Dottie Drawstring Bag

Hello everyone....here i am with some sweet fabric play this week.....

......this is my dottie drawstring bag pattern made with some adorable belle and boo fabrics......

.........love this sweet sewing theme fabric so much.....it was hard to cut it up...... i made one bag from the fabric and one from patchwork with a few mixed scraps from my scrap basket.....

.....the cords and stops are from rose garden patchwork......

...........the fabric below is the toy box print which fits well with my love of vintage toys, blocks and nursery alphabets.....

..........it was so much fun to play with these fabrics, to choose linings and backings, and mix up the different patches.....there will be more to show you soon.....

.....the cords and coloured stops finish off the little bags so nicely and make them special....

.....love the star ones used here......and will be trying out lots more......

......little bags like these are lovely to make to hold little gifts, small toys or to collect treasures.....the pattern for the dottie drawstring bag is in my etsy shop link in sidebar.......

..........after a cold and wet week the sunshine did come back though it still needs to warm up a lot more.....i bought some flowers from the supermarket and added some more from the garden to make this colourful bunch in my pretty pink vase......

.........the cottage garden is in bud and some roses are beginning to open so hopefully we will have a lot more flowers to enjoy very soon......

 ....thank you for dropping by lovely readers and thank you for your kind comments......wishing you a happy sunny week ahead with crafty inspirations and cheery days.....keep well and take care lovelies.......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flowers in the Rain

Hello again lovely readers......we began this week with some gorgeous sunny days...i took some quilt photos in the cottage garden and moved lots of plants out of the greenhouse and got most of them planted...(and then it rained...and rained...and rained.....)

.....the quilt in the picture at the top of this post is my floating four patch quilt, which is a companion to my easy four patch quilt......you can see them in the basket together.....both these patterns are now in my etsy shop - link in sidebar....

....and here is lettuce the sugar bunny on a quilt stack wearing her new cardigan and skirt.....

..........the greenhouse was bursting at the seams with small plants and it was a lot of work to get them all planted out....they have certainly had a big long drink since then.....

..........some of the small plugs and seedlings have been potted on.......

..........and i took these pretty auriculas down the garden for a photo shoot......

...........the box was heavy so i had to stop half way :).........

.........here are some of them arranged on a low wall.....and behind are some lovely lupins.....so happy that these seem to be surviving the snails these days (so far!).......

.........i'm hoping for some dry days again soon as there is still a lot to do out there......

.....but there is always plenty to keep me busy inside of course......

......lots of new projects coming up and my sewing machine has been whirring rather fast today....

 .....thank you for visiting me here dear readers......and thank you for your sweet comments...so lovely to hear from you.....wishing you a happy weekend with sunny days, flowers and crafty inspirations.......take care lovelies.....back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Vintage Stars Quilt

Hello again dear blog friends.......here i am with a fresh new quilt today.....

.........this is called the vintage stars quilt and it has been a true labour of love.......

.........many years ago i bought a book by miss read with a beautiful cover illustration by artist jannat messenger......the book went with me from house move to house move until it settled here in the bookshelves at the top of our tall victorian house......i always loved the cover and now and then i'd have another look at it and think maybe i'd recreate the quilt.....

........and now i have.....thanks to a mixture of things like having the time and finding that these tilda fabrics looked right to create the soft but colourful feel of the illustration.......

........i decided to quilt this by hand which i really enjoyed, sewing the quilting lines 1/2 inch apart and using a frixon pen and ruler to mark them made it easy to sew.......

.....these stars are made from a very traditional block known by several names, i have always called them evening star blocks and they are also called sawtooth stars.....

.......every star quilt is different according to the maker, the fabric choice, the block arrangement, the quilting .......

......and i've made lots of star blocks and quilts before......but this one is special to me because it encapsulates all the years of loving patchwork and loving reading...of cosying under a handmade patchwork quilt to read books during good times and bad times.....(miss read books are very good for these).......

.........i noticed in the softly edged illustration there was a suggestion of a diamond border....so i used that idea to make this one........

.........hope you enjoyed this little quilt story today :).....(the vintage stars quilt pattern is now available in my etsy shop link in sidebar).......we had a wonderful walk yesterday between the showers and below is some of the glorious hawthorn blossom which is the star of the hedgerows at the moment.....so perfectly beautiful, also known as may, thornapple, whitethorn, quickthorn or hawberry ....love how old patchwork blocks and old plants have so many names....

.........love this little peaceful country scene as we walked down the hill......

 .......thank you for dropping by to my little bit of blogland dear readers.....and thank you for your kind comments......wishing you a wonderful weekend with flowers, sunshine and lots of crafty inspiration.....take care lovelies..........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

May Time

Hello again dear blog friends......this week has been a mixture of winter and spring....with huge hail storms and spells of sunshine, howling gales surprised us and did a bit of damage to the garden but luckily not too much....

........this is a new tiny tote bag i've been making......

....using sweet fabric scraps and a gorgeous fruit cross stitch print by atsuko matsuyama.....it is decorated with tiny appliqués, yo yos and buttons......

.........quilt stacks feature often in my house.......

.....and this large basket seemed just right to hold some quilts and to have a little cutter quilt heart tied on it too......

.......i love to see quilts around the home...they create such a cosy look and feel......

.......in between the weird weather this week we had some nice walks.....below is a local field covered with daisies.......

.........and here is a pure white blossom tree in a neighbours garden........

.........today we picked some special lilacs.....these are in memory of my dear blog friend teresa kasner who has sadly died unexpectedly.......teresa was so kind and supportive to me and many other bloggers.....

.........her posts were so bright, cheerful and positive and she was a warm, strong and creative person.....

.........she will be very much missed and we send our condolences to her husband dayle and all their family.....rest in peace dear teresa x........i am finishing this post with some bright and cheerful crabapple blossom......time to enjoy every day and everything.....life is fragile but beautiful..........

.........thank you to everyone who drops by to see me here in my little blog space......it's always lovely to hear from you too and i value all your kind comments......wishing you a happy sunny week with flowers and blue skies......take care of yourselves lovelies.....back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxx