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

Gardenhurst in the garden

Yes, really! 

We have had a couple of nice sunny spring days; specially today was really beautiful outside. 

I actually spent about an hour sewing outside, how great was that!

I managed to quilt a whole block of Gardenhurst, while enjoying the sunshine, before it turned chilly.

This morning the latest (May issue !) Landscape magazine arrived in the post.

I wrote about this magazine back in January and you can read it again here .

I quickly "scanned" the pages over breakfast, just long enough to read an article 

about a textile artist Rachel Sumner , who makes wonderful collage pictured from scraps of fabrics.

You can read more about her and her book 

"Stitched Textile, Birds" 

on her website here .

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2018

Gardenhurst top is out!

And here it is, my Gardenhurst Quilt top!
(Thankfully, I took this picture outside a couple of days ago,
because right now there is a snow blizzard out there!)

The pattern is from Irene Blanck's book "Focus on Applique".

I now have 2 quilt tops to make into quilts, this one and St.Germain....

Just a quick note on applique threads and needles.

You know how you pick up various bits of knowledge along the way -
in this case about sewing applique by hand.


I have always used Milliners
(long, straight, thin needles) for the job.
Just before I started on Gardenhurst,
I "discovered" Tulip applique needles, made in Japan.



I love these little needles, I don't think I will ever use anything else;
this one little needle, just a fraction over 3cm,
stitched all the applique on Gardenhurst.

As for the threads, I always used normal sewing threads.
Last autumn, at the workshop with Dawn Cameron-Dick, I learnt about the right threads for applique.
Normal sewing threads are usually size 50, but for applique, thinner the thread, better.
Mettler make cotton thread size 60 (higher the number, thinner the thread), which is good for hand applique, and I have started to build up a selection of neutral shades.

By the way, Aurifil make cotton thread size 80, but that one is quite a bit more expensive.

Interestingly, in my thread stash I have a set of Janome machine embroidery threads (which I bought at the same time as the machine, no idea why...)
Although they are size 50, and polyester, they feel much thinner and very silky, lovely to hand stitch with.
I used them on Gardenhurst when a stronger colour was needed.

As for any sewing, having the right scissors is so important.

I have Karen Buckley's 4 inch scissors, small and sharp, which are just the right size for cutting out applique shapes.

But of course, we all have our preferences, but this works for me....

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2018

last Gardenhurst block

Today is cold, but clear and sunny Sunday; 

last night I finished the last Gardenhurst block.

I left this one to the end for a couple of reasons; when preparing the background fabric, I cut this one too small 

("measure twice, cut once" and all that 😒) and because I did not have enough fabric to cut another piece, I had to join a bit to it.  

It isn't probably going to show in the grand scheme of things, but I know it is there .....

Secondly, from the picture you can see that this is where Irene Blanck signed her quilt, but I don't want to do that; 

I prefer to sign my quilts on the back, so I had to slightly "redesign" this block.

So, this is it;

all the blocks will now have to be trimmed to size

(which I forgot about and was very free with the space I used, so it could be a slight problem when joining the blocks together; we'll see...), and I also need to think about the border.

The original pattern has a wavy border, which I don't want. This quilt will hang on the wall and it is easier to hang it with a straight border.

I am very pleased that most of the applique fabrics, and some background fabrics came from my stash.

As for the border, I just might have something in my stash also; I'll see if it works when the blocks are stitched together.........

Thank you for visiting my blog,

I wish you a busy stitching week!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2018

and one more Gardenhurts block

Two actually, one large one, 

and one smaller one, made of 4 small orange peel blocks.

Just one more block to make, I am nearly there! 😌

It is time to think about the next project ......

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2018

Gardenhurst continues

It snowed this morning - 

just briefly, but it made everything look clean and fresh; it is all gone now...

Still busy indoors - two more Gardenhurst blocks,

and the start of the next one.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2018

and another Gardenhurst....

Sunshine at last and beautiful blue skies the last couple of days; the trade off for that are daytime temperatures hovering around zero......

So, a brisk walk to the shops, and back into the warmth of my sewing room -

to finish another block for Gardenhurst quilt.

I enjoyed making the bird tail in this one.

I don't think I had finished blocks for any other quilt this quickly before, it must be something about this design - fairly simple, but so much scope for imagination.

Applique is definitely my favourite method, for now anyway. It is still a learning curve, I am learning all  the time. The next time I will sew so many circles, I will invest in Karen Buckley's Perfect Circles; the prep might take longer, but worth it in the end.

Little spring sunshine indoors....

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2018

FNwF and more Gardenhurst

Big "thank you" to Cheryll to let us hang out again at hers on Friday night. 

I managed to finish another Gardenhurst block

 and yesterday I started the next one.

Another winter weekend in our part of the world, although a little drier and brighter, the wind is a cold, coming from the north.

Snowdrops are struggling around the town,

Winter aconites are also slowly popping their heads out in the local park.

 It is a bit of a struggle.....

I wonder what weather will this month bring.....

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2018

Gardenhurst - more blocks!

January was a very dull and cold month, and I have been spending more time indoors then usually.

So what better place is there than a cosy sewing room? 

It has given me the chance to get on with this quilt so much quicker.

Three more blocks, one large and two smaller ones.

Another large block is nearly finished, in fact I hope to complete it tomorrow night, when we are at Cheryll's for FNwF. 

Will you be there?

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2018