Flowers more flowers and a bit of sewing thrown in

Once again not much sewing going on in this house, but some things have sprung forth.  I was beginning to think that none of the summer flowers were going to come to anything, but nature has a way of beating the elements.  Just look at these....

The Bearded Iris have been a picture, and I have even been picking some to bring indoors.... the reason for that is we have been threatened with heavy rain and storms for the last couple of days.  I decided that they may be smashed to the ground so why not enjoy them inside.

I will never get tired of these

 The Foxgloves are just showing their bells, and I wonder if Mrs TiggyWinkle will visit them?

I want these all over the garden 

Last year I decided that I had to give this Weigela a good prune and after having such a cold spring I thought I might get it to regrow but was not sure about flowers....... Just look at it...words fail me

Its called Strawberries and Cream

 I have been wondering whether the peony buds would beat the rain, and today this cerise coloured one has burst forth.  Problem with these big blousey flowers is once the rain falls into that mass of petals it weighs the heads down and that's the finish of them.  So, do I go out and pick them or chance another day????

I don't know the name of the flower on the left below (sure someone out there could tell me) but   I think is part of the Allium family, and last year we had quite a few but this year we only have this lone one. and goodness knows where this Iris came from.... just saw it peeking through the holly tree.

 I have done some sewing.  My sister-in-law and her hubby have just bought a caravan and I am hoping its going to be a cosy caravan rather than a designer one, the reason, I have made them a (not quite tackky) cushion.  They have both made us laugh in the past with stories of campers and caravanners so this is pay back time.

Had to use some of these

Don't need all of these.

 but did get the idea of the flowers from Helen last weekend.

It says - 'time to stop and smell the flowers'

 most of  us have embroidery stitches on our machines that we never use, but look at the cute car towing a caravan....just had to use it somewhere.

this is where it gets a bit tackky, but it makes me laugh

 Finished and ready to give to them.

So lets just hope its not a designer van, cos this certainly wont fit one of those posh looks. :)

Busy doing nothing!!

I have had a weird week.  I can't seem to set my mind to doing anything really.  Think I must have lost my Umph! (or 'mojo' as I have heard it called).  It may be because I have finished all of my cushions that I had so much fun making and can't think of anything that I want to make.

We did have a trip to Ikea and I did buy some fabric to recover my dining room chairs.  We bought this furniture in 1991, and when we chose the chairs the manufacturer said we could choose the fabric for the cushion seats.  I couldn't find anything that I loved at the time, so I just chose some cotton fabric that 'would do' until I found the perfect fabric.  As you may have gathered I have never found that perfect fabric, and the temporary fabric has worked very well for us, but after 21 years the chairs needed a bit of a freshen up.  Once again I have chosen cotton, and as you will see it is very similar to my old temp. fabric but a lot cleaner and fresher.

Before

and

after.  Much cleaner

As there is no sewing to show you, I thought I would take a wander around the garden and show you some of the wonders of nature.  I just love Aquilegia, the way the petals fold and curl, they are just beautiful.

If I look at the one on the left, I can  see four pink flamingoes dancing around in a circle

My Bearded Iris are making a great show, so glad I was patient with them and didn't dig them out for not performing - just wish the cream one had survived.
  

Three flowers on this stem and more to come.

When we first moved back to England we lived in Cumbria, and my 90 year old neighbour Annie had some sweet flowers growing in between the cobbles in her yard.  I don't think I had ever seen them before, but she assured me Nigella (love in the mist) would grow anywhere and everywhere. Dear Annie was so right.  I brought some seeds with me when we moved and scattered them in this garden and each year this little flower appears and brings happy memories of Annie back to visit me.

The flowers popping through the thread like foilage.

My local quilt shop is having a  'shop hop' with some interesting demonstrations.  I was able to pop over on Saturday where Helen Coverley was demonstrating 'yo yo's'.  You guessed it..... I bought yet another size yo yo, and pattern for a cushion (didn't really need the pattern but it did have a couple of cute bumble bee buttons attached!), so I might have a play with that during the week.

Happy sewing.  

Doing my own thing!

Yep, I have been doing my own thing this week, altering patterns, making it up as I go along and trying my best to get things to work for me.

You may remember last time I showed you the smocked bauble..... well I have altered the pattern to make it smaller and in my opinion fit better on a Christmas tree... but of course as many of you said it could just hang around all year.

I have also made a crochet / sewing wallet.  This pattern is one of the  Moda Bake shop free patterns and I added a bit of smocking on it.  I think this one will work better for me than the roll type that I tested last time.

Bit of smocking 

I sewed the slots for crochet hooks, but you could just leave that section and have another large pocket.

Lastly, although I love the new phone wallet that I made, I decided I wanted  a pocket for some small change and a few more card holders, so 'making it up as I went' this is my finished phone wallet. 

Bit of fussy cutting to get the bird

Phone, paper money, lots of cards, and some small change

So all in all I was quite pleased with the changes I made this week.

Our gardens are beginning to blossom at last..  my Lilac tree has been a picture.

Such perfect little florets 

 and my Bearded Iris has decided to bloom again this year (remember I waited 6 years for the first flower) and there seems to be a lot more of these ready to burst forward.... just beautiful!

Photos never do justice 

Hope you have had a productive week......