Liberty Love

Hello dear readers.....today i'm sharing some liberty love...........liberty prints had my heart first when i was young.......

..........when i was an art student i collected pieces to sew skirts, long dresses and to make patchwork with.......it was possible to find remnants on some of the outdoor market stalls around manchester in those days which was good for impecunious students.......

.....now i buy liberty fabrics from online shops and etsy.......this is my little drawstring bag made in different colour ways of betsy, my favourite liberty print..... (the pattern for the dottie drawstring bag is in my etsy shop link in sidebar)......

...........sometimes new quilters ask how to make the squares line up accurately......and my advice is always press the rows in opposite directions so the seams 'nest' and pin at the corners .......i found this tip so useful when i first began sewing patchwork .......

.............some of my postage stamp pincushions made with liberty and solids, and quilted with big stitch quilting in matching thread.........

..............love the pink betsy colour way so much :)..........

...........next is a little baby quilt made of all liberty florals......it is very sweet and soft.......

............a close up of the pretty prints..........(the easy baby quilt pattern is in my etsy shop link in sidebar as before)..........

...........tiny scraps being saved.............

...........and some real flowers now with the first roses blooming in my garden this week.....rambling up over the trellis against the blue sky.........

............and here's the wisteria blooming too, it's scrambled round the back of the house since last year and is making a pretty floral, leafy frame around the landing window as you can see in this picture.......

.............thank you for dropping in to my little bit of blogland lovely readers............thanks so much for your comments and messages...always a pleasure to hear from you...............have a great week ahead and enjoy the merry month of may..............take care lovelies..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Heartstrings

Hello again dear readers........the past week has been all about quilt finishes, flowers and gardens.....

.......this is my latest heartstrings quilt made to celebrate 25 years of tilda fabrics......each heart features a tilda fabric from early designs to the latest jubilee collection........

......i've worked with tilda fabrics for many years, doing blog hops in the early days and always finding inspiration in the designs and colours.........it was fun to find so many different tilda fabrics to use in my stash......

..........the backing fabric is the beautiful bird print from the jubilee collection, and i made scrappy binding using jellyroll strips also from the jubilee fabrics.......

..........the quilt was hand quilted which i think suits the appliqué hearts so they can shine........

............it was fun to make this quilt and it brought back lots of memories of previous makes and favourite fabrics.....below is a little souvenir pincushion..........

............lots of sunshine in my sewing room this week........flowers and floral quilts in a stack......

.............the floral quilts give a very summery feel any time of year........

.........my treasured auricula are flowering again after being nurtured in the greenhouse, split and repotted and fussed over........

...........always a delight to me to see these sweet little flowers bloom.........

..........one last picture of my latest heartstrings quilt on the cottage garden gate (the pattern is in my etsy shop link in sidebar)........the last of the bluebells is in the foreground........sorry to see the bluebells finish but lots of exciting summer flowers are just waiting to bloom...............

..............thank you so much for dropping by lovelies.............and thank you for the kind comments and messages you leave me.....always a treat to hear from you.......hope you are enjoying happy sunny days................take good care................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Easy Nine Patch Quilts

Hello dear blog friends.......sharing some work in progress pictures of my latest easy nine patch quilt top made in blue and white this time..........the fabrics are mainly blueberry delight from modafabrics but i added a few extras from my stash as well.......

..........the flowers are from the garden.......bluebells of course and minnow narcissus, big daisies and newly flowering soloman's seal..........

.........i'm loving the vintage modern feel of these fabrics and i always love nine patch blocks .....

..........it's been a great year for bluebells in our garden with many more popping up in all kinds of unexpected places........we have both english bluebells and spanish bluebells and i love them all.....

........the blue and white nine patch quilt top is now finished and in the to-be-quilted pile........

...........below is the red and white version made last year in bonheur de jour fabrics (also moda).......

.........the pattern for the easy nine patch quilt can be found in my etsy shop link in sidebar......

............this one is cosy and has a real vintage style.........

...........i used it a lot last year in my christmas decorating and photo shoots..............

..........meanwhile here is a picture of the cottage garden with its pretty spring flowers....one gorgeous pink tulip still blooming .........

..........and now it's lilac time too.........the nostalgic scent is so special and brings back so many memories.....and we had some lovely blue skies this week (on some days) and were able to sit in the warm sunshine yesterday...........

...........thank you for dropping by lovely readers and for your sweet comments and messages............wishing you a happy may with sunshine, flowers and crafty inspirations ........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Floral

Hello again dear readers.........floral love today and sharing some of my makes and some actual flowers too.......

.......the flower pots quilt and flower vases cushion go well together i think, using similar fabrics and colours......

........the patterns are both in my etsy shop link in sidebar........

.............love these soft vintage fabrics mainly from french general for moda and from tilda.....

...........here's my bright little flower patch pincushion......with one of the many wild flower books from my collection....i used to buy books for my design research all the time when i drew flowers for my work in the greetings industry.....

..........and here is the flower square pincushion with big covered button centre......

.............and a red and blue version........(pattern in my etsy shop as before)......

...........beautiful hawthorn blossom in the hedgerows here........

...........daisies flowering in our garden.........

.........and a lovely moment on a walk watching the tractor at work in the fields.........

...........finishing with some of our gorgeous crabapple blossom......just love it so much.......

..........thanks for dropping by lovely blog friends........and thank you for leaving me kind comments as well as visiting my shop and my instagram too........always lovely to catch up with friends in the crafting world............wishing you a happy week ahead with flowers, sunshine and creativity...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
 

Bluebell Time

Hello again dear readers.........sharing lots of blue and white quilt pictures today.....

..........it's bluebell time here in the uk and it always makes me focus on this beautiful colour ......

.............this is my blue and white checkerboard quilt, a version of my red and white checkerboard quilt pattern which is in my etsy shop link in bio........

............the first bunch of bluebells picked from our garden this spring, and put in a vintage mustard pot from the brocante..........

..........the crumpled close up of the checkerboard quilt.....love seeing the soft texture of quilts like this.....

..........above is another blue and white quilt, this one is called penmon point.......the pattern for this is also in my etsy shop as before........

........beautiful bluebells in a greengate jug and below growing in the garden......

..........lots more bluebells growing under an ash tree in our garden......

..........and also beautiful blues....the tiny sweet little forget me not flowers. which i also really love, shown here in a sussex lustreware cup........

.........bluebells with some small variations....white and pale mauve too......i do love bluebell time.......

..........one more picture of the brass bed and blue and white checkerboard quilt.......you can see the circular hand quilting i did on this picture......now i'm working on a new blue and white quilt which i will show you soon......

 ............thanks for dropping by lovely blog friends and for leaving me kind comments and notes..........wishing you happy sunny days with flowers and crafty inspirations in abundance....take care lovelies...........................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx