To all my dear followers - my very best wishes for 2022!

I thank you all for supporting my blog for the past year, and for being such wonderful friends.

I hope your coming year will be happy and healthy.

We usually like to make plans at this time of year, but these days this is not easy to do, but I do hope that everything you hope for, will happen for you.

How was your Christmas?

Our one was lovely, spending all of it with our children and grandchildren - very different from 2020!

I have spent this week recovering from all that happiness  😃

Christmas itself was very mild and wet in my part of the world,

even today is around 14C, very unusual.

I do have a new project for 2022 in mind,

but that is for another post 😉,

but it means that I will have to go and spend some of those fabric vouchers Santa brought me!

Happy Crafting!

the last finish of 2021

I had a very late night last night, but it is done, 

largest applique quilt I have made so far :

                                            "Barn Dance "

It was designed by Robyn Falloon,

published in 100th issue of Quiltmania magazine in 2014.

Measuring 1,80 x 1.80 m, just the right size for my bed; 

needless to say that I am very pleased with it.

I had enough of one of the fabrics used in the quilt for the binding.

I usually sew the binding to the front of the quilt and turn and stitch to the back, but this time I did the opposite, turning it to the front and securing it with chunky stitch using pearl cotton No8.

I can concentrate on Christmas now 😅😅, 

lets hope it will be "normal" one this year,

keeping fingers crossed.

pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

FNwF

Cold and windy Sunday here, indoors is the best place.

Friday evening I joined  Cheryll and the others for another Friday Night with Friends, 

a virtual get together, which I had missed for some time. This was for the last time this year.

You can use the link Cheryll's blog to see what the others were up to.

I finished another flower block for Quilter's Patch quilt (no 14),

after that I snuggled under "Barn Dance" in front of TV and continued hand quilting, 

using a simple echo hand quilting method. 

This quilt is so lovely and warm, I spent the rest of the evening doing just that.

I am working on the final borders now and I really hope I finish it this year!

I will pop over to Cheryll's to see what everyone was up to....

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

For a quiet walk at Stourhead gardens today....

No such thing today - loads of people, despite most of autumn colour is gone now.

Also - teams setting up Christmas lights display  - on from next weekend.

                             

Lots of little boats in the water - I presume they will light up in the dark....

I know someone who has tickets, so I will find out....😉

So, back at home I finished another flower block for Quilter's Patch; I decided to carry on, but as this quilt is not designed for applique, I have to make my own templates from the main picture, hence this one is looking a bit wonky ( but in the grand scheme of things...) - must do better with the next one.

pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2021

back in my sewing room!

At last I have reclaimed my space, which was a store room for a while;

 inevitably when we do any DIY in the house, it takes longer then planned 

(as does anything else these days - we are not young any more.......) 

The main object was to sort out our bedroom, which has not been touched since our last move, when we moved with furniture larger than this house could take.

Now, freshly repainted, including old dark wood chest of draws, it looks larger and bright. 

I could also move some of my quilts in at last.

My sewing room needed a good tidy up and in the process one always finds some forgotten projects in the corner.

This is  "Quilter's Patch" quilt, or was supposed to be. 

There was a point when I got fed up with it.

The instructions in the pattern are for piecing, where every block is made up of loads of small pieces, and that is where the problem was. 

As you know, I am an applique girl, but at the time I thought that I should get familiar with another method; and I got on with it - in fact there are 12 blocks here, all done.

So, what to do with it? It would make nice cushions, but who wants so many small cushions?

These blocks on their own would make a small quilt, but I think every time I would look at it, I would remember the defeat! 

The other possibility is to carry on and make the rest of the blocks in needleturn applique; I don't think mixing methods would be too bad, it would make the quilt more interesting - and it would give me something else to play with - yes, this idea is now developing in my head.

The reason I need something else to play with? I finished "Surrounded by Flowers" quilt!

I finished the binding last night, I chose a green fabric with small ladybirds, which is probably quite fitting.

I had to try to do a photoshoot outside today, because the light inside is really bad now, the artificial light just doesn't show off the right colours. 

Although it is quite warm and dry outside, it is very cloudy; 

we had some great sunny days last week, but not today....

So - this is my version of "Surrounded by Flowers". 

I say my version, because I changed the final border, 

so this is different from Janine Alers's original pattern.

I hand quilted it very simply with a large stitch in pearl cotton no16.

I leave you few pictures from our walk in Wells last week; again not very bright, not good for taking pictures, but dry day.

This is mainly area around the Cathedral  and the Bishop's Palace.

Our garden is looking rather sad now,

but still great colours outside my kitchen window!