Fishes and Flowers

 Hello lovely blog readers.........here are some of my latest pictures...little fishes everywhere....

 ............inspired by the applique fish i sewed on my st ives quilt a couple of years ago, here are some on a new quilt.....and here are some of the stuffed fabric fish i love to make too (the pattern for these is in my etsy shop, link in sidebar).....

 ...........i love having the little coloured fabric fish around the house as part of our summer decorations....

............the quilt is mainly made from fabrics in low volume soft vintage shades and i will be hand quilting it with lots of texture but keeping it soft and drapey.........

 .........the top is now finished and layered together with the backing and batting....all ready on the to- be-quilted pile..........

 ..........last week we had incredibly hot days....and this week the complete opposite.....i snapped a few garden pictures before it turned so cold though.....

 ............the blue blue sky of last week.....

 ..........and the tumbling white roses around the arbour.....

 ............this week has been more of a pottering in the greenhouse kind of week......here are my greenhouse shelves....

 ...........and some of my geraniums...this year i'm especially fond of the trailing ones.....

 ..........usually around this time of year we go on a country trip, exploring places like the cotswolds or cornwall......although that's not possible this year i am taking a little blog break and closing my computer and phone for a short time..........

............thank you so much for your visits here and sweet comments......wishing you a happy, cheerful crafty start to july and until i return keep safe and well lovelies...................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx

Summer Stitching

 Hello again lovely readers............it's a bright and sunny evening and here are some bright fabric makes to share too.............

 ............these little log cabin blocks are the ones i've been working on for a long time....

 .......and this week i've sewn some of them together to make a little doll quilt.....the yellow and blue spot fabric is for the backing..........more pics coming soon.....

 ..........another patchwork project is my vintage charm quilt 2 seen here on the cottage garden gate....

 ..........my little cottage garden is also a patchwork of colours and textures at the moment...

 ...........we got a few new plants from the garden centre to tuck into the gaps........

 ..........and staked the delphiniums....these are my treasures as i actually managed to get some to the point of blooming without being eaten first by certain little critters for once....

 ..........the roses are blooming, despite rain, high winds, thunderstorms and hot sunshine over the past week they just serenely keep opening up new flowers.....i do deadhead them almost every day to keep them flowering happily....

 ...........pink ones and white ones........

 .............just wanted to mention that my little july 4 pincushion is now available as a pdf pattern in my etsy shop (link in sidebar)...........it will soon be firecracker time again (and of course that means it will soon be my birthday again as it's on the very same day......and how fast it seems to come around!!)

 ...........now i must go and water some flower pots and bring in the washing from the line........

............thank you for dropping in to see me here lovely blog friends.....and thank you so much for the kind comments you leave.....have a happy week with flowers, sunny days and plenty of crafty inspirations too....................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Garden Flowers and a Little Stitching

 Hello again dear blog friends.....the title of this post pretty much sums up the past week for me....

 ............lots of garden flowers being enjoyed here.....and lots of little stitchings going on...like this tiny four patch pincushion with a vintage button........

 ...........i've been playing with lots of vintage style fabrics and colours, buttons and trims, this week too.....actually lockdown has been good for me creatively and crafting has also kept me sane and focussed...as it has a lot of other creative folk out there, too, i know...........

.....here is a flower bed filled with self seeded rose campion (lychnis coronaria) in shades from pure white to deep pink.....they suddenly began growing en masse in a prairie planting style so i thought i'd just leave them to do their own thing for now.....i do love these flowers and they certainly love growing in our garden, popping up all over the place....

 ..............in front of the beehive composter which i have now emptied and begun again layering with weeds, veggie peelings, torn cardboard etc.....love how it does eventually turn to rich compost....am putting the previous compost onto the borders soon as a mulch....

 .............here are the side door roses in full bloom now............

 .............sweet little bright pink rosebuds that open to white scented roses.............

 ............another self seeded treat growing in the gravel path near the potting shed...feverfew....

