organised i try to be..........

 ............i have begun creating with colourful selvedge again lately and am planning a sewing themed mini quilt...this applique spool is the first part............hope to show you more soon...........

 ...........i think it is sew pretty :)................below are some spool blocks, i loved the one in my farmer's wife quilt, so have been making a few more to add to another project..........a lot of wip's going on..

 ............the picture below shows one of my more recent storage ideas............a wooden cutlery tray, painted, and used to pile up sewing notions in....rather handy and it keeps all the bits and pieces for each project together.................

............the tray was from CK and had some pretty cutlery which went straight into our kitchen drawer (that already had a cutlery tray), so this one was perfect for re using...........

 .............we have had some wild weather this week, with howling winds and very chilly temperatures.......i decided to go outside and pick these little flowers from my flower patch before they vanished .......the anemones are popping up here and there and i love them even though it's a strange time of year to have them............

 .............the warm shades of the hydrangeas are the more usual sight in my house during autumn, drying out so we can enjoy the lovely colours over the winter............i also put the little pink fairy lights on this week..........soooo cosy .....................

 ...............the rest of the week i am planning some baking, some cooking, some cross stitch, some crochet and a lot of patchwork............i have a new patchwork crush involving lots of paper pieces and lots of sewing notions too............more about this soon :)....................i brought this beatrix potter postcard at the shop at hilltop farm on our trip to the lakes.........the illustration has always been one of my favourites...............the yellowy-apricot rose is probably the last one from this climber which goes up the back of our house........it has such a sweet scent and soft billowy petals..................

..............thank you for dropping in to see me here, lovely readers.............i love your visits and your sweet comments too.........wishing you a wonderful week ahead with happy, sunny days and peaceful cosy evenings...............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxx