Patchwork and a Heatwave

 Happy new week lovely readers................it's a patchwork week here at my house...lots of it...beginning with this little cushion made with english paper pieced diamonds which i showed you recently as a work in progress......i stitched most of it when we were in norfolk...............

............i used a pale grey polka dot fabric for the backing..........

 ...........i love the yuwa fabrics used in this patchwork..........and as there were some scraps left over on my cutting table i decided to use them up and made some tiny fishes...........

 .............such pretty soft colours.............and i always love a stripe or two.............

 ................the sweetpeas in my last post were snipped and brought into the house to enjoy......

 ..............i even had some next to my sewing machine so i could savour the scent....just gorgeous..

 ...............some patchwork being sewn....in sweetpea-like shades......

 ..........these flowers look beautiful in any container including an old jam jar.....but i do love them in a susie watson spotty jug.....the small neck of the jug holds them so nicely....

 ................last week we had a heatwave here....it was no fun at all.....just soaring temperatures and humid days and nights......the heat was so intense and unrelenting that it was hard to get anything done....(and we aren't used to it here in the uk!) ......the coolest place in our victorian house is the cellar which is always icy cold so a good place for a cool down......

 ............anyway the heat passed and little molly our dog has stopped panting now.....and the pretty summer quilts are back on the beds..........

 .............this is my farmer's wife quilt from a few years ago......with jack rabbit on the bedside table...

............thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for your kind comments........wishing you a wonderful week ahead with sunny days (but not too hot!), sweet flowers and some lovely crafty inspirations too..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sweetpeas and a Nice Day Out

 Happy new week dear readers...........we have lots of sweetpeas flowering here at the moment so i just had to take some pictures to show you.....

 .............every year we plant sweetpeas and watch anxiously to see how they are growing.....worrying when they seem not to be making progress or appear rather small......and then usually they do get going and we have some nice bunches to pick.....

 ..............this year was the same, with cold and wet weather at the start of the season......but now we have lots :).................

 ..............and some pretty posies indoors...on my work table matching the threads......

 ..............and the fabrics....i even made a log cabin block for my quilt with sweetpea colours....

 ...........and here are some pictures of  our nice day out at the RHS Show at tatton park in cheshire.....

 ..............i went with my eldest daughter  (my ticket was part of my birthday present) and even though we picked the rainiest day it was still lovely and  lots of fun (it didn't rain ALL the time)...

 .........all the plants and flowers were amazing....look at these magical sweetpeas......

 .......we love the little back to back gardens most and this one was the winner....so pretty.....

 .......we definitely need more clematis in our garden so it looks like this......

 .......and what did i buy from this lovely flower show...?   some beautiful delphiniums for the cottage garden.............i will be planting them this week and on slug and snail watch for sure......

.........thanks for dropping by to my little blog space lovely readers and for such kind comments.....it's always lovely to hear from you....wishing you a wonderful week ahead with sunny days, blue skies and plenty of flowers.................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bright Summer Sewing

 Happy new week dear readers......it's a sunny bright and cheerful one here.......

 .........with lots of new sewing supplies brightening up my work table.....and i'm busy sewing projects for my new book every day.......

 ............we have just had a very busy weekend which didn't leave much time for gardening.....

 ............or photo taking.......but here are the super bright petunias we planted at the base of the new clematis flowering happily.......and below is a pretty pink hydrangea of a type i haven't seen before tucked into a corner of the cottage garden.....this one was a birthday present from one of my girls (they know me so well) xx..........

 .............the lavender is out and the bees are loving it......the fence got splashed with mud after heavy rain......might have to wash it....:)

 ...........here is a block for my log cabin quilt......looking forward to joining the blocks (some day!)...

 .............there is a roses and stripes theme that seems to have developed all by itself.....which i'm very happy about....

 .............the diamond english paper piecing i began on holiday is almost finished....

 ............i might be able to show you what it's for next time....

 ................and on a red white and blue seaside theme here is my cross stitch project in this month's crafts beautiful magazine out now.............

 .............off to unroll one of my delicious sushi rolls from lecien fabrics now and stitch up something pretty............

..........thank you so much for visiting me here lovely readers and for taking the time to leave me a comment.......it's so nice to hear from you........hope you have a lovely week ahead with sunny skies and flowers to fill your days.................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Summer Flowers

 Happy new week dear readers.......we have a very floral post here today beginning with the lovely bouquet my kind husband gave me on my birthday last week....i love the pink gypsophilia among the other flowers....and all the shades of pink :).......

 ..............some quick pictures from the cottage garden which seems to change every day as flowers come and go.......the clematis is happy twining upwards round the plant support which was an xmas present to us from some dear friends.......

 ........and the astrantia and alliums i planted in the autumn have been flowering happily.....

 ...............the rest of the garden has been growing wildly and is full of plants like lavender, cranesbill, valerian, campanula and roses....plenty to cut and enjoy in the house......i put them into a bucket of cold water first...........

 ...................photos in the arbour with my gather the flowers quilt .........(pattern for this in my etsy shop here).......

 ............and below a close up of the astrantia...such a pretty plant i think.....

 .......as usual the kiftsgate rose is growing......and growing.....

 ...............masses of lovely white flowers.....

 ...............and in my sewing room this week i'm adding borders to this quilt......

 .............the blue flower pots quilt........after a lot of indecision over the sashing this is how i decided to do it and now i feel happy about it ......

 .............and here is a peek at my kitchen table on my birthday last week (july 4...a star spangled birthday).....lots of sweet scented roses from the garden and pretty cards from sweet friends too....

.............thank you so much for dropping by lovely blog friends....it's always lovely to have your visit and read your very kind comments.....wishing you a wonderful week ahead with sunny days, pretty flowers and happy times.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Norfolk Postcards 2

 Hello dear readers......wishing you a happy first of july......here is my collage for june which was a very inspiring month for me with our trip to the norfolk coast and the lovely countryside too..

 .............this is a little peek at sandringham....this is the country retreat of h m the queen and the royal family and has been for several generations......it's a pretty house and we were able to see inside but not take photos.....we could take them in the gardens though so here are a few.......

 ........you can find out about the history of this beautiful royal country home here.....the top right picture was taken of the window of the gift shop.....i always do a little bit of shopping and seeking of design inspiration on our trips and mr p knows by now that i call it 'work'......

 ...............lots of flowers blooming ...here are some royal thistles.....

 .............and huge royal peonies.............

 .............loved this dappled lime walk.....there were lots of other people about but at that moment we had it all to ourselves........

 ...........i've often been asked to design projects with a royal theme over the years....this is a royal sampler i was commissioned to do for sew and so...you can find it as a pdf on their website....

 ........and now look what's hanging on my sewing room china cupboard :).......

 ...........we had lots of lovely country walks.....for miles sometimes.....it was so quiet and beautiful....and we found interesting places to visit like stiffkey stores below.....

 ...............we had delicious coffee and cake here and i spent quite a while browsing the shelves in the barn........some of the things i liked were too big to fit in the car, what with molly's crate taking up so much room on the backseat.....

 

 ............so i settled for this lovely little lidded basket.....perfect for a sewing project.......

thank you for dropping by to see me here lovely readers and for all your kind comments.....once again facebook won't let me post (why??) but i'll keep trying......wishing you all a very happy new month with sunny days, flowers and plenty of crafty inspirations.............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx