Cactus Flower

This much neglected cactus has surprised us this week with a beautiful flower.

Isn't it beautiful! Sadly it did not last very long but was lovely to see.

We have a canicule forecast here for next week - that's a heatwave to you! So it will be a week of early mornings and quiet afternoons indoors - plenty of time to sew then!

Have a good week.

It's Piece Yourself Together time again!

And doesn't it come around quickly!

Thank you very much Anthea for hosting this linky and I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has done. Anthea herself is working on a very pretty Grandmothers Flower Garden so I do hope that you will go and have a look.

I have not had a great deal of time over the last fortnight and some of it has had to be spent on other things but I have basted some more hexies and also started sewing some together.

I have a vague idea of where these are going but will let you know when it is more definite!

Meanwhile the postman has been busy and I have received two beautiful cards in Sheila's swap. Our theme was beach/summer and here are the cards I received.

This one from Judy

of a coneflower made using some of her own dyed corriedale and BFL wool. The stitching is beautiful. The background is creamier than it looks in my picture. It's lovely Judy, thank you very much.

The other card came from Sheila herself and I am so pleased to have swapped with her.

  I love this little boat bobbing on the Nova Scotia sea. Click on the link to Sheila to see a whole series of lovely cards that she has made. Thank you very much Sheila and thank you for hosting our swap.

Here are the cards I sent to Sheila and Judy. Beach huts are a very British thing I think and I always love seeing the rows of bright cheerful colours at the seaside. This one was for Sheila.

And this one for Judy.

I have been admiring the lovely scarecrows that my friend Susan has been making. So what a lovely surprise it was to receive one of my very own in the post. This one is appliqued onto a tote bag and I do think he is gorgeous!

Thank you very much Susan.

Right, that's it for today - blogger seems to be having a few wobbles so I am going to get this posted while the going is good.
Have a great week

FNSI for June

It's been another busy week here with family staying but managed a few hours yesterday afternoon to join in with Wendy and friends for another FNSI. Thank you Wendy for inviting us all again.

Go and visit Wendy to see what everyone else got up to.

I have been snatching a few minutes during the week to work some stitching for an ATC and used my time yesterday afternoon to get it finished and ready to send off. Here it is.

It's called Fields of Gold and is based on the song by Sting.

Well must dash - airport run coming up.
Hope you all have a great weekend.

I'm Pieceing Myself Together..

..along with Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches again this EPP Tuesday.

Thank you for hosting us again Anthea. Why don't you pop over to Anthea's to see whats going on.

It was The Champions League Cup Final on Saturday night so the perfect opportunity for me to get some more hexies prepared for my stash. Having ironed a pile of scraps in the afternoon I was able to sit with one eye on the TV while I cut these hexies out.

The little pieces on top are a by product and for my 1/2" hexie project (sadly neglected at the moment!)

I got a few hexies basted  too and my collection has now graduated from a small Ferrero Roche box to a large Ferrero Roche box! (I think I will need to eat some more soon - oh dear what a shame)

Well, no time to chat, must get on with some more basting.

Until next time, happy sewing.

FNWF for June and a crazy finish

Signing up for FNWF was a very last minute thing for me this month. With friends staying I had not expected to have time to sew but we are having a mini heatwave and with afternoon temperatures around 35 degrees we were not going to be out and about.
I decided to make a start on my BOM for June. Well in fact we have two blocks to choose from this month with the option of doing either or both. I am hoping to get both done but made a good start on the simpler one of the two yesterday afternoon.

This block is called Tudor Rose.

Thank you very much to Cheryll for hosting us agin for FNWF - click on her name to go and see what everyone else was sewing.

My CQJP block for May is complete. Here it is with a few closeups.

 

I am very happy with the way this block turned out. The fabrics and threads were all hand dyed using procion dyes and I kept the glitz and glitter to a minimum. The star shape in the centre was part of a bracelet I found at a brocante last Sunday for 50 centimes - the colours seemed just right. And we have seen lots of dragon and damsel flies this week while out and about with our friends.

Have a great weekend