Dyrham Park (NT) and just a little of Kaffe Fassett

The last week of the this year's school summer holiday and the last summer picnic with the grandchildren.

Just a few miles north of Bath, Dyrham Park (National Trust) is a 270-acre ancient deer park, 17th-century house and formal gardens. Lots of space to explore.......

Just a few pictures from the inside of the house;

and from the outside.

 The gardens had a bad time this summer; 

the grass has recovered, but the flower borders have gone over too early.

This is a piece of the fallen tree - isn't the nature incredible?

                                    --------------------------------------------------------------------

During the summer months the Victoria Gallery in Bath has been exhibiting some of the work of Kaffe Fassett and  Candace Bahouth , who is based here in Somerset.

If you click on her name, you will be taken to her website, to see what she does.
You can also find pictures there from the current exhibition 

It is a very, very small exhibition, one room on the ground floor of the gallery. 

No pictures are allowed and there is no program, or even a leaflet, so nothing to take home.

The picture above is from the gallery's website, just to give you some idea.

I leave you with some pictures from the area around the gallery, which I took this morning, 

while I was waiting for the gallery to open.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018

more redwork and weekend baking

When I was putting together Scandinavian Rose quilt, I remembered that a long time ago I bought another of Rosalie Quinlan's redwork designs, it must be somewhere in my room....

I found it - Little Patchwork Village wall quilt. 

With 9 redwork blocks just 6in square, small and very portable,

and I have already stitched 3 of them over the weekend.

Expecting friends for coffee, what should I bake?

In the end I decided to make a chocolate cake, Hairy Biker's version of Austrian Schokogugelhopf.

I had not made this one before, so I was a bit nervous about it.

With lots of chocolate and almonds, it just sounded so good, although I was concerned that it could be too heavy.

I did not need to worry, it was delicious. 

 And it proved to be very popular! 😀

            I will definitively make this again! 

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018

My Gardenhurst Quilt

is finished!

Since the weather has cooled down to more normal temperatures, 

I have managed to finish the hand-quilting and to bind the quilt and here it is!

The design comes from "Focus on Applique" by Irene Blanck.

I am very pleased with the way it has turned out, I love the warm Mediterranean feel of it.

We have been having some more rain and our small garden has now recovered. Most of the plants seem to have survived the heat of the first half of the summer, and we are now enjoying lots of late summer colour.

We have replanted the bottom raised bed, and it now includes the salix tree, which used to be in the pot and was giving us a very welcome shade in our sitting area. But it was quite a job keeping it alive during the heat, as it likes lots of water. The decision was made to plant it in, so it can search for water, without us having to worry about it too much. However, it wasn't as easy as it sounds, it was quite an effort 

to get this tree                                              out of this pot.

It wasn't easy! Another lesson learnt......

It is a  long weekend here in UK, but the weather forecast for tomorrow is wet, wet, wet.

But I don't mind; I am ready to start quilting my Scandinavian Rose quilt, so I might do that tomorrow, 

although I haven't decided yet if to hand or machine quilt this one.

Whatever the weather, enjoy your weekend!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018