All Work and No Play etc..........

Hello girls, how are you all?

Finishing off some hand made gifts for Christmas pressies, or perhaps you're just starting!!

Bit like me leaving things till the last minute......

I'm busy stitching for the last market of the year in Bright this Saturday.......

I need to stock up on tea cosies and an old design has resurfaced but I have tweaked it a little and am a lot happier with how it looks.

I just can't seem to get enough of these furry, little, bumbling bees

The amount of roses blooming in the garden has dropped off significantly, so I have been enjoying stitching some....shame they don't have a scent!

 I have wanted to do a garden shed design for quite a while.....

I'm reasonably happy with this, but the next will be tweaked quite a bit.....I'll just see if this one sells first!!

Exciting news from the garden....my first ever Hollyhock has bloomed.

I have waited patiently and watched it grow and watched the ants crawling over it...not sure what they're after but it can't be good!

I've watched leaves get rust and shrivel but finally I have  a flower.... a beautiful red.

I love it combined with the purple/blue Larkspurs.

Julie if you're reading this, you were the inspiration behind me planting some Hollyhocks, so 'thankyou' x

The Larkspurs are also a first in this garden and have put on a pretty display. Their floppy habit is a little annoying as any wind sends them over, but it's been nice to see more variety and colour in the garden...... 

This morning's sewing was about something I had to do.....not necessarily wanted to but it had to be done. 

Fortunately, there was still time to play and I quickly snipped and stitched a little design onto a piece of the 'new' blanket  I picked up from the op shop on Saturday.

It's going to be a gift for an artist friend who has fallen in love with Zinnias after I gave her a bunch of them last season.

She loves bright colours and these flowers fit the bill.

I was thrilled with how they turned out....

I love orange and hot pink together, the black stitching tones it down a little but it is definitely bright!! Just a little more stitching needed to finish it off.....

A little friend who hitched a ride into my kitchen hidden in a bunch of flowers I had just picked......

Once the fun part of a tea cosy has been put together and stitched it's onto the mundane part of putting it all together and that's what I will be doing tomorrow.

 There is a little stack of them and the snipping, pinning and stitching takes quite a bit of time.

But, if I'm very good and get into it hopefully there will be more time to play. 

I am keen to stitch up some more Zinnias.

My self sown Zinnias are popping up everywhere in the garden, but where they should be. 100's of the seedlings are growing up through the gravel path and I must pull them out but haven't the heart too.....

The weather has been quite pleasant here this week. Saturday was rather warm but it has cooled a little since.

The nights are still cool enough to sleep well and pull a blanket up in the early hours.....

Rain is forecast for later in the week and the garden could do with a lovely 'natural' drink.

Well, that's it for me, I have a new issue of Mollie Makes, which I picked up this afternoon, so I want to have a browse before lights out....

Thanks for visiting girls and I hope you are having a lovely week,

Take care,

❀❀❀ Claire ❀❀❀