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

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

"Awakening"

So, here is the start of my new large project for this year, the "Awakening". I came across this quilt, or rather a picture if it, when I was making "Gardenhurst". 

In the introduction to her book "Focus on Applique" Irene Blanck writes about her early starts of quilt designing, and about her quilt "Awakening", which has a special meaning to her. I loved it immediately, however the instructions for it are not included in the book, and I could not find anyone who stocks the pattern. So I contacted Irene directly and she very kindly copied the pattern for me.

As you can see it is all about angels.

My earliest encounter with an angel I can remember was when I was very, very small.

There is a Czech Tradition on 6th December (or the eve of, the start of the Christmas period) when you can see Mikulas (St Nicholas), often accompanied by Angel and Devil.

If you click on the link you can read all about it.

I have this very distant memory of someone knocking on our apartment door, and when my parents opened it, there was Mikulas, with beautiful Angel who was all in white. Devil was all in black and red, with big horns on his head and rattling his chains.  You can just imagine the picture, and the impression it makes on a small child. 

They ask children if they have been good, and of course they have and they get a present.
 (The alternative is getting a piece of coal from Devil or being put in his sack !) 

I remember the Angel being beautiful in the white dress, with large wings.

Much later I found out (of course) that they were my parent's friends, dressed in costumes from the local theatre. 😀

Of course Angels come in all shapes and sizes, in various disguises all through our life. 

You would think that for a non- believer like me this would be hard to square up, but I am OK with Angels (and Fairies for that matter), because I am sure they were around when I needed them.........

I have been collecting some fabrics fot this project for some time, but it is inevitable that more will have to be found in my stash as the quilt progresses.

There are many "Angel" quotes as part of the blocks, but at the moment I don't think I will include them in my quilt, and I might have to slightly re-design some of the blocks.

I am not following the order of the pattern. I prefer to start from the middle, so I have started with the "Central Guardian Angel".

I haven't yet joined all the pieces together, but this is how it will look.

My second large block is "Postie Angel", as not yet complete.

  I wish you good stitching week, where ever you are!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2019

what happened to two mad hares?

Having finished the main part of the "mad hares" reverse applique,

(started at the workshop with Dawn Cameron-Dick ),

I decided to make a border and change it into a wall hanging.  

I appliqued trees (using the normal needle turn applique), and embroidered some grasses, to match the design of the main fabric.

And here it is - hand quilted with Aurifil threads.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2017

reverse applique with Dawn Cameron Dick

As I mentioned in my previous post, Catherine and I met for a cuppa on Friday afternoon; and the reason Catherine was down this way, was a Saturday class at  Midsomer Quilting (their new home in Chilcompton) with Dawn Cameron Dick. 

The class was a reverse applique, 

called " Three Mad Hares". 

Although it was called "Three Mad Hares", we were free to choose how many hares do we actually want too sew and how large.

We spent a very enjoyable and fun day with Dawn, she is lovely and a great teacher.

I chose to make two small hares.

prep work - tracing a pattern around freezer paper

When I got home on Saturday, I just had to finish the first hare,

and last night I finished the second one.

Lets just say here that this was the first time I have done reverse applique, as I was always little afraid of it, but Dawn made it look so easy.

Thank you Dawn! 

I plant to make my hares into a wall-hanging, 

with some more applique and embroidery on the borders.

©pleasureinstiching.blogspot.co.uk 2017