Evening Stars

 Here i am, feeling a bit festive today, and with a finished quilt to show you :).......it was just over a year ago that i began making evening star blocks for this quilt....some of you may even remember them........

 ...............here are the first few i made, using the english paper piecing technique.....

 ...............and a new sewline glue pen which i had been trying out........

 ............slowly the collection of evening star blocks grew until there were enough for a quilt and then i joined them all together and added a plain white border round the outside...........

 ...............some close ups of the quilt............

 ............i do love a crumpled quilt picture where the colours mingle and blend :)......

 ...........the quilt matches lots of other things around here so it will fit in very well............

 ............the red starry backing seemed just right and the pretty blue fabric with red roses for the binding was exactly what i had in mind.............i sent off the quilt to a long arm quilter to be machine quilted in a simple grid pattern......

 ..........we always have to have a folded quilt shot now don't we?...........

 ...............some lovely red and pink roses to enjoy this week, with a bit of a festive feel.....

 ....the new quilt will be nice to use over christmas.......and as tomorrow is the first of december i will be getting the decorations out this week........

 ...............a couple of months ago we went to the city (manchester) to buy new sofas for our sitting room and i took these pictures which i wanted to include here...........

..............beautiful reflections at salford quays, near the lowry...........

 ............we spent some time sitting on various sofas and choosing fabric and measuring (mustn't forget the measuring in case they don't fit!!)...........and this week the new sofas were delivered :)...

 .........above is a little peek at one of them......subtle grey with ticking cushions.......might just have to start a new crochet blanket to match.......something (or someone) else was delivered here last week too......merry mouse has come home (from her book promoting at the publishers) after a long time away and it was so nice to see her again just in time for the festive season........(the pattern for merry mouse is in my book *pretty patchwork gifts* available on amazon or over on stitch craft create here)................

................thank you so much for dropping in to my little blog space to visit me dear readers, and thank you for all the lovely comments which are such a pleasure to read............wishing you all a very happy start to december and a warm, cosy (or cool if you are in warmer places!) crafty week ahead........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Plum Tassel Blanket

 Now that the days have turned cold and wintry it is time to get the crochet blankets out......

 ................there is a newly finished one to show you today.....the big granny square blanket is finally complete, and has been finished off with plum coloured tassels in the four corners............

 ..............i enjoy making tassels and pom poms to decorate my makes as regular readers know :).....

 ...........the simple squares for this blanket are made using the most basic granny square pattern (easy to find online) and each has 11 rounds....the 12th round is the joining round............i used the join as you go method......

 ...............the yarn is mainly stylecraft special dk but with a few others added from my stash....this is the colour order: stylecraft life raspberry, stylecraft special sherbet, rowan belle organic green, stylecraft special fondant, styelcraft special candyfloss, king cole dollymix spring green, then stylecraft special dk in clematis, lavender, apricot, shrimp, parma violet and for the joining round magenta........

 ................work in progress picture above....crocheting a few rounds for the border........

 ..............work in progress pictures above and below............making the rather large granny squares....

 ...........all the time i was making the blanket the effect of the colours made me think of the beautiful plums we enjoy during the autumn.......there were not so many this year though but still we had a few for crumble and to cook with cinnamon and serve with crème fraiche................

 ..............the yarn i used to make the tassels is stylecraft special dk in raspberry which ties in with the centre of each granny square colourwise........more work in progress shots below........

 ...............i loved making this blanket....i am now deciding what to crochet next as i always like to have a crochet blanket on the go as well as (many) other works in progress.............

 ..............below is my current knitting......it is a shawl with the very beautiful artesano yarn......so quick to make and i hope to share the shawl and its details with you soon...........

 ..............one more picture of the plum tassel blanket on the bench in our front porch......the bench belonged to grannie (mr p's mum) but she gave it to us to help fill up our victorian house when we first moved here....the bench was very dark wood and was the first thing i painted in farrow and ball years ago......i bought a tin of french grey and set to painting it and have been painting furniture ever since.....the botanical painting is one of two that hang above it........

..................thank you for dropping by to see me here in my little crafty space lovely readers, and thank you for taking the time to leave me such kind comments.........wishing you a wonderful week with happy crafty times...............keep cosy............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooxxx

Sewing Seaside flowers

 It has been such a pleasure sewing with this gorgeous fabric...it is some that the super talented artist janet bell gave me in the summer......it is printed with her pretty cornflowers and poppies design and i just love it :)...........

