Flowers in the Window

Sunday, 8 July 2012

Our Summer Garden and Spencer's Sunday........

Well it's actually turned out to be a lovely day here today - dry, still and balmy but not too hot - a really nice change from all the rain we're been having :)

I thought I'd take the chance to take some photos and share our 'summer' garden with you....

I popped some clematis plants in a couple of years ago. They've taken a while to get going but they look stunning this year.....

My hanging baskets are beginning to look pretty especially this one with it's gorgeous fuschia...

This beautiful pink rose is the best it's ever been...

Lovely pink hydrangea.......

Black eyed Susan.....

Busy Lizzies...

Some veggies are flourishing too...

Tomato plants in the greenhouse...

.....parsnips...

....leeks.....

...and courgettes....

The bees are very busy buzzing around the lavender....

It's such a lovely day, my washing is hanging on the line and hasn't been rained on yet!.....

A pretty view from our back door.....

Of course, Sunday wouldn't be the same without Spencer...

But today, he's not wearing a hat...

But a rosette...

A lilac rosette, no less, .....awarded to him, together with certificate, for completing his puppy classes...aww...our little pupster is growing up......

We're all very proud ;)........

But then.............. just off to make some mischief?.......

No, of course not,.....just helping Dad fixing the path ;)...........

Well, it's forecast rain at 6pm, so I'd better go and fetch my washing in....

Have a lovely week :)

Maggie xx

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

Nautical Patchwork Baby Quilt

In my last post, I mentioned that I had just completed a couple of custom orders - one of these was a baby quilt.

My lovely customer asked me to make a quilt for her baby boy's first birthday. She said she would like a nautical quilt similar to my red, white and blue quilt........

...... but with a slight change of colour scheme ...... going more for blue, green and white with a touch a red ........ to co-ordinate with the little boy's bedroom........

The quilt was to be a different size and a rectangular shape as the quilt was to fit in the cot so that baby could sleep on top of it.

This soooo jogged memories of my own two baby boys who always used to end up sleeping on top of their bedclothes ........ I used to put them to bed in little fitted sleeping bags :)

For my lovely customer's baby quilt, I made the patchwork top from squares in a diagonal pattern......

..........with a navy polka dot binding.....

I'm so pleased with the colours and patterns ...
.... so boaty and boyish ...
.... bright and cheerful ....
... fabulous together, don't you think?

The backing was made from the blue and white stripe with jolly red anchors.....

...... rolled up.....

..... or folded .....

This is the best photo by far.....my lovely customer sent me this fab pic of her gorgeous little boy enjoying his quilt on his first birthday!

Adorable is an understatement! :)

So.....how lucky am I?..... making patchwork quilts for cute little babies to enjoy?....well I think you know the answer to that....:D

Maggie xx

Sunday, 1 July 2012

A Weekend Adventure and More.....

It's been a busy week with my son, George, returning home for the summer and two custom orders to complete.

Of course, we've still had time to have some lovely walks with Spencer along the canal....

It's so peaceful there and you hardly see a soul....

......and today up on the Common....the cows were dozing in the warm breeze....

This weekend I've been catching up with a few household bits and bobs with some garden tidying thrown in between the rain showers.

Last weekend, however, we took a little trip away in Harvey J. We had been planning to go away for a few nights but due to the storms and floods (and the fact that the campsite that we had planned to stay at was under water!), we decided to make it a one nighter not too far from home at Ross on Wye.

Of course this was Spencer's first time staying away in Harvey J........

Note the looming black clouds and the wellies!

Spencer soon found himself a cosy nest under the table....

After spending some time browsing in Ross on Wye, we were happy to chill out in Harvey J in the evening. I always bring along some small crafty project. I decided that each time we go away in Harvey J, I will endeavour to make a patchwork block. At the end of the year, if I have enough blocks, I will sew them all together to make a holiday quilt.

Hopefully each block will jog memories of places we have visited :)

So this is my first block, made from pretty strawberry fabrics...it's a simple block called Shoo Fly...

Nice to do a bit of hand sewing....don't look too close!

Pretty summery fabrics...

So at nearly midnight (it had been raining for hours), we opened the door to find Harvey J was sitting in 3-4 inches of water. Finding this rather disconcerting and having visions of Harvey J floating across the campsite in the morning, we decided to move to a higher spot on the site. It was all fine but we slept better for having moved.

In the morning, the weather brightened up and we decided to make the most of our National Trust membership and visit Westbury Court Gardens, a restored Dutch style water garden dating back to 1696.