Blue and White

 Maybe it was because last week it was so hot hot hot here that i decided to use cool blues for my newest sewing project.......i've been planning to make a blue and white checkerboard patchwork quilt for quite a while and like all my projects, first it is a plan in my head and then all at once it is being made......

 ..............all the blue fabrics were pulled out of the cupboard and lots of white but slightly patterned ones for the contrasting squares..............

 ............i cut the squares 4 1/2 in so they ended up as 4in squares when all sewn together......

 ........i rotary cut the squares and then strip pieced them in rows then joined the rows together......pressing the seams in opposite directions and nesting the seams helped with accuracy....

 ..............i loved the deep indigo blues and had to order some extra fat quarters of some new ones as i was running out.......i used up many pieces from my scrap bin for this quilt so there is a nice mix of different fabrics and lots of other projects to remember that they were used in too when i look at it.....

 ............my little sewing machine worked very hard, speeding along the seams.......

 .............and of course i then began particularly noticing blue and white things around me.....

 ................like blue teapots, plates, mugs and jugs........and the palest of pale blue hydrangeas.....

 ............at the weekend we went on an outing to a lovely country garden........we had a picnic lunch, a nice walk and later a cream tea in the tea room garden.........and i took some photos of blue flowers.......

 ..................gorgeous blue clematis above.....and below the pretty agapanthus............

 .............the weather here has cooled down now and is back to normal again after soaring to temperatures of 33C last week (on the hottest day of the year) and with high humidity too.....but now our mini heatwave seems to have ended.................

 ................now my quilt top is finished and i need to decide what to back it with and what kind of quilting to do.........this week i am working on more xmas designs and an applique quilt so plenty to keep me busy............also spending time this week with my sweet grandchildren as school is out for summer here and we will be doing a bit of crafting together again..............

..................thank you for popping in to my little blog space dear readers and for all your kind comments about my dimity quilt in my last post........it is so nice to hear from you and to have your visits.............wishing you sunny summer days and lots of  happy crafty times.......back soon xxxxxx

Dimity: a Finished Quilt

 Over the past week it seems i have mostly either been quilting, piecing patchwork together by hand or by machine...or taking pictures of quilts............i'm having quite a quilty crush right now.....this is the little strip pieced scrappy quilt i began in the winter........

 ................the top was finished very quickly and then i took my time hand quilting it in the evenings......watching various tv programmes and movies...........then when the quilting was complete i took a while to actually sew the binding on but now it is finally done.......the backing is a beautiful piece of tilde fabric in such pretty shades of blue, cream and pinks......

 ........the quilt uses lots of soft and subtle but interesting prints from my stash and even though some are very modern the overall feel is quite soft and vintage  which is why the name dimity seemed right for this quilt....it just popped into my head......gentle and a bit old fashioned...........

 ............i took some pictures in the pink lounge with the shaker horse...we have had that one for years, (and i was so sorry when the shaker shop over here closed down).....

 ............on the brass bed post..........and of course a crumpled quilt shot....

 ...................in the studio with my newest wooden horse.............

 ............no need to light my little fire in there this week....it has turned boiling hot and sunny here :)...

 ...............below is the farrow and ball shade card...........i have painted with the shade called dimity and loved it............very soft and warm......the definition of dimity (as you might already know) is a light strong cotton fabric with woven stripes or squares.............it is also a girl's name....i might just have to use that name for my next bunny too...............

 ..............on the aga on a rainy day.............we certainly had a lot of rain here last week.........

 ............on a chair......

 ..............and below is another close up...........i quilted round the squares just inside the seam line and then did extra quilting here and there where there were stripes to follow and so on......

 ..............the big moment was sewing on the binding whilst having a nice cup of tea and listening to the radio..............the flowers are a sweet hand tied posy from a kind friend......she knows what i like and picked lots of my favourites from her garden..........x

 ...............here is a close up of the posy..........

.............thank you for popping in to see me here in my little blog space dear readers......it is always lovely to see you and a special treat to receive your kind comments....especially as this is such a busy time of year.......wishing you all a wonderful week ahead with happy crafty days.......back soon xxxxx

Flowers, Fabric and Stars

 Flowers are everywhere this week...on my fabrics and in my garden.....some of the garden ones are growing so wildly due to all the rain and sunshine that i've had to cut them back a bit, like the mallow in the basket above.....

 ..............i finished quite a lot of projects recently which means it's time to start some more ;).....i got out lots of delicious fabrics from my stash and began cutting out some speedy machine pieced stars....the fabric above is from the gorgeous strawberry biscuit collection by elea lutz...............

 ..............and below some of the beautiful flower sugar from lecien.......i do love some flower sugar in my quilts :) ................the cheater prints from both ranges make great centre squares for the stars, i think.......

 ...............i have been sewing happily, ignoring the rain and cutting and pinning very carefully so my seams nest nicely.......it took me a while to get used to rotary cutting, and machine piecing after a lifetime of english paper piecing but now i love both techniques in different ways......

 .................one more fabric shot because it looks so pretty..............

 ................after i'd made the small-ish star block below i decided to try making a big one, maybe as a mini quilt for the sewing room wall.............

 ..................it took a while to work out the proportions but here is a peek at the larger one......

 .............and then i needed to order some more fabric to make some more because i really liked the big version............more of this summer stars quilt coming soon............below is the birthday weekend garden, with bunting hung up by my elder daughter :).........it was my youngest daughter's birthday the same weekend and we often celebrate it together which is lovely......and the sun shone for us that day too......

 ...............below is miss daisy and miss molly dog, always together as they are the best of friends....

 ...............some peaceful garden moments with a quilt and a crochet pillow in a flowery spot.....

 ...........a nice cup of tea and some time to sit and dream...........

 .............a new garden crate filled with quilty produce this time.......

 ...................and those pretty mallow flowers again......love this plant and it's abundance of blooms...........

..............thank you dear readers for all your kind birthday wishes on my last post, and i am glad you liked seeing the pictures of my studio.........i will show some pictures of my sewing room soon, too....when the fabric is tidied up a bit ;)........wishing you a very happy crafty week with plenty of flowers and sunshine to enjoy.............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the Studio

 This post is all about my studio as that is where i have been spending much of the past week.......long ago before i moved into creating fabric craft projects as my main work i used to paint flowers all day long...............and sometimes i still do......

 ..............i gathered lots of sweet little roses to enjoy and decided to paint some of the bright pink rosebuds........most of the time last week though i was drawing templates and diagrams and writing quilt patterns............

 ..............one day it just poured with rain and the garden view from my studio window was a green blur..........the flowers scented the room and it was a pleasure to be in the cosy surroundings listening to the rain pattering outside............

 ................some little pictures around the room.......my old salt nautical clock......tubes of gouache.....and cath kidston boxes for storing paperwork......

 .................i recently had a huge magazine cull which was long over due and now my studio feels much clearer and tidier and nicer to be in...... beautiful iris on my desk here.......a lovely gift.......

 ..............such perfect flowers and i love that shade of blue.............

 ..............there always seem to be a few quilts here in my studio, these are piled on top of the basket where i keep lots of the small projects i made for magazines.............the horse is special and new (to me) and i love him :) ......

 ...................crochet isn't often done in the studio, more likely downstairs in the sitting room or kitchen, but sometimes the basket with the latest project does accompany me here in case i need a little crochet break from all the intensive drawing going on.....

 ..............this rose has such a sweet perfume as well as lovely smooth pink petals.....

 .............i have lots of pictures on the wall, many i have shown here before......but i don't think I've shown this little one, a postcard of a lucy boston quilt........i have a set of these postcards and love them.....i put them in little frames from ikea to be able to enjoy them all the time.....

 ..................here is another one propped up on the mantelpiece with a vintage  tea cup and a posy from the cutting patch...............

 ................i hope you liked this little peek into my studio today.....this week i will be mainly downstairs in the sewing room making a new quilt and maybe even sewing a bit in the garden too....and of course there will be crochet........

.............before i go i would like to wish all my friends in the usa a very happy july 4th......i will be celebrating with you as today is my birthday :)...........thank you to everyone who visits me here and special thanks to those who take time to leave a comment....i love to read them all........wishing you all a wonderful week...............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxx