Violette

 When we were on holiday in france this summer i decided that i would make a little bunny with a french feel as a souvenir of our trip..........in the past i have often stitched samplers on trips to france and italy, but this time it was to be a bunny................

 .............i cut out the bunny from kona cotton fabric in pearl pink, but couldn't decide what to use from my stash for the ear linings and dress..........until my order of sausalito cottage fabrics came and then i knew just what i wanted to use.............you may remember i sewed some lavender hearts from these sweet fabrics a few posts ago...............btw, the bunny pattern is from my book pretty patchwork gifts here.....

 ...............soon violette the bunny was completed and she brightens up my sewing room, sitting with the little cushion i made with one of my favourite fabrics from the range..............the violet sweets tin above is one my mother brought back for me from one of her trips to france a few years ago.............

 .............besides finishing off the little french bunny i have been sewing lots of hexagons for another project............i love how they all look together before they are even sewn into a pattern................

                                        .............spread out..............or stacked up.................

..............each day i have been super busy writing my new book, making projects for it.......and minding molly the puppy too :)................in the evenings i have been catching up with crochet....

 .............working on the sweet pea ripple blanket for daisy............when she comes to my house daisy sometimes checks the progress of this (rather slow) blanket to see how big it is.......hurry up, nanny :)

 .............i have been longing to bake something apart from pies and crumbles, and last week i took a bit of time to make some madeleines in my tin from france.............i found a recipe online and soon made the little cakes..............

                                    ..............they are best eaten soon after baking :)..............

               ..............with a nice cup of tea or maybe a milky coffee in a big cup...............

 ..............this month the magazines i work for are all about christmas and making gifts and festive decorations..............below is the christmas memories book i made for this month's crafts beautiful magazine...............i took a picture of it on my crafty desk first.............

 ..............and then one of it completed........ready to be filled with notes, photos, souvenirs of this year's christmas and with plenty of room for future christmas memories to be added too........find out more on the crafts beautiful website here.................

 .............the autumn has really arrived here now, with cool sharp morning air and the evenings drawing in.........time to light the fire again and the candles, to cosy up and look forward to the slow changes of the season and all the pleasures it brings..............

.............thank you for visiting me here, lovely readers, and for your sweet comments too............it is always lovely to hear from dear blog friends and new readers, and to visit you in return........... wishing you a happy week with sunny days and crafty inspirations............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Apples

 This week is apple time here, both in the sewing room and in the kitchen..........here are some patchwork apples i've been sewing while being kept company by molly, the new sewing room dog....thank you for all your kind words about her in my last post :).............she is a happy little companion and i will show some more pictures of her again soon...........

                         .............i wanted to make some red and some green apples.........

                           ..............next i might make some that are a mixture of both............

                         ................besides patchwork apples we have lots of real ones.................

 ...........my sister brought us big baskets full from her trees, and she grows the best apples..........

                                     ..............perfect for apple pie and apple crumble...........

                  ............a treat to look forward to after long autumn weekend walks..............

 ..........the autumn weather is still warm and sunny here, with mild balmy evenings........but there is no doubt that autumn is in the air..........misty mornings and beautifully ornate spiders' webs, low sunlight slanting over the garden and leaves falling on molly and me as we garden and play......and  christmas designs in all the crafty magazines that i work for too.......below is my holly and ivy sampler in the world of cross stitching issue 221 on sale now and you can find out more here..........love that carol so much and now i will be humming it again all afternoon :)...........

 .................below is my happy scrappy patchwork advent calendar for love patchwork and quilting magazine issue thirteen which you can read about here...............

 ...............i am ordering lots of new fabrics at the moment so i have plenty to choose from for the projects for my new book..........such an exciting time and i have lots of ideas planned out.......the fabrics below are just some of the new ones, and i picked them out for their red and green colour ways.........i also received a gift of red and green lollipops with yesterday's order from here :)..............

 .............i have been making the apples for fun but my projects do often start out just for fun and then develop into 'work' later...........a lovely way to be creative and simply enjoy the making.............

...........thank you for visiting me here today in my little blog space, lovely readers............and thank you for the sweet comments that you leave me too, it is always a treat to hear from you.............i wish you a happy sunny crafty week wherever you may be............back soon xxxxxxoooooooxxxxxxxxxxx

Dahlias and Evening Stars

 It is dahlia time here.....every week at this time of year i buy a bunch or two of dahlias from the old fashioned greengrocer's shop in our little town, and am always so pleased when i see they have a bucket full of green twine tied bunches of these bright blooms from a local grower...............

.............this time i got pinky purple pastel bunches.......sometimes it's a bright yellow and orange bunch and sometimes a mixture.....i love the shape of those solid little buds as well.............

 ............i cut the stems short sometimes to fit nicely into the smaller greengate jugs

 ............the pretty asters below were from a huge bunch that (younger daughter) rosie and chris kindly brought me at the weekend :) they came to stay and we went out for a lovely meal with (older daughter) sarah and gareth and the children to celebrate sarah's birthday................

 ............as well as birthday celebrations things have been very busy round here in other ways too.......

 ...........i am working on a new book with lots of new projects to create.....i have been busy making some fun things which i would love to show here but have to keep secret for now.......i can show you these new evening stars though...........i love this quilt block and decided it would be a good one to try out my new glue pen on for english paper piecing.............

 .............i bought my pen from sew and quilt here...........and i really like using it.....it is so neat and quick........

 ............i had already made a couple of these blocks and i think they will make a lovely on going project...........it is always fun to choose new fabrics from my stash and scrap bin for this kind of block.........here is the new quilt in progress............

 ..............and now here is a surprise for you..........and this is the main reason why i have been so busy.........meet molly..............she is a bolognese puppy and we have re homed her..........her loving owner sadly became suddenly ill and needed to find her a new home quickly and it just seemed that molly was meant to be ours..............it is many years since we had a puppy, as our last dog lived to be nearly eighteen..........

 ...............molly has settled in well with us and is such a sweet little personality, great with the children and fun loving but she has a calm and peaceful nature too.........

 ...............luckily she loves quilts..............possibly even more than i do :)..................

..............so we have spent lots of time in the autumn garden this week with this little pupster, at all times of the day, early morning and evening..............enjoying the autumn light and scents and sounds and the sight of a little puppy racing round after a ball again..........happy days.............
.............thank you for your kind comments on my autumn blanket, lovely readers, and for visiting me here in my little blog space........i wish you all a wonderful week wherever you may be in the world.....................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Golden Days

 We have been having the most beautiful indian summer days here, misty mornings and then hot sunshine.........not summer, and not autumn but a few golden days in between..............

 ...........the autumn blanket i began during the indian summer last year is now complete......

 ................i added a pom pom trim all the way round to finish it off.......regular readers will know i loved adding pom pom edging to the ripple blankets i made...........i already had some of this darker multi pom pom trim in my stash and when i laid it on the blanket i knew i needed some more of it to really complete it...................

 ...............it was inspired by the bright berries, fruits and blue sky of the lake district last year.......

 ............this year too we have visited lots of lovely gardens, and last week went to one of our favourites where the potager was burgeoning with all kinds of vegetables and fruits in mellow colours......

 .............i love the canes and other structures in a kitchen garden and the decorative way the climbers twist and twine around them...............

 ...........there were masses of marigolds and other orange flowers like nasturtiums, and the bright colours of swiss chard mixed in with them created a lovely autumnal effect...............

                        .................an autumnal bunny just popping in, this is cinnamon.............

 ....................new fabrics to add to my stash.....kona cottons in gorgeous colours...........

..............and a new book on my shelf this week........the quilter's desk diary for 2015 is a colourful and practical organiser with beautiful quilting photos ........two of my projects are in it :) .......it would make a lovely gift for a quilter and is available in book shops, on amazon or here.................

............thank you for visiting me here in my little bit of blogland, lovely readers..........it is always a pleasure to see you, and to read your sweet comments is a real treat..............wishing you a happy crafty week filled with golden days................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxx