Quilts and Flowers

Hello again dear blog friends..........today i'm sharing this blue and white easy nine patch quilt being hand quilted......the fabrics are mainly blueberry delight by moda fabrics, with some extras from my scrap basket included.....

.......besides gardening and going on outings i've been spending some peaceful times this week hand quilting and enjoying lots of tea in a vintage cup.....

.........the pattern for this quilt is in my etsy shop link in sidebar...........i use a frixion pen to mark the lines (removable with a warm iron after quilting) and an omnigrid ruler...........

..........the lovely little white roses next to the steps up to the lawn are flowering this week......the sweetest little tight pink rosebuds open into these lovely little ruffled white flowers and there are so many of them.....i don't know the name....they were already growing here when we moved in many years ago.......

...........last week we visited dunham massey in cheshire where the gardens were looking wonderful and i was so pleased to see these beautiful blue poppies (or meconopsis) in flower.........

..........another quilt now.....this is one of my vintage charm quilts, appliquéd with roses.....

..........and a matching cushion..........

.............the tiny pale pink roses are ones i do know the name of....cecile brunner.......only tiny but perfect and scenting the room beautifully........

..........glad of our quilts as it is still a bit chilly here especially in the evenings.........hope actual summer arrives soon......

..........the flowers are all very happy though weather-wise and are all growing and flourishing so i'm not complaining.....

.........below are the 'side door roses' which of course grow over our side door and look so pretty.....hubby has trained them so they grow nicely on a trellis and everyone can still get through the door....they are such a pretty open flower and form such decorative clusters it almost has me reaching for my drawing and painting things again :).....

............next weekend i'm taking a little blog break as we'll be away but you can still catch up with me on instagram if you'd like to.......thank you so much for visiting me here and for your kind comments.....wishing you a happy creative time till next time.......take care lovelies......back soon xxxxxx
 

June Days

Hello dear blog friends......it's been a little bit summery here over the past week and here is one of my favourite newish red, white and blue quilts with a summery vibe..........

.............this is my homestead quilt and the pattern for it is in my etsy shop link in sidebar....

............it was made with lots of scraps from my scrap basket and kept in order with white sashing between the large blocks..........it's a quilt full of memories........the backing is red and white gingham and as you can see the binding is a blue and white stripe...........

..........last year on my birthday i received a beautiful david austin rose from each of my dear daughters........this is the first one to flower again now....its called harlow carr 2008........the second rose is covered in buds and will be in flower soon........

.............below is some pink liberty fabric mixed with some pink low volume tilda fabrics for this pretty summery pincushion.....

............the pattern i used for this is my sweetheart pincushion pattern, in my etsy shop as before......

..........the word embroidered ribbon was bought on a roll from east of india.........

............some roses picked from our cottage garden this week...........so much scent and colour.......

..........and a few more pictures snapped around the garden.......patio plants look pretty singly in a bulb pot.....

...........and it's been a good year so far for foxgloves and lupins here........

.........me going out on snail patrol quite often  has definitely helped the lupins thrive :)......

...........off to do some more gardening now.....lots of grasses and weeds are thriving too after some heavy rain in the night so i have to keep busy out there......thank you for calling by and reading my post today and thank you so much to those who leave me a little note.........so much appreciated....... wishing you happy days, sunshine and flowers........take care lovelies..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Rose Season

Hello dear readers........happy last day of may........and welcome to my rosy post today......

......as you probably know, i love roses especially pink ones......and here is my heartstrings quilt in rosy pinks, along with a set of (old) cath kidston rosy pillow cases, a candy hearts cushion, a rosy eb mug....and some actual pink scented roses from the cottage garden..........

...........the roses are sceptr'd isle from david austin roses which have a gorgeous fragrance......

.............here they are below in the potting shed.........the cushion pattern and quilt pattern can be found in my etsy shop link in sidebar............

..........more sweet roses below.........these are cecile brunner and the first to flower in our garden each year.......they are small and sweet with tiny rosebuds........

.............here are some in my sewing room with my vintage charm quilt made from tilda scraps........

..........the lovely little striped strawberry mug holding the roses is from hogben pottery..........

...........simple patchwork with pretty appliqué roses.........and lots of bright florals......

...........freshly flowering is one of my birthday roses from last year...........

...............over the archway are these gorgeous clusters of white roses...........

............and soft pink against the blue sky we're back to these little pretties again........there are more roses in bud in our garden and i'll be capturing them and enjoying them for the rest of the season..........

...............thank you for dropping by lovely readers.............thank you for your kind words and messages.........wishing you a wonderful new month of june ahead and happy sunny flowery times......... take care lovelies............................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 

Wild Flowers

Hello dear readers.........today's inspiration is floral.......since childhood i've loved wild flowers, and enjoyed identifying them.......when i grew up i studied textile design, including plant drawing, at art college and often drew and painted wild flowers for my work......

........i still love them and have plenty growing in my cottage garden..........i put some in my vintage tote bag for some pictures.......and then arranged them in this big crackle pot..........

.........cow parsley (or queen anne's lace, its prettier name) looks so pretty mixed with vetch, red clover and daisies....and some bright pink cranesbill..........

............vetch was one of my favourite wildflowers to draw and i often used the trailing stems and leaves in my designs.........there's a bit in the picture below along with a view of the vintage tote bag (pattern in my etsy shop link in sidebar).........

...........more flowers now.....with my recently finished hexagon flowers quilt..........this was begun on holiday last summer in suffolk and the fabrics and colours still remind me of that time and the little seaside towns of aldeburgh and southwold on windy sunny days.........

...........now the quilt is finished and both longarm machine quilted (by scrapbox quilting) and hand quilted (by me)...........

............as you can see i added red big stitch quilting round the flower shapes........

..........below is a work in progress picture........the pattern for the hexagon flowers quilt is also in my etsy shop link in sidebar.............

...........i love it when flowers self seed round our garden, like these sweet erigeron daisies......

...........love these delicate little daisies and the pretty mix of pink and white.......

...........and here is a little peek at some cottage garden foxgloves just about to flower among the lush foliage ......

 ...........thank you so much for coming to see me here dear blog friends and for your kind words.........wishing you a happy flowery sunny week ahead............take care lovelies...............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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