June, July & August in Pictures: Crafty WIPs, Tidy Shelves, & Giant Waterlilies

This summer...

... I've been finishing lots of long-running crafty projects, or trying to!

I've finally started quilting a patchwork quilt I started way back when I was a teenager:

I've almost finished my scrappy patchwork cross stitch, which I've been making using leftover embroidery threads from other projects:

 

I finished the patchwork quilt I've been making for my sister (she loves Christmas so, of course, I had to make her a Christmas quilt):

And I spent some time stitching up lovely felt Christmas ornaments I bought as kits several years ago:

... I've shared three projects with my pattern newsletter subscribers.

A retro rag doll made with felt and fabric:

A nautical stitching project:

And some pretty felt floral art:

 

(There's still time to get your hands on the floral hoop tutorial, as I'll be sending the link out again in September's newsletter. Click here for more info and to sign up!).

... I reopened my Etsy shop with a shiny new privacy policy (after temporarily closing it while I worked through a mountain of GDPR-related paperwork) and have been working behind the scenes on some new patterns I'll be launching this autumn.

I'd like to pretend that wearing a coordinating flannel shirt while taking this photo for my felt poppies tutorial was a clever styling strategy... but really, I just like flannel shirts.

... I shared tutorials for making a giant floral wreath for your garden, and colourful felt cushions for your sofa.

 

... I blogged about my summer visit to Kew Gardens, including the gorgeous rose garden and the magnificent giant waterlilies (which proved very popular on Instagram! I think that's now officially my most "liked" photo on there).

 

... I also shared a photo of my current office shelf situation... (which is very much a work in progress as I'm still settling into my new space - I'll blog about it with lots of photos sometime soon, I promise!).

... and shared one of the fabulous pictures I've been framing to hang on the walls of my flat. It's been a slow and expensive process getting everything framed (even buying cheap frames!) as I've collected quite a lot of art and other things over the years, and I've never framed any of it properly before (I don't think clip frames count)... but I'm getting there bit by bit!

This illustration of British shells (by E.C. Mansell) is from an old set of reference books called The Book of Knowledge, which my mum had when she was a kid and which I then spent hours reading when I was little (even though a lot of the knowledge in it was a bit out of date by then!). I saved a few of my favourite pages when the books got thrown away years ago, and I'm delighted to finally have space to display them. This page reminds me of my childhood shell collection, I love it.

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