Saturday, May 28, 2016

A Catchup!

Hello friends, old and new!

So pleased you could drop by.

Thank you again, all those who commented on my previous "post" - I'm pretty sure I've replied to everyone, but please forgive me if I haven't, I do aim to visit you all regularly.

I can't believe where the time has gone since my last post! I've been wanting to say hello and share some photos for a while now, so I hope Amy won't mind me joining in a little late with my Five (on Saturday)

1. WIP - Cocoa Sampler:


Previously

And now:



Now!

I have almost finished stitching the mug and milk bottle, but am leaving the white stitches until last to stop them getting grubby. 

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2. The Splendid Sampler blocks


I've been stitching some slow embroidery on "Measure Twice, Cut once..." by Jane Davidson:

Stitching slowly, so far....

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3. Quilt Now - Free Gift


And, this isn't an advert, but I felt I had to say, I don't normally buy magazines, but the other day I bought a copy of Quilt Now!

I'm always tempted by the offer of a free gift - and this had a 2.5 x 5 inch quilter's ruler, how could I resist it! After all, it can replace the 2.5 square inch measure I seem to have misplaced!!!!!


So useful when piecing
 squares, it's much quicker to use to check
seam measurements!

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4. Izzy's walk in the woods.


A couple of weeks ago, on a bright, but chilly day, DH and I took a walk to the bluebell woods, accompanied by Izzy, for a photo shoot!


The bag Izzy is dangling from was one of the first things I ever quilted (and appliquéd too!) from a pattern in a book by Chuck Nohara.



A few bluebells!

5.Tulips

And whilst we are looking at Izzy, on my rucksack, I would like to mention Chris, of  UK City Crafter, who linked to a tutorial for making Tulips a few weeks ago. Seeing how Chris made her own Tulips, of course, I couldn't resist having a go myself, and here are mine on my bag alongside Izzy! 

This was a nice little handmade project which whiled away some time on a few train journeys. I also made a tiny tulip for Izzy (from Chris's blog) too, but she really needs a bag to carry the tulip!


Dolls - Izzy and Tulips

Tulips


By the way, Chris took part in a Stitch Craft Create blog hop this week, making and creating with Tilda Candy Bloom fabric, she made a very pretty quilt with the samples she received from Stitch Craft Create.
Thanks to Chris I visited the blog hop and was very lucky to win some 10" square samples of Tilda Candy Bloom fabric, and found a few more interesting blogs to visit.

I was intending to use my prize to make some mini bunting for our street party, and found a great tutorial on mini bunting over at Josie's blog, Sew for Soul - but now I can't decide whether to make the bunting or a quilt like Chris's ..... I guess the quilt would be more useful, maybe......

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But back to our walk, and there were quite a few gates en route ...... I think they are quite picturesque. I've seen blogs where people link up their pictures of gates, and if I remembered which blog maybe I could have linked there too!


Gates

Gates

Gates

We also passed our local pond, and it was great to see the pond must be healthy as there were quite a few tadpoles and small fish. I couldn't get any pictures of the fish as they were really quite small - about an inch long, and bright orange .... perhaps they were cast off goldfish!

Local Pond


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I am off to visit at Amy's next, hope to see you there too!

I trust you are all keeping well!  Have a great weekend!

I will be back soon with a little quilted project.




Barbara xx



17 comments:

mamasmercantile said...

You certainly took us on a beautiful stroll. Loved to see your crafts, the backpack with little doll was amazing, I was also impressed with the addition of the tulips. Have a great weekend.

Patty said...

I love, love, LOVE your stitching project! And what a nice free gift. Hello from Canada Izzy!

Sharon said...

Beautiful pictures of where you and Izzy walked. Your stitching looks wonderful. I'm making my way through a large piece I'm stitching. I'm in the middle of a lot of greys and that is not helping my motivation! I am tempted by those 'free' gifts. Stitching magazines are my weakness. I WILL stitch some more of them lol.

Have a great weekend

Magpie's Mumblings said...

You've been busy! Your cross stitch project is growing really fast now...I'm sure you're excited to see it nearly finished. The scenery on your walk is so nice - we're lucky to be able to walk along the local river (which runs in front of our apartment building). Great freebie with the magazine - I see that sort of thing here sometimes but I haven't been near a bookstore for a couple of years so haven't been tempted.

deanna7trees said...

Izzy and that rucksack are just the cutest. are you doing all the Splendid Sampler blocks? i started on that late but i just have one more to do to catch up.

doodles n daydreams said...

You are certainly a talented lady. I enjoy seeing what others can do as I'm not very crafty myself. Enjoyed all of your five.

Diana

Christine B said...

Great progress on your cross stitch sampler Barbara and I love all your photos of Izzy and the beautiful countryside on your walk! Congratulations on winning some fabric... looking forward to seeing what you make with it! Enjoy the rest of the weekend! Christine x

KimM said...

Lovely stitching - and so great to catch up with you! Lovely fabric - and what a lovely walk - thank you for sharing.
xxx

Chris of UK City Crafter said...

LOVE your tulips! So glad you won some of the tilda fabric too.

Lara B. said...

Love how sweet your cocoa sampler is turning out Barbara!
Izzy and the handmade tulips and your appliqued bag all look so darling photographed together! That walk is so beautiful, I'd want to take it every day.

Brigitte said...

All the crafts you are showing here looks so real. Wonderful stitching projects. And this rucksack is just fantastic. I once tried to sew one but it never got finished.
Great pictures from a very nice walk.

Clare-Aimetu said...

Lovely countryside - I am very envious of your bag, I'm not a quilter but that could tempt me to have a go 😁 lovely stitching too 😘

Sheryl said...

lovely photos Barbara, making me homesick again. I like your Cocoa sampler, Splendid sampler block and pretty Izzy.

eclectichomelife said...

Your walk looked delightful Barbara and I adore Izzy, love your stitching too x

Maya said...

It's pleasure to explore the details of your sewing. I really love your way to combine the colors. Violet+Green+Red are adorable! Backpack looks so impressive.

FlashinScissors said...

Thank you for visiting Maya, and for your lovely comments! (I hope you will see my reply as I have no way to contact you.)
Best wishes, Barbara xx

France Nadeau ❅ inspiration imagination creation said...

There are many beautiful things in this posts (and in the others too!). I particularly love your cocoa sampler. It's very beautiful: the house, the owl, the moon, the cups!