good for the body and the soul

At last we can say that we are having a proper spring weekend!

I have spent few hours yesterday and today turning over the soil in flowers beds and discovering what is coming up and what was lost to a long winter. Why is it that weeds always survive the winter and grow the fastest?

the graceful Snakehead Fritillarias are up

and so is the stunning Pulsatilla

the roses are well on their way too

It is also the time when feeling comfortable again about leaving the warm cocoon of the home and go out and explore.

You have been with me on many days out in the West Country and you can re-discover them in 

"out and about" under my "labels" on the left.

Friday was a very sunny start to the weekend and we just could not stay in.

Remembering a place we had seen on our travels during the winter months, when it was just too cold to stop and leave the warmth of the car, we decided to go and find it.

Somerset Crafts

You came with me to the Guild of Somerset Craftsmen in Somerton in the past. Not long opened, Somerset Crafts in Westhay is another place for the local artists to exhibit and sell their products. Very similar to Somerton, artists exhibiting here are also members of the Guild. And again, it is not far from me!

As in Somerton there is some stunning work here and definitively a place to come when looking for unusual and original presents.

My favourite was the work by Claire Springfield from Polden Pottery, her translucent porcelain candle holders are something else. Yes, I would like one for myself!

Then there are contemporary art quilts by Alicia Merrett,

textile art by Lewis and White Textile Artists and many others,


























As always, if you click on any of the highlighted names in this post, you will be taken to another site to explore.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2013

no more houses on this quilt

Spring has arrived at last, night frosts are behind us, hopefully for good, and day time temperatures are climbing to double figures. After some rain this week the garden is slowly waking up.

This small ornamental cherry is the first tree to flower in our garden every spring, but other shrubs and trees are not going to be far behind.  

                            

Today I spent some time joining together all the blocks for Yoko Saito's BOM quilt and positioning them on the background fabric. After attaching them I will start working on applique for the border. There is a lot more stitching to be done, but no more houses!

I have also made some progress on the 4th stitchery for the Scandinavian Rose quilt. This one is the largest one so far, but the stitching is quite easy and quick.

Have a good stitching week!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2013

what is in my new magazines

I have no stitching to show you right now, but
I want to share with you some new magazines I bought recently.







The Inspirations magazine is well known to embroiderers around the world and it never disappoints.
As always, it is full of projects and inspiration.

Just look at this blue beauty!

As I probably said before, Quiltmania and Magic Patch are my favourite patchwork magazines.

Again, Magic Patch has some lovely projects for all abilities.

There is a pretty Binder Cover project by Martine Gilles.

Portrait of Francoise Tatot

and instructions for her cute Leo the Snail.

Isn't he adorable?

You can see more of her lovely creations here .

Quiltmania is packed with pictures of beautiful quilts and instructions for some of them.

But besides that there are a couple of  interesting articles in this issue.

Pascale Goldenberg, a face behind the Afghanistan Inspiration, and the embroidered squares, writes about the project and its effect on women in Afghanistan.

I had written about the project before, you can find it in my LABELS on the left.

I have my own small collection of squares made by Afghan women. Some artist incorporate them into their work.
I have an idea to make them into a wall hanging, after I'll collect some more.

The other article is about the Fine Cell Work, project established by lady Anne Tree in 1997, to help with rehabilitation of prisoners, by training them in skilled, creative needlework.
The classes are run by volunteers, some from the Royal School of Needlework. The work done by prisoners is of very high quality, it is very often commissioned by designers and well known people.
The work the prisoners do is mainly needlepoint, but in some prisons they also make quilts.

This quilt was commissioned especially for the exhibition "Quilts 1700 - 2010" at the Victoria & Albert Museum in Lodon in 2010. I was lucky enough to be able to visit the exhibition and wrote about in my blog (see Quilts 1700-2010 in my Labels on the left).
It was to compliment "The Rajah" quilt, on loan by the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, which was made by women convicts being transported to Australia on board of HMS Rajah in 1841.

All quilts are entirely hand sewn.
The quilt was made by men in Wandsworth Prison and they based the design on the architectual footprint of the prison.

You can read all about the Fine Cell Work and visit their shop here .

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It has been a long cold and very dry spell and there is still no sign of life outside.
Here in the country it is now very dusty from the fields.

But as I am writting this post, it started to rain, it might help the garden to wake up at last.

The nature has a lot of catching up to do this spring!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2013

Scandinavian Rose 3

I have finished block 3 of Scandinavian Rose BOM quilt.

This is a small block, so it did not take long to stitch.

The next one is much larger, so you are not going to see it for a while!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2013

block 6 finished

Spending most of the cold Easter indoors, at last I have finished the last block of Yoko Saito's Mystery Quilt. It is the end of house building, on this quilt anyway.

Now it will be time to press and trim all 6 blocks to size, before joining them together. After that comes more stitching, as the border will have more applique on it, although no more houses.

Have a good week stitching!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2013