Heartstrings Quilt

 Happy new week lovely readers...........we have the heartstrings quilt finally finished here today.....

 ...........i don't have a pattern for this quilt but it is very easy to make using four inch squares in low volume fabrics, each with a heart appliqued on it in alternating red and blue fabrics......it was inspired by the hearts and flowers pillow in my book *pretty patchwork gifts* ......

 .............i quilted it by hand in the evenings...very cosy and relaxing work to do....

 ..........although it isn't a christmas design and can be used all year round, i think it may pop up in my festive decorating this year....

 ..............i chose a blue and white large floral for the backing (you can just see it in the picture above) and after much deliberation i used blue gingham for the binding.....

 ..........the house is slowly returning to normal after the decorating....i snapped a few pictures here and there as things just seemed to arrange themselves as they were moved from room to room.....below is my chalkboard with the top collaged by me a long time ago and of course ruby rabbit sitting next to it.....

 .............quilts on the quilt ladder and little cross stitch home sweet home sign from a magazine commission i did a while ago....

 ...............this weekend we had friends over, did some cooking and baking, did some gardening (pics to come) and pottered on sunday getting things organised......

 ............i baked festive cakes for the grandchildren (some to put in the freezer too).....and brought down the wooden advent calendar ready for the countdown (i put sweets in the numbered drawers for the grandchildren on the days they come to me after school).....

 ..............enjoying the cosy times now that i have the house back and all is quiet again.....looking forward to lots of cosy crafting throughout december.....will be going christmas shopping with my eldest later this week..........and the mince pies have arrived here too.....

................thank you so much for dropping in to see me here in my little blog space dear readers......it is always lovely to hear from you too............wishing you all a happy december..........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sweet Things

 Hello lovely readers.....hope your week has begun well.....here we are still in post decorating chaos but it's ok....i made some fudge at the weekend :)...........

 .............this is cranberry and white chocolate fudge.........perfect festive sweets..........

 ...........and here are some little button houses in candy colours..........made with the pretty new guestroom florals fabrics by moda and designed by kristyne from the pretty by hand blog.............

 ...........a nice little collection of hexies is beginning for my next project too......

 ............some red and white guestroom prints and some red lecien florals from my stash.....

 ............these are for a christmas make....hope to show you next time.....

 .............in the kitchen now....warm and cosy and cooking up a few treats..........

 .............cranberries in a greengate bowl....so festive....have lit my winter candle too......

 ..............i am planning to make peppermint bark with these candy canes later this week (if there is time from finishing a work deadline and painting furniture...and generally faffing too)....

 .............the pretty vintage french coffee pot from treacle market goes with lots of my china...........

 ..............must go back to work now and try to find the parcel tape somewhere amongst the boxes of studio stuff......it will be worth all the chaos in the end...the painting is looking so lovely and fresh...

............wishing you all a happy week dear readers........thank you for dropping by and for your kind comments......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Keeping Cosy

 Hello dear readers.....this week we are having the painters and decorators in so our house is in a state of organised chaos at the moment............. i am still taking pictures though, around the 'stuff' all over the place...my husband moved lots of things with me at the weekend as well as putting up new shelves in the kitchen X X X...........(pictures to come soon)........

 .............the maileg goose and pixie are keeping me company while i move stuff about........the quilt here is my dimity quilt  made a few years ago in a scrappy vintage style and backed with beautiful tilda fabric............

 ............everything on the shelves is squashing up to accommodate a few more bits and pieces....the cross stitch sampler is one i designed and stitched a long time ago.....i sewed the tiny bunny from the small version of my sugar bunny pattern in my book *pretty patchwork gifts* ......the dog is by northfield primitives and the pixie boy is by maileg.............

 ..............moving books from one room to another.............most of our books are kept upstairs in the book room but my persephone collection has its own special bookshelves..........

 ...........i found this little vintage heart while i was dismantling the studio..........

 ..............here is one of the nicer views of the stuff here............my ironing board in the background, a chair piled with quilts and a small bucket of flowers.....as long as there are flowers around i will be happy............

 .............not much time for sewing today....'the men' were here this morning fixing one of the sash windows, putting in new cords and glass where it had cracked.......it was very cold with no window in for a while and the doors wide open too......tomorrow the actual decorating begins and i will be in my sewing room downstairs i think, just emerging to make all those mugs of tea.....

 ...........i did finish this cosy star cushion made from beautiful true blues feedsacks fabric by linzee kull mccray.........the fabrics are from moda, and the red squares are a bonnie and camille print also from moda.......

 ...............books, quilts, cushions, cups of tea, sewing, radio 4...........keeping me cosy through this week of disruption hopefully.............

 ..............not much colour left in the garden now but still some bright berries.........

 ...........and getting things ready for some christmas baking too.....i collect my two older grandchildren from school three afternoons each week at the moment and we walk home through the crunchy autumn leaves for afternoon tea at my house............

.............thank you for dropping by to see me here dear readers and for your kind comments......wishing you a wonderful week ahead and lots of happy crafty cosy times......back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Homely

 Happy new week to all my lovely blog readers....hope it has begun well for you.......here i have not only been sorting out my studio but moving stuff about in the kitchen and having a little sort out there too......

 ............we are putting up some new shelves which will give me lots of new storage and look pretty too..........more about that soon............

 ...............and the studio sorting is gradually getting done but i'm still finding the 'throw or keep' decisions difficult and have put some stuff in boxes on the top floor for now ;) ....just until i decide for sure....

 ...........this is the desk in my studio where the ink, glue and paper crafting work takes place....it's a bit tidier now......

 .............as for my other love ...patchwork....well here is a new mini quilt made of bow tie blocks....

 ............i love these blocks and can't wait to make another......

 ...............also finished is my true blues feedsack fabrics star pillow.....more pics of this coming soon....

 ............cosy candlelight and the mini hearts quilt..........can you tell i'm in a cosy homely mood this week?......

 ...........in the greenhouse are bulbs ready to plant, and lots of seeds to sow for next spring....

 ...........molly and i planted lots of bulbs in the cottage garden this afternoon.....she thought my garden kneeler was a perfect little dog seat........

 ..........i love all the seasons, even winter...but i am looking forward to spring and seeing my new cottage garden filled with flowers......

.................i shall leave you today with some roses (from a flower shop) and some twinkly lights and candles to keep the homely feeling............thanks for visiting me here dear readers and for your sweet comments.... hope you have a happy week ahead with cosy crafty times.........back soon.................xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

First Frost

 The days are shorter, the nights are drawing in and we have had our first frost here.....we began the week with halloween and pumpkins and ended it with fireworks and a lovely family bonfire party....

 ............and now i am beginning a big studio sort out..........with pixie girl here to help.....

 ...........and sweet molly to keep us company too.............so much to sort and discard....the junk certainly mounts up and with art stuff you can never be sure if you just might need it one day which makes the re organising even harder............

 ............there has been a crafty touch of christmas here the last couple of months.....a cross stitch design in the last issue of crafts beautiful..........and below my patchwork trees project in the new crafts beautiful christmas issue here.............these are fun to make and i loved adding the little stitches, buttons and bows to the finished patchwork..........

 .............below is a beautiful little snowy painting by my dear friend anne mackinnon...... the picture is now available as a set of christmas cards from the friends of the whitworth ......think i'll pop this in a frame for my studio wall.............

 ...............several of my quilty projects are nearly finished and i've done quite a lot of work on the carousel quilt...........sewing diamonds for one of the pretty borders..........

 .............joining the carousel wheels to the dotty background............and making yo yos for another of the borders..........the pattern is by everyday quilts and is a pleasure to sew............

 .............pretty flowers from my elder daughter to brighten up the studio during the sorting .........

 ..............and here is a quick photo of the shutter mirror this week reflecting our sitting room, red hydrangea drying in a jug and a few quilts there too.............

 ...............now we've had the first frost i moved the geraniums into the greenhouse, and the olive tree as well...........lots of bulbs have arrived for the cottage garden....just got to plant them all now ;).........

 ..............more little pixies here to help............back to my sorting out in a moment.........

...............thank you so much for dropping by to my little blog space dear readers and for your kind comments..........hope your november has begun well and wishing you warm and cosy times in the coming week................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx