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!

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!

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!

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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

Rag Dolls - Izzy - A Finish

Hello lovely blogging friends, and welcome if you are here for the first time,

Thank you to all of you who left such kind comments on my previous post.

I am linking to Amy's Love Made My Home with Five points about Izzy, and also linking to Crazy Mom Quilts with Izzy's dress, my latest stitching finish!

I finished making Izzy a little while ago, and today I am celebrating the completion of her dress just yesterday, which took me a little while to get round to making! Izzy was made as a handbag decoration, which is why there is a key fob hidden in her hair from which to hang dangle her.

Izzy

If you would like to make your own variation of doll, each of the following posts has links leading to the fantastic tutorials I found, and used, from the Web.

1. my first doll - Bella - and the inspiration for continuing - here
2. experimenting adding hair for bella - here 
3. making the base cap and latching Izzy's hair - here
4. stitching Izzy's face, finishing her hair, and putting her together - here
5. how I started making Izzy's dress - here

Wrong side

Izzy's dress is completely hand stitched, decorated with chain stitch and french knot embroidery, ric rac at the neck, and recycled lace to finish her skirt.  I followed Runos instructions for making up the dress.

My finish today!

Et voila, one dress completed!

Of course, every girl needs a bag and shoes ...... something for another day ..... I'll have to get onto that!

But for now, I'm off to read some lovely blogs over at Amy's Love Made My Home and Crazy Mom Quilts, I hope you will pop over to see what is going on too!

Have a super weekend!

See you soon.


Barbara xx

Five on Friday

Hello!

I am linking to Amy of Love Made My Home and her Five on Friday. I haven't joined in lately as we've been rather busy here with decorating and a sickly cat.

Edited Version!!!!!!

Oops, you might have noticed something funny here! I accidentally pressed the publish button a short while ago, instead of save!  But here goes, this should be the correct version now!

1. Spring is here!
2. Bluebells in the ancient woodland
3. Jelly ears
4. Present received
5. Happy Happy! (The Splendid Sampler)

1. Spring is here!

We have lots of frogspawn in the pond this year, more than we have ever had before! I do hope a few of he little chaps survive because next doors very naughty cat is really making it his life's work to annihilate all our poor little frogs.

2. Bluebells in the ancient woodland

The bluebells in our front garden are already flowering, but then they are growing in a sunny position, with the added bonus of the afternoon sunshine being reflected back onto them from the whiteness of the wall. 

So, having mentioned the bluebells that we had seen growing on the nearby Common the other week, we thought it would be a good idea to go up there again and see how they were progressing.

As it happens only a few are in flower yet as it is cool and shady here amongst these tall, old trees.

Previously I mentioned that shrubs and non native trees that have somehow self seeded were being cleared by the Commons' Rangers' and volunteers, and this time we noticed that further clearances had taken place, making it much more light and airy with dappled sunshine.

Old and decaying native trees, such as the one seen here,
 are being left to support the wildlife. 

We spotted this but are unsure whether it is evidence
of beetles or woodpeckers 

3. Jelly ears

Would you believe it! If you saw my post about our walk a few months ago when we went searching for fungi - I laughed when I walked round our garden the other day and found these Jelly Ears growing on the stumps of an old budlia tree!

4. Present received!

I feel really guilty that I haven't been able to blog about these lovely presents I received from the very generous Kim  of Wisdom with Needle and Thread.  She recently celebrated her blog anniversary with a month of giveaways.

I was lucky enough to win these lovely kits from week 5:

I was really surprised and excited as this wrist cuff was an extra surprise

It is Kim's 60th birthday in July and she is having another amazing celebration! She is making and giving 60 RAK's (Ramdom Acts of Kindness) to 60 of her blogging friends. You can read about it here.

5. Happy Happy (Splendid Sampler)

I have fallen behind with my blocks, but I can now report that I have finished said block!  The flowers and vase are attached by buttonhole stitch, and the stems are in backstitch.

I hope to be back again soon with a "finish"

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Barbara xx