Another productive May is over ....

I have been busy sewing again this month, so the cold Spring here in the UK has it's advantages as I can sit at my sewing machine in my studio without that nagging feeling of guilt - maybe I should be gardening?!  In this cold wet weather - no way!  But on this, the last day of May, the sun is shining and there is a feeling of warmth in the air down here in Devon - fabulous!  Maybe it is time to start planting those geraniums!
Earlier this month I discovered these beautiful blue and white fabrics:

And this is the end result:

I have to say that I am totally "in love" with this quilt!  Just the border to finish and then off for long-arm quilting:  it is 90 ins square, so really big.
My friend Joy was kind enough to quilt my sampler lap quilt, and I am just so thrilled with how it has turned out:

I have also cross-stitched yet another wedding sampler, and finished my "Noah's Ark":  that is now at the framers and I will show you the finished framed result next week when I have collected it.

It was actually my birthday last week, and I had some amazing gifts:

you may be able to spot a wonderful new Scarlet Letter sampler among my goody pile:  my fingers are itching to start this glorious piece, and as soon as I have finished the current WIP I will begin "Country Life".  These birthdays just come along too fast!  But so many friends remembered, and the children spoilt me too so altogether a lovely day - I just wish I could go backwards in age!
Yesterday was such a glorious sunny warm day (at last!) - so my dear friend Lyn and I had a wonderful trip out:  we drove over to Dartmouth and visited two interesting National Trust properties:  "Greenacre" - the holiday home of Agatha Christie overlooking the River Dart:

and Coleton Fishacre which was built for the D'Oyly Carte family back in the 1920's:

Both houses were really interesting although totally different:  and the gardens and views were glorious.  We certainly picked the right day to visit.  I have just re-joined the National Trust and am determined to visit as many places as possible down here in the West Country and when I go on my travels up to Nottingham and or Surrey.  We are so fortunate here in the UK to have such a wealth of historic buildings and beautiful gardens.
Well it is June tomorrow, so lots to look forward to.  I am having a trip down to Cornwall to visit a friend, and then up to Nottingham to spend some time with my dear old Mum, and then the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the end of the month - always a wonderful fortnight.
And of course it is the 60th anniversary of our Queen's coronation this weekend.  This historic day is my first childhood memory.  I can still picture myself sitting with my parents watching this amazing event on a TINY black and white television:  and many of my parents friends coming to watch with us.  What a wonderful day.

And now as the day is sunny and warm I am off to plant up some pots.

Thank you for visiting my Blog - your comments are so much appreciated and I wish you all a wonderful happy and hopefully sunny weekend.

Happiness is............

Happiness is:   a sampler themed lap quilt finished and ready for quilting:

When I was re-organising my Sewing Studio last month I had to empty my fabric cupboard as it needed moving - fabric is heavy!  And I found the kit for this lap quilt hidden at the back of one of the shelves.  I was so pleased, I had totally forgotten that I had ever bought it - and the price was in dollars, so that means it was 5+ years ago now.  it has turned out well - though quite a battle here and there getting the samplers square.  But now it is done it looks great - I love the colours.
Happiness is:  starting a new cross-stitch sampler.  I am sewing along with Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year Challenge, but I really fancied something different:  so another Noah's Ark floated down the River towards me!

This is so much fun, and I am really enjoying sewing this.
Happiness also is:  giving my sister Helena her 60th birthday present, and her really loving it! (this is a  Scarlet Letter Sampler):

and spending some time with my wonderful 93 year old Mum in Nottingham this week:  here is Mum examining the sampler, with Helena:

 Happiness is a beautiful sunny day - with Ward Cottage looking particularly good and welcoming on a Saturday afternoon:

and at last the apple blossom is out:

and our Goldie Ben enjoying the sun on a newly mown lawn:

Happiness is:  a glass of cider on the porch:

overlooking the River Tamar whilst boats enjoy this glorious weather - there have been very few sunny days these past weeks!:

And last but definitely NOT least:  happiness is knowing that all three of my adult children are happy and enjoying their lives in London.  I miss seeing them regularly, but knowing that they are doing what they want where they want gives me peace of mind.  The love just has to stretch further!

I hope you are all having a Weekend full of Happiness!

Happy Wedding Quilt finish

I am so delighted with how this has eventually turned out:  I had quite a lot of "tweaking" to do but well worth the effort as those red squares all meet up neatly, and I made a "piano keys" border which also looks lovely, hope you can see enough from this photo:

This will now go over to "Butterfly" for long-arm quilting.
I also collected this little sampler from the framers and dropped off the finished Bird Sampler (SL Challenge):

I am off up to Nottingham next weekend to spend some time with my dear old mum - I will be seeing my sister so I can hand over the finished and framed Bird Sampler.  She can open an early birthday gift!

This weekend I hope to get out in the garden - the weather is so much better at last - and there is much which needs attention.  There is still very little blossom on our fruit trees but hopefully if this sunny weather continues it will start to appear.  I shall not start a new patchwork project until I have done some weeding - famous last words!  I am now giving my sewing studio a HUGE tidy, I am amazed at how messy I can be when being creative - not good!  I have however started a new cross-stitch piece:  I am sewing a Noah's Ark - again - and will Blog my progress next time.  My followers will know that I can never resist an Ark!!
I hope everyone has a wonderful May Day weekend!