...................and it is September........

and summer is over, however strange it was. We had some very warm days in early August, but the last weekend was the coldest August Bank Holiday weekend on record. The night temperatures would not surprise in the winter. Our winter quilt is back on the bed. It feels very autumn like outside, and yes, it is raining today......

I even started to hand quilt Manor House quilt last night, it was actually very nice to have it on my lap to keep me warm!

I have gone back to my 10in lockdown blocks, there is 5 of them - but what to do with them?

I have decide to make another 4 blocks ( all 4 the same design), then with some sashing and a border

this could make a nice lap quilt.

First 2 are done.

After the greyness of Manor House it is nice to play with some brighter fabrics again.

I hope you are having better weather in your part of the world,

keep safe and have fun!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

just a quick update

This was my outside sewing corner a week ago; since then a big change in the weather forced us back indoors,

so I have been binging on "Outlander" DVDs while sewing indoors;

I have now finished the second part of the Manor House quilt top.

There is nothing else new to report; more shops are opening; only one of our grandchildren has been back to school - one afternoon every 2 weeks (worrying considering she will be sitting her GCSE exams next year), the younger has not yet been back (but they have been having some lessons online). Pubs and restaurants can open from this weekend (with many difficulties) and I have a hairdresser appointment for later this month!!!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

Midsummer

Happy Midsummer to all in the north part of the Globe; I always feel little sad because it means that from now on we will be loosing a little bit of the daylight every day, and specially as we have been looking forward to this summer so much!

We have had lots of rain during the past week, very welcome, our little garden has much fresher look and lots of colour coming through.

I am now working on the second part of the Manor House quilt,

I like the fabrics I am using, but some of them seem to appear "swallowed up" by the grey background, so I have decided to stitch a row of chain stitch, using an embroidery thread, around the outlines of the vases, 

to give them more definite shape.

It seems to work quite well, I think.....

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

the last bonus FNwF,

again back at Cheryll's, who always manages to get some of us together, thank you for that, Cheryll!

So, here we are, another week and we will be officially in summer. Spring is usually my favourite time of year, but this year we have missed out on so much of it, although we watched the small steps in the tiny space of our back garden, but no open fields or woods, where we would normally enjoy the arrival of spring...something to look forward to next year........

There was a point during the last few weeks when my brain needed to focus on something totally new, to move forward.

When I came across "Manor House" quilt by Dawn Heese, it seemed just 

like the right project to get into. The original pattern was designed for wool applique, but I much prefer to work with fabrics.

I am not overly keen on dark fabrics, but here it works so well, and not being able to visit a real shop, I spent some time online trying to find the one for the background, one which would work for me - and here it is - from "Winter Garden" range by Lewis & Irene.

At first glance it looks like the whole main part of the quilt is made in one piece, but actually there are 4 very wide parts, joined together.

I started to work on part 3, the actual Manor House, as this is probably the most important section,

and also it is a while since I stitched an applique house and I was looking forward to doing it.

For the main part of the house I used one of Moda Grunge fabrics, which has that nice "aged" look, and another one for the roofs.

So, that was my project for Friday night, 

 to finish this part.

I am using some fabrics, which I would not normally consider as being "me", but I am trying to go with the spirit of the quilt, and I think they work well.

At last we have been having some decent rain during the last few days, which the garden is just lapping up, and everything is looking much fresher, and also the water buts have been replenished.

I wish you a very good week, and be careful out there, it is not over yet!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

still here........

Today has been a first day in weeks I have spent indoors;

all through the lock down we had wonderful weather, at times too warm to do any sewing. In our part of the world, the month of May was the sunniest month on record.

We are now slowly coming out of the lock down, despite many scientists warning against it.

At last we were able to see our grandchildren for the first time since early March, and our children could visit us in our garden. Normal? No, long way from it, but even these small steps are very welcome.

We spent weeks living outside in our small patch of a garden, which has slowly woken up, and despite the very dry weather, it has somehow survived. It is much cooler today, and we have seen the first rain in weeks.

I spent the time mostly reading, doing some baking, and being very thankful that we have a small outside space all to ourselves to hide in, away from all those horrid statistics and numbers.

I worked on another 10in block;

So this a lock down block no 5. 

I think I will finish with these, for now anyway. 

I will just put them away for a while, may be they will come useful sometime.

There is also few more circles on the "Circle Play" top.

Last week some new fabrics arrived by post, and I have been playing with something new,

but that is for another post.

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

And this is something for our Australian friends - 1976 Holden Kingswood ("the car that got Australia moving, mate").

It is good few years since our son returned from his year long trip to Australia, working his way around; travelling and sometimes living in this car, clockwise from Perth to Melbourne. When he took a flight back home, the car started a long sea journey to UK. He just could not part with it. Since then the car lived in front of various houses (including ours) and garages, but at last during the last 2 years was being lovingly restored (the parts being ordered online from Australia); even the leather upholstery is new. It was entered in this May's Mendip Rally, but of course that was cancelled;
another day...........

Someone in Perth might recognise this car 😀 

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

FNwF- 8th May

Another week gone and it was back to Cheryll's for the second FNwF this month; thank you for inviting us again, Cheryll, you get us thinking about our friends around the world, crafting away.

I must come clean - there was no clever "needle" stuff going on here. Friday was a perfect day here, warm without being too hot, with just a light breeze. DH and I lit the BBQ for two and spend the evening chilling out outside; it was the first real summer evening this year. I finished reading another book, second one that week.

But during the week I did finish the block I was working on last week,

and I made another one. 

I am not sure where this is going, 

but for now I am just enjoying making them.

It is the bluebell time over here, but this year we are not able to drive anywhere to see them,

so I recycled pictures from previous years, also to use as a new header.

You can at least see what I am talking about, in case you haven't seen this wonderful display before. It is rather special time in England at this time of year.

There is more and more colour coming through in our little patch -

foxgloves and spring irises,

and the first clematis blossom.

Keep well and healthy!

It will be over one day...............

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

FNwF

Firstly I hope that all of you are well and in good spirit; I say that because it occasionally plays with my mind, and I know I am not the only one. 

So, it was back to Cheryll's on Friday evening, 

thanks again for getting us together, Cheryll!

I realised that this is my first blog post since last month's get together! At the star of the lock down 

I imagined that I will spend so much more time online, but until last weekend we had a really glorious weather, and DH and I just moved outside, to our tiny garden and just vegged out there, reading, planting plants arriving by post, having the occasional BBQ, or just simply doing nothing, enjoying the sunshine. The time has flown by, and here we are, in May! The weather changed this week, some very welcome rain for the garden at last, so back indoors....

I haven't been doing very much sewing; I am in my "reading mode" right now - I got through 3 books last week and now I have another one on a go.

I haven' been totally idle though. 

The Les Fleurs du Mardi (Tuesday's Flowers) quilt is hanging on our dining room wall at the moment, and as I am looking at every day, I have wondered how some of those blocks would look in different fabrics. And that's the thing about quilts - you could make the same quilt several times, in different fabrics and every time it would be a totally different quilt.
If you scroll down to the 4th April post, you can see the original quilt.

I have no intention of re-doing the hole thing, but I have been playing with some of the 10 inch blocks from the original quilt, just to see....

I am using fabrics from my stash.

And this is the latest one I have started on Friday.

As I said, I am not planning to re-do the whole quilt, possibly just 4 - 6 blocks, just playing 😀

With some rain this week, our garden let out a sigh of relief and got much greener.

The new quince tree in a pot is doing well, I love its blossoms, so pretty.

Pretty white anemone,

 Camassias are looking good this spring too.

 

White Deutzia is in full swing; there is a pink one next to it just waiting to start flower too.

I don't know what made me to plant two Deutzias next to each other, but they don't flower exactly at the same time, the pink one is later one, so that' OK.

This yellow poppy

appeared last year, must had flown in from elsewhere, and this year is coming up all over the place, we don't mind of course.

I love these Epimmediums, we grew them in pots last year, but I think they will do much better planted out; most of them are evergreen and make a good ground cover, with delicate little flowers in the spring and lovely colourful leaves in the autumn.

A new addition this spring, a new shade of candelabra primula.

Another Epimedium, I just love their leaves.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020