Norfolk Postcards

 Hello dear blog friends...here i am back again after a lovely relaxing break, feeling very refreshed....

 ............we both love the british coast and exploring different bits of it.....norfolk has a special atmosphere all its own....the two pictures above were taken at burnham overy staithe, and the one below was at wells-next-the-sea.....

 ............and the sun shone for us which was a treat after the previous week's weather when we were still at home......the beaches were wide, sandy and quiet and we had lovely walks......

 ............i took so many pictures of the beach huts there i could fill up the whole post with them :) ....

 .............here's just a couple of pictures for now......the beach huts can be hired by the day, week or month....some are privately owned.....they are so much part of the british coast because of our unpredictable weather....but who wouldn't love a little house to make a cup of tea in and store the beach paraphernalia...or to change in after swimming.......or just to sit in out of the wind and dream and read a book...or sew...or knit....i think i would really like a beach hut myself....

 .............we went to cromer below and walked along the pier there......

 ...........love the all blues and whites and the shelters and lamps..........below is the view from the pier......

 .............besides the seaside days we visited lots of lovely little towns including burnham market where i was delighted to spy these hollyhocks in bloom.....

...............outside a cottage with a gorgeous pink door.......

 .............i'll show you some more pictures in a future post (like our visit to sandringham, the queen's norfolk home)..........you might be wondering if i did any sewing on my holidays.....and of course i did....i filled this big stripy bag with sewing things before we left.......

 ..........and one of the projects i sewed in the evenings was this set of english paper pieced diamonds.......more about this project very soon.......

............thank you for your kind wishes on my last post dear readers and for dropping by to see me here......i hope you have a wonderful week ahead with sunshine and flowers and crafty inspirations................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sewing Days

 Happy new week dear readers......i'm a little late here this week as i've been very busy in my sewing room..........so many things to do at the moment i've been a busy bee.....

 ...........the weather has been incredibly cold and rainy here for june...........

 ............so staying indoors and sewing has been easier than usual at this time of year when the garden calls me....

 ..............i love this pretty jelly roll of bluebirds on roses fabrics by elea lutz for penny rose fabrics....

 ..........such a shame to unfurl it and cut up the fabrics but it had to be done........

 ...........i have several projects planned for these sweet fabrics but first i made some quick pincushions.............my littlest grandsons were staying here last weekend and they left some colourful blocks on my table after building towers.....i thought they looked nice with my new fabrics....

 ........in between rain showers and blustery winds i have of course been out in my cottage garden, even managing a few quilts in the garden pictures.............

 ..........the current work in progress quilt below is my little plums quilt which is a companion to my little apples quilt (seen above on the picket fence...pattern in my etsy shop)........the spools were new to me vintage ones sent to me by a kind friend to add to my collection...............

 ...............love these soft colours and fussy cutting the tilda fabrics to make the plums and leaves....

 ............below is a little garden view of our new table on the patio where we had coffee one day just before the rain began to fall continually............my eldest daughter gave me the pink peonies as she adores them and thought i needed some too x.............

 ............regular readers might remember the blue and white penmon point quilt i made last year....i love blue and white quilts in the garden...........soon i'll be away on holiday but someone will be looking after the garden for me................i'll be taking a blog and facebook break next week but back as usual the week after.......

.............thank you so much for dropping in here lovely readers and for leaving me such kind comments.........wishing you all a happy crafty sunny time...........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Seaside and Flowers

 Happy new week everyone....and happy june too......here is my collage of pictures from may...such a lovely month and so much floral and seaside inspiration........

 ..............i made this new little striped beach house which makes a sweet seaside decoration.....

 ...........especially with other coastal collections of mine like shells, little boasts and seabirds....

 .........and my much loved blue and white st ives sign brought back from our last visit there just a year ago........

 .........and of course the fabric fish too.............the patterns for both the beach house and the fish are in my etsy shop now if you would like to do a bit of seaside sewing.............

 .............as june begins all the roses begin to open here...............

............the scents are just gorgeous and i love being able to pick lots of posies..........

 .............here's my little wooden trug (bought in the lake district) and perfect for gathering the flowers.........

 ..............the alliums are still blooming too and there are more to come......it only seems a moment ago that i was planting these in the autumn and hoping they would grow.....

 ...........here's my favourite rose....rather like a wild dog rose, it grows near the potting shed and has this bright candy pink colour.............

.............we had a lovely time with family this weekend and lots of fun with the little grandchildren......... we managed some time in the garden though the weather here wasn't the best......hoping for a sunny week ahead now...........(by the way for those of you who follow me on facebook too...i wasn't able to post on my fb page recently...don't know why it won't let me... but will keep trying!)......

.........thank you so much for dropping by and for your very kind comments lovely readers..........wishing you all a happy week with sunny days and lots of crafty inspirations.....back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

May Flowers

 Happy new week dear readers......we're enjoying our long bank holiday weekend here....i picked a bunch of flowers to put in this big crackle pot in my sewing room......the flowers you can just see through the window are window boxes full of petunias (planted by mr p)......

 ............. lots of gardening and general floral enjoyment going on here.........many of these flowers were self seeded from the original plants....i love the aquilegia and how they pop up all over the place....

 ..............lots of posies too..............here is my new quilt with little applique plums.....

 ..............made with tilda lazy days fabrics and some polka dots and stripes from my stash.....

 .............i am so enjoying mixing these colours and seeing how the patterns blend together....

 ...........just as colours blend in nature..........here's a peek at the cottage garden....

 .........looking forward to the roses opening and lots of alliums too..........

 ................the bees are busy in the foxgloves......can you see the buzzing bee here?.....

 .........and despite mixed weather the pelargoniums i grew as cuttings have now come out of the greenhouse and are in a big pot ready to enjoy their summer outdoors.....

 ..............always inspired by gardens and flowers....here is my project in this month's issue of crafts beautiful magazine here........a little bit of vintage seed packet inspiration and cute radishes.......

 ............it will soon be time for afternoon tea here and we will be having it in a sheltered part of the garden (it's quite breezy in some places today)...........hope you are having a good start to the week everyone......thank you so much for visiting me here and a special thank you to those who take the time to leave me a comment....it's so nice to hear from you and i really do appreciate it.......wishing you sunshine and flowers and lots of crafty inspirations................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Flowers and Fishes

 Happy new week dear readers.......here is a picture of my work table taken the other day when i was making some heart blocks for a new pink version of my heartstrings quilt...........

 ...........there are lots of pretty fabrics here already of course but i had to treat myself to just a few new ones as well....work wise i'm very busy at the moment as i've just signed up to do a new book which is very exciting............

 ...........in the garden the sweetheart rose (cecile brunner) is now flowering and twining amongst the wisteria...........

 ..............it's even more like a waterfall this week.......and so deliciously scented.....

 ............the greenhouse was full of cuttings and seedlings and i finally got round to planting some out....

 ..............pelargonium cuttings from one of my favourites.......

 .............lots of seedlings............below is the seed tray i showed here a few weeks ago.....now these cosmos are bigger still and planted out in the cottage garden....i grew millions of seeds this year...or it felt like it when i was planting them all anyway ;).....

 .............and now my latest little fabric fishes...........made from the pattern in my etsy shop......

 .............i found some cute tins which inspired a little more fish stitching......

 ..............the dotty fabric is from lecien's flower sugar rose kiss collection which i'm really enjoying sewing with at the moment.......

 ..............more fishes....some i made last year.....

 ............in fact there is now a whole crateful..............and i am pretty sure there will be more.....

............thank you so much for dropping by to my little crafty space here and sharing my flowers and sewing...........it's always such a treat to read your kind comments too..........wishing everyone a happy week with flowers and crafting......and a thought for those who are maybe not having such a happy time.............sending love to you and wishing you well..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx