Still little chilly, but the sun is out more often and it does feel like spring at last!

We even get to sit outside with our coffee now and then and watch the blackbird feeding his young.

He isn't very happy for us being there, had the garden to himself until now. 

Trip to Lytes Cary Manor gardens (NT), our regular at this time of year, just to see the wonderful show of camassias and cowslips together, a couple of weeks earlier then usually, probably due to our mild winter this year.

 

At home I have been carrying on with same projects, Cherry Picker's Garden quilt is still being hand quilted and as for Crojo Retro blanket - is taking time to fill in all those gaps between flowers. 

I will be glad to see the end of that one - one day!

Wanting some new applique to sew,  I joined Katrina Hadjimichael's "Amelia Rose quilt" (pattern of the month). 

This is the first month, central panel.

And this where it ends for me; while I like Katrina's designs, as I was sewing it, 

I realised that this is not "me", too busy. 

I will probably border, back it and quilted it at some point and it will stay as a small quilt.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2024

hope of spring soon

It has been very mild (but very wet) in my part of the world. Looking outside, one could be fooled into thinking that spring is very close. 

Pair of Blue Tits seemed to have already claimed a nesting box in our garden, and there are another signs that nature just can't wait to burst into spring.

Spending lots of time indoors, I decided to tidy my work room (again, from which you can tell I am bored, 

although I have been reading a lot); 

that is when you come across past projects hidden somewhere in the corner, 

like this Crewel embroidery, long forgotten. 

It is a welcome break from crochet and quilts.

Back to my quilt project ( "Cherry Picker's Garden") 

shown in my last post: 

I have now finished the last two 10 inch blocks, 

it is time to choose border fabrics.

I am still trying to use my stash.

The final green border is actually much nicer colour in reality,

and it was the inspiration for this quilt.

So, back to Crojo Retro blanket. 

I have now joined all the parts together, but because the flowers and leaves are different shapes, you can see what the problem is now - big gaps! 

The solution to that are more flowers, small ones this time.

Many of them!

Yes, it will take some time to fill in all those holes!

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

As I do every winter, I made some orange marmalade,

enough to last us until next year.

But this year I have also come across Bergamot lemons, not seen normally in our local supermarkets.

They are very small and actually look more like very small satsumas.

Apparently used often for preserved lemons, so having only 4 of them, I experimented:

one small jar of preserved lemons,

and the rest to make lemon marmalade.

I made this marmalade before, using supermarket unwaxed lemons,

so I knew we would like it.

The recipe 

( which includes a spring of rosemary - yes, it does work) 

comes from this book.

Of course, the result was a very small yield, just one jar!

But it was worth the effort, it is very nice.

I have managed too buy some more Bergamot lemons,

so I will make some more,

 and mixing them with normal lemons will surely work

and will make a larger quantity.

So, that's me for now.

I hope all is well with all of you. I haven't been very good blogger again - life just gets in the way,

I am sure you know what I mean.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2024

Friday

My Friday was quite busy; 

I spent the afternoon finishing Blooming Springtime quilt, stitching the binding on.

I started this quilt in February'22, so it took exactly a year to make.

I quilted it by hand, using my usual shadow quilting

 with pearl cotton and a large stitch (because I am an impatient quilter!)

My first finish this year!

I am so glad this is done; when I get near the end of a project, 

I am itching to concentrate on the next one!

Now of course it is the Butterfly's Ball -

so I spent my evening joining the others at Cheryll's for FNwF,

working on the first applique border.

This is where the fun begins!

"Dormice in the winter like to snooze,

Not Now! 

Look at her party shoes, and 

Oh, what lovely eyes!

Her husband married her because he thought her finest feature was their lustre and their size."

Thank you, Cheryll, for getting us organized again!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2023

it is summer in my garden

or - I should say - in my imaginary garden! 

This fabric garden has been getting ready for the butterfly ball, flowers slowly growing .

It is a joy to play with these pretty fabrics in the middle of cold January.

Flowers added in the corners, 

                                                           and two more borders, a leaf one 

and the squares on the point border. I chose very plain fabric for the background here

because I love this Liberty fabric so much and the plain background shows it off so well.

               It is now ready for what I think is the main attraction of this quilt - the applique border. 

                                                      This will be the part I will enjoy most!

                                                     Four borders of pure joy of applique!

                                                     

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

"Up comes the Sun, and the very long shadows grow shorter; his light is like amber; 

the glow, where grey mists have melted away from the meadows, starts dewdrops all sparkling like jewels below;

creatures that fly, or that creep, hop, or run, now awake all at once at a loud trumpet-call to tell them this greatest of days has begun - the day of the Feast and the Butterfly Ball!"

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2023

FNwF and the rest

My Friday ended up a busy day; it also became a baking Friday morning in the end. 

Chocolate and almond cake, from Hairy Bikers' Baking book, one of our favourite cakes.

Also a loaf of bread, which I made in Remoska.

"In what?" I hear you ask.

Our Czech friends will know exactly what I am talking about. 

For the rest - Remoska is a "mini oven", a Czech invention, which has been around for more than 70 years.

It is very simple and clever, just one "on and off" button,

it is the lid which does the cooking and is self regulating.

Later that day I made macaroni cheese in it; 

it also makes a very good risotto. 

I could had made the cake in it earlier, but this recipe makes a rather large cake, my Remoska is the smaller size, but I do make other cakes in it as well.

Good on energy. 

What else can you ask?

My Friday afternoon was spent in my sewing room. Recently I resurrected Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. 

The next stage is a border around the centre part, made of 3,5 inch log cabin blocks, 

I need 52 of them, so lots to do.

But I did join others in "Friday Night with Friends" in the end!

I have been playing with some applique blocks and in the evening I finished the top block.

I have no idea where this is going, but it is just fun for now.....

Big Thank You to Cheryll for getting us together again!

Also some last colour in the garden.

I hope you all have a wonderful week crafting!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2022

Halfway through February, is it possible? It seems that January somehow passed me by.....not much sewing going on here. It is usually a quiet month, but this year I hibernated more.

Not completely inactive, I managed to get through 900 pages of the latest instalment of the Outlander saga (book 9)!; conveniently published in November, just in time to be included in my list to Santa.

Also, my PC of many, many years, which I had been nursing for a quite a while, completely gave up last month; so a new purchase had to be made. I chose to get another PC, rather than laptop, as when you are 70 something, a large screen is the most important thing!

I am now sitting in front of 24in, beautiful screen, what a joy! 

All the Covid restrictions are about to be relaxed here in England;

it seems that we are no longer following the science, which makes me rather nervous, but what do I know?

But there is a new project in making. 

I had  something completely different in mind the last time I wrote, but I have changed my mind. 

I need something sunny and  bright.

While I was browsing through "Focus on Applique" by Irene Blanck, her "Blooming Springtime" popped up from the page, it is just the right thing, you can feel the sunshine. 

I like Irene's designs very much, this is the second applique quilt I am making from this book.

I like the simple, clear shapes. Lots of applique and some reverse applique too. The whole quilt is divided into small, easy to manage blocks. 

I plan to to use fabrics from my stash only, which desperately needs some reduction.

My first "Blooming Springtime" blocks.

This is my quick catch up, just to let you know that I am still around 😀

Enjoy your weekend!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2022