Not much sewing ....

It feels like a long time since I have actually been in my studio and sewing.  I have spent some time this last week sorting, tidying and cleaning which is great and makes for easier and quicker sewing but it's not much fun!

 

I finished the last house on my Italian Houses which I started last week.  I then had to put it back on the shelf because none of the blue fabric I had worked as the sky .....

 

Cue a Quilt Show at the weekend - Malvern Autumn Quilt Show to be precise.  Whilst I have lots of lovely images of that but they will have to wait for another day.  But the roll of handyed fabric I bought from Farne Designs did not disappoint.  The softest blue at the top works perfectly as the sky!

 

Some crochet has been done .... these whilst watching the second semi final of the RWC.  Of course watching the first one, All Blacks v South Africa, was not conducive to crochet!!  These require one more blue round and then they will be made into badges for the street collectors for Gaga UK.  I have been helping with The Remembering Tree and thought it would be fun for the street collectors to be wearing a rather bright crochet motif!  If anyone out there who knits or crochets would like to donate a square or two there is still time.  All the information can be found over here.  If you happen to be Home Educators then please get in touch with me and you can send squares to me because we are going to be yarn bombing our own HE community tree!  My square total now stands at 28!

 

This one has come all the way from ....... Canada!  Isn't it amazing?

 

This weekend saw the end of British Summer Time with the clocks going back an hour.  An extra hour in bed?  No, don't be silly!  But it did mean that I got all the dinner prepared before 8.30 in the morning .... all under the watchful eye of Smiggle.

Garlic and lentil soup which felt suitably autumnal and body nourishing ......

 

and apple crumble - always a failsafe recipe in this house.

 

And finally I made it down to my studio last night.  Whoops I got side tracked and this is what happened .......

 

 

My eldest daughter would like a black and white quilt.  I had very little in my stash so some fat 1/4s were purchased at aforementioned show and together with a few reds (I'm not sure I want to make just a B&W quilt) they are looking rather good together.  She requested a cat quilt ..... still not sure on that either.  The Dog Gone Cute quilt I made for my other daughter was gratefully and enthusiastically received for her birthday and it's my turn to shout out it on the Blog Hop tomorrow.  Thank goodness my day is here I've been almost ready to burst with wanting to show the finished quilt!!

 

Here's a sneak peek ........

 

 

Be sure to pop back tomorrow to see the finished quilt.  It's worth taking a little time and visiting some of the other participants because there are some lovely finished projects - and all so different.

 

Linking up today to Let's Bee Social over at Sew Fresh Designs and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

 

The colours and smells of our autumn ...

Blackberries and apples from my Mum's house - we 'found' three apple trees laden with fruit that we didn't know were there!!

 

 

 Damsons from a tree that is split in two, chewed on by cows, totally neglected but continues to produce fruit.  Unfortunate most were way out of reach.  Topped up with some fruit from a friend's tree ...

 

Blackberry pudding .... very easy and very delicious ...

 

Plums, from a friend's tree, thrown into the pan with all the other ingredients for plum sauce.  The smell was divine ...

 

The satisfaction when it is all bottled up ...

 

Straining the blackberries and apples for Bramble & Apple Jelly ...

 

 

all bottled and labelled ...

 

Just love the jewel like colours of this with the sunlight catching it ...

 

And the damsons ... here is the gin!  Just got to wait 3 months now ...

 

it didn't quite all fit in!  I had to decant into a better container.  This colour is after only 3 days ... and it tasted quite nice too!

A week of finishes ....

A bit of a different Finish it up Friday over here today.  Lots of finishes but not all of a textile nature!

1. The finish of my first Quilt Show entry.  I finished the quilt, please take a look over here for the full story, and it was driven up to Harrogate for the Great Northern Quilt Show.  I had planned a couple of days up there, visiting the area and the show.  I was really excited and somewhat nervous about going on Saturday morning and to my HUGE surprise I had won a Judges Merit rosette.  To say I was happy was an understatement - I was walking around like the Cheshire Cat all day!

2.  The finish of another year of marriage.  No, not the finish of a marriage - I wouldn't be quite so blasé as to announce that here, but the finish of our 16th year of marriage.  My niece came and looked after the girls and we got a child free day (which is something of a rarity in these parts seeing as we home educate!) of tiki touring around the Cotswolds.

3. The finish of my eldest daughter's birthday celebrations until next year!  She turned 11 on Wednesday - where does that time go?  She had a birthday party sleepover at the end of August and then we spent the day together as a family on her actual birthday.  We took the girls to the West Midlands Safari Park - it was amazing!!  I had never been before either so it was a great way to spend the day doing something new to us all.  The bunting was finished too in time to hang up and is another item ticked of my FAL Q3 list.

4.  And for the final finish of the week ...... eating the last of the blackberry pudding I made yesterday!!!  It is the season here in the UK for foraging in hedgerows for all things edible.  Yesterday we gathered blackberries, damsons, apples and plums on a gorgeous autumnal sunny day.  The blackberries became this delicious, and very easy, pudding, and were also mixed with apples for a bramble and apple jelly.  The damsons were placed in containers with sugar and gin to slowly become Damson Gin (and I have to say the duck recipe with the damson gin sounds rather nice!) in time for Christmas and I have just finished boiling up the plums with a few other ingredients to become plum sauce.  Our kitchen smells divine at the moment!

I have had very little time in my studio this week but need to getting in there and start starting, and finishing, things that are on my ever expanding to-do list! x

And I am linking up with Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts today.

The changing of the seasons .....

Last year was the first full autumn the girls had spent in the UK, whilst old enough to remember.  They had a ball but are looking forward to it EVEN more this year because they know what the events are and they know the people who will be at them better.  The anticipation of known, and loved, events seems to eclipse first time events for the children.

On our list of autumnal activities:

Birthdays
Miss M's 10th birthday - done :)

Miss C's 8th birthday - coming up soon



A bit of handmade love for Miss C's 7th birthday x

 
The Mop
Wow!!  They had never seen anything like it.  I remember how much I enjoyed this event as a child so it was just wonderful to take my own.

Miss C and her Dad on the dodgems

Hallowe'en
This is so much better in the UK because it's dark.  It's a simple as that really:

dark = spooky + candles + sparklers + lighted pumpkins

Plus the enjoyment of a wonderful party organised by some local home ed families and now friends for a spectacularly spooky evening!



The witch and her familiar

Bonfire Night
The girls had never been to one before.
They had never seen fireworks before.
Some people last year were gobsmacked that children aged 7 and 9 had been so deprived!  But again these things only really work if it's dark.  Oh and then there were the toffee apples ..... can't really say that they only work in the dark but the girls had never one of these either (maybe they are deprived!).



First ever sparkler!
 

And of course you can not forget the glorious autumn colours that England does sooo well or the humble conker (of which we had 100s) x

 



Our three day weekend ....

 

Started with a trip to their music lesson with Miss Singsong

 

on a scooter

 

a trike

 

and a giraffe - of course!

 

Cutting, drying and stripping lavender

 

followed by a lavender tea.

   

 Meditative colouring with new birthday presents

and designing your own thank you cards!

 

Being 10 means you make and write your own thank you cards!

 

They look so beautiful - I have kept one for myself and intend to re-interpret it in stitch and in fabric. 

Looking forward to seeing how it works.

 

Looking at Miss C's desk this morning I found this.  She had been working on it yesterday and I hadn't noticed!

 

When I looked closer, I realised that she had chosen the same colours in the crayons and paints. 

Not sure if she has finished yet so will leave it there for a bit longer.

 

Making curtains kept me busy ...

followed by some sorting out. 

The first box I chose was labelled "BROWN + FAWN". 

Perfect colours and textures for autumn ...

 

 and they inspired me to make an autumnal heart brooch!

 

 

 Solo baking by Miss M - chocolate kisses with raspberry cream - delicious!

 

Hope you had a great weekend. x

 

Out with the old and in with the new ...

 

'Tis BlackBerrying season again and I have a terrible confession ....... I still have last year's blackberries in the freezer.  Admittedly they were picked right at the end of the season and they did not taste good.  We picked them with the express intention of using them for dyeing.  Well, a year later I had a go.  It's something I've always wanted to do and I have to say there was a lot of smiling going on from me today!

 

I love the sharp distinction between white and .... blackberry! 

 

The dye bath was frozen berries, 1 tablespoon of sugar and water to cover.  I heated it and was supposed to simmer for a while but I forgot it and it was boiling!  I left it to cool for a while and then put the material in.

First lot of material in the dye bath. 

 

I used 100% pure cotton white used sheets that had been mordanted with alum.  There was also some off cuts of ?polycotton white used sheets that I had on my sewing table thrown in aswell.  I don't know exactly how long I left them.  We went into town, wandered around, drank a coffee, ate a pastry .....

And then there was this! 

 I just LOVE the colour.  Left hand side are the pre-mordanted sheets.  I realise that this is not going to be colour fast and I will look into how I can achieve something more stable but I really like the results.  Being of a thrifty nature I thought I would do another batch.  (In fact I'm now wondering what I can put in overnight!)

So the results from the second bath

 

From left to right: same 100% cotton sheet as used in the first bath but not pre-mordanted, vintage white cotton trim, 100% linen from a modern white skirt, white ?cotton twill tape and a vintage crochet doily, not sure what this was made from probably cotton.  They are a different colour which I expected because it was the second lot but maybe also because they were pre treated.

 

Well it's certainly whetted my appetite and there's now room in the freezer for more this year. x

Living in the here and now ...

I sometimes find it hard to live in the here and now.  The past is always there for comparisons and the future hold untold possibilities.

At the moment I am finding it very difficult due to the fact that I have opened an online shop and a FB page.  Lots of the chatter is about Christmas and already I feel like I am behind the 8 ball with this season.  Isn't that somewhat ridiculous with us still in late summer?  You see I say late summer?  Because although it has been very autumnal this last week I am still hoping there will be a later summer revival!

So I went for a walk this morning.  It is a beautiful clear sunny morning here, although somewhat chilly.  I thought I needed to reconnect with what is actually happening out there.  Right now.  This season that we are in TODAY!

And look what I found ......

So a reminder to myself:  there's conkers to find; blackberries, elderberries, hips and haws to pick; hedgerow jam to make; maybe some natural dyeing thrown in for good measure