 ........i planned to make some cushions with it, using the effect of the sky at the top of the design as well as an all over floral effect.....and then i decided i also had to make a bunny dress.......this is lolly rabbit who often enjoys a change of outfit............

 ..............here are some earlier pictures of janet's studio that i took in the summer, showing a beautiful bluebell painting in progress, a detail of the cornflowers and poppies greeting card and tucked into a little space on the window sill among some pebbles is another sweet little flower painting............

 .............here is lolly all dressed in her new flowery frock and matching cardi in front of one of janet's paintings....this one is called *st ives deckchairs* and it hangs in the sewing room.............

 ............. these cushions would be nice for summer time garden furniture too......

 .............i had some scraps so i made a pincushion (of course) ............

 ..............this yarn seemed just the right blue for the matching bunny cardigan................

 ............and it just needed a red button to set it off.............the painting in the background is janet's *penmon pebbles*..............

 .............i love these pure fresh colours.....bright but never harsh and always happy and harmonious....

 ..............the janet bell gallery is in the quaint little seaside town of  beaumaris on the isle of angelsey, and is also online here.....we visit every summer as my husband sails in the regatta there........

 ...........and we have just booked to go again next year :)..........

 ...............some yummy yarn in floral shades has arrived here for me this week....i ordered it from artesano and it is gorgeously soft and almost too beautiful to knit with.. it is for a shawl :).......
and finally with other flowery news....we have acquired a greenhouse....recycled to our garden from our elder daughter and son in law's new garden......moved by mr p and now he is making the staging for it......so clever and creative..........soon it will be finished and i am so looking forward to filling it with flowers and seed trays......(i did put a few plants in there during the blustery days last week and they really perked up!)................

..............thank you for visiting me here and for your sweet comments.......wishing you a happy, crafty week........enjoy the good things, dear readers, and strive to be happy whatever is happening out there in the wider world..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Red and White

 I love red and white quilts and have often shown some of the ones i have made here on my blog......

 ........until now i have never made a lone star quilt even though i have always admired them.....

 ......now i've begun one using kona solid fabrics in tomato and white.......this design is english paper pieced...sometimes i use a glue pen to cover the paper diamonds with fabric, but if it runs out and i can't find the refill quickly i revert to the old fashioned way of tacking the fabric round the paper with needle and thread.....i can do this very quickly now after decades of practice ;).............

 ....here are two of my older quilts (floating four patch and simple squares) on the new quilt ladder...lots of people asked about this so for those who were wondering it is actually marketed as a towel ladder and i got it from *next home*.......i find it just right for holding folded quilts :).....

 ..........one of my favourite quilts has to be one made from simple squares and i am very fond of the quilt below and use it a lot..............

 ...............part of my latest red and white quilt crush must surely be due to reading this fantastic book about the most wonderful exhibition of red and white quilts presented by the american folk art museum..........the photos of the exhibition are absolutely stunning, the actual presentation was a work of art too....there were hundreds of red and white quilts on display including several beautiful lone star examples.....and probably the most exciting one of all is the kaledeiscope quilt shown on the front cover here......

 ............but back to my simple squares now and here is a view of the quilt spread out on the bed with a couple of little bears nearby too................

 .................the little bear pattern is from my new book modern vintage gifts, if you would like to make one (or two) the same.......

 ..................besides reading and sewing over the past week i have been enjoying visiting my younger girl and her family and playing with baby rhys, enjoying a family fireworks party with my elder girl and her family with toasted marshmallows on the mini bonfire and daisy wearing her 'ear muffins' because she doesn't like loud fireworks, and enjoying watching charlie celebrate his 8th birthday, plus a neighbourhood bonfire party with fireworks and a potluck party afterwards...........

 ..............i made a few little cakes to take to my dearies...........

 .................i had some red roses in my sewing room last week, and here is the candy cane red and white striped binding ready to sew on a tiny quilt...more about that one coming soon :)............

 ................of course i make lots of other things in red and white, besides quilts, including this flower pot pillow which is also in my new book, along with the little bedtime mouse seen here having a ride in the tiny pram..............

.........thank you so much for visiting me here in my crafty little blog space dear readers, and for your kind comments too.........i hope you are enjoying happy crafty times and keeping cosy on these november days...................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx