Mrs Owl...

And the cushion of her very own.
Yep I'm still cock-a-hoot about woodland animals :-D
Emma x

A quilty commision

Hello, long time no see :)
A month or so ago I was approached by a lovely lady who wanted a purple quilt with woodland animals, I jumped at the chance...purple with woodland animals! I couldn't wait :)
Well the quilt is in it's new home and it's new owner loves it, which was a huge relief, so I feel I'm safe to post some pictures.

I would have happily kept this quilt, my favourite animals and colours. I also got a bit brave with the free motion quilting and it is quilted all over with flowers the result is very beautiful. 

I enjoyed making it immensely apart from the worrying as to weather she would like it or not, to pay quite a bit of money for something you have only seen pictures of is a big leap of faith I think.

Any way all turned out well and it kept me out of mischief in the holidays.

Now back to the reality of term time...it's been a fantastic summer holiday, best one yet, I hope you've all had a fantastic summer too. 

September is a wonderful month, I intend to enjoy it before I snuggle up in readiness for winter...I must post a September walk, things have changed a lot since the last one, see you soon

Emma x

blue tit cushion

Mr Blue Tit on a cushion all of his own.

Mr Bullfinch is next, I'm working my way through all my favourites.

Emma x

Been stitching...

Been stitching a little bird...lovely x

One week to go

It's that manic last few days of term...really?...already?...how can that be?
Did I sneeze and miss a year? I've been sneezing an awful lot recently, along with lots of other people I'm sure.
Once again I find myself in need of some crafty teacher gifts, both the girls teachers have been amazing, they have settled them both in seamlessly and I want to thank them because as you can imagine I'm so grateful to them all.
I spotted a while ago some lovely jars that the lady had wrapped in little quilts oh they where adorable, I can't find the post. I do remember that the lady had either designed or put together some lovely fabrics and she had made the jar wraps to show them off, she had made a whole range of kitcheny goodies. I believe it was called bake sale? any way if anyone knows the blog can you let me know so that I can link it.
So here is my version :)

I love these jars, I've filled them with sweets.

I can see them making lovely Christmas gifts too, in fact I've seen the big candle jars wrapped in them too, how lovely.

Enjoy the last few days of peace and I hope it's not too hectic for you all.

Emma x

Would you like to walk with us again ?

You would, awesome...

 This way then, lets go.

There are so many lovely oak trees here, I love their shape and the dappled shade they give.

 Not that there's any need for shade today !

The light on the pond today was lovely, sort of misty....I tried to capture it...well you'll just have to take my word for it.

Very nearly home now, I don't mind these not so hot summer days, maybe next time it will be sunny :)

Emma and Casper x

and the winner is....

Carly

from crafted by carly

Yay well done Carly, thank you to everyone that entered, I wish I had prizes for all of you, it always seems so unfair just picking one name out of the hat....

Back tomorrow for another walk with Casper the dog.

Emma x

Yay it's a giveaway !

At last I've organised myself !
Just a small giveaway to say thank you for stopping by and saying hello, your support means the world to me...thank you : )

So up for grabs are some stripy bull dog clips, these are fantastic for holding binding on quilts as you stitch. Six reels of baker twine in different colours, one roll of stripy washi tape and the last one of my tiny hexagon pin cushions.
If you would like to enter just leave a comment on this post.
Just so you know there will be no number generators it will just be names out of a hat and I am happy to post over seas.
I'll announce the winner on monday the 24th when I hope to be back with a post of a walk in June.

Have a lovely week

Emma x

Comments are now closed for the giveaway :0)

Oh no...I can't do that...

Well, as it happens I can actually, thats right the much feared free motion quilting !
Ok to a professional it's probably not that good, but as my first proper attempt at quilting something using free motion I'm so pleased it turned out ok.
I suppose it's because it's a small piece it wasn't so daunting. When I have a large quilt I've spent ages on and lots of pennies on the fear of ruining it is so big that I often opt for an easier to unpick method of quilting.
So here it is, a cute little Kawaii cupcake mini quilt, free motion quilted and I put the entire binding on with the machine too...go me lol :)

This is for one of Hollie's friends, she could use it as a mug rug or as a little wall hanging. I love the little strips of washi tape holding it up, Miss Hollie has decided that washi tape is awesome and has nicked it !

I do have a roll left for my little giveaway though yay, I will try and get that organised this week.

I'm on a roll with new things too, this week I've started my first dresden plate too, it's so pretty and so much fun, I'll show you soon.

Emma x

Help Arthur smile :)

I have been reading Marna's blog Little a designs and her work is amazing, the cushions and rosettes and other fabric goodness, she also blogs a good deal of sense about the realities of running a small business, any way her little boy Arthur needs some help and she's stuck this link will explain. I have a few friends who have been in similar situations and I wanted to help. I was unsuccessful with NOTHS so I have a few bits and pieces for the shop without a home and I'm nowhere nearer to opening a folksy shop either. So this cushion has been in a bag and I wondered if I could donate it for the raffle to help Arthur.

