Sew Romantic

 As this is a rather romantic time of year i decided this post should have a romantic feel too......but first i must announce the winner of my recent bunny giveaway......thank you very much to everyone who entered, it was so lovely that so many of you offered a home to miss hyacinth.......i wish that i had a whole burrow full of bunnies to give away.....but there is just one winner and that is............... sweet paula at the lovely blog sweet victoria rose.......well done on being the number chosen, paula...i will be in touch very soon for your postal address :)...........

...........i made this heart quite a while ago now as a project for my new book *pretty patchwork gifts*........i loved the french postcard print fabric and made the patchwork heart using other pale florals too, then added embroidered details and embellishments....

..........the pattern and instructions for the romantic french heart can be found in the book.............

                                                .............*pretty patchwork gifts*..........

..........i have also been sewing some new hearts for valentine's day and adorning them with buttons....the little blue grey dish was one of a set from granny's attic....i think they were designed originally as fruit dishes but now i use them as button dishes, and also to hold the pieces of a patchwork block, they are just the perfect size for that :)......

............the bright fabrics and haberdashery things in my studio are helping to cheer up one of the gloomiest and most bitterly cold days we've had this winter........ 

...........but some cheery primroses and a bright valentine heart seem to do the trick..........

 .........this week i received one of the things i love most......a brown paper package tied up with string.........it was a beautifully wrapped giveaway parcel from lovely nina at tabiboo..........i was the lucky recipient of a sweet collection of afternoon tea inspired gifts.............

..........i am looking forward to enjoying the tea and shortbread biscuits with my daughters who also love afternoon tea......and the cup and saucer, beautiful postcards and vintage apron will be treasured.......thank you, nina................

..............i am loving the new pink primrose plant in the old blue and white spotty pot which i use every year for the same purpose and always enjoy seeing on my kitchen window sill........

 ...........another of my paper packets...this one has special valentine chocolate inside..........

.........thank you for visiting my bit of blogland today it's a delight to see you :) and i look forward to coming and visiting you now............i wish you a wonderful valentine week with treats and treasures and happy crafty times.........keep cosy.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxooooooooxxxxxxxxx

Hearts and Flowers

Sometimes a simple thing can lead to lots of ideas for art and design projects......many of the things we found when clearing out granny's attic last year have been waiting in my studio to be used when the moment is right.........

 ...............a year or two ago i made some paper gift packets using children's book pages (from old and damaged books!).......and now i have used the idea here with some pages from an old gardening book we found, partly damaged and deteriorated but with some pages still usable for collage and crafting....

..........i needed some printed text pages for a recent magazine project, and then went on to make this gift packet....you place a small gift or some sweets on a piece of paper, place a matching piece on top and machine or hand sew round the two so the gift is enclosed.......then decorate the outside with rubber stamps, flowers cut from rosy fabric or paper, then tie up with raffia and add a heart button and tag.......

 ..........it can be torn open along one of the handily perforated stitched sides.......................

 ................i also made a decorated romantic wrapper for a white candle......(as with all candles do not leave this one unattended)......it is even nicer if you have a rosy matchbox to light it with.............

...............it has been tulip week here at helen's house......i bought a few inexpensive bunches at the local greengrocer's and have enjoyed them soo much.........here is one bright bunch with the new crafts beautiful magazine....the blue birdie on the cover is part of my project in this month's issue which is filled to the brim with spring crafting.......

                                                      ..........more of my cheery tulips...........

.........i mentioned some time ago that i was busy working on blossom and birdie designs for spring and now they are all appearing.........world of cross stitching commissioned four spring samplers from me for their special giveaway chart book and it is now available........for more information go here.....

.......and i created a new little home sampler for cross stitcher magazine....when i saw that the magazine photographer had styled it beautifully with paints and brushes i thought i'd plonk it onto my studio table among my own paints and brushes and current illustration projects for a quick picture.....

 .............one day last week i stepped out of the house and felt as if spring was in the air....a mildness and a brightness....and lots of strong looking green shoots and bulbs growing in the front garden.....
but then came the gale force winds and lots of gloom and rain for a few days........but it won't be long now till it really is spring :)........

.............thank you for all the bunny love in my last post....the giveaway for miss hyacinth is still open until february 11 so there is still plenty of time if you would like to add your name to the draw.......i have so enjoyed reading your lovely comments and finding new blogs to visit too.........wishing you all a wonderful week with sunny days and happy crafty times..........back soon xxxxxxooooooxxxx

Giveaway and Bunny News

A few years ago i designed and made a set of spring bunnies and showed them here on my blog.......some of you may remember them :).......they were called flora, snowdrop and primrose....................

 ......and they each had a flowery skirt or dress and a knitted cardigan with tiny buttons.............

 ....just recently i have made one more spring bunny.....she is called miss hyacinth and i have made her especially to give away to one of my lovely readers..........she has hyacinth blue spotty ears, a sweet floral skirt and a little hand knitted sweater in hyacinth pink tipped with blue.......the pretty fabric is from pam kitty morning.....i love that gorgeous shade of blue.................

....if you would like a chance to win this bunny then simply leave me a comment on this post....that's all you have to do.....the giveaway will be open till february 11, it is open to to everyone even if you don't have a blog (but please make sure you leave an email address if not, so i can contact you if you win), and i am happy to send anywhere in the world :)....i will pick the winner by random number generator and announce it around valentine's day..............

 ..........this week i have been working on some collage illustrations, similar to the ones shown in the background here...................

 .............i love the variety of different crafts and how one often inspires another..............

                                                  ............some of my own hyacinths............

 ............and some very sweet new rubber stamps....these are very pretty and delicate designs.......

                 ............i've been using them to make gift tags and other things this week..............

....as for the bunny news mentioned in my title today??.....well, one of the most frequently asked questions i receive here is about my new bunny patterns and where they can be found?.......this is the back cover of my new book called pretty patchwork gifts.......please meet the sugar bunnies....a set of pretty little rabbits with patchwork frocks......i'm delighted to say that the bunny and frock patterns plus instructions are all in the book............i will be showing and telling more about the sugar bunnies (bluebell, petunia, and pansy) very soon.......

                  .........knitting for a small bunny is very enjoyable and surprisingly speedy work too......

                        ........one last picture of miss hyacinth sitting on the cupcake cushion.........

Thank you for your truly kind and generous comments on my version of the farmer's wife quilt in my last post.........it is always lovely to hear from you and to share my makes and creations with so many like minded blog friends................wishing you all a very happy week with some sweet flowers, spring sunshine and lots of cheery crafty times..............good luck in the giveaway...........back soon xxxxxxxxxoooooooxxxxxxx

New Quilt and Some Snow

I am happy to be here in my cheery little blog space to show you my newly finished farmer's wife quilt..........(today I have had a few technological problems with my blog and my emails, and other computery stuff -  my new computer is not my friend just now but i hope it will become my bff soon :).................

 ..........those of you who read my blog regularly will know that i finished the fw quilt top a little while ago and have been hand quilting it over the last few weeks, and very cosy it has been too.......

 .....i finished quilting round each shape in each block, and then i used a leaf and vine stencil to draw a simple quilting pattern in the plain pink border..............the binding is red and white and dotty.....

..........i remembered the challenge i had of photographing the unquilted quilt top so knew that pegging the finished quilt up on the wall for a photoshoot was the best idea ..............we put a piece of wire aong the picture rail to peg it to.........

 ..........i do like quilts on the wall, maybe i should make one specially to have hanging up..........

 ................and now the farmer's wife quilt has been taken down and snuggled under...........

 .........i loved making this quilt and now we will all love using it, especially with all the chilly snowy weather we are having here at the moment............

                         ...........a little close up of the dotty backing, border and binding...................

.............the fabric colours are so cheerful, they make me think of summer flower gardens ...............

 ...................colourful quilts (strawberry hearts quilt and farmer's wife quilt) piled on a chair are a nice way to bring some colour into these monochromatic days...............

 ....and so is the bright new cosy daisy cushion now completed...........i am still making daisy grannies for a blanket, but these were my first try and i do like the effect.................

.............and here is my studio view after last friday's snowfall..............very pretty.........i was working on some illustrations.......no need for me to take a snow day from work :)......the school was closed and the children all played out in the snow.........my grandson charlie and his little friend george built a sweet snowdog, helped by daisy...........

..........some pictures of my cutting garden and beehive composter under snow.....and the potting shed too.........we don't have snow here very often, so it's quite a novelty when we do...........i like to look at it but not to travel in it and feel sorry for people who have to..............thank you for visiting my little blog space today, it's lovely to see you and i do love to hear from you..........there will be a giveaway as a thank you to my lovely readers taking place here very soon .............if you have snow and ice where you are take care and keep cosy!...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Winter Winnie

 Now that we are in the grip of some very wintery weather here in the uk, i thought it was time to show you some pictures of a new little doll i've made.............meet winter winnie...................she was made a while ago, but only finished recently...............

 ..............first i made the doll and created her hair using wool left over from a cardi (rowan felted tweed)...i often buy ready made curly and shiny doll's hair but this time i thought i'd try to make a choppy style :)....

..............i knitted the little sweater specially to fit winnie....long arms, short body........and a little moss stitch scarf to keep her cosy (the yarn for the jumper and scarf was from my stylecraft crochet stash, because the colours were just right)..........and her lovely skirt was made from some of the gorgeous simple life fabric from riley blake...........i love this range and am using it in lots of different projects..............

 ...............like this pretty needlebook (i showed you the patchwork outside of it a while ago....i love the pink print i used for the inside too)...................btw i am making winnie some little boots from felt too but they are not quite finished.............

                      .................more of this lovely collection from sew deerly loved here.......................

 .............i made a few sewing notions as gifts but these are the ones i'm using myself at the moment......

 ................they are so pretty and i love the colours brightening up my sewing room on grey chilly days :).......

 ............here is the beginning of a little doll's quilt, waiting for some embroidery and quilting stitches.....

 ...........gorgeous hyacinths in the kitchen........mr p says it's like a garden centre..........that's good, yes?..............i have planted primroses in some of the beautiful greengate cups.......here is one on the breakfast table  next to the bagels, jam and coffee and the book i'm reading), it's happy little flowers looking perky and cheery.......

 ...........i have enjoyed seeing all the snowy pictures this week on people's blogs around the uk and elsewhere.........it hasn't snowed where we are here on the north west coast, though we have had very cold temperatures, hail, sleet, wind, rain and thick frost.......it is said we may have snow here on friday so i will get the sledges out at the weekend for the grandchildren if so.............

............and here is a frosty photo of winter winnie to echo the chilly theme of this week...........also this week i have had a new computer installed.....just getting used to all that updated stuff now and finding my way around what used to be soooo easy but now.....isn't.......yet......thank you to everyone who visits my bit of blogland, thank you for reading and for your comments and emails....it's always a pleasure to hear from you............wishing you a happy crafty week and keep cosy................back soon (with quilts) xxxxxxxxxxx