Cosy Cottage and Ruby Rabbit

 I love making toys, especially rabbits......this is ruby the big rabbit that i made a few years ago from the smaller pattern in my book simple sewn gifts........i enlarged the pattern by150% so she is quite a big bunny...........she has been so well played with by my grandchildren that she needed a new dress and a bit of a tidy up........

 ...........i knitted her a dress, and made her a little hat.....i haven't got a pattern for these as i fitted them to her as I knitted but i might write one at some point.........do you like ruby's little antique plate (or porringer as i think they are also called....a lovely old word).......my daughter rosie and i found it at the antiques fair in beaumaris last weekend...........

 ............in my last post i mentioned that i took lots of pictures of the cottage interior as it was so pretty......so here are some pictures to share with you.............the front view of the cottage which is called beau cottage and dates back to the eighteenth century...........you can find out about renting it here............

 ..............downstairs in the cottage...........so cosy yet plenty of room for a family..........

 ..............the long table where we had most of our meals (we went out for a sunday roast)......cosy lounge to relax in.........such pretty bedrooms :)..............and one had a patchwork chair :0...........

 ...............on the top floor such sweet children's bedrooms and a book case full of children's books as well as a doll's house filled with tiny furniture and sylvanians...........

 ..............i loved this cottage so much and hope we can stay there again.....though it is very popular and already booked up for when we plan to go next summer...........

 ...............besides providing everything we could need, the owners had left us a huge delicious cake and some wine..........so kind..........when mr p and i arrived in angelsey we first drove to see our favourite view of the lighthouse at  penmon............the sea was grey and rough and the air was icy cold....we had a car picnic and then took a little stroll, well wrapped up but it was still freezing......and then the sun came out and i took a few blue sky penmon pictures as i usually do when we go there..........i rather like the moody grey ones too, and the sight of bright berries and autumn foliage growing there....

 ..............my daughter, son in law and little grandson arrived on saturday morning and we had such a lovely time with them, including rosie and i having a nice mooch around the shops.....we loved the janet bell gallery....it looked so pretty and festive...........we got some christmas presents and some cards and met lovely janet herself there and had a quick catch up...........if you live near enough do visit the galleries they both look so gorgeous and are filled with treasures........or you can visit online here.............

 .............we got home to a very busy week with work, family and lots going on.......it got very frosty and icy here so i have enjoyed knitting by the fire in between all the busyness........

 .............love little rabbit faces and how each one assumes a personality............there will be another big bunny along soon i think...........

 ............also making sewing notions as extra gifts for some of my dearies........this little pincushion was made with minick and simpson miss scarlet fabric after i finally unfurled the jellyroll.......love red and white or red and cream.....

..............thank you for dropping by dear readers and for your kind comments...........i hope you have a happy cosy week with plenty of time for crafting.........off to spend time with my lovely mr p now as it is his birthday today :)...............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Stars and Baubles Quilt

 We have quite a festive theme here today, as a new quilt is complete..... the stars and baubles quilt is finished.............i promised to show you what the stars were for last time........they were to applique on my little quilt.......

 ...............i used the flower sugar holiday fabrics from lecien and i hand quilted around the stars and created a little bauble stencil to draw round for quilting the patterned squares..........

 .............this was a really quick quilt  to make as i rotary cut all the squares and machine sewed them together so the top was made in no time at all....i then slowed it all down by blanket stitching round the applique stars by hand......but it was relaxing to do while we watched *the crown* on netflix...........

 ..............i love the fresh vibrant colours of this collection and still have more to make with it :) ....

 ............a flat shot showing the quilted baubles and the echo quilting round the stars......

 .............pinning on the binding in my (untidy) sewing room............

 ....................some fabric sweeties from my last but one book (pretty patchwork gifts).......

 ..............and here is my make for december's crafts beautiful magazine.........a little christmas mouse.........she has flower sugar fabric ears and skirt, a hand knitted jumper with a cross stitch star patch, and a nice woolly scarf to keep her cosy..............you can find more about crafts beautiful here...............

 .................also in the picture above is a festive pincushion and scissor keeper....more about these soon.........

 ............we have just returned from a lovely wintry weekend at the seaside....we went to beautiful beaumaris on the isle of anglesey, and stayed in a gorgeous cottage with our younger daughter, son in law and sweet littlest grandson.............we had such a fun time..........i took lots of pictures especially of the pretty cottage interior which i haven't had time to sort out yet, but will do soon.......meanwhile here are some atmospheric twilight shots my girl took, and one of the cottage front door............

 .................and one of the sunset over beaumaris bay.........more about our mooching there soon ......

...............thank you for dropping by to see me here dear readers, and thank you to everyone who takes time to comment....it is always a real treat to hear from you.......wishing you a wonderful week, keep cosy and enjoy plenty of happy crafting..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bright and Crafty

 As the days are growing shorter and darker all the bright and festive fabrics are being stitched here.............and the crochet colours seem to echo them too...........

 ..................some of you may remember this gorgeous pile of lecien flower sugar holiday fabrics i bought back in july...........as soon as i saw them i knew i needed them right away :)...........

 ................at first i made a small project to get over the 'cutting into the fabrics' moment....i will show you that project soon...........then i had a big half square triangle cutting crush and combined the festive fabrics with white solid kona cotton..............

 ................which i turned into a little cushion with a cheery festive feel...........

 ...............i can't wait to show you what else i've been making with this fabric but will have to wait just a bit longer till it is finished..........

 ................i began this crochet blanket in the spring, using lots of fresh green shades as well as pink, red and aqua..........

 ...............and then i realised it blended with my new fabrics rather well so i am getting it finished now by quickly crocheting a big granny stripe border round it.............

 ..............stars for my new project ;)...........and below is a picture of the craft and design centre in manchester.........we had a lovely day out to the city last weekend...........mister p and i had a nice mooch there soaking up the beginnings of the festive atmosphere............

 .............we had a gift voucher to use from our lovely youngest daughter and son in law for afternoon tea at the radisson blu edwardian hotel, shown below........originally the free trade hall, this building has been renovated but kept the historic façade............(mister p and i went to concerts there when we were students, many moons ago............)

 ..............inside the building the christmas lights were already bright..............

 ..............we were shown to a table in the window..........and treated to a delicious afternoon tea......and the cakes that were left were packaged in a traditional square white card cake box to take home :).....

 .................it is my husband's birthday this month ...a special one......so we are having lots of celebrations for it spread over the whole month...........

 ...........more of my bright and crafty makes.........loving crocheting the border for this blanket and can't wait to do the next colour :).............now is the time to make some festive gifts and tiny treats too and this fabric is inspiring me to craft some more sewing sets, pin cushions and scissor keepers as small stocking fillers.................

.................thank you for dropping by dear readers and for leaving me such lovely comments........wishing you all bright and crafty days as we move on through november........keep cosy and be happy..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Trip Around the World Quilt

 When you have lots of works in progress (as i always seem to do) it is always nice to finish something and this week i finally finished my trip around the world quilt......it was all english paper pieced and hand quilted...so was a true labour of love...........

 .............as regular readers know, i love epp and find it very relaxing to do......i had to be very organised with this pattern though and make sure each square was in the right place in each block so i made the epp squares, numbered them and stored them in a separate bag for each block, then made a diagram to remind myself of the layout i had planned...........then i could just relax and stitch stitch stitch............

 .................i love the soft tilda fabric colours and think the quilt looks lovely on my grey sofa.......

 ................a work in progress shot, quilting at the kitchen table listening to radio 4 and waiting for a cake to bake........

 ................the way fabrics look together in a crumpled quilt shot always pleases me..........

 .................the quilt is a single bed size..........here it is complete with a little sugar bunny.............

 .........the backing fabric is a beautiful soft blue floral, also from tilda..................

 ...............it has been a cosy week here, with halloween at the start and bonfire night at the end....we have been lighting fires and candles and all the twinkle lights are on as soon as the dusk falls......

 ..............loving my latest candle called seaside memories........these 1803 candles are so stylish.....you can find them at the little green door here.............

 ...............the stitchery you can see here is for the centre of my on going st ives quilt.....

 ...............i add a bit of applique and another block to two to this quilt each week between other projects......this week i will also be baking something else from my favourite baking book.....

 ..............and as the weather here has turned very cold indeed i shall be glad of a new quilt to keep me cosy on these chilly wintry evenings...............

.................thank you for dropping by dear readers and for your very kind comments....such a pleasure to hear from you .........wishing you a wonderful week ahead with happy crafty times........keep cosy :).....................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx