colours of autumn

It has been mild, but very wet autumn this year, not enough chance to be outside to enjoy the colours; 

the trees are still holding on to their leaves.

Luckily, we have a good view from our kitchen window of the Persian ironwood shrub, growing in the pot just outside.

Never disappoints, these spectacular colours appear every year.

We saw this much larger specimen 

of Persian ironwood in Dyffryn Gardens 

in Wales last month.

Further down the garden is the yellow of the quince tree, also in the pot, 

with reds of the ornamental cherry shrub behind.

This small quince tree has produced some fruit for the second time since we got it; 

enough for just four jars of jam, 

the last jam of the year.

Flavoured with cinnamon and little rosemary, 

it smells and tastes divine.

 The crab apple tree is still green, holding on to its fruit; normally blackbirds would have cleared this by now, which means that there is still enough food for them elsewhere.

And just to get that Christmas feeling, I am making another felt piece from the 

"12 Days of Christmas" series, 

the Swan, to join the French Hen I made a couple of years ago.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2023

summer is here

August has shown to be the real summer at last; 

yes, some rain, which our garden welcomes, 

but also plenty of sunshine, without it being too hot.

Evenings have been cool enough to do some quilting on the Butterfly's Ball quilt; 

it is a slow progress as this is a large quilt, but enjoyable. 

Too warm for crochet right now, so that's on hold.

I have been making small batches of my "summer jam", 

which I make every year, mixing whatever fruit is around at the time.

This has proven to be popular when the winter comes - little sunshine in a jar.

And mostly just enjoying being in the garden, 

as was this small visitor, hiding in the clematis. 

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2023

                                     .....................................in the woods.....

I was surprised that there weren't any more signs of autumn, 

we found only one young tree which has changed its frock already

                                                                              and little of this     

                                                                        

   and this,

but the rest of the forest is still very green, 

and now holidays are over, very quiet, we didn't meet another human.

...................designed by nature..................

and by a man

.........................and at home..................

making "summer" jam; I know, little late for "summer", but there are still summer fruits around.

My regular followers know that I like to make small batches of mixed fruit jams, 

depending on what fruit there is around.

Enough to make small amounts of  "summer in the jar".

.....................and at last hand quilting "Surrounded by Flowers"........

I changed the final border from the original design, because I wasn't very keen on it,

and because I like the blue/grey batik so much.

Thank you for visiting, you lovely people, 

and I hope you will have a wonderful week!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

what a difference a day makes

After a busy night, all noise (lightning, thunderstorm), but no substance (very little rain), it is very much cooler here and a return to normal activities.

This is the start of my jam making time and I had some fruit sitting in the fridge, just waiting for things to cool down.

As you know I like to make small batches, experimenting with mixing various fruit together, depending on what is around - storing some sunshine in a jar for those colder months - strawberries, apricots and gooseberries today. 

I don't add any water, just mix the fruit with the sugar 

and let sit in the fridge until the fruit releases its own juices, before boiling (job for tomorrow).

Don't you just love all those colours together!

Before the hot spell I did make some progress on the Flower sampler, 

starting from the top section.

The background colour is much better than here, it doesn't come out very well in the picture.

This is dahlia Honka  - our last year's addition - quite a stunner.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

circle play

The "stitching in the garden" weather has returned, warm and sunny, coming from the continental Europe.

So my blue "summer play cloth" has made another outing outside, and I filled in another small block.

A combination of needleturn and wool applique, and some embroidery.

Another small batch of "summer jam", 

this time a combination of strawberries, raspberries, plums and apricots - 

more sunshine in the jar for winter months.

It is a holiday here tomorrow, and more sunshine to be enjoyed!

I wish you all a very good week, whatever you are up to!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2019

this and that, and some stitching too

The weather has changed a lot since my last post; drop in the temperatures, 

lots of heavy rain, thunderstorms, and the odd nice day as well.

Early August at Lytes Cary Manor(NT) to see the changes in the gardens there.

Back in the kitchen,

small batch of one of my mixed fruit jams,

which we will appreciate during the cold winter months.

One of our favourite biscuit recipes, with dried fruit, honey, nuts and white chocolate.

and experimenting with a new bread recipe -

I was really pleased with the result, 

and I plan to make it again this week.

There is a slow but steady progress with the Arabian Nights crochet blanket, I am well past the mid point now, but I am out of the red wool, so I need to re-order.

I have put together some of small blocks of the Awakening quilt, 

so this is the top 1/3 of the quilt,

and I have a couple of large blocks ready for the lower part.

In the post this week - "Stitches to Savor" by Sue Spargo.

I know many of you know this book already; I have been looking for a good second hand one, but Sue's books do hold their price. Last week I came across an unused copy on ebay, at a half price of any price on Amazon, an opportunity not to be missed.
I am well pleased!

This is not a project book, there are not patterns or instructions, this is simply a showcase of her work; twelve of her quilts on show, a mixture of fabric and wool applique, embellished with lots of embroidery stitching, and beautifully quilted - a feast for the eyes!

The photography is first class, with lots of close up details.

I have been browsing through every day since it arrived, constantly finding new bits.

I have been very much in the "reading mode" in the last few weeks, and since my last post I got through another "Department Q" thriller, 

and at the moment I am reading  "Drums of Autumn", which is book no 4 (of 8) in the "Outlander" saga.

All the Outlander books are pretty "hefty" and so is this one, with over 1,000 pages.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2019