September Sewing

 Hello dear readers......hope you have had a good start to your week.....here there has been lots of sewing going on as well as lots of pattern writing and template drawing.....

 ...........i showed this little toadstool pillow last autumn when i had fun making up my applique pillow pattern in some of my favourite fabrics with added surface embroidery stitches and vintage buttons..... i love working this way and seeing how the texture develops.....the pattern for this is now in my etsy shop (link in side bar).....

 ...............still adding cute little log cabin blocks to the growing stack......

 ............and it's the time of year when i make some new lavender sachets.....

 ....this year i've made some with the new tilda tea towel stripes and filled them with lavender i dried from the garden.....the bunches are hung up to dry in the linen cupboard, and the sachets are later tucked in there among the sheets....

 ............hand quilting my little cherries quilt is a very relaxing and peaceful way to spend some stitching time......

 ...........i'm trying out a new hoop i've just bought...it's smooth and chunky and works well though my sewing is much slower than it is without.....

 ...........we went to the garden centre last week to buy some tulip bulbs for the cottage garden....i bought two packets of pink ones and have planted them this week.....also just had to buy a tray of bellis daisies......

 ............and some violas too.....these are so pretty..........

 ...........we visited our local botanic gardens at the weekend and here are some of the many beautiful sorbus berries..........the leaves haven't turned here yet though some are just beginning to....we have had some glorious bright sunny blue sky autumn days..........

 ...........finally i know it's a bit early to be showing christmas designs but  just wanted to let folks know that my red patchwork christmas stocking design is also now available as a pattern in my etsy shop (link in sidebar) and  we all need to get on with our festive sewing in good time :)......

...........thank you so much for dropping by to see me here dear readers and for the kind comments you leave me....i do appreciate them very much......wishing you a wonderful september week wherever you may be.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Autumn Things

 Happy new week dear readers......we are enjoying some beautiful autumn days here.....

 .............this little wreath was made this week with garden snippets and some of my tiny fabric pumpkins...........

 ............there are lots of red berries in the garden this year so the birds will be happy.....below is a natural garland where a shrub has twined through the lattice fence....i'm not sure that you can see in the photo but a spider has been spinning long silvery threads to add to the decoration too....

 ..........i have been busily writing my book over the past week as well as making a few more fabric pumpkins and sewing some work in progress quilts.....

 ...............loving these pretty stripes and using them in my log cabin block below.....

 ............and in the evenings i've been sewing lots and lots of blue and white hexagons on my hexie quilt.....

 ..........such a relaxing way to work......thinking i must begin another english paper pieced quilt when i eventually finish this one as it's so nice to have it there just to pick up and work on each night...

 .............now that i've decided on the pattern layout this project is speeding along again....

 ............i didn't do any sewing this weekend though as we were too busy celebrating our eldest daughter's birthday with lots of family fun......she is 40 years old....unbelievable!!......she had a well deserved wonderful time and we all enjoyed every moment too......

 ...........today it's back to work on my writing and later a little bit of gardening amongst the autumn flowers.....

 .............and i just had to take a quick picture of the wreath on my little cottage garden gate......

............thank you so much for dropping by to my little space here dear readers.....and a huge thank you to those who leave me a kind comment it's a pleasure to hear from you......wishing you a wonderful week with autumn flowers and sunshine and lots of crafty inspirations.......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fabric Love

 Happy new week dear readers..........we are enjoying some special fabric love this week.....

 ..........this is a huge log cabin block in progress featuring some of my pretty lecien flower sugar stash.....

 .............and here is the blue flower pots quilt top which is now complete and soon to be quilted.....

 ...........people often ask where i get my fabrics from.....i buy them mainly from various different online shops and i will include a list of some of my current favourites at the end of this post....

 ...........just like bricks and mortar shops the stock of fabrics in online shops is always changing, updating or selling out...so if i see a fabric i like i buy it at once.....

 ............sometimes i have been gifted fabric from designers or manufacturers and luckily they are always ones i love so i'm delighted to use them in my work.....

 ....... mostly i just pick fat quarters of  new fabrics or even a charm pack and then choose my favourites to buy yardage......i love to have lots of stripes and dots to mix with florals......

 ..........this is my new little plums quilt.....it's a companion quilt to the little apples quilt and also uses tilda fabrics.......you can find the patterns for them both in my etsy shop............(link in sidebar)

 ............using a mix of different fabric collections is usually how i work.......these little quilts are the exception to my normally happy scrappy selection.....it's always fun to find how different collections look together and some lovely fabric combinations often happen purely by serendipity....

 .............below is a work in progress.....the little cherries quilt is now being hand quilted......

 .........some favourite online stores where i find my fabrics are:
fat quarter shop, wool warehouse, the homemakery, sew and quilt, my fabrics, plush addict.......i am often asked about finding fabrics and i hope this helps :)............

.............we are enjoying a lovely sunny autumn week here...perfect for gardening and country walks....and gathering autumn inspiration for making and crafting things........thank you for dropping in to see me here dear readers and for the kind comments you leave which i always enjoy so much......wishing you a wonderful week ahead with plenty of seasonal inspiration wherever in the world you are...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Apples (and other Fruits)

 Happy new week dear readers....and happy september too.....above is my august collage...such a lovely month of busy activities, seaside days, quilts, flowers and fun times.....

 ...........here is a little zipper pouch i made recently with some lovely lecien orchard fabric.....

 ............i sewed the red zipper in place so you could see it and the colour is part of the design....

 ............i just wanted a pretty zipper pull for it......and i found just the right one at the festival of quilts....this shiny red apple charm was perfect......

 .........this was me choosing cherry charms as well as apple ones and about to have the pleasure of meeting the talented designer atsuko matsuyama in person too.....it was very inspiring.......

 ............the beautiful applique of berries and leaves here is a detail from one of the baltimore quilts displayed at the festival of quilts....one of many exquisite applique designs that i photographed for future inspiration.......

 .............apples growing in our garden.........love all the red and green.....

 .............soon be making pies and crumbles again......

 .............and this week i will begin hand quilting my newest fruit inspired quilt...the little cherries quilt..........autumn always begins for me by making a few new pumpkins with some of my latest favourite fabrics....

 .............this time i'm adding ribbon with words on and also tiny flowers to decorate my new pumpkins......

 ..............inspired by tilda fabrics and white linen........and softly fading hydrangea flowers.....

...........my grandchildren are going back to school this week....their new uniforms are ready and my daughters have both been busy sewing on all the name tapes......my oldest grandson is going to high school and my second to youngest grandson is starting school for the very first time......time moves on so fast doesn't it........i love these september days though and the special light and atmosphere so i'm going to enjoy each moment......thanks for dropping by lovely readers and wishing you a wonderful week ahead.............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx