Easter Decorating

 Decorating the house for easter is something i always enjoy.........i had a heap of little fabric birds waiting to make into a beaded string for sarah and decided to add some to this speckled egg flowery wreath to see how they looked.........

 ...............the pastel egg wreath looks lovely both plain and with birds so now i can't decided which to have :)......

 ..........the birds also look cute when added to a pretty primrose with a plant stick........

...........i made a little flowery house to put on the dresser among the china.................

                                                 ...........then i made another one............

...........and then i made just one more.....and used rubber stamps to number the doors.............i make the little houses with whatever fabric i currently love....it's a great way to enjoy your favourites and to have them dotted around the house .....i love buying charm packs of fabric lines for patchworking and charm packs are also perfect for making little sets of houses like these...... visit the delightful and inspiring clover and violet blog here to read about the *charm madness blog hop*............ the birdhouse bunting pattern (below) and the little houses pattern are in my book here...........

             ..........i hung the teeny coloured decorated eggs on the little white tree..............

               .............and hung the birdhouse bunting at the top of the white dresser............

 ............gathering lots of pretty coloured eggs ready for the easter egg hunt  in the garden on easter weekend ....weather permitting of course ;)................................

 ..........putting the last hyacinths from my mother's day bouquet into a glass vase to enjoy in my studio while i work on writing project instructions on the computer..............

                .........a little twist of white cotton lace makes it look extra pretty i think..............

............here is a picture of my hard working sewing machine in my easter decorated sewing room......i am working on two quilts at once, as well as summer projects, a gift or two and i have a whole lot of new ideas that i am longing to make too......maybe it's the springtime, and all the flowers beginning to grow but i do find this is an inspiring time...........i hope to get out into the garden this weekend too, now that so much is growing it makes me want to tend it more carefully......there is a wood pigeon cooing outside my window as i type this as if calling me out there :)............

............thank you for dropping in to my little bit of blogland, it's a real pleasure to have your visit....thank you for your sweet comments and a big warm hello to all the new followers who have joined just recently...........i wish you all a wonderful week, with sunny creative days and lots of happy times.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Spring

 The sun is shining....the birds are singing......we have daffodils blooming, and tulip bulbs growing taller each day............despite the low temperatures it must be spring..........it feels like it in my house anyway that's for sure...........here is my spring inspiration board...........and here is pansy, the sugar bunny, all dressed in spring-like yellow.......

 ..........i keep this board to tape inspiring images to all year round......when i began my last book i created a mood board on here to show the publishers what i had in mind for the 'feel ' of the book, and the little fabric garland is left over from that......since then i have removed those images and added a whole lot of spring inspiration, as you can see.........

 ...........i love all the birds and bunnies, the nests and eggs, the flowers and bulbs.......

                           ..........and most of all the fresh and pretty colours of spring........

 .............i have been hunting out all the easter decorations this week, finding the painted eggs and straightening out the little easter tree ready to add the teeny eggs to its branches (pics next time).....

           ..........and making some easter packets to send to friends in plenty of time..............

 ...........i am very fond of the three sugar bunnies that i made for my new book * pretty patchwork gifts* and love their little patchy dresses.......i will be featuring the other two bunnies in future posts but this time it is pansy's turn......

 ..................some bright yellow fabrics have come out of the cupboard this week ready to make a special project......and some daffodlis have come in from the garden.......these are the tiny tete a tete ones which seem to flower first in our garden......most of the big daffies are still in bud.............

 ..........besides something in yellow (for a commission), i am also sewing something with a seaside theme which i am so loving making, but will have to keep secret till summer time :)...........

 ...............................lady luck smiled on me again recently when i won a lovely giveaway over at crafted by carly.....this delicious book by donna hay, and one of carly's own gorgeous makes, this sweet rosette brooch......i loved the brown paper package tied up with string too and the chocolate coloured button :)..........

 ............we had a very happy mother's day weekend, and i was so lucky to be able to see my own lovely mum and my two sweet daughters to celebrate it.......i was spoilt with some wonderful crafty gifts and gorgeous flowers............(and cake)...............i hope you all had a very happy time too............

..........now i am going to sew my seaside design, and enjoy the sunshine in my sewing room.........thank you so much for your sweet comments on my last post......and a special thank you  to those of you who remembered those long strings of birdies had a bell on the end....my next version for my daughter will definitely have a bell too :)...............wishing you all a wonderful week with sunny days and happy crafting...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooooxxxxxxx

Birds and Beads

As it has been so spring-like here for the last few days, and the bird song has been filling our garden and the woods and hedgerows round about i decided it was time to show you some of the fabric birds i've made......

........this little bird is from my book *pretty patchwork gifts* and is part of a  hanging decoration which has a stuffed birdhouse and a flower too.............i loved making the projects for this book and also painting the little watercolour illustrations to decorate the page corners...............

 .............all the photographs in the book were taken by the wonderful interiors and lifestyle photographer simon whitmore............below is a picture i snapped at the weekend of the birdie hanger in the potting shed ....it was sunny and warm enough to spend a bit of time pottering there at last.....

 ...........i have also been making simpler little fabric birds to make a very loooong string....

 ...........years ago i bought a similar very long string of fabric birds from a hippie shop and i decided to make a new version with lots of bright fresh fabrics.........it took quite a while to make enough birdies.....

                                         ............and to sew on all their beady eyes.............

............to string the birds together i used baker's twine and put lots of gorgeous beads between each bird.......there were beautiful lampwork beads and some cheap and cheerful bright pink ones too.......

 ...........i am really enjoying having this little flock brightening up the sewing room.........

............my daughter sarah loves them so i'm making another string for her now....maybe not as long as the original one though so she will get it sooner............

.............we did lots of gardening at the weekend, clearing old leaves and cutting down dead plants ready for all the new growth.....  the garden has really come to life with buds and blossoms just beginning to open, lots of crocus and snowdrops looking pretty....and a robin and a family of blackbirds singing above us in the trees.............a wonderful time of year :)............thank you for visiting here, it is always a pleasure to see you and to read your lovely comments............wishing you all a happy sunny crafty week.....back soon xxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxx

Happy Making

It's been a busy week since i last wrote in my little blog space.....lots of things to do, places to go...people to see...deadlines to meet......and a lovely day spent looking after the grandbabies during half term...we painted, walked by the sea, went to the park, made things and had a lot of fun.......

 .......this week i have been making things from scraps......such a satisfying thing when you are using up little bits of scrap fabric and making sure nothing is wasted..........it also means that you eke out the last bits of your most favourite fabrics to enjoy for as long as possible.............i made this quilted pincushion with a few tiny little pieces of some favourite prints..........

 ..........i love how each scrappy patchwork has a different look depending on the combinations that happen almost by serendipity..........

............this is the beginning of a new scrappy patchwork quilt top.......i decided i need to work with simple squares again after the complexities of the wonderful farmer's wife quilt......i do love squares and the way they show off the fabrics.............

 ...........as in my winter flowers bag, made for a magazine commission, i have left some plain white squares which i may embroider on later...we shall see how it all turns out :)..............

 ...........there are piles of toppling fabric in the sewing room........and now that i have used up some scraps it is time to buy some new fabric to replenish the stocks ;)............

 ...........below is some gorgeous new fabric that arrived today........some pam kitty love from sew and quilt here...........i love the colours and the sweet flower prints so much..............

 ......besides a bit of tidying of the sewing room i have decided to sort out the kitchen too....

 ..........time to find all the pretty spring china ready for easter decorating...............

 ...........i have two new greengate tea towels (one is shown above on the left)....but am not sure if i can bring myself to use them for drying dishes.....i might just have to make something with them as the farbic is so pretty...............

............the sun has come out at last again here today after a week of freezing temperatures.......so glad to see it :)...........thank you for popping in to see me here in my little space, it's always a pleasure to have your visit..........wishing you a wonderful week with sunshine and lots of happy making times.....back soon xxxxxxxxxooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flower Notes

 For a few days over the past week it has really felt as if spring might be here........it was sunny and warm (out of the shade anyway)...........and everywhere there was the sight of trees budding and little dots of colour as early blossom unfolded and tiny spring flowers began to peep out..................

............there are lots of flowers in our house this week too....valentine's flowers, snowdrops picked from the garden, primroses and primulas too...........and some stitched flowers as well..........

...........this little applique picture is handstitched and on a theme i am especially fond of......little lollipop fabric flowers in pretty fabric pots, with added embroidery stitches and quirky buttons......

.............i love making these...........the *lollipop flowers picture* is a project that is now available complete with pattern and instructions and can be found in my new book here....................

 ..........here i have been making a bigger but similar design for a cushion panel..........

                                                  ..............finishing the sewing..............

.....................and deciding which little buttons to sew on..........the birds and flowers buttons here are from just another button company and the flowery covered button is a cath kidston one ........i will of course show you the cushion when it is completed ;)..........

 ............our first snowdrops of the season............there are many more in tiny bud form still......i used to draw and paint snowdrops every year, trying to find the best way to capture those perfect little pristine white shapes.......

 ..........sometimes i still do paint flowers but mainly now i love using my flowery fabrics to create a flowery crafty feel.......

 .............snippets from the bright and cheerful primulas in my favourite egg cup...............

................and a picture of these beautiful blooms from mr p.............they are not only varied and colourful but with a beautiful scent too...........sometimes i move flowers round the house so if i'm working in the studio - or the sewing room - all day i can enjoy them with me...........the pink lilies in this vase have now opened up and smell delicious...............it has turned grey and cold here again today, after a really sunny and gorgeous day yesterday, so i am glad of the flowers for a splash of colour.................

.....thank you to everyone who has sent me lovely messages about my new book, you are so kind to get in touch and let me know how much you like it...thank you :).................

....and thank you to everyone who visits my bit of blogland, friends old and new......wishing you a wonderful week....hope it has flowers, sunshine and lots of crafting in it ...........back soon xxxxxxx