 ...............the kiftsgate rose is rambling up over the arbour seat now..........

 ..............and here's a big bunch of sweet william and below a bucket of powder pink roses.....

 ..............just love june in the garden and the sunny days this past week have been beautiful ones for gardening and enjoying the flowers, birds, bees and other insects.......and newts in the pond, sunning themselves near the surface...........

............thank you for dropping by to my little crafty world dear readers....thank you for your sweet comments as well, always a pleasure to read........i hope you are keeping well and enjoying some sunny days, flowers, crafty times and other june delights too.....take care lovelies....back soon xxxxxxxxxx

Vintage Charms and Country Walks

 Hello again dear readers.........here are some wild roses from one of our recent lovely walks.........aren't they wonderful the way they form decorative arches against the blue sky?.....

 ..........and here is one of my patchwork projects........

 ............this is my vintage charm quilt 2.......this one is having lots more applique and also some beads added......the little handmade pottery bowl holding my beads was a gift from a lovely friend.....and it is invaluable for holding small patchwork pieces sometimes as well as beads.......

 .............roses are appearing in all my posies right now......

 ..............adding luscious colours and delicious scent..............

 ...........a couple of days ago we had an especially lovely walk, up through the fields near my husband's boyhood home..........we walked to the top of the field and looked back down to take this picture......

 .............then we continued on our walk, passing fields of crops on our way......

 .................and spying sweet cottages in the distance.............

 ..............then back home for a nice cup of tea and a piece of cake.....and a big bowl of water for molly who just loved running through the long grass............

 ...........here's a peek into our greenhouse.....lots of geraniums, some from cuttings, being nurtured by me......and tomato plants we were given by a friend as a swap, being nurtured by hubby.........

 ...............back to my applique sewing now......bright flowers on black backgrounds always remind me of the designs i used to produce when i first began as a textile designer many moons ago......i used to paint pretty flowers in watercolour and then paint around them with flat black gouache........now fabric is my medium of choice and i just love it......so happy to have this creative joy especially during lockdown......

.............thanks so much for joining me here lovely readers, and for leaving me such kind comments....i hope you are having a happy start to june and enjoying plenty of crafty and creative inspiration............take care my friends until next time...................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A Rabbit's New Dress

 Happy june dear readers..... the weather is certainly still summery in our little corner of the world..... and here is the patchwork sundress i made for mabel, the big bunny......

 .............here she is modelling her new dress in the potting shed.......

 .............special blue mismatched buttons on the bodice at the back...just how mabel likes them....

 ...............indoors, relaxing in the tiny victorian child's chair which each of our children and grandchildren have used in turn...

 .........mabel and her frock decorated with applique roses next to some bellis daisies i've been nurturing from tiny little seedlings...........

 .............the words stitched on the dress were cut from a charm pack square and as it was pure white and needed to be a softer shade i tea dyed it...........this patchwork play is my new favourite thing :) ...the pattern for mabel the big bunny is in my etsy shop link in sidebar, and the dress is made from her basic dress pattern but with patchwork used for the skirt.......

 ...............also a new favourite thing is this patchwork tin which was a gift and held bath products.....

 ...............now it holds the sewing things i use the most for hand sewing and i find it very useful to carry around with me, and in and out of the garden.......

 ............a garden picture or two now......the roses are all coming in to bloom ready for their june extravaganza.......the picture above is of the pale pink sweet scented roses that grow by the pond....it is covered with buds and the blooms it has already opened are deliciously scented.....

 ................this white rose grows by our side door and looks pretty framing the top of it...i'll take more pictures of it soon....love the tiny deep pink buds on this..........

 ...........another peek at mabel's new dress....you might recognise the patchwork i showed in my last post has now been made into the gathered skirt for this little frock.....

.............thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for the kind comments you leave.....it's so nice to hear from you......i hope you are well and enjoying some happy crafty creative times as we begin this summery month (or wintery month of course if you live on the other side of the world)....wherever you are take care and love to you all till next time ........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxx