Cosy Crafting

 It is nicely autumnal here today, not too chilly and with a little sunlight filtering through the grey clouds now and then.....a very atmospheric day............we have been busy outdoors over the weekend, gardening and walking in the colourful woods...........as always i have been collecting natural finds for my seasonal decorations...............

                                              .............fir cones, berries and leaves............

 ..............i have been getting the extra quilts out ready for the chillier weather...........

 ...........and making more wrist warmers......... just love making them...so easy and so quick :)........

 .........someone asked me which pattern i used for them but i didn't have a pattern.....simply made a  chain of 34 (measured round my wrist) and then worked 15cm in double crochet and random stripes......then repeated this for the second wristie.........sewed up the seam with the yarn ends from the stripes so it was nice and neat.........

 .............i have made a few pairs now and will give some to my daughters............

 ..........the touch of orange in this pair is unusual for me and right for autumn i think......

 .............cross stitch cherries for a cosy kitchen pot holder is my project in this month's crafts beautiful magazine...........ideal for a festive gift.........or to keep to brighten up a kitchen corner....you can find out more on the crafts beautiful website here...........

 ..........the cookery and baking books are out now as i plan some new tasty treats.......

 .............and some nice bright dahlias are gracing the sewing room with their gorgeous petals.....

 ..............i have been hand quilting my rosy churndash quilt.....it is fairly quick to sew as it is only a small one which i plan to hang on my sewing room wall when it is finished.........

 ............there are lots of other things i want to make too....i have a big list....it is always like this in the autumn, with christmas on the horizon and that feeling of cosy homeliness settling in.......

..........thank you for visiting me here, dear readers, and for your kind comments which i so love to read..........i hope you are all enjoying a wonderful cosy crafty week wherever you may be......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

October Crochet

 It is grey and damp here and the evenings are dark and chilly........the perfect time to have a crochet crush again..........the yarn in these photos is some i bought earlier this year and i did show a quick peek of it at the time on here, but i had no idea what i wanted to make with it then, i just liked having it to look at.....

 ..............it is very soft and cosy and ideal for making autumn and winter projects...........

 ................at first i just made some simple granny squares, which i still love and which was why i learnt to crochet a couple of years ago....i do love colourful granny squares and the effect of them all joined together :).............the grannies sat in the colourful paper gift bag along with the yarn most of the summer as i worked on other, bigger projects.........

 ............then i found them during my sewing room tidy up and made them into a cushion.......

 ...........and i began making some wrist warmers with the leftover yarn..........i liked the colours and the speed of making something small for a change from huge blankets.............

 ...............my new wristies are very cosy and i am looking forward to making more in different stripes and maybe a scarf too............after a day working on sewing projects, at the computer and drawing, it is a nice change to settle down on the sofa with some soft pretty yarn and a crochet hook.........

 ..............i have to make sure i don't leave any balls of yarn or partly made crochet around at the moment though, as miss molly the fluffy puppy has developed a huge yarn crush too......

 .............when she sees a ball of wool she gets a glint in her eye and lunges for it, carrying it off to de-construct somewhere if she gets the chance............so i always keep it in a basket or bag and when i've finished a spell of working on it whisk it up high where she can't reach........luckily molly likes to doze all evening at the moment so my crochet time is safe.......

 ..............bag filled with (hidden) yarn..........this bag is in my book *simple sewn gifts*..........

 .........i brought some autumn leaves and berries in from the garden to look pretty this week.......

 ............the last of the tiny pink roses are blooming and the trees are turning into those lovely autumn shades......such a colourful sight, 'where every leaf is a flower'.....................

............thank you for coming to see me here, dear readers, and thank you for the lovely comments you leave for me, i so enjoy reading them all.............wishing you a wonderful crafty week wherever you are in the world, and if you are in northern climes, keep cosy :)...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Sewing Room Roses

 I am spending a LoT of time in the sewing room at the moment working on some top secret projects........and also some not so secret ones too..............some of my regular readers may remember me showing you the churn dash blocks a while ago that i was joining together with white squares.......

 ..............the plain white squares now have a large pink wild rose applique design in them.................

 ...........this is just a little quilt so it didn't take me very long to complete the top..........now i have pinned the three layers together with curved basting pins and every now and then i add a few quilting stitches to it............very soothing and relaxing crafty work to do.............

 ...............my pretty roses from last week are still blooming beautifully and i have combined some with red berries from the autumn garden in little glass vases..............

 ...............my sewing room is rather full of things at the moment and i have selected just a few to photograph here..........there are lots of things in little groups belonging to different projects..........

 .........i have some roses on my sewing table and a flowery quilt hanging on the wall behind it......

.............this little pincushion was made quite a while ago and it is one of my favourites.......i added a small stuffed strawberry to it just because............below is a new little jar of buttons that caught my eye in a haberdashery shop, along with the rose embellishments...............

 ...............and some linen thread that has many uses as it says on the packaging, but i will soon be using it to string a decorative garland together.............

 ..............new needles for all the new hand sewing and for sewing in the ends on my crochet ripple blanket......not such a fun thing to do and needing a good movie to watch to help it along..................

 ..............plenty of red and white gingham ribbon which i love endlessly............and a white painted bell ready for some festive crafting.......................

 .................below is the colourful kona cotton which i showed recently and which i have now cut into and sewn with..........i love these narrow ribbons too with the running stitch effect...................

 ............the autumn days are closing in here, it is grey and cold some days, we have put the heating on and lit the fire......the lawn is soaking wet and little molly the puppy comes in looking bedraggled after her garden exploring...........she soon fluffs up again though :)..............

..............thank you for visiting me here, dear readers, and for those who leave such sweet comments a special thank you........i know life is very busy for everyone,  so thank you for taking the time............wishing you all a wonderful week wherever you may be with happy times and plenty of crafty inspirations...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Autumn Potting Shed

 We have been out in the autumnal garden a lot this weekend, taking down the sweetpea canes for another year, cutting back some of the plants and sweeping up fallen leaves........as well as pottering in the potting shed of course.................

 ...............we have lots of conkers this year and i have enjoyed collecting them as usual.........

 ..............and taking a few photos too, featuring my sweet bunch of roses which were a gift.........

 ..............i have filled the larger pots with autumn and winter flowering plants for some colour in the tiny courtyard outside out back door.............

 ............with lots of help from molly, who is not just the new sewing room dog but also the new garden dog............she might be very young, tiny and fluffy but she is an intrepid explorer and loves to push her way through the wilder bits of the garden and return covered in goose grass seeds or mud :).........mr p has fenced off the pond for now too............

 .............over the weekend i spent a bit of time trying to sort out my indoor work spaces too.....lots of decorative materials to keep track of for all the projects i'm creating at the moment can mean a muddle and lots of time spent hunting for things..........

 ............so i am tidying up and putting things away in tins and baskets in an orderly way ;).....

 ..........making sure i remember where i have put the things i have tidied away;).............

                                          ................roses in the sewing room.............

                                          .............and all the plants potted up now.............

 ...............so it is time to get down to some work for this busy week..........

 .............i have sharpened my pencils, filled the paint water jar with clean water, got out the new paper crafting supplies..........and ironed lots of fabrics.............

 ...........and made a new flower pincushion to use for my new projects............i can't have too many pincushions around the place............and little scissors too........in a moment i will be off to make a start......or maybe just have a quick cup of coffee first?...................

...........thank you for visiting me here, dear readers, and for your sweet comments which are a joy to receive........i look forward to popping in to visit you too over the coming week........wishing you all happy autumn days with lots of crafty inspirations...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxooooooooxxxxxx