Flower Patches

 This week i have been working on lots of flower patches, both real ones in the garden, and fabric ones for my patchwork quilt...............

 ..............i am machine piecing lots of pretty squares together using plenty of floral fabrics from my stash, and including some text ones for a garden catalogue feel............

 ..............then i am adding applique and embroidery to the quilt top..........i am loving making this...

 ...............the first applique is a strawberry............i will show you more as this wip progresses....this week i have sent off the star quilt top to be longarm quilted..........and while looking at the farmer's wife quilt which was folded showing this dotty churndash block (below, top right) i was inspired to begin an english paper pieced quilt too...........

 .............i have made churn dash quilts before, in red and white and love this old, traditional block....

..........now i am gathering up all the spotty dotty fabrics in my quilt cupboard to use for this idea.....as well as some small ditsy florals too........this will be another ongoing wip to show you...............

 ..............besides working on my fabric flower patches i've been in the garden a lot, planting, tidying, weeding, sowing and taking time to enjoy the beauty of these spring days.......the sound of birdsong, warm sunshine, tall old trees, the scent of bluebells.............i have been trimming the box hedging near the potting shed, and the air was filled with the scent of lavender, lemon thyme, bay and boxwood as i brushed against them.............mr p was fixing broken brickwork here and there around the garden and every now and then we would stop for a cup of tea............

 ................the pink clematis is blooming on a trellis against the back wall of the house...............

 .............i am often inspired to make pretty floral decorative designs at this time of year, like the little tag here.......

 .............and my other great pleasure is reading.........this week i have been engrossed in a wonderful new book called toast and marmalade by the pottery designer emma bridgewater............

 ........a fascinating read.......i liked reading about her trip to stoke on trent to have pottery samples made up when she first began........and how the pottery is still made in england..............it also reminded me of my own early work as the first commercial designs i sold were floral ones to a pottery in stoke on trent.........i went there by train with my large black portfolio..............

 ..............here is some of the emma bridgewater pottery that we use all the time.........i have had these a long time and they are still a pleasure to use.............i have a polka dot lasagne dish too but couldn't take a picture of it as it was in the oven at the time, with lasagne in it :)..........below is a picture of the first little mug i bought from the company many years ago.....................

........thank you for visiting today, lovely readers, and for all your sweet comments........i hope you are having a wonderful week enjoying the spring (or autumn if you are on the other side of the world)....wishing you sunshine and happy days......................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sweet Things

 We have had a lovely easter time......i hope you have too...........the sun shone much more than we expected and we had some lovely garden days, including our easter egg hunt for the children......

 .................my daughter hid the eggs and put up the signs.......it only seems like a moment since we did this last year..............the children really love the hunt :)........we had our family party too and it was lovely to spend time with my parents and sisters and their families...............

 .................the bluebells are just coming out here..........perfect for rabbits to hide among.......

 ...............we had a walk in the nearby bluebell woods one day, and a walk by the sea another......and plenty of tea and cake and chocolate too...................

 ..........the tulips are giving us so much colour indoors, in small jugs and vases................

 .........and i decided to use the cream coloured dartmouth pottery vase that we found in grannie's attic a few years ago when we cleared it out.......when i brought the vase down from our own attic i discovered it had a wire plant holder inside which was perfect for holding each tulip..........

.............a close up of the beautifully patterned red and yellow tulip which looks as if it has been painted with a very fine brush........there is a bigger picture of the vase at the end of this post.........

...............daisy and i have been putting bunnies to bed this week, using this new little doll quilt that i made with pam kitty picnic fabrics............the pillow is one of my favourite ones and i would like to make some pillowcases for us in this sweet fabric too..............

 .............i added lots of applique hearts and red quilt stitches, as well as some yo yo's and a few bright buttons............the pam kitty picnic fabric can be found here and here.................

 ...............on the first day of the easter holidays a small, surprise parcel arrived here from a very good friend of mine........and inside the parcel i was delighted to find this adorable knitted baby bunny in a crib.............my friend is such a wonderful knitter, and has made the bunny, her clothes, the basket crib, pillow, mattress and blanket.............the lovely pattern is from dollytime here.......

 .............daisy loves playing with the baby bunny and her crib...........we had fun taking photos among the flowers too..............

