Suddenly it's Summer!

I don't know where the times goes - one minute it was Christmas and now, suddenly it's Summer!
I recently took part in a Good Ole Summertime exchange with one of my Yahoo stitching groups.
My partner has received her package so now I can share what I made for her.
I always associate Summer with strawberries. The Wimbledon tennis championships = strawberries and cream! Happy hours spent in the strawberry fields picking pound after pound of strawberries and eating as many as went into the basket :)
I decided to go with a strawberry theme so here's what I made........



I had some very pretty strawberry print fabric in my stash (incidentally my partner gifted me this fabric one time LOL) so I made a thread tidy bag. For the pincushion part I took an element of the design from LHN Milady's Strawberries as it went so well with the fabric.




I also made a little scissor fob using a design by the Prairie Schooler. Just a reminder here that you can click on any of the pictures for a better view.



On to other things I can't remember the last time I made something for myself so I took one one of my older finishes and turned it into a pinkeep just for me.
The design is from Heart in Hand but I stitched it so long ago I don't remember much more than that it was a set of four seasonal designs. Here's the pinkeep front



and here's the back



Finally. I want to share a picture of the prettiest little pinkeep I received from my friend Angela. A few of the girls in our stitching group had a get together in Holland earlier this year. I had planned to go but some major renovations to our apartment took every spare penny and I decided against it.
Angela had stitched one of these little pinkeeps for each stitcher at the gathering and even though I wasn't there I was lucky enough to still get one along with some other goodies.
I have to tell you I didn't take this picture. I'm using it here with Angela's permission. I fell in love with the little bunnies and asked if there was a pattern as I would just love to make one but, sadly, they were purchased at a nursery garden gift shop.
So here's the front of the pinkeep.



and here's a view of the back. Isn't the little tulip print fabric pretty? I just love this pinkeep.



As always I would like to thank everyone who visits my blog for taking the time and for the lovely comments you leave here. Wishing you all a very happy Summer!

Until next time.

In the Pink (again)

Oh no, not more pink I hear you cry! For anyone that does not love pink you need to look away now :)
I made this tote bag from a pattern by Quilts Illustrated called Charm Party Tote.
The fabric (a charm pack of course) is Moda Quilt Pink 11.
The picture I took is a bit far away but you can click on it for a better view.




I took the bag out on location because the pink bushes below our apartment are so pretty at this time of year



Here's a close-up of the bag to let you see the little flower buttons that are sewn at the corners of the squares.



and there were squares left over so I just had to make a matching pincushion as I'm sure this will be used as a project bag. There are roomy pockets inside the bag - ideal for all those quilting bits and pieces.



I'm sorry there is no cross stitch content in this post. I do have one small finish, then there are finishes that can't be shown and various pieces that are half finished so hopefully next time.

As always, I would like to thank everyone who visits my blog and for your nice comments. I take pleasure in reading them all and would love to respond to each and every one but unless your email address is in your profile I'm not able to reply.