I could and I have so it and a whole heap of other wonderful makes are all raffle prizes here and the tickets are only £2 each...go see.

I haven't had a give-away for a while either so I'll be back after half term with a lovely give-away yay, have a marvellous time in the holidays and I'll see you in a couple of weeks.
Emma xxx

We're off on a walk...would you like to come ?

Yay we're so pleased, this is Casper he loves his walks.

Finally the hedgerows are turning green, I love the cow parsley, each individual flower is so pretty and perfect, lovely.

The stormy sky makes the oil seed rape look so bright, it almost hurts your eyes.

I wonder how this little barn is still standing, it's defying gravity, theres a little stream of smoke coming through the trees just beyond, lets have a little look.

It's coming from this tiny barn and chimney, I so want to go in I wonder if someones making tea the old fashioned way...why don't I bring a flask with me? Casper wouldn't mind.

I spotted this little bird in the tree, actually we heard it first, singing beautifully, it took me ages to see it, I think it might be a song thrush ?

Well thats nearly the end of our walk now, just another mile or so to go I could follow these little roads all day with my friend Casper, I hope you enjoyed coming along. I might do this every month or so, so I can see how the landscape changes. We absolutely love it here, I hope we can stay a while (sigh)

Have a marvellous bank holiday I hope it stays dry. 

Do you have some good plans for the weekend ?

I don't get e-mails of comments any more so I'm going to reply to comments on here in the comments section until I figure out whats gone wrong.

Emma x

Cute Cushion

Hi, I hope you are having a fab week....wasn't the weekend wonderful ahh lovely sunshine and so warm, everything's green again at last.

This cushion is the first item for my new shop, I've decided to stick with Folksy, we have a new address, new e-mail, I can't remember my password etc so I'm going to start again with a brand new shop ( not opened yet ) I want to fill it with hand made loveliness, everything a one off and beautifully made.

I hand embroidered the little deer and made it into a little quilt with some more bloomsbury gardens fabric. I hand quilted it too, it took a while but I really enjoyed it. 

I brought some lovely soft linen mix for cushion backs, so I've used that for the back with a zip to close, lovely.

Zips have taken some practice but I love the neat finish they give to a cushion so I've stuck with it. My husband was rather alarmed to find a zip and mangled bit of fabric in the bin a couple of weeks ago...I was too frustrated to try and unpick! fortunately my relationship with zips is a bit better now :)

The lovely warm weather doesn't appear to be hanging around, it's still fairly bright and breezy though, I hope you manage to hang on to the warm weather where you are.

Emma x 

Moving and making....yeah I know it's rubbish... :-D

Hello from sunny shropshire ( waving frantically )
At last we are unpacked and settled, moving house is such hard work !
The children have survived their first week at school and seem really happy, which is a huge relief for me, I don't think I've ever been more anxious.
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.
In between unpacking and munching lots of chocolate I found a use for a bundle of Liberty Bloomsbury fabric .....how I love this fabric range !
I have made a lap quilt, it's actually a...wait for it....Christmas present !!!!!
I just don't have the floor space to make big quilts although I would love to and lap quilts are still very useful, I think.

So there it is, backed with a lovely soft brushed cotton and I am feeling super organised.

I have quite a bit of the bundle left and this is destined for some cushions to sell, I would still love to sell some things, I am going to sew some stock and either re-stock my Etsy shop or possibly try for Not on the High Street. 

Does any one have any experience of Not on the High Street? Any suggestions or advice would be gratefully received.

With that in mind I have been stitching an embroidery to work into a cushion. I'm still in love with the woodland animals.

I will try to blog more regularly now we're settled, I hope you have a wonderful week.

Emma x

Moving

I won't be about for a while as we are moving.
I'm hoping we will be all unpacked and settled by Easter so I'll take a break for the Easter hols, get the children settled in their new school and hopefully be back after Easter.
I really wanted to keep blogging but I see I haven't posted for a month and there is so much to do I think I am better off explaining myself than trying to carry on. I'll still be nosing at everyones blogs ;)
So I'll see you all after Easter, I hope you have a fantastic one...spring is coming hip hip hooray.

Emma x

My new table runner

We got a beautiful new table...before Christmas, it's lovely and I really don't want to hide it under a table cloth but I would like to offer it some protection form hot things and messy children :o)
So I made me a table runner, I really enjoyed it...it's a quilt for the table and I love making quilts yay.

I used my last piece of Ruby Star Rising and it looks really lovely, soon there wont be anything left in my house that hasn't had a quilt thrown at it lol.

Enjoy the rest of the week

Emma x