 ..............i haven't had time to sew this week, but have lots of things planned and ready to go soon.......i have done quite a bit of crochet though and the granny stripe is growing quite well......i even made myself sew in some of those ends while watching a movie one evening so there won't be too many to do when the blanket is finished................

........thank you for visiting me, lovely readers and for leaving me such sweet comments.......it is a pleasure to hear from you and to find some new to me bloggers to visit too.....wishing you a wonderful week with sunshine, flowers and sweet things to enjoy..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Happy Easter

 We are just beginning our easter break here........we have plenty of flowers and chocolate eggs to give (and some fabric eggs to just look pretty) and of course some bunnies............

 ............here is this year's easter bunny, her name is lolly and she has just hopped home from an exciting time being featured in april's crafts beautiful magazine, and even being the cover girl.....

 ..............she is joining the other bunnies here, and is already a big favourite with daisy who knows each one by name and chooses different ones to play with on each visit here ...she has her own bunny, candy, at home too :)....................

 ................i made some fabric eggs a while ago, just for fun and because i love making old patterns with new fabrics and seeing how they turn out......oldies but goodies :)..........

 .............i seem to be collecting white pottery bunny egg cups..........

 ................half a dozen fabric eggs........china chickens looking a bit puzzled..............

 ...............we have also made (and already eaten) a batch of easter biscuits in the shapes of bunnies, eggs and chicks............i am going to make some more for our party on sunday.............

 ...........i love the pretty cookie cutters too, and store them in my new little drawstring bag.......

 ..............we have new bunny mugs for our morning tea..............i bought these and showed them to my daughter sarah......she had already bought the same ones :).............

 ...............this week i have been finishing three work projects, including a christmas one......(i am used to working out of season so luckily it doesn't seem strange any more).......i needed to get the projects made so i can fit in the writing and instructions over the next two weeks between family times..........

..............i have been out in the garden with my flowery patterned secateurs picking flowers for the easter decorating , and of course filling the big white bucket with tulips from my specially planted tulip cutting patch.....though i still feel a bit guilty actually cutting them.............they last ages in the house and look lovely indoors.............

 ..............my easter crochet project.........a granny stripe for my daughter rosie to match a quilt i made her a long time ago from amy butler fabrics in lovely fresh pinks and greens......it is for the sofa in their cottage conservatory.............i have also promised to make a grey stripy ripple for their sitting room........i have more small crochet things i want to make too and hope to fit them in soon........

..............thank you for visiting me here in my little blog space, lovely readers.......it is always a pleasure to have your visits and to read your sweet comments.......i wish you all a very happy easter, with sunshine, flowers and some special treats too.................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Home and Garden

 It's been a busy week here in my home and garden, what with working on some new design projects, having a crochet crush, tidying up for easter visits, finding the easter decorations, gardening,and watching for the ducks to arrive to dabble in our new pond..........

 ..............this pretty house applique is part of my crafts beautiful magazine project in the may issue....

 ..........there is also a cross stitched house for a spring-like new home card............

 ...........this week my sewing room is filled with patchwork and crochet...............

 ...............the blanket here is my work in progress autumn blanket, which i decided to finish by adding a few more granny squares and a border.......it is not actually finished yet, but nearly is......

 ..............the colours seemed to match the chickens which i'd got out for the easter decorating......

 .............and the tulips in my special tulip cutting patch this year are a mix of lilac pinks, yellows, peachy pinks, and very bright orangey reds...............

 .............i managed to snap some pictures of our visiting ducks, mr and mrs mallard.......they swam for a long time round and round the pond and slept side by side next to it for even longer.........at the weekend we added some more pond plants but i haven't taken pictures of those yet.........

 ...............the tulips are looking very bright and sturdy here but the heavy rain was making the shorter red ones bow over onto the soil, so i had to pick those and bring them inside yesterday.......

 .............indoors, in the warmth, they opened up their petals to become big blowsy flowers......

 .............i have lots of new easter makes and some baking to do, and some easter baskets to fill......next week i will spend some time with my little grandchildren which i am so looking forward to.............luckily i have found the beatrix potter easter egg hunt signs from last year as they want to use them again :)......we are having a family party on easter sunday so everyone can join in................

...............thank you for your visit, lovely readers...........it is always a pleasure to know you are here, and of course i lOvE reading your comments very much :)...............wishing you a happy week with lots of sunshine, flowers and time to craft, wherever you may be...............back soon xxxxxxxxx