Back to Hydrangea Cobblestones......And....A Giveaway ♡

Good Morning lovely lovelies♡ A beautiful welcome to my little place♡ Just sitting here enjoying a cup of tea, listening to the audio Book of Psalms narrated by David Suchet. Such a euphonious voice he has; nothing at all like the one he voices as Hercule Poirot. So, listening to him reading the Psalms while I watch Old Man Sun sleepily rise from behind the mountains is indeed bliss. What a miracle a sunrise is. Love, love, love sleepy Sunday mornings. It looks as if my day will be singing with sunshine. Love, love, love happy, sunshiny beams♡

The spring garden is beginning to unfurl in all its loveliness. The blossom trees are out in full bloom, though the falling blossoms are now beginning to catch a ride on the soft spring breeze, forming petal-filled carpets on the ground. For the past couple of weeks the bluebells have been the stars in the garden, so of course I had to, had to pick a gazillion of them before they are no more. I must say too, that there are carpets of forget-me-nots everywhere; so, so pretty. Very soon it will be the irises and granny bonnets....oh, and the foxgloves....time to shine. The bluebells will be the stars of my little happy snaps, this week.....along with my happy, hydrangea cobblestones, of course♡

Having finished the sweet baby quilt last week, for which I must say thank you for the gift of all your beautiful comments; I have pulled out my Hydrangea Cobblestones quilt out again to hand stitch. Such happy fabrics. Blue, blue, hydrangeas everywhere. Can one ever have too much of the hue blue?? Me thinks most definitely not! Lots of octagons and little squares have been stitched on, skipping around the outside. Two more 'rounds' have been added. Such fun! Though, upon my beady little eye perusing the progress, that persnickety eye of mine went to a spot like an arrow to the bullseye, and spotted something scew-whiff. Nothing major, just one little octagon not quite in the right spot. I suppose I should've let it be; most would; but me being me, a recovering perfectionist, I had to fix it up as I just know it would have niggled me forever. So I carefully  unpicked the offending octagon and replaced it with another that was more pleasing to my eye. Gosh, it took a little while, as I do tend to stitch tiny little stitches very, very close together when doing EPP.   But now, all is well with my little octagonal world. My hydrangea cobblestones quilt is slowly growing.

A basket of bluebells for you♡

 

Now.......about my little Giveaway. I'm still sorting (slowly) and culling stuff and happened upon another Christmas stocking, in the form of an 'oh-so-chic, Parisian boot, which I fashioned many years ago. I gifted a couple of these pretties last year to some lovely ladies, so, as Christmas, the season of goodwill will soon be at our doorsteps, a thought crossed my mind; why not gift another stocking to one of you lovely lovelies. I am wanting to spread a little early Christmas joy. My Parisian boot has been hanging in the dark abyss of an armoire (I had made it, along with some others to sell); much better to be out seeing the light of day, adorning another's home.  So, if you hanker after a Christmas Parisian boot dripping in lacey and vintage, cream and gold frothiness to gussy up your home, just say so when you comment, and I will put your name in a hat  and my husband might just well draw out your name. Fingers crossed♡

Bye for now. May your day be filled with touches of beauty; and may you enjoy sprinkles of joy throughout this coming week♡ Thank you for skipping along my flower-lined, hydrangea cobblestone path with me. Every path should have bluebells and forget-me-nots kissing the edges. Later on this evening I will continue stitching some more pretty cobblestones to my quilt and also visit Kathy to see what all the other lovely ladies are hand stitching. Then tomorrow I might visit Judy's place to see what pretties are on everyone's design walls.

Until the next time.............

A Baby Quilt Finish

Hello lovely lovelies♡ I find myself here again at my happy little place, chatting to you♡ Why, I have a finished quilt to show and tell. Yes indeedy, for the past couple of weeks I have been stitching little hexies together, from dawn to dusk,  until all of a sudden, before my very eyes  a baby quilt has been fashioned.

This baby quilt which I chatted about here, is oozing with sweet hexies of Australian flora and fauna. There is a menagerie of sweet animals playing amongst Australian native flowers. Cuddly koalas, bashful bandicoots, swimming platypuses, hopping kangaroos, waddling wombats and adorable echidnas....oh....the echidnas waddle about, too; all  playing hide and seek among the gum trees and pretty native flowers. Flowers such as lilly pillies, wattles, bottle brushes, Tasmanian blue gum flowers, waratahs etc etc. As for the birds high up in the eucalyptus trees; there are magpies, willy wagtails,  cockatoos and kookaburras, all singing a merry song.  I suppose this quilt is an I-spy-with-my-little-eye quilt, where mother and child will enjoy many a delightful time looking at each character-filled hexie imagining stories of adventures in the Australian bush.

The quilt-as-you-go hexies in Jocelyn Proust abstract designs do look rather fun together. For the back of the quilt I have covered every seam with bias strips to cover the stitching. 'Tis much more work; takes double the time in fact, but all my dirty little sins of sometimes messy stitching are covered. I rather love the pink and white spotty strips against the green and white dots. Besides, because the baby is a sweet girl, and as the quilt is rather neutral, I wanted to add a little pink somewhere, and the back is the perfect place to sneak in a dash of pink onto the quilt. Two quilts in one really. Perfect♡ The quilt measures 100cm by 120cm; perfect for a small child to snuggle under, and sleepily nod off into the land of counterpane, where fun and adventurous goings-on with sweet Australian animals, await.

I hope the teacher, whose baby the quilt is for, likes this sweet little quilt. I think she might.

Another hexie quilt to sit in the gallery of finished quilts. This is my twelfth hexie quilt I have fashioned.....just a slight addiction. =) I am in love with hexie quilts. It is always a joyous feeling when the last stitch of a quilt is stitched. This was a quick quilt to fashion, only taking about five weeks to make, which isn't too bad really; as with the exception of machine stitching around each hexie, the quilt was hand stitched. Though, in saying this, no other stitching of other pretties got a look-in during this time. This baby quilt has had my undivided attention. So, so many tiny hand stitches. Just as well I adore hand stitching. =)

May you, this week, have many moments which make your heart dance and your soul sing♡ As for me, I am going to enjoy many a relaxing moment to sit and stitch, as there is always something to do with needle and thread. I just want to enjoy some hand stitching, whilst drinking in the beauty of spring unfolding new miracles each day. As, the unfurling of each new, exquisite flower, I think, is a miracle♡ Spring equals beauty and blessedness♡ Your visits too, bless my day♡ Thank you♡ Your visits are always a delight♡ Later this evening I will see what pretties the ladies over at Kathy's place are working on.  Take care, lovely lovelies♡

Until the next time............

Also linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday and Beth's Monday Making

A Baby Quilt

Hello lovely lovelies♡ A beautiful welcome to you♡ Thank you for all your lovely comments last week. My husband and I celebrated Father's Day in the best of ways. Driving through glorious countryside, a perfect sunny, spring day, delicious food and coffee......and good company to boot. Well, me thinks it was excellent company, as for what he thinks......you will have to ask him. =)

I have decided to fashion a baby quilt!! I know!! What am I thinking??!! With two other quilts on the go, (well there were three, but I have finished my flower garden quilt....YAY) I really need to start a new quilt like I need a hole in the head!! But, a teacher at the school where my husband is a chaplain has just given birth to a baby, a sweet little girl; so he asked if I could possibly make a baby quilt as a gift. Why of course I can; just because I have so much time with not much to do. =) Seriously though, a baby quilt is always a delight to fashion, isn't it?? And, it helps that they are small and quick to fashion.

So, a new baby quilt is in the works. The teacher wanted  an Australian fauna and flora theme for her baby's nursery. Also, the nursery is neutral in colour so a lot of pink is not to be seen. Australian animals and flowers with a little girl aesthetic was going to prove tricky.  In my travels I happened upon fabrics designed by Australian designer Jocelyn Proust. She is one of Australia's most revered artists and is well known for her Australia Native Flora and Australian Birds collections. Her designs are spilling over with abstract prints of sweet wombats, echidnas, koalas, kangaroos, parrots, bandicoots, platypuses etc etc. Among the mix are pretty designs of Australian flowers, as well. These abstract and fun designs, will I think, fit wonderfully into a neutral coloured, little girl's nursery with an Australian theme. The fabrics are in hues of peach, orange, pink, mint green, aqua, turquoise, teal, blue and grey, all in varying tones. I can in my mind's eye see mother and child snuggled  under this quilt imagining many an adventurous story where kangaroos, wombats, kookaburras, and all their  animal friends get up to all manner of mischief  and boisterous fun, deep within the Australian bush. There is many an escapade to be imagined, curled up under this sweet quilt♡

But what design will I make?? As I want this quilt to be finished by November, and as I don't have a lot of time, because I still want to work on my other quilts, I thought I would fashion a cot size, QAYG hexie quilt......again! These fabrics will look perfect as small hexies, scattered here and there with not a lot of thought to placement. Each hexie will be bordered by a mint green and white polka dot fabric.  Quick, easy and pretty♡ 

'Tis late Sunday afternoon here. For the best part of the afternoon I have been cutting fabric and batting into the shape of hexies, then stitching the backing fabric to each hexie by machine. I used my little Bernina machine which I haven't stitched on for a very long while. This little machine is a dream to sew with. I am reminded as to why I do not use it more often?? Later this evening I will begin to hand stitch the hexies together and join the other lovely ladies over at Kathy's place for a little Sunday slow stitching. I will be absent from blogland over the next couple of weeks as my husband and I are going on a little road trip to Hobart. A little road trip always means a kit bag  with a little hand stitching, and perhaps a little knitting hidden within. Hopefully when next you visit there will be a lot to show for all that driving through the countryside.

May your day be a lovely one♡ May there be a little magic, sunshine and beauty sprinkled into your day♡

Until the next time..........