in the garden

I'm afraid at this time of year the garden gets the majority of my attention, if you would like to see what I've been up to then pop on over to this gardens life my garden blog.
Look at the fabulous new string canister, it is a blatant copy of worcester ware, but at 1.99 I just had to snap it up!
I also found a Cath Kidston hand towel for 4.99 in TK MAXX. Yay for thrifty finds!
I must go as I'm halfway through my giveaway hearts and untacking the paper templates from my patchwork quilt which is a lot fiddlier than it sounds!

lucky star

The lucky winner of my blogiversary giveaway is
shabby chick.
and a special runner up prize goes to mary poppins for her kindness (and her love of hearts!)


I would like to thank everyone who entered and wish you all could be winners.

patchwork tutorial

In case you hadn't already guessed I love patchwork. So I thought I'd show you how its really not as fiddly as you might think. This is my second piece using the paper template method, and although its time consuming cutting the templates and tacking the pieces, when it comes to the sewing together bit, its far less taxing than having to match things up by sewing machine.


To begin the star and hexagon pattern you will need to draw a hexagon (google image :hexagon!)
Once you've decided on the size, draw lines as above to form the diamond shape and make cardboard templates for you to draw around.


Next you need to cut out six diamonds out of paper. Pin them to your chosen fabric leaving an allowance for folding and tacking, as above.
If you have a stripe fabric be sure to make the fabric pieces all the same so they make a great pattern when sewn together. (known as fussy cutting)


All you need to do now is put the right sides together and simply whip stitch them together, being careful not to catch the paper template!
I found the best way to construct the star was to sew two sets of three diamonds and then put them together and whip sitch all the way along.
Easy right?


This is my last star and its at this point where I start to get excited at the thought of a nearly finished quilt. So much so that I was up at 8 am last Sunday sewing feverishly.


The complete star is now ready to join its buddies.


This part involves a lot of holding and I find my left hand suffers more than my right.


This is probably the fiddliest bit, and I must stress that I am by know means an excellent patchworker! So thank goodness that fabric has a little give, believe me if you find that some of the points and edges don't match up, you are not alone!!


The last triangle to finish!! With my heart pounding in my chest 'I have finished!'.



I actually felt a little sad, because I have really enjoyed this patchwork, so I'm sure I shall be doing it again.
Edited. I have used this pattern again, this time I have made the stars into hexagons, by replacing the white hexagons here, with diamonds. Have a look here.



All I need now is to bind and quilt!! That's another story. I purposefully havent bought any backing fabric yet so I give myself a break before the next hurdle!

I hope Ive inspired someone to give paper piecing a go, it really is addictive, why not start out with a plain hexagon quilt?

Dont forget to enter my giveaway its ending on Monday!
giveaway now ended!

sweet charity

I have been gardening in this lovely sunshine,
but I've also been shopping!!!
Charity of course.

A picture for those of you who commented about my fireplace, the oh so lovely wood burner is actually electric. We have a loft room so no chimney, so we had to make do. Its made from cast iron like the real thing and if I don't tell you then you wont know. Whoops!

The mantle was cleared at Christmas so everything got dispersed around the house, leaving a bare looking fireplace. I've been on the look out for some candle sticks and today I found them.

They are a nice driftwoody colour, sometimes I'm amazed at finding just the right thing in charity shops.

In another I found this huge bowl! I nearly didn't get it, but I've learnt that if you like something buy it and don't kick yourself later! The old lady who served me said I could make a nice treacle pudding in it, mmm I was thinking more ribbons and stuff.



Again in another shop this blanket for £1.50.
You cant buy the wool for that price.
I know all you crocheters out there will frown,
I just haven't got round to learning yet!



And lastly a book written by a very lovely man,
Geoff Hamilton
who sadly died soon after filming his paradise gardens series.
I have only just discovered him, though I am sure I watched him on Gardeners World with my Mum. I have just watched this series on uktv gardens, I love Geoff's no nonsense approach, and have learnt loads more than I ever did watching the latest fluffy GW.

'In this book I aim to show you how you can recreate a quiet country glade right there in your own backyard...I cant promise that the sun will always shine there, but I can promise it will always seem that way.'

Geoff Hamilton

blogiversary giveaway!

Summerfete is a year old today!
To celebrate I am having a *~*giveaway*~*.
I shall tailor make a heart for the lucky winner.
To include a hand embroidered name/word, in any fabric as seen on my blog.


lavender?


trimmings?


Thankyou dear bloggers for all your lovely comments over the year
so now its over to you....

Good luck!
I shall pick a winner a week today.

cosy toes

snug as a bug.

a benefit of sewing a patchwork quilt during the winter!

the sewing machine

I have been renamed 'sewing machine' by Mr Fete.

Apart from the odd bit of gardening,
I have been mostly sewing this weekend and have a sore finger to prove it!


I'm roughly half way through, the unfinished half still on my bedroom floor!

seeing stars

I've got to the point in my latest patchwork foray where its time to arrange the pieces in their final positions before I sew them together. And believe me its been a tough one this time.
I think Mr Fete is getting cheesed off with it taking over the bed at night time!


I think I may have gone a bit off track from the original colourway, but you know how it is when you just want to sew?! I think there is still some editing to do and one last star to sew.


Its been an enjoyable project so far. No where near as fiddly as it looks. Its very rewarding as the patchwork pieces are big so you get an instant effect. Now I am going off to try out another arrangement!

Free Magazines!!!!

Horlicks in conjunction with ipc are giving away a 3 month subscription when you buy two of their standard tubs. When I saw this offer I knew I had to share it with you guys.
Firstly its only worth doing if you drink Horlicks, I'm not an advocate on buying things you wouldnt normally use. We were out of Horlicks so thats how I found the offer. On checking the best before, which was May 2010, I swiftly picked up the last two tubs.

The choice of magazines are:
Marie Claire
In Style
essentials
woman & home
Living etc
Homes & Gardens
Country Homes & Interiors

I've just ordered the latter which should be with me in 6 weeks or so!!
The deadline for the offer is 31. 05. 09, so go get your horlicks before they run out!!

ps. I dont work for horlicks or ipc!!