A bit of decorating

Ok, so I know it's still November, but I felt like decorating the dining room a bit to make it feel more seasonal.  I love adding the decorations to the light fitting every year and always feel sad taking them down again. I'm going to look for some bits to leave up all year this time.

The little wooden train comes out every year, This is it's 29th outing! It's lost a wheel and a couple of candles broke off, but I don't care, it means Christmas to me so it's always the first thing to go up!

The fairies on the twigs are from Halinka's Fairies and they're too lovely to put away, so they've been sitting in my workroom all year.

Not much else going on at the moment. Just moved a few baskets and lamps around and re arranged some piles of blankets. The Fortnum's hamper was a lucky find at the local tip a few years ago and is handy for more blankets and cushions.

Really looking forward to the girls coming home again for Christmas. It seems a long time since they last left.
Now I really need to get on with some more present shopping.

xxx

Garden Snippets and a bit of Crochet

As you can see, I decided the pink and green colour scheme wasn't working. I don't think I had enough shades of each and have added some other colours to liven it up. This pic' makes them look quite dark but they're lighter and prettier in reality! The apricot "Cashsoft" had a slight acylic sheen which didn't look right next to the wool so I'll save that for something else.

I'm loving these flowers so much I'm going to carry on and make another blanket! but I think I'll alternate them with plainer squares or it might be a bit too much :)

There's some odd things going on in the garden. The mild weather has brought out some of the spring flowers already! We've got snowdrops and anemones starting to flower while some of the summer stuff is still around. 

The last dahlia and the first of next year's anemones.

Early snowdrop

Passion flower still going strong and rose on it's third flush

The holly seems to be more loaded with berries though. Is that a sign of a cold winter? Hope not.

I bought some of my pelargoniums indoors and I'm loving these bright pink flowers

Finally, this was our view for a few mornings. Glad it's brightened up again.

New Crochet

Well, having said I was going do some quilting I haven't got round to it this week.  The weather's been so gloomy I've felt more like curling up on the sofa with some crochet and some rubbish telly!  Also got most of my Christmas presents sorted online. Just a few smaller bits and pieces to find now :)

I added a simple cream border to the hexagon blanket that has been sitting around unfinished for ages. Think it finishes it off nicely.

Playing around with my wool I've decided to make my next project in pinks and greens and a pretty apricot I found this morning at my local wool shop.  Went through my favourite book and tried a waterlily square which is quite easy to do, but looks a bit more interesting than the flat ones I've done before.  I'm going to start with 9 for a cushion cover and see how it goes!

Have a good weekend

xxx

Shirt Quilt Ta-dah!

The shirt quilt is finished, but I was waiting for the weather to brighten up to photograph it. It's been so gloomy lately it was quite a shock today when the sun finally came out.

Keeping with the recycled theme I used a well worn old duvet cover for the back which I think goes well with all the manly fabrics.  I used a buttery yellow fabric from my stash for the binding which I think brightens it up without being "girly". 

Washed and wrinkly :)

It does feel good to actually complete a proper sized quilt. I've done a few smaller wall hanging size ones but this was more awkward to quilt, even with the weight of it supported next to the sewing machine, it's still quite a job!  I did find hand sewing the binding on very relaxing though.

While I'm in a quilting mood I've decided to finish one of the tops I made a couple of years ago. In contrast to the masculine feel of the shirt quilt, this one is super girly.  I used all my favourite fabrics in pink, green, aqua, yellow and mauve.  I've added a border I made for a different quilt which didn't really look right, so I unpicked it all and used it here.  The colours aren't quite the same, but I think it looks good.  Need to sort out something for the back now.

Looks like stained glass from the back!

Finally, as it's Remembrance Sunday I thought I's share some pic's of a quilt I bought on e-bay a few years ago.  Initially I was going to re-use the hexagon part to make cushions or something but I haven't had the heart to cut it up.  Two of the shapes have "1940" embroidered on them and I get the feeling it might have been made hastily for a couple getting married  in a rush during the war.  The fabrics are typically 30s, probably from dresses and children's clothes and perhaps this was something that had been  worked on for ages, then suddenly added on to a larger piece of fabric with the initials D and J sewn on at the top.  I wonder who they were and if they survived the war?

Prettyfying the Mantelpiece

I've been busy this week with a new bit of  home improvement.  I've always wanted a mirror above the fireplace in our sitting room, but never got round to getting one. I saw one in a local furniture place that was just the right size, but didn't think the bright gold went with the room.  A couple of coats of Farrow and Ball "White Tie" from a tester pot I had and a bit of finishing wax and it looks lovely.  It's amazing how much prettier the candles look reflected in the mirror.  I'm going to find some more and I can't wait to decorate it at Christmas with fairy lights and stuff!

Before painting. A bit too "blingy" for me!

 The shirt fabric quilt is nearly finished.  I sewed the top together last week then it sat on the floor upstairs for a few days while I gradually pinned it together with the back and batting.  Not one of my favourite jobs, especially as Lottie decided it would be good to keep walking over it! Aargghh!! It would be a lot easier with a big table like the one in my dream workroom haha!  Here's a couple of pics, I'll show you more when I've done the binding.  Can't decide what to use for that yet.

The sun seems to have gone awol recently, but the trees did look glorious last week.

Just wanted to say hello to my new followers. I do enjoy reading all your blogs, even if I don't always  leave comments.  It's so interesting seeing what people are up to around the world.

Also been trying to join Pinterest but it seems you need to be on facebook which I've managed to avoid for various reasons.  Anybody any ideas?