Bluebell Time

 I have been inspired by the colour blue this week............loving all the bluebells popping up in our garden and in the fields and woodlands around our home where we walk with our little dog......

 ............there are lots of bluebells at the bottom of our garden and quite a few new clumps have appeared in other parts of the garden including in the cutting patch below........

 ............i've always loved picking bluebells since childhood and putting them in different vases, jugs or even jam jars which look so relaxed and artless but just as beautiful.......

 ..............some exciting new fabrics have arrived here this week....tilda circus collection is here and i am looking forward to sewing with it soon.......i love just looking at the neatly folded and ribbon tied bundle for a while first...........

 .............now my latest english paper pieced project (the big trip around the world quilt) is finished apart from adding a simple border (pictures coming soon of this)....i needed to begin another one as i like to have some hand sewing ready to do in the evenings............

 ............this time it is going to be hexie flowers......lots of blue ones.............

 .................with centres of pale pinks or whites............very happy to have a new hand sewing project again now............nicely portable too to take out into the garden for some spring sunshine sewing........

 ..............one of my oldest friends came to visit recently and gave me a present.....this lovely knitted tea cosy she'd made....she is a great knitter and often makes me lovely shawls for birthdays and christmas gifts x............it just happened to match in with my blue crush too :).............

 ..............i began a little bit of crochet when i was between hand sewing projects........i decided to make some pretty circles that will eventually turn into squares for a flowers in the snow pattern which is one of my very favourites........

 ..............crochet circles in bluebell shades.....lots of bluebells are pink and apparently the blue of bluebells is actually officially classed as purple according to a recent radio documentary about colour....i know that when i paint bluebells i always add a bit of pink to the blue to try and capture the shade.......

 ...............i love this time of year and had a lovely day yesterday in the garden sewing, planting up posts, pottering in the greenhouse and generally enjoying the sunshine......mr p has put up the new arbour ...you can glimpse a bit of it in the photo below......and we have re planted the bed next to it with lots of lavender, hollyhocks, foxgloves, mallows and euphorbias.........hoping the snails don't eat the hollyhocks but we shall see........

...............thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for leaving such kind comments......wishing you a happy sunny week ahead with lots of crafty inspirations...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flowers and Patchwork

 As it's still the long easter holiday weekend here i've been gardening and planting flowers with mr p and enjoying all the new blossoms and blooms...........i also finished off sewing this flowery starry cushion....

 ............the star block was one left from a quilt i made using strawberry biscuit fabrics by elea lutz for penny rose fabrics...........i love all the colours and prints in this fabric line and i know lots of you do too..........

 .............i quilted the cushion top by hand which was very relaxing to do.......

 ............here it is as a work in progress...........the little bird is made with strawberry biscuit fabric too..

 ............my favourite bellis flowers looked rather pretty against the new patchwork cushion....

 ............and it goes nicely with my crochet blanket here too..............

 ...............love that deep pink, the colour of camellias in my daughter's garden......

 ................and some of their apple blossom..............and below some of their cherry blossom....so nice to be able to share in their pretty garden ;).............

 ..............below are some flowers from our cutting patch, picked for a little bit of watercolour painting....more on that soon...........this picture also has the first bluebell as it began to open....there are many more now.....

 ............we have had a lovely easter weekend with lots of happy family times, lots of sunshine in between the showers and plenty of treats and chocolate..............below is a peek at our easter tree with the tiny bunny perched on a branch, and lots of eggs and button houses too.............

 ............one more view of the new cushion which i think will be pretty on the garden seat too.....

............thank you so much for your visits here dear readers and your kind comments too......it is always lovely to see you in my little bit of blogland...........wishing you a very happy week ahead with flowers and crafty inspirations wherever you may be ..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Easter Time

 I always love the spring time and now is my favourite time for decorating the house..........we have gathered together lots of spring and easter decorations....some i have had for years, some i've bought and some i've made....and of course lots of flowers too...........

 ...............this new little bunny is a very tiny version of my sugar bunny pattern........

 .............very tiny indeed as you can see...here she is sitting next to a normal sized spool of sewing cotton.........(the sugar bunny pattern is in my book *pretty patchwork gifts*).....

 ...............i've also made some more little button houses in pretty fabrics.........

 .............and some more little fabric birds are flying in too.........a green one and  pink one....

 ...............i couldn't resist buying this sweet egg box containing perfect pastel eggs.............

 ...............arranging the white easter tree...............it's not finished yet, it is a slow process getting it just right, even with help from all the family ;)......

 ............this weekend was sunny and gorgeous here in the uk and we were outside most of the time making the most of it.......my little grandchildren were here for a sleepover (though they live nearby!) and we had some lovely times together.............sunshine, ice creams, lots of games and fun.....

 ..............the easter egg wreath is up, making its reappearance once again....i love it and wish i could keep it up all year round really :) .....

 .................beautiful rainbow tulips......a special gifts from my dearies.............

 ...............and ready for the easter breakfast table........some little birdie decorated egg cosies.....

 ...............this morning i did some gardening............i sowed some flower seeds and re potted some plants.............and then i picked some flowers from the cutting garden..............

................thank you for visiting me here in my bit of blogland dear readers, and thank you to those who leave me such lovely comments...........wishing you a happy week ahead enjoying the spring (or autumn if you are reading from the other side of the world).........happy easter.....back soon xxxxxxxx

Little Quilt

 A finished (and published) sweet little quilt to show you here today......this is my project for this month's crafts beautiful magazine.............made mainly with bonnie and camille vintage picnic fabrics and pam kitty morning fabrics, i loved the warm and pretty colours as i was making this............

 ..............as regular readers of my blog already know, i love sewing squares.....and it really is all about the fabric you use with these simple designs.............

 ..............i continually enjoy seeing the colour and pattern combinations of one fabric with another..........

 ............here is a peek at the pages of the magazine..........they always take such lovely photographs of my projects but i still can't resist taking a few myself too.............find out more about crafts beautiful here............

 ............this small patchwork throw would be good for summertime outings and picnics or to snuggle up small children under when they get sleepy.......we have several quilts used for that already but i think that this is my new favourite............

 .............a couple more close up shots........the squares were all machine sewn together but i hand quilted it in the ditch and then quilted a square within the squares.............

 ..............and as a little extra.....an applique heart....always love to add a little heart if i can.....

 ...............i often mix different lines of fabric together and like the surprise effects which make each piece of patchwork unique..........

 ..............if you wish you can make this quilt by using a charm pack which saves on cutting out the squares.....and one more.... below we just had to have a rolled up quilt shot............

 ...........this little quilt was made quite a while ago of course as we work well in advance for magazine project publication.......since then i've been working on lots of other things.....and making some fun little things for my easter tree too like the little birdie below....more about that coming soon.........

 ............i am loving all the spring flowers at the moment and here is a big bunch of bright tulips.....

 ............so many lovely colours around at the moment it is impossible not to be inspired.......

..................thank you so much for visiting me here dear readers........thanks for all your sweet comments and hello to new readers who have found me here through instagram this week :)...........wishing you all a wonderful week filled with happy sunny days and plenty of colourful, crafty  inspirations ........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx