Brrrr.....It's Cold Outside

 

Hello lovely lovelies♡ A lovely welcome to you this chilly Sunday afternoon♡ The sun's out and if one can find a sunny little nook it's toasty and warm. Here at my little abode there are big picture windows where Old Man Sun's sunbeams invade every dark corner shooing the chilliness away. I do believe sunshine is my very favourite thing in life. Well, let's just say.....one of my favourite things. 'Tis the season for thick, woolly jumpers, boots, woolly blankets and snuggling under the quilt one is quilting. Yes indeedy, winter is the season for hand quilting♡

Jack Frost has set up residence. Yep, he finally arrived. And, I must say he arrived with great gusto and oomph! Every flower which was hanging on to dear life with one last breath, gave up the ghost and fled deep down into the ground. The hydrangeas; quite lovely one day, burnt and ugly the next. The dahlias, a pitiful sight of charred-like misery. The dahlias have been cut back to ground level where they will bloom again in summer. The hydrangeas I fear will just have to look dreadful and bereft for a while as they won't be pruned till August. Though, I must say regardless of all my belly-aching, the ice-sheathed ground, as far as the eye can see and the beauty in the ice-etched leaves is rather sculptural and artistically beautiful. All right....all right....there is much beauty in winter. There.....I admit it! But.......I did say to Pete last evening......."only three months till spring!". =)

Fortunately, the hydrangeas I had been cutting before all the destruction have been drying quite nicely. All have retained their lovely blue hues. More so, than last year. I don't know what I did but they are looking lovely in their demise. They truly do make me smile in their shrivelled and withered, paper-like state.

Though I could chat about all things flowers all day, every day, I suppose, because it is Sunday and I will visit Kathy's place later this evening, I should chat about all things slow hand stitching. There's not a lot to say, really. The hand quilting on the wee baby quilt has begun. The stitches are skipping up and then down the length of the quilt, in diagonal lines. Hand quilted stitches happily skipping along in a merry fashion. I don't suppose the quilting will take too long, then I can bind the wee quilt and send it on it's merry way wrapped in many kisses and hugs♡ This wee little quilt just makes me smile♡

Another Sunday nearly gone. Another week ahead filled with dreams of pretties to stitch and create as I hand quilt away. Have a beautiful week, lovely lovelies♡ May there be many moments which cause you to smile and be thankful♡

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

Happy Mother's Day♡

 

Hello lovely lovelies. How are you all on this Sunday?? 'Tis late here in Tassie.  I have enjoyed a lovely Sunday. 'Twas  Mother's Day today. A lovely day was enjoyed by me and  my Pete. A perfect day gallivanting around the countryside, drinking in the autumnal beauty and a stop here and there for coffee and cake. Are you celebrating Mother's Day at your little place??  If you  are, then a beautiful Mother's Day to you♡ Mother's Day is always bittersweet for me as my girls live in different parts of the world and my darling mum passed a very long time ago. But.....Pete always makes sure I enjoy my day. My girls gifted me with lovely surprises. Flowers♡ Books♡ They know me so well, as flowers and books are my very favourite gifts to receive. My daughter who will soon be a mum herself sent me the sweetest book; How to Greet A Gran. So fun. Now I will be proficient at greeting grannies in their language from all over the world. =)

I finished hand stitching my wee poppet's quilt top. The border fabric has been machine stitched as well. A pretty Jocelyn Proust Australian fabric in aquas, teals, purples, pinks and moss greens. A perfect fabric to happily live with all the sweet fabrics of the quilt. Now for the quilting. Simple hand stitching, me thinks. Just straight lines skipping one after the other, diagonally. The backing is the same as the border and the batting is a 100% cotton. My daughter and son-in-law live in Queensland so cotton will be perfect for their climate.

I have been enjoying a little knitting, too. Goodness, it's been many, many years since I have knitted woolly garments for a wee one. The needles are tiny and the garments so little. It doesn't take long at all for the garments to quickly knit up. I am going to have the best time knitting for this wee little poppet.

A quick post from me this Sunday evening. Who would've thunk it??!! But my bed is calling out to me......I cannot resist.  I'm just in the mood for hopping into my electrified bed snuggled under cosy quilts. One of my favourite times of the day is collapsing into bed at day's end. =) Gosh, I live a boring life, don't I??!! I must be getting old!! Granny old!! Traipsing around the countryside, coffee-ing and cake-ing all day long is seriously, exhausting business. I look forward to visiting all you lovely slow hand stitchers tomorrow morning. So, have a wonderful Sunday, lovely lovelies, when it comes aknocking at your door; and to all of you who are celebrating Mother's Day; have a joy-filled time♡

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

Some Exciting News♡

Hello lovely lovelies♡ Here I am again at my happy, little place, this sunny but chilly Sunday afternoon. If one can sit in a sunny nook (and I did), or sit in front of a cosy fire (and I am), to escape the chilly breeze then one is warm and content. I must say though, even if it is a wee bit chilly here today, the sunshine has lit the sky in the prettiest of blues casting  sunbeams here, there and everywhere.  May I ask.....how are all you lovely lovelies?? I hope you are dancing through your day. I am♡

My daughter and son-in-law visited for a bit. We all had the best time. It was both my Pete's, and my son-in-law's birthdays, so we all celebrated. I cooked and cooked; and cleaned and cleaned (after all one has to go the nth degree to dust out all those cobwebs). Gosh, spiders love to hang out in my humble abode. The Daddy Long Legs love it here. Even more so, now 'tis chilly and the open fire is blazing away. It amazes me how I swoosh all those cobwebs away and the very next day the arachnidian, gossamery, silken threads are loop-de-looping again, dangling from whatever surface is found. I have become accustomed to the amazing workmanship of critters from the arachnid family. I could watch the artistry of spiders spinning their delicate web for ages, but when visitors come we really cannot have spiders weaving their intricate handiwork all over our guests while they sleep..... smothering them; now can we??

I have some news! Such exciting news!! I am going to be a Granny. And, my Pete is going to be a Pop! How marvellously fabulous. The wee little poppet should be arriving sometime in Spring. So, so very excited! 

So, what is a granny to do but to begin the begin of the plotting, and fashioning of sweet little pretties. So many pretties to imagine, design, knit and stitch. So, so many fanciful imaginations colliding around my muddly head. Where to begin??

A quilt for a cot is always a fabulous idea. My daughter took a fancy to some Jocelyn Proust fabrics in my stash, so these are what I am using. I purchased these fabrics for a baby quilt I fashioned a couple of years ago. They are sweet fabrics with Australian flora and fauna printed all over. Sweet kangaroos, koalas, wombats, echidnas, kookaburras, parrots; set among native flowers. I am using dotty fabrics in various colours to add to the mix. The pattern?? Why, hexagons of course. =) I am re-using some papers that I used for my Sweet Sunday quilt.....just a couple. Another EPP pretty. The first 'little poppet' quilt of many, I suspect. Why stop at just one, I ask??!!

I have pieced the main part of the quilt top together with only the levelling of the sides, and the top and bottom, to be done. I will be stitching these pieces to the quilt later this evening.  Then,  a border skipping around the main part of the quilt will be added. I purchased a pretty Jocelyn Proust print for this; and for the backing. My daughter has decorated with other Jocelyn Proust floral fabrics within her home so this sweet little quilt will fit in perfectly. Her favourite colours are teals, mints, peaches and oranges, tangerines, turquoise, salmon pinks, dusty mauves, mustards.......so these fabrics are perfect for her.

I've been a very bad blogger of late, but then I do tend to disappear every now and then. =) Thank you for stopping by my little place. Autumn is dancing it's vibrant, gloriously-hued dance. So much of the garden has died down for the winter. Though the trees are beautiful in their burnished shades. And of course, the hydrangeas are still making me smile. Love watching the petals change into the beautiful shades that only hydrangeas can do. Believe it or not I am still picking bunches of hydrangea flowers that haven't begun to change as yet. These flowers have been delighting since December. Truly, the best flowers....ever!! Of course, they are gorgeous in summer, but what I also love is in autumn hydrangeas taking on a life of their own, morphing into earthy shades of green, burgundy, rust......and dusty blues. I have been watching them dry and shrivel up slowly....so pretty in their demise. A wry thought just crossed my mind ........in winter I tend to shrivel up and die, too.......which ain't so pretty.

Anyway, enough of hydrangeas, sweet little poppets........the whole new exciting phase of grandparenthood; baby quilts, knitting etc etc, I am off to enjoy a little slow hand stitching ......in front of the fire, me thinks♡ Have a lovely day, lovely lovelies♡

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