Blog Hop

 Today i'm happy to be taking part in the creative blog hop or tour ..........i was invited by brenda at cosy little house...........brenda is a blogger extraordinaire.....she has a powerful way with words, takes great photos, grows beautiful flowers and creates inspiring décor......she is also a great supporter of other bloggers, and often encourages new bloggers on her welcoming posts...........

 i must add here that i was also invited to the blog hop a few weeks ago (but couldn't take part due to holiday plans) by sarah at a little happy place and by marilyn at pink paper cottage......a big thank you to all these ladies for inviting me.............

 ...............now i have to answer four questions..........so here we go..............

1. what am i working on now?

i am making english paper pieced patchwork churndash blocks in dotty fabrics for a quilt......

...........i love epp and love to take projects like this out and about with me over the summer because they are so portable..........as you can see the quilt will have plain white blocks in between the churn dashes and striped sashing..................

 ..............as well as patchwork, i'm working on my latest crochet blanket..........loving these sweetpea coloured ripples very much and this will be coming to the seaside with me very soon..................

 .................another work in progress is this flowery crochet cushion..........and today i will be sewing a project for a magazine (top secret) and working on ideas for a new book................

2. how does my work differ from others in its genre?

this is a difficult question for me to answer, and is maybe for others to decide......i make whatever i feel like making and use the colours and embellishments that i love........

 ................i have been a designer for many years and have been told that i have developed a style that people recognise.................so perhaps that is what differentiates my work from others..........

                                                ..............a bit like handwriting?...........

3. why do i write/create what i do?

because i have always loved to create i studied art and design and after graduating became a freelance designer.............i need to create and design as much as possible....

 ................i have crazes or crushes on different creative things and love to explore them, which has led to working in different areas and industries over my working life, from surface patterns for textiles, china and greetings cards to sewing, patchwork and quilting................

 ...............i work to create for my job but also simply create for the pleasure of it, so my job is my hobby and vice versa...............

 4. how does my writing/creating process work?

i write my blog to share a creative connection with others of like minds..........i take lots of photographs (love doing this), choose ones for my next blog post and then write the words around the pictures................i write my blog spontaneously and don't write posts in advance.............

 .............i have lots of ideas all the time of things i want to make, and creative plans are always simmering at the back of my mind...........i have a work schedule to stick to for my magazine and book design work with deadlines to meet so each day i work on those first...........in between i make whatever i fancy............crochet blankets, patchwork pin cushions, dolls, bears, bunnies, quilts........

 ...........this blend of fresh creating and the flow of ideas from allowing myself to enjoy the making helps inspire my design work all the time..................

.....now i have to pass the baton on to three other bloggers.......i have actually picked four other bloggers and they are:

gillyflower
gill writes about her beautiful sewing and crochet projects, vintage textiles, painting furniture, books, cooking, gardening and the lovely places she finds to visit and to share.

handmade by mia
mia is a crafter and fibre artist from finland who loves knitting and felting and makes unique things for a living......she loves thrifting and recycling materials and her cute needlefelted creatures are very appealing.

paintdrops keep falling
claire is a talented painter and surface pattern designer and her blog is a visual treat, entertaining and varied......we often find we have taken pictures of the same things, have bought the same things and usually like the same things......

messy jesse
jessie loves to sew and she creates beautiful fresh patchworks and quilts and runs her own online quilt shop called sew and quilt with a range of gorgeous hand picked fabrics, threads and english paper pieces..................

.........these lovely bloggers will be posting their blog hops next week beginning august 4 so i hope you will visit them all and say hello :).........................................

..................that is all from my blog hop, dear readers..............i hope you enjoyed it and thank you for dropping in to see me here..............wishing you all a happy and creative week.......back soon xxxxxx 

In the Pink

 Summer is here and the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming and we are sipping pink lemonade to keep us cool.............i have two finished projects to show you today :)..........first of all this is what i used those hexies for that i showed you last time................

 .................i joined them in a traditional grandmother's garden hexie block and then used fusible wadding to back them with, then quilted round the outside and the middle with pink cotton........

                            .............to make two table mats for the summer garden table..............

 ................a lovely easy make for summer sewing, and of course can be made in any colour......though i like the shades of pink and a bit of purple, like the sweetpeas................

                                    .................we had something matching to eat.............

                             ..................and to drink........i love pink drinks.................

 .................and my second finished project today is rosie's blanket which she loves and has now taken home with her to their country cottage...........i made a little tag and tied it with a pink and green ribbon..............

 ...............i almost forgot to take some pictures of it, but managed to snap a few just in time.....

 ............i loved making this with it's pretty repeating pattern of pink, green and cream granny stripes and simple pink and green border, it was a pleasure to crochet...........i am also enjoying making daisy's new ripple blanket too, and my best boy charlie has requested one next in red and white stripes.......his football team colours :)............

 ...............besides crochet i've been quilting and doing some new patchwork blocks but will show you those in another post...........below is the beautiful fragonard sweet pea soap from france.......

 .............the packaging is so beautiful i am keeping it in my studio to look at often.........and the soap is delicious and a pleasure to use..............i will leave you with a picture i took of pale pink houses and bright pink bougainvillea tumbling over a wall in a tiny old street in the south of france..........

..................thank you for dropping in here to visit me, lovely readers, for your blog friendship and your sweet comments too...............i hope you are all in the pink and enjoying these july days wherever you may be...............................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxx

Sweet Peas and Summer Crafts

 Summer days in the garden means enjoying the flowers after all that preparing and planting in the spring, and especially the sweet peas at the moment..... i have taken pictures of some of ours here this week........i have been pottering in the potting shed too, and arranging my new painted sign there (a much loved birthday present).................

                          .................the scent is intoxicating from this sweet jar...............

 ................i picked up this pretty brochure as part of my ephemera collecting in france, drawn at once to the colour and the subject matter as i scanned a table filled with leaflets........fragonard loves sweet peas and so do we :).................

 ..............and the scent of sweet peas is fragonard's scent of choice for 2014...........

 ................here is one of the three wig wams of sweet peas in our garden, i have planted one in the cutting garden, one next to the beans and one in a big pot next to the kitchen door............

 ..............i now plant ready grown small plants from local nurseries and the greengrocer's rather than growing from seed or buying very expensive ones and find these give good results...........

 ................plenty of blooms to fill all kinds of baskets and containers...............

 ..............my summer crochet project is a new sweet pea ripple blanket for my little daisy dot..........

 ..........she loves sweet pea colours, and when she saw me crocheting auntie rosie's blanket she requested one for herself next :)...............i am so loving having a ripple on the go again, how soothing and pleasing a pattern it is to work...............

 ...............i have almost finished all the designing for the festive season now and this week am moving on to spring in my studio :)..............and i am also planning some portable paper piecing projects for summer stitching while visiting, child caring and going to the seaside.................

 .............a big bunch in a chunky numbered pot...........sweet peas look good in any container......

 ................having a jar full in my sewing room is a must do while i work away there..............

 .................here is my project in this month's crafts beautiful.........a hexie cushion designed for a baby gift, with extra cross stitched embellishments..................find out more here...................

 ................i loved making this using favourite scraps from my stash............and below are some new hexies that i have just made for another summer project...............

..............thank you for popping in here today, lovely readers............so happy to see you and to hear from you too...............wishing you a wonderful week ahead with sunshine, crafty days and some sweet flowers too..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flower Market

 After a leisurely start to our day, with breakfast outdoors in la palmerie and a stroll along the promenade des anglais, we arrived at the flower market......

 .............lots of people had told me i'd love it there and i did............mr p liked seeing it too.......

 ...............so many fruits to see and buy..........and lots of little cafes on the edge of the market......perfect for a cold drink and a rest in the shade as the day was very HoT.........

                                     ................melons, peaches, big bright tomatoes.......

                                      ..........and of course big bunches of sunflowers...............

 ..................not just flowers, fruit and vegetables....there were pretty coloured soaps too......

 ...............and baskets of colourful nougat (my father's favourite, we bought him some)..............

 ..........seeing the flower market reminded me of my half done quilt, which i had put to one side due to the 'christmas rush' of designing lately...........when i got home from france, i got my quilt out again and sewed some lemons on it, and then it seemed complete............

 ................it already had strawberries and cherries on it........quite a fruit market.............i pinned the layers of the quilt together with curved basting pins and began hand stitching it..............

 ..................here is my shady spot in the garden, perfect for sipping cups of tea and sewing a quilt while listening to the bees buzzing and enjoying the scent of roses and honeysuckle.......

 ...................here is my soon-to-be-scrapbook filled with ephemera from our trip............

 ..................and here are the stripy roses in our garden this week, the last ones to flower......they have a gorgeous scent though not very many flowers............i celebrated my birthday last weekend and received some lovely flowers and presents for it......pictures to follow soon :)........

 .................next week it will be all about the sweetpeas :)........they are all coming in to flower now and how lovely it is that cutting them is positively encouraged, in fact essential to their continued growth....so no flower-cutting guilt at all.....snip snip snip..............

...............thank you lovely readers for calling by my little blog space to visit me........and merci for your very kind comments and for taking the time to write them when life is so busy........i hope you are all enjoying a happy week with sunshine, flowers and time to craft................back soon xxxxxxxooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxx