Last week DH and I took a short break and we went away for few days, to Malvern; and yes, I spent some of that time at the Malvern Quilt Show. I have many pictures to share with you, from the show and from the rest of our trip.
When I was going through the pictures last night, planning to post them today, a news flesh appeared on my screen, about "an incident" in Manchester; no one knew at that point just how bad that "incident" was, the horror of it. We know now.

My heart goes out to all the families who have lost a loved one, some of them so, so young, youngest just 8 years old, younger then my granddaughter. I just can't imagine...........

I feel that today belongs to the people of Manchester.
My trip can wait.

birds coming together

Just a quick post to show you the main part of Calling All Birds quilt, 

only borders left to do.

This weekend baking was quick too; 

this is something our Scandinavian friends know well, I think.

Buttery pastry filled with jam, quick and easy,

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2017

baking Sunday

Yesterday I decided to bake something I haven't done before.

 I had some pistachios I needed to use up, and when I was browsing through my cook books, I found a good recipe in this one (one of mine favourite baking books); 

lime cake with pistachios and almonds, using honey instead of sugar and olive oil instead of butter.

Following instructions, I always forget that my oven bakes little faster; 

I think I managed to get the cake out just in time!

Despite the slightly burnt sides, it tastes really nice, moist and not too sweet;

and with a dollop of creme fraiche it's just the thing to go with afternoon coffee.

There is a new addition to our garden, new clematis to be grown in a pot.

This is Clematis "Alaina" (I love the name), from Taylors Clematis Nursery , from the "Boulevard" collection - small enough to be grown on the patio.

It has been a very windy week in our part of the world, and again very little rain.

We have been saving all the water from the kitchen, to keep the garden going.

The quince blossom came and went quite quickly, being blown away, 

but I managed to get a picture of this pretty flower.

Thank you for stopping by, 

I wish you all a very good week!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2017

"I tell myself sometimes that I am truly childish, gushing like a madwoman over these bits of fabric that, placed next to each other, can generate so much pleasure, but I know that many of you know what I am talking about..."

This is a quote from the Editorial of the latest issue of Quiltmania magazine, 

and that's exactly what I was thinking when getting my "bits of fabric" ready for Friday, for FNwF , hosted by Cheryll, who had a real houseful this time! Well done Cheryll, you even managed to do some stitching yourself 😃

So, what was I up to?

Last week I was concentrating on "Calling All Birds" quilt, and finished 2 more blocks, this time Log Cabins.

For Friday I prepared a couple of smaller blocks, and finished them on the night.

I now have all the main blocks ready, so this week I will join them together and start on the borders.

I like this quilt 😀

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2017

A long weekend here in UK; we had some rain (yes, it would come over the weekend), very welcome, our garden took a deep breath and soaked up as much as it could,
because the rest of the week will probably be dry again 😞.

I had a productive weekend - four more Courthouse Steps blocks, some hexies and yoyo's, both for Calling All Birds quilt.

And at last I have started working on the Scheepjes CAL 2017 - 

the first week, well behind, of course.

It took me a little while to workout how to make the bobbles to "pop", but I got there in the end.

Earlier today was jut the right morning for a walk in the local park.

I don't know if anyone of you here in UK watched recent TV "Spring Watch"  program, this time from Japan, all about the "cherry flowers" season, spectacular pictures.

In our old garden we also had a flowering Japanese cherry tree, so it was very tempting, watching the programme, to get another one for our new garden. Unfortunately our tiny garden just can't accommodate another large tree, but not all is lost. 

Few days ago a new addition arrived into our garden, 

a dwarf variety, more a shrub then a tree - "Kojo-no-mai"; if not pruned, it will grow only up to about 2 meters.  It has found a new home in our shrub corner.  

It has masses of tiny flowers, and a spectacular autumn leaf colours.

This very healthy plant arrived from Ashwood Nurseries ( a regular Chelsea exhibitor).

It is worth mentioning here, that I feel very confident about buying plants on-line these days.

I find that local nurseries are good for the run of the mill stuff, but if I am looking for something specific, I look for it on the Internet.

Most of our larger plants, including new trees, have come from on-line shops, places like, Trees On-line , Ornamental Trees , Keepers Nursery , to name just few.

Even some perennials, and annuals, I buy from Sarah Raven , violas from Wildegoose Nursery .

There are many more, of course, but the above are the ones I can recommend personally.

They all supplied very healthy plants; in the rare event of a problem, it was put right very quickly. After some initial teething problems, the packaging now is first rate, sturdy and recyclable, and all our plants (and trees) have arrived quickly and in a good condition.  

Many of the above are regular Chelsea exhibitors, and they have their reputation to protect.

There is one nursery, another Chelsea regular, which we are lucky to have within a driving distance - 

Kelways Nursery  in Langport, on the Somerset Levels. They specialise in peonies and irises; when looking for ornamental grasses for our garden, we also found a large selection at Kelways. 

I wish you all a very productive week; here in UK we might at last get some warmer weather, to be enjoyed outside.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2017