Winter wonderland

Winter is definitely here and it looks lovely (so long as you don't have to go to work in it!). We wrapped ourselves up this morning and Chuck, myself and Missy took ourselves out for a long walk in the fields by our house.

 Missy loves the snow, she loves to roll over and over in it! It was a lovely walk but tiring to walk uphill in the snow. On the way back the wind was in our faces and the snow was stinging my eyes making them water like mad,but ll in all we must have burnt a few calories! Our lane always looks gorgeous in the snow with the snow settled in the trees, and again in the spring with the blossom.

You can't see the snow on the trees in this pic as I have taken it looking up the lane rather than towards the fields, as I was about to take a pic in the opposite direction, a friend passed by in his car and as always one for a natter, we  proceeded to discuss the vagaries of the weather and  I completely forgot to take my award winning pic of the lane.
During the week I managed to finish off a couple of pairs of mittens for my Etsy shop

and with some pretty fabric I bought online from Sew La La ( if you love vintage style fabrics you will love this shop!) I made this pretty bag to hold my knitting.

I am still working on my blue and white quilt which is coming along nicely but slowly as it is a bit more complex than usual, and I have just ordered 26 balls of cashmerino silk double knit for a lacy blanket I intend to knit as a long term project, 2 balls of lacy yarn for a shawl for me and 2 balls of double knit for a lovely cable peg bag which will be lined with a pretty fabric, as a Mother's day gift, phew!

my vintage style make

I have been very industrious and made my first Christmas gift! I just love the gorgeous fabrics used to make this patchwork cushion, they are all vintage style prints and florals in cotton. I love the way the colours and prints work so well together. I have lined the front with fusible wadding to give it more stability and the backing is made with lovely vintage damask linen in an off white colour that in it's heyday was a large serviette! One of my finds from years ago in my fabric stash.

I made a similar one a little while ago and loved it and  I knew someone else who would love it too!

One I made earlier!

                                           
Onto my next project, another Christmas gift, this time a throw for my mum. I wanted fabrics that were not pastel but still had a vintage feel and I found these lovely prints in a shop in Brighton.

The fabrics are from different collections, Rounneries deux by french General for Moda, Athill range by Cabbage and Roses for Moda, a fabric called Spring patchwork, in the far left of the picture, but I don't know the collection. I added two other fabrics to brighten things up a bit, Tilda dots on red and Doily and Rose Cotton a pretty floral fabric from Sew La La an online shop with loads of gorgeous fabrics.

setting the squares out on the bed!

I really wanted to have a pattern in this patchwork but I just couldn't decide on what to do with the fabrics I had bought with mum in mind, so in the end I decided on piecing the fabrics in diagonal stripes. This has worked well as the colours and patterns blend well together but also there is a nice contrast with the tilda and pink floral fabric against the dusty pinks and browns. (Unfortunately the photo makes the colours look a bit dull). I intend to line it with a nice fluffy fleece which I am going to get today and I expect that won't be the only thing I come out of the shop with!