Welcome to June (already)

Greetings lovely friends & readers 

Welcome to another bright shiny new month

 Gosh it's a bit scary to think we are mid way through the year already !!    Although June is officially the beginning of winter here at the bottom of the world, I realised I had not yet shared my Autumn tablescape with you.

I have a vintage Singer Sewing Table in a corner of my dining room & I like to change this out for some of the seasons (not all).  I did a "gourd & pumpkin theme" for autumn this year & displayed them in my very old scales.

I made a small size Tilda pumpkin from some scraps of fabrics - the pattern can be found in this book Here - Sewing by Heart

The display of lace pumpkins were made in * this post * last May during our Lockdown.

Although I had a very good strike rate with my gourd seedlings this year I neglected to harden them off enough before planting outside & I lost alot of them.  I'll know not to do that this year hopefully 😉

(The thread catcher pattern & kit were given to us during the Class we took)

Last night while waiting for The Mr to bring Pizza home for tea, I whipped up this little thread catcher to match the storage pod I made back at the Tilda Trunk Show class.  Some followers have asked if I have the pattern for the Storage Pod - I have managed to find it * Here * - it is a free download & such a simple-to-make project.

I have had the pattern book above for over 10 years a Very Long Time ... I have always wanted to make the Vintage Zinna Pillow featured on the cover - a pattern by Renee Nanneman of Need'l Love.

I decided to begin this project in early March & pulled out all my Tilda fabrics in pretty pastel shades. I would say I used 95% Tilda & added in some other pastels as well. This was made entirely from fabrics in my stash.

I must admit to feeling rather daunted when I made my first petal & then read in the pattern "repeat for 100 petals" 😕

Although they suggest the rows be covered with gathered seam binding when finished, I decided to use an applique/blanket stitch over each row as I went, to prevent any raw edges & am happy with this effect.

The whole process took ages ...... but it was okay because I had lots of unwanted help & assistance along the way!!

And when I didn't feel like ironing all my petals - Miss Pippi very kindly did it for me 😉😐

I backed it with a good quality prewashed calico, stuffed it tightly & then stitched the seam closed.

Finally .... (Yesterday) I finished my Vintage Zinnia Cushion - I adore it !!! 💗

I absolutely love the pastel combination of pinks, blues, reds & greys with a touch of other colours thrown into the mix. It has turned out quite large too - measuring 55 cms in diameter.

I would love to make a bigger unstuffed version as a mat to go in front of my pedestal handbasin but I think I need a bit of a lie down for now 😊

Today is wintery so I have made my first Fridge drawer Stew for the season & it is cooking in my crock pot (slow cooker) - I had some veggies going soft in the Fridge Drawer so I chopped them all up with some steak/kidney in the bottom & this will be heartening & warming for our tea tonight (& tomorrow night hopefully)

Thanks so much for your visits here today dear friends - I shall leave you with this photo of Blackie taken half an hour ago.  Tho' there is light drizzle falling outside, & there are Two banana boxes with soft blankets in on my deck area (as well as an assortment of cushions) - he would prefer to sleep out in the creeper growing in the old watering ram. 

Mind you, as The Mr pointed out to me - he Is wearing his winter coat - along with about 3 other winter coats as well I think 😉 !!

Have a wonderful week ahead dear friends,

With much love & friendship to You All,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x