Daisy Days is here!!

I actually thought for a while that I'd never get to say these words, but...

"Daisy Days" is ready!

Let me explain.
The quilt top is finished, and I am more in love with it than I thought I would be.

What a journey - from a long held idea, onto my sketchpad, transformed in fabric and thread, and finally into a quilt.

It's still a flimsy at the moment, but isn't it sweet?

Even Bob-the-dog was impressed!

 The Daisy Days Quilt has 8 stitched feature blocks, 10 pieced blocks, and lots and lots of 1" squares!

It's still at the flimsy stage, but over coming months I'll begin hand quilting and finish with some machine work as well.

 

 

 

 Let me tell you about this Block of the Month...

In the last week of the next 8 months (May - Dec 2013) I will release a feature block for you to make from the quilt.
The 1st block instructions also have the full material requirements to make the finished quilt top, so you can source your fabrics straight away.
As well as the stitchery blocks each month, sometimes you'll receive an extra pattern for a pieced block. In the final month you'll receive the last block, and the full quilt assembly instructions.

SO,
today,
in the last week of May,
 we'll begin with...

 ~mondaisy~
Wouldn't you love your Monday to begin like this?

How do you join in on this BOM?

There are three options available...

1. You can purchase the blocks in the last week of each month HERE in my Craftsy Shop as an instant PDF download for $6. The monthly blocks, as they are released,  will stay up in the shop for the duration of the BOM, so you can join in anytime from May to December.

2. You can purchase a monthly paper pattern HERE in my ETSY Shop, for $10, and I will post free worldwide.

3. You can subscribe for $5 per month from May - December, and receive each month's block in an email on the day it is released.

 To choose the subscription option, just click the Paypal button below...

NOTE: This option is only available until June 1st.

 BONUS...the Daisy Days Stitch-along Blog!

If you have decided to make Daisy Days, then I will send you an invitation to join the Daisy Days Stitch-along blog! You'll be able to post your photos and have a chat with all our Daisy Days blog readers.

TUTORIALS...

On the Stitch-a-long blog , with each block release, I will share close up photos of my finished block, and any tips I have discovered in the stitching and piecing process.

Q & A

This blog will also be the platform for you to ask questions about the blocks or the quilt, and I'll answer them as clearly as I can.

The Daisy Days Stitch-along blog is up and running now, so why not drop over for a visit today?
It's right HERE.

I've even made a grab button that you can add to your blog! The code is up there in the right hand sidebar.

I hope you enjoy stitching Daisy Days!

 Hugs

Jenny

xx

PS: Please feel free to share this on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and tell all your stitchy friends because there's nothing quite as nice as stitching with a friend, is there?
xxx

Daisy Days - the piecing begins!

It seems that I have been stitching these eight blocks forever, but in reality it's only been about 4 months.

Still, fitting them in between all my other design work wasn't as easy as I hoped but this week the final block was stitched!

Block 8 ~ Every Day is a Daisy Day ~...

 

Today I began piecing the blocks together...

This is the top row...

Block 1 ~ Mondaisy ~ is in the second row...

 

 

I wanted to keep going, but I've caught Blossom and Mr E's head cold, and as the day wore on I started feeling worse and worse, so I have closed the door on my sewing room until I can stand upright without the room spinning and think straight once again. It's rather dangerous leaving me in charge of a rotary cutter at the moment.

I'm filling up on this watermelon as it is so soothing on my throat and helping to keep me hydrated...and it has lovely vitamins too.

Hopefully by Friday I will be improving because I want to share with you the various ways you can become a part of the Daisy Days BOM.

Until then, I shall duck under the covers and attempt to be quiet and read lots. 

 

not-too-close hugs, 

Jenny

xx

show and tell, knitting, and guilt free chocolate brownies...

How about we have a bit of Show & Tell today?

My gorgeous sister-in-Christ, Allie, has been stitching some of my designs, and like she always does, she added her Allie-magic to them.

She has stitched "Lord Bless You", and added the sweetest fabric and layout...

 

Free pattern available HERE in my Shop.

Allie also stitched "All Things Bright", and once again I love her fabric and colour choice!

 

The pattern can be found HERE in my Shop.

~ ~ ~

Last year I shared "Promises & Borders" as my free BOM, and Lyn emailed last week to show me her finished quilt!

Wow - isn't this beautiful!? She used her own friendship sayings within my border designs...

The free blocks and quilt pattern for "Promises & Borders" is still free to download HERE. 

I'm really hanging out to knit or crochet again. I'm a good knitter, but a lousy crotcheter.

A few weeks ago in 'Gathered' I read a bit about THIS blogger - "One Sheepish Girl".

I spent a good while browsing her blog and got so inspired that I have dusted off the knitting needles and intend to do something when the almost-here winter finally knocks on the door.

She also embroiders simple stitcheries onto paper. Hooked...I am so hooked.

 

(Photo from the blog 'One Sheepish Girl')

I will leave you today with a chocolate brownie recipe that has just 37 calories per piece.

That's correct - 37 gorgeous calories.

It's going to make an appearance at the morning tea table today!

You can get the recipe HERE on the Broma Bakery blog!

(the photo is also from the blog)

Have a lovely day, or evening if you're on top of the world!

I have about one hour's stitching ahead of me before something amazing happens.

I will have finally finished all eight feature blocks in my almost-ready-to-reveal "Daisy Days' BOM!

Excited?

hugs, Jenny

xx

P...and who I used to be.

As the week for *P* was approaching in Monogram Monday, I couldn't help but think of who I was before my husband shared his surname with me at our wedding.

You see, I was born a Parkinson, and though it's not been my name in well over two decades, I'm still rather fond of it.

So, this Monday, as I was stitching *P* onto my Sampler...

...I thought how nice it would be to stitch another P, in celebration of who I was before Mr E whisked me away in matrimony. And I do mean 'whisked' as we had only known each other five months before we exchanged vows at the altar!

Anyhow, I thought about myself as a person, and what reflects me best in my role as 'Mrs Reynolds nee Parkinson'. 

The kitchen. 

That's the truest answer. 

It's what I loved before marriage, and what I still love. Being in my kitchen and cooking.

So I took a new, freshly laundered red checked tea towel, and added my *P*...

For a touch of the girl I once was, I also used red spotted ribbon, adding a bow and a white vintage button.

This tea towel will never see a dish, believe me.

Better displayed hanging over my red mixer...

...to protect it from the dust that blows in through the kitchen window.

So quick, so simple, so wonderfully nostalgic.

I stitched the *P* with my last little length of red Perle #12 thread. 

I love Perle #12! It glides through fabrics like the linen of my tea towel.

These tiny strands were all I had left once I'd finished...

But I do have a few other colours...

 

...and I do have more new tea towels, freshly laundered. 

They'd be perfect gifts, don't you think?

You can download *P* HERE.

I'll leave you today with a photo of the flowers Mr E gave me for Mother's Day on Sunday 12th.

Pretty.

My beloved is full up with Blossom's cold this week.

It seems I escaped it. 

Have a wonderful week,

Hugs

Jenny

xx

Kits, fabric bundles, and hanky linen in my shop today! Be quick!

Ever since I began using white hanky linen to embroider my designs upon, I've had many emails asking *where* can you get this wonderful fabric!?

Well, an answer has arrived because I've decided to stock it myself.

I use it all the time, I LOVE stitching on it, and I want it to be readily available to you, no matter where in the world you are.

HERE in my Etsy shop today, you can purchase 27" squares of this lovely linen...

Also in the shop today are very limited quantities of Gumboot Garden fat 1/4 bundles...

 

...plus kits to make the "It's Raining" Dolls Quilt and Carry Bag project (pattern inside the June 7th issue of my Elefantz HOME e-zine HERE)...

 

 The kit includes all fabrics, lace, thread, Whisperweft, and hanky linen.

The kit does not include the pattern. You will need the next issue of Elefantz HOME e-zine for that.

 

I've also got two different kits to make the "English Country Garden" project that will feature in the same issue of Elefantz HOME...

 

 Again, there is no pattern with the kit. The pattern is inside the June 7th magazine.

Don't forget that all new Elefantz HOME subscribers will receive a free pattern!

This month I will email you the pdf pattern for "Love Is All You Need" so you have something to stitch while you wait for your first Elefantz HOME issue!

Subscription information is HERE on the magazine webpage. 

I've been so busy cutting linen and kits this week that I think I have earned some time out this weekend, just to sit and stitch. What about you?

I'll leave you with a sneak peek of a new design...

Dream your dreams, my friends.

Hugs

Jenny

xx