Springtime and a Little Hen

 Hello dear readers........i hope you are keeping well and getting through this strange time.....today i have lots of spring pictures to share....and a new little hen too shown here in the potting shed.....

 .........we have been doing lots of gardening lately and i cleared out the potting shed and swept out all the cobwebs so it seemed like a good time to take photos in there.....it's lovely to have so much bright light and lots of tiny pretty flowers to pick too....

 ...........this little hen is easy to sew and makes a cute decoration popped on top of a flower pot filled with raffia or added to a spring wreath......she can be made from small scraps of fabric and sewn by hand or machine...the pattern is in my etsy shop link in bio....

 ..............lots of beautiful blossom is cheering us up in our garden and on our daily permitted walks during this time of self isolation and lockdown.........such a peculiar time in so many ways but there are many things to be grateful for and small things to enjoy each day .......

 ...............white blossom..........and cottage garden flowers beginning to open.....

 ............tulips that mr p planted in pots in the autumn now coming in to flower......white with a faint pink blush...so pretty.....

 .............we are lucky to have plenty of lovely places to walk near our home for our (and molly the dog's) daily exercise....below is a view through the trees to the little norman church .......

 ..............and sunshine sparkling on the beach where we often go.....the day i took this picture we came across some words spelled out on the sand in pebbles saying 'love', 'kindness' 'hope' and 'smile'.......

 ..............the beautiful mother's day tulips are still blooming brightly and looking very sumptuous with their vivid colours............

 ............more little hen pictures.......this hen has a greengate latte cup to roost in......

 ...........and some pretty primroses and violets too...........

..............thank you for your visits here dear readers and your lovely comments which are such a pleasure to read.......i hope you are keeping safe.......take care of yourselves lovelies..........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Staying Home

 Hello again lovely readers......here are some beautiful pink blossom pictures to cheer us all up.....

 .............such a strange spring this year and we are social distancing and self isolating at home like many others while the corona virus rampages around the world......and yet in the garden and in the natural world all is beautiful, sunny, blossomy, blue skied and fresh........we have to enjoy these lovely moments......

 ..............here's my pink version of my heartstrings quilt (the pattern is available as a pdf in my etsy shop link in sidebar).....with lots of little added embellishments....

 .....like cross stitched initials, applique text ribbon, buttons.......

 .....ribbon tags sewn into the seams, my old favourite red running stitch sewn around the heart shapes.....

 .............and some yoyo or suffolk puff appliques...........  the colour pink means love and positivity, calm, compassion and nurture.....so it's an especially good colour for us now.............

 ..............i have been hand quilting a new quilt this week, and have started lots of other projects which keep me very absorbed.......along with reading and gardening........hubby and i have done more gardening in the past few days than we have in ages.........

 .................the greenhouse is scented with hyacinths............

 ..............i've potted lots of cuttings and sown lots of seeds in trays...........

 ................tulips in a bee jug left on the front doorstep on mother's day X.........

 ............and the intoxicating scent of this little hyacinth bed that i weeded this afternoon in the sunshine......these were all bulbs that we enjoyed in the house in previous years.....i just pop them into this bed when they are over for the season......

..............thank you for dropping by to see me here dear readers and for your kind comments.....i hope you are staying home, staying safe and keeping well.......sending much love, hope and positivity to you all............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Little Green

 Here i am again dear readers with some spring greens and colourful flowers to hopefully bring a bit of cheer to our very uncertain world.......

 ..........this is the beginning of the little green cushion shown at the top......

 ............i used some squares of tilda apple butter fabrics left over from another project.....

 .........and added striped and floral borders....i was already sipping tea from the mug below when i realised it matched my sewing even though i hadn't deliberately chosen it :)......

 ...............i love these minty greens and found a nice sunny spot among the green leaves in the garden at the weekend to photograph my little green cushion and my little apples quilt......

 .............with a bunch of bright and cheerful homegrown daffodils too..............

 ...............being in the garden and hearing the birdsong, seeing the fresh new growth of greenery and flowers, bulbs and shoots was very comforting after reading all the scary news coverage ............

 .................below is a picture from a week or two ago showing the first daffodils i planted last year blooming against my white picket fence just how i had imagined them.....the garden is much more colourful now with new flowers opening every day......

 .............i love primroses in all colours..........

 ..............and a mixture of spring flowers growing together is just so pretty.....love muscari and hyacinths, cowslips and anemones.....well actually i love them all.....

 ..............and here are some little bunnies.....it's time to make some now ready for easter.....i might be making a new one too even though we have quite a burrow full here already.....patterns for the sugar bunny, the tiny bunny and the little apples quilt are in my etsy shop, link in bio.......

.........thank you lovely readers for visiting me here and for the kind comments you leave......it is a very difficult and anxious time in the world at the moment and all we can do is follow the advice for our safety, keep busy and as cheerful as we can, be cautious but not afraid....crafting is therapeutic and absorbing and good for the soul at any time but especially at times like this.........wishing you all well my lovelies...................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Picnic Quilt

 We have a newly finished quilt today........this is my picnic quilt made with lots of tilda happy campers fabrics as well as some stripes from my stash and some kona cotton solid in white.....

 ................i loved sewing these blocks, partly by hand (the circles) and the rest by machine....

 ............the quilting was professionally done for me by the very talented debbie holland of longarm quilting.com...............the pattern is pop lids and i love how the circles echo the circles of the patchwork.....

 ...............this is a traditional block called drunkard's path as lots of you will know....i love sewing classic blocks in new fabrics......

 .............at the moment i'm writing the pattern for this (along with a few other projects too)....

 ...........i am going to make something else with the happy campers fabrics as they are so pretty....

 ............lots of other patchwork and applique has been going on here too...i've been a busy bee.....

 ............more blocks for my floral irish chain quilt.......and a bright summery hexagon quilt too....

 ................in my work room this week i had bulbs and birds as well as patchwork.....

 ...........and a lovely new garden mug from emma bridgewater to sip my tea from.....(the patchwork bird pattern is in my etsy shop link in sidebar)......

 ..............here's a peek at the floral irish chain quilt top almost complete......and below...still blooming are my letterbox flowers...they are amazing and last so long..........

............thank you for dropping by dear readers and for your kind comments.....it is such a pleasure to hear from you in my little blog space......wishing you a healthy happy cheerful week ahead......and of course some crafty inspirations too.........take care lovelies.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flowers, Birds and Hearts

 Happy new week dear readers......back with some pretty fabrics, hearts, flowers and birds today.....

 ............some gorgeous fabrics from rose garden patchwork inspired another of my sweetheart pincushions......with a tag made from a strip of the selvedge.....

 ........a daisy button.............

 ............and some flower power pins from pincushion crazy on etsy.............

 ............the gorgeous atsuko atsuyama fabrics are by yuwa........

 .........also lately i've made some patchwork birds....these are made in lecien princess rose florals....

 ............i saved this charm pack for a while......the different colour ways are all pastel and pretty shabby chic florals and perfect for making a set of little spring patchwork birds....

 .............they can be styled with flowers, added to easter and spring wreaths or just sit on a shelf to brighten a corner.....the pattern for these is in my etsy shop (along with the sweetheart pincushion pattern) link in side bar.............

 .............i had a lovely treat this week when my younger daughter sent me some letterbox flowers from bloom and wild............

 ............such a lovely gift and a brilliant idea.....even if you're out your flowers are safely delivered....and carefully packed into a recyclable box which fits through the letter box.....

 ..............you put them in a vase with the flower food provided and they last ages and bloom more and more each day.............such a treat :).............

thank you for dropping by to see me here dear readers....it's always so lovely to hear from you and to read you kind comments......wishing you a happy week with flowers, sunshine and crafty inspirations..........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx