Monday 14 March 2016

Marches Past


It's a glorious, if somewhat chilly, early Spring day today and as usual at this time of year all I can think about is the garden. Working and tidying in the garden, planning the garden, tidying the greenhouse, sowing seeds, putting in plants and looking forward to the odd hour relaxing in the sun once the weather warms up properly.

I managed the first grass cut of the year on Sunday, so at last the lawn is looking neater and shows off the few border edges that I tidied recently. Still lots to do though and once I've posted this I'll be out in the chilly sunshine cutting back, weeding and generally tidying.


My daughter will be 21 in April this year, and I'm not even going to think about where the time has gone, but instead I've designed a cross stitch sampler to celebrate her Birthday. I never got round to stitching a birth sampler when she was a baby, so this is a more grown up version! Inspired initially by a beautiful 19th century sampler, and in keeping with other cross stitch designs that I have done along American folk art /British traditional lines which I love, I have started to stitch. And plenty of time with each stitch to think back over the last 22 years, which have been the best and happiest of my life, and to be hugely grateful and thankful for my beautiful daughter.


I'm finding that I'm changing things as I go as fresh ideas come to me, but I'm trying hard to stick to my original design. 


Just a few tweaks in the first row that I've stitched....I added Logan our Toy Poodle as one of the dogs, and for good measure threw in a couple of ginger and white cats to remember our lovely Bessie.


This was typical of Bessie and Logan, Bessie exploring and Logan following and watching! I suspect there was a frog or a mouse behind the barrels!


I have also finished and framed the simple blue and white lighthouses I was stitching over the last few weeks and am quite pleased how its turned out.



Sewing and embroidering outside is one of the simple pleasures I love on a sunny day, so am hoping for lots of warm and calm days soon - too much wind is bad news when sewing al fresco!


Whilst looking for photos for this post I came across projects I'd worked on in March last year and the year before, and it seems I was on a crochet roll. 


A couple of years ago I finished my first crochet blanket, a baby blanket for a friends granddaughter, made up of pink popcorn flower squares.





I'd also been making lots of cotton crochet wash cloths.



And I came across this photo of a beautiful vintage dresden plate quilt that I bought at this time of year a couple of years ago.


Coincidentally it's actually on my bed at the moment as it's such a fresh and pretty spring-like quilt!

Thanks for all your comments on my last post and for visiting me here, I hope you all had a good weekend.

I'm off up to London this week to the Country Living Spring Fair with my lovely and BFF Jane from flowerhouse blog, as I was the lucky recipient of a pair of complimentary tickets! We usually go to either the Spring or Christmas Fairs most years but didn't manage either last year, so we're both really looking forward to our visit to see ( and buy!) the wonderful and inspiring goodies! I already have  a modest shopping list Jane..... ;)

Here's wishing you a happy early Spring week full of sunshine!


7 comments:

  1. We have finally managed to get out into the garden and mowed the front lawn but the back lawns are still too wet. Such a beautiful idea to embroider a sampler for your daughters 21st, something for her to treasure. I am looking forward to sitting and stitching in the the garden too.

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  2. What a sweet sampler for your daughter! Happy birthday to her:)
    I finally got out in the yard and cleaned some beds, but now I am down with a fever. But it's raining so I can't be out there anyway! Have a great week of stitching and gardening!

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  3. Hello Gilly,
    You are a hive of activity on this beautiful spring day.
    I love the sampler you are creating for your daughter's birthday. It is personal and she will treasure it. It is her story. What a marvellous idea.
    Thank you for your visit and I will get back to blogging.
    Helen xx

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  4. What a lovely gift to make for your daughter. I love the idea of a sampler for a grown up child. You may have started something here. xx

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  5. It is so good to get out in the garden again isn't it and to get the grass cut which makes everything look so much neater. Love your stitching, it is all so beautiful!! xx

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  6. With you on the blog, it is really so beautiful !!!
    snowy greetings
    Antje

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  7. What a lovely idea to make your daughter a cross stitch sampler for her 21st birthday. The pattern you designed looks lovely!

    Wishing you a good time at the Country Living fair. Hope it's fun!

    Madelief x

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Thanks for visiting and for taking the time to leave a comment - I love to read them!
Gill x