messing with a camera and a dog
a bit of a poorly dog, possibly because he stole our curry the other day!
a bit of pretty baking (strictly not for dogs)
our first sunny evening picnic in a secret spot
a bit of advice on where the best jumping spot is
and an evening swim for one of us!
and a beautiful walk home again
I hope your weekend was lovely and sunny too (or if it wasn't then perhaps it was full of cake and stitching)
x
After a marathon of stitching yesterday while listening to radio 4 (ask me anything about our economy or Teresa May's opinions about the police and I can tell you!!) I have finished THE SHED!
I'm thinking it's going to make a lovely cushion if I ever get to Truro to buy some fabric for it
I've been using chain stitch for the walls and roof, not a stitch I normally use but I enjoyed it and will probably do a photo tutorial next week (which really means in about two weeks at least if you're lucky!).
I've gone for the bunting as it seemed like the best way to pretty up a shed and you could applique the bigger bunting, especially if you have lots of lovely bright fabrics.
I have a sampler available to stitch (this avoids the pattern transferring). It is pre printed onto a lovely organic calico which is US letter size (8.5" x 11").
or you can buy the pdf pattern and transfer it onto any fabric you like
The pattern is here
And the sampler is here
And now onto lots of lovely sketching in the (almost) sunshine!
x
I put the shed aside last week but I've had time to pick it up again this weekend
my favourite part of the process is choosing the colours
this weekend, due to bad weather, I have had quite a bit of stitching time
but this morning we dropped the new home educated crew of the Hardiesse at the quayside. Do they look a little nervous
this is them motoring off to their home until tomorrow night
Teague, Annis and their friends are crewing on this beautiful ship right now as I write this. I hope they''re enjoying it!
and we saw these lovely delicate flowers after we had dropped them off. No-one knew what they were. I am hoping one of my lovely readers might have an idea. They were growing on a bank of grass and there were lots of them. I hope you've had a lovely weekend too
x
Oh my goodness but it feels like spring finally!!
there were flowers everywhere at Cot Valley where we went for our bank holiday picnic
it was so busy we had to perch along the cliff path
and I admit there may have been a little bit of a chill wind later on
but we saw our most favourite thing to see, in fact we saw three... choughs. They must have been nesting nearby as they stayed with us all afternoon. Of course that didn't mean we could get a good photo but honestly it is a chough!
I hope you had a lovely weekend too
x
Yesterday was so very beautiful
so after a day of building bug houses we visited one of our favourite beaches for too short a time
there was time for a spot of juggling
Annis and her friend did a bit of splashing but they were too quick for the camera, disappearing behind the rocks trying to fit a day's worth of splashing into an hour
all too soon it was time to leave, promising ourselves more time next time. We can feel summer coming, home ed starts winding down... the beach stuff sits in the boot of the car just in case... picnics and barbecues
and forgetting all about that longest of winters
pictures by Jason and Teague
x
yesterday Jason went outside to build a shed, a proper wooden shed with real wood so i drew my own shed, one with bunting and pretty blinds and flowers in pots (this is how our yard looks in my imagination). You see we don't have a garden, just a back yard that is full of steps and levels and not terribly useable.
I even started stitching my pretty shed. But then we received a letter. A letter we have been waiting for for 5 years!!!
we finally have an allotment and it's lovely!! See the excitement in my little companion. I might add that she is standing on tiptoes to look taller next to me! (but if I did tell you that she would be very cross indeed). We are so very excited. It's so peaceful up there and it's only a twenty minute walk (or shorter bike ride) away. At this point I should add that I am not known for my love of gardening. I love flowers and nature and organic fruit and vegetables but not hard labour! Fortunately the three males in this family are all taller and stronger than Annis and I and seem up for the digging type stuff leaving us with choosing, watering,weeding,sketching,dreaming and picnicking...
I am thoroughly enjoying the stitching of my shed. And I hope it will be a pattern and a sampler in my shop quite soon. But I am already dreaming allotment embroideries and pictures...
x
TA DAAH!! a new pattern is available in my etsy shop today. i finished the flowers in their vases! The pattern also contains a few more vases and flowers and an extra butterfly and dragonfly.
the thing I enjoyed most in making this pattern was the 'big stitches' that I used to fill the vases. I blended two colours of floss to get a bit more texture and then filled the vases with bigger than normal stitches. The stitches are also less even than I would normally stitch, I found this quite difficult (my inner neatness freak kept rearing his tidy head!) but I do love the nice sketchy feel so I think I'll be experimenting a little more with this technique.
I love doing these french knot heads they remind me of hydrangea heads.
and these closed tulip heads
a bit daisyish perhaps but I love making flowers up
it has occurred to me that the vases of flowers would look nice on a patchwork lap quilt and I can think of someone who might appreciate such a gift so I may have myself a little project for the late spring/summer!
I had such fun making this pattern and thought I would get away with no applique at all (although you could applique the vases!). But the butterfly in the corner, I just couldn't help myself. Of course you could embroider the butterfly just as easily as appliqueing it.
I'm thinking some brightly coloured flowers might be rather nice.
x
this weekend we had some sunshine!
a little bit of stitching for a gift
and some beautiful flowers from some lovely friends
leaving me feeling prepared for this most busy of weeks ahead of me
I hope your weekend left you equally ready for the week ahead
x
Just a little bit more work on commissions
fabrics for the next lavender girl kits
starting stitching samples for the new lavender girl kits. There should be some available at the end of the week hopefully!
