FNwF

Cold and windy Sunday here, indoors is the best place.

Friday evening I joined  Cheryll and the others for another Friday Night with Friends, 

a virtual get together, which I had missed for some time. This was for the last time this year.

You can use the link Cheryll's blog to see what the others were up to.

I finished another flower block for Quilter's Patch quilt (no 14),

after that I snuggled under "Barn Dance" in front of TV and continued hand quilting, 

using a simple echo hand quilting method. 

This quilt is so lovely and warm, I spent the rest of the evening doing just that.

I am working on the final borders now and I really hope I finish it this year!

I will pop over to Cheryll's to see what everyone was up to....

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

back in my sewing room!

At last I have reclaimed my space, which was a store room for a while;

 inevitably when we do any DIY in the house, it takes longer then planned 

(as does anything else these days - we are not young any more.......) 

The main object was to sort out our bedroom, which has not been touched since our last move, when we moved with furniture larger than this house could take.

Now, freshly repainted, including old dark wood chest of draws, it looks larger and bright. 

I could also move some of my quilts in at last.

My sewing room needed a good tidy up and in the process one always finds some forgotten projects in the corner.

This is  "Quilter's Patch" quilt, or was supposed to be. 

There was a point when I got fed up with it.

The instructions in the pattern are for piecing, where every block is made up of loads of small pieces, and that is where the problem was. 

As you know, I am an applique girl, but at the time I thought that I should get familiar with another method; and I got on with it - in fact there are 12 blocks here, all done.

So, what to do with it? It would make nice cushions, but who wants so many small cushions?

These blocks on their own would make a small quilt, but I think every time I would look at it, I would remember the defeat! 

The other possibility is to carry on and make the rest of the blocks in needleturn applique; I don't think mixing methods would be too bad, it would make the quilt more interesting - and it would give me something else to play with - yes, this idea is now developing in my head.

The reason I need something else to play with? I finished "Surrounded by Flowers" quilt!

I finished the binding last night, I chose a green fabric with small ladybirds, which is probably quite fitting.

I had to try to do a photoshoot outside today, because the light inside is really bad now, the artificial light just doesn't show off the right colours. 

Although it is quite warm and dry outside, it is very cloudy; 

we had some great sunny days last week, but not today....

So - this is my version of "Surrounded by Flowers". 

I say my version, because I changed the final border, 

so this is different from Janine Alers's original pattern.

I hand quilted it very simply with a large stitch in pearl cotton no16.

I leave you few pictures from our walk in Wells last week; again not very bright, not good for taking pictures, but dry day.

This is mainly area around the Cathedral  and the Bishop's Palace.

Our garden is looking rather sad now,

but still great colours outside my kitchen window!

another block, and there is always room for one more tree

A couple of dry days, a welcome respite from a long wet week (although it felt much longer), but the rain is back again tonight, and the weekend doesn't hold a promise of anything better 😞

The sewing room is a good place to be when it is like this, getting on with current projects and plan new ones (oh yes, and there are many in my head, all I need is to have enough years to make them all!) 

Some prep work for the next block of Quilter's Patch, 

the  "Moon Flower" (lots of pieces again),

and block no 12 is done.

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

Occasionally we miss our old garden, mainly all those trees we planted there.

So, call us crazy if you want, but in the interest of our well-being, 

and as a very tiny contribution to the well-being of the planet, 

we decided that our (very) small garden can accommodate one more tree;
this will be no 9 we have planted since we moved here .

And this is the new arrival, a golden birch, to be planted this autumn.

I am looking forward to the next spring already!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2019

Quilter's Patch is back!

Summer days have been back with us for the past week or so, 20C + during the day, but some nights have been very cold, down to around 6C.

I have returned to hand quilting 

St Germain quilt; the evenings are cold now, so it is keeping me warm 

while I quilt.

The  "Quilter's Patch" is also back, it had been rather neglected during the summer.

Prep work for the next block, 

no 11 -

"Coneflower" 

Every time I start one of these blocks, I am slightly worries, and I do ask myself: "why did I start such a large, mostly non applique project?" Every block is a small challenge; this one 12in block is made up of 71 pieces!

But the step by step instructions are very clear, and when I finish putting all those pieces together, I know exactly why I did embark on this journey - because I love the design! 

It is not quite "my thing" (as you know, I am an applique person), so this is stretching me somewhat. 

But thankfully I am not a perfectionist, so if not all the points are matching exactly, I am not that concerned. This is a large quilt, so "in the grand scheme of things", it will be OK 😉

The garden is still full of colour and the bees are loving the late flowers,   

but the crab apples are turning red, 

to remind us that autumn is very close.

What ever you are doing this weekend, enjoy it!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2019

Quilter's Parch quilt - block 10, and more

Honeysuckle block

I have remembered this week why I haven't touched this project for such a long time.

 This quilt is really testing me; 

the 12" block number 10 is made out of 120 triangles!

No, it did not come out exactly right; the width is OK, but it is little short.

I should imagine there will have to be quite a few adjustments later on.

I have finished all 9 stitcheries for the Little Patchwork Village quilt,

so the decision will have to be made about the fabrics.

I have also finished all the quilting of the Scandinavian Rose quilt, and it is ready for the binding.

That should not take long, once I decide if I should go for blue or red!

But I do want to finish this one before I start making "Awakening",

for which I now have most of the fabrics.

I am really looking forward to doing some applique again.

I hope you all have a good week ahead; 

I know, it is that crazy time of year, but slow down, take a deep breath and make some time for yourselves 😅

Christmas will come whatever you do or don't!

Before I'll go, this is what is on my display wall right now;

This quilt comes out every year, around this time. 

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018

all change now and UFO

I spent a big part of last week sorting my work room. I don't spend too much time here during the summer, just take things out and put them back again, (not always in the right place!) So, over time it just gets in a mess. On top of that, some weeks ago I moved my PC in here (without much planning), to make more room for DH's miniature model in the spare room (you can see what he is up to under "Miniatures" in "My Labels"). The result - my tiny sewing room was turning into a "cave" - definitive turnoff, I just can't get motivated when it is in such state.

So, urgent action was needed. 

I "re-designed" the room, moved everything around, had a good sort out, and now 

I like being in here again!

I had to take all the books down from the shelf units to be able to move them, so it was a good opportunity to sort them out and take some to a charity shop. 

 I am not sure what I would do without my fabric storage unit, I just find it so convenient.

DH made me a small desk for my PC, it is amazing what you can get in a such tiny space.

I know a laptop would be a better solution for a small space, but I do like the larger screen of PC (thing just get smaller as you get older, LOL). So this is where I "talk" to you.

The whole room actually looks much bigger now.

So, this week I resurrected one of my "older" projects - Quilter's Patch quilt by Edyta Sitar.

The last time you saw this one was last December, after I made a block no 9.

So this is where I am at the moment - 9 blocks finished,

and I am cutting fabrics for the next one.

All the blocks for this quilt are quite complicated, although it doesn't look like it. 

They are all made out of many very small pieces, using various patchwork techniques.

May be that's why I got tired of it last year, and being tied to the machine.

But I am determined to stick with it - 10 more blocks to do!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018