Tulip Time

Hello again dear readers....how quickly the weeks are flying by at the moment.....this week i'm celebrating tulip time before it flashes by.....a bunch of bright tulips in a green jug with my newly finished spinning tops quilt first....

........when i sewed the triangles together for this traditional quilt they reminded me of the old fashioned two colour spinning tops children used to play with.......

.........lots of bright coloured scraps made their way into this quilt....and the colours also remind me of tulips and other bright cheerful flowers......

.........we saw some wonderful tulips for real last week when we visited the gorgeous gardens at dunham massey in cheshire......

..........huge colourful pots greet you at the garden entrance........ 

..........and the drifts of tulips weave their way through the beds into the distance.....

.....have never seen so many tulips at one time together.....it was a beautiful sight......

.........here are some very bright ones........the sunshine made them even brighter....it was a perfect day for a garden visit....

...........there were many other flowers and shrubs to enjoy too, like the soft narcissus planted beneath the trees here.......everywhere we looked there were more blossoming trees and interesting views....

..........another picture of the spinning tops quilt which now has a pattern in my etsy shop link in sidebar.....

...........and a final picture of a corner of my sewing room, with a quilt stack and flowers, and the spring nine patch quilt.....

............thank you for dropping by to see me here and for your kind comments dear blog friends......wishing you a happy sunny week with cheerful colours, bright flowers and plenty of crafty inspirations.....take care lovelies.........peace and love......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Blooms and Blossoms

Hello dear readers.......here i am back again with a post full of flowers today...(and a few quilts too).....

........this is my version of an easter tree this year.....fabric eggs made from the pattern in my shop, and lots of twigs with leaves and blossom....all in a pretty folk art jug.....

..........another favourite jug is this pale blue one, perfectly pretty with pink tulips......

..........pictured with my gather the flowers quilt ( pattern in my etsy shop, link in sidebar).....

.....this quilt explores several techniques in an easy way, including patchwork, appliqué, english paper piecing, embroidery and hand quilting.....

.....i just love the soft pinks and blues in this quilt but it might be fun to make it again in other colours too.... bellis daisies and bluebells helped inspire this design.......and the title was from the lines by poet andrew marvell....gather the flowers/but spare the buds........

........all the bluebells are flowering now....the woods are full of them and here are some in our garden.....our own tiny bluebell wood.......

...........sweet pink and white apple blossom.......

........white cherry blossom falling like snowflakes in the breeze......

.....and a gorgeous auricula plant blooming happily in the greenhouse.......we had a lovely easter with dear family here and lots of happy times........

.........the little bunnies all lined up to join in the egg hunt which the smaller grandchildren took part in (and the older, taller grandchildren helped with).........and we all had a lot of fun in the spring sunshine.....there were lots and lots of easter eggs to find this year and in fact hubby and i are still finding them ;)...........

.........thank you for stopping by to visit me here and for your kind comments..........it's always a treat to hear from you.......hope you are enjoying sweet spring days, flowers and sunshine, and plenty of crafty inspirations too..........take care of yourselves lovelies............peace and love...........back soon xxxxxxxxx
 

Happy Easter

Hello lovely readers......we have lots of pretty colours today to celebrate the easter weekend.....above is the little log cabin doll quilt made with belle and boo easter fabrics for the central squares.....

.....and here is my new easy baby quilt.......made with simple squares of sherbet coloured fabrics including novelty prints, florals, stripes and dots....this was hand quilted and it was very enjoyable to sew.....

.........easter egg wreath and goosie are back for another season (the wreath was from gisela graham and the goose was from maileg)....... 

..........a close up of the quilting on the easy baby quilt....the textures and the blend of candy colours are what appeal to me......(the pdf pattern for this quilt and the log cabin doll quilt are both in my etsy shop, link in sidebar)......

.....rolled up quilt....love seeing different fabrics appear next to each other....yes, i just love fabrics :)

...........below are some fabric eggs in sweet spring colours........

........and this week's quilt stack features two sugar bunnies, lettuce and miss lemon, on top......

...........i put some of my fabric eggs into the old wooden egg cupboard......

..........daffodils on one of our walks this week.......a big drift of them beside the old church, so bright in the sun shine.......

...........and in the greenhouse some gorgeous bellis daisies......i have a lot more to enjoy now as a lovely friend gave me a packet of seeds last year and many are popping up again around the cottage garden....

...........getting ready for a family easter this year, doing lots of preparation today for my younger daughter and family coming to stay, and all of us being together on sunday for the garden egg hunt.....

.....thank you for visiting me here dear readers and for your kind comments.......wishing you a happy easter weekend and sunny cheerful days ahead.........take care lovelies......love and peace..........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Sweet Spring

Hello again everyone......here are some spring inspired pictures from my week......

...........lots of floral quilts and lots of spring flowers, including pink tulips (part of my lovely mother's day present and lasting a long time)......and also auriculas grown on from last year, and minnow narcissus....

.........a sweet little spring faux floral wreath with a romantic feel.......

.........lots of fabric eggs and little hens appearing for my easter decorating (patterns in my etsy shop link in sidebar).........below one of my two little crabapple trees with delicate pale pink and white blossom......

..........at the weekend we put up a new obelisk in the garden and planted a clematis and a rose next to it....the box hedges will be trimmed when the risk of frost is over.......

......it was lovely to spend time gardening in the warm sunshine again....good for the soul.....

............some new little cross stitch signs to make to decorate for spring........(also in my etsy shop)

...........the pretty pink tulips with my daisy quilt..........and below on a woodland walk this week.....lots of fallen trees from the storms and stacked up logs while around them wildflowers are happily growing.....

.........ducks in our garden!.........they are not our ducks but each spring a pair come and visit us for some quiet time on or near our little pond........the wire fence is round it to stop small grandchildren and our dog molly from falling in......

..........and below is a very bright deep pink crabapple, my second little tree.......

...........the past couple of days were quite chilly, just as an english spring often can be......but still there are so many lovely moments, flowers and creatures to enjoy.........bumble bees, butterflies, tiny birds.....and so much blossom in bud........

......thank you for visiting me here dear readers........and for your kind comments too, so special to hear from you.......take care lovelies.....wishing you all a happy, creative, sunny week ..........love and peace.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Quilts and Flowers

Hello again dear blog friends and happy april to you all........there are lots of quilts around this week....old ones and new ones, and some pretty flowers too...........

..........this is the blue flower pots quilt, and the pattern is new in my etsy shop (link in sidebar)......

...........my garden often inspires my designs and flower pots large and small are often featured in my work.......stitched, painted, drawn, or appliquéd......

.........these little flower pot blocks remind me of the vintage flower cards and tea cards i collected.....

.........it will be used as a wall hanging.......

.........the quilt was beautifully longarm machine quilted for me by debbie holland of longarmquilting .com.......love the pebble or bubble pattern and the texture it creates......

..........it was good to get this little quilt pattern finished and there are quite a few more in the to do pile at the moment........

...........now come some flower pictures.......a gorgeous mother's day bouquet.......

............pictured here with my gather the flowers quilt........

.........and in one of my favourite greengate jugs.......such gorgeous flowers with a lovely scent too......

.........one more quilt stack picture in my studio, feeling spring like and enjoying these fresh floral quilts....

 ............thank you for dropping by to see me here lovely readers and for your very kind comments.......hope you have a happy week with flowers and sunshine......take care lovelies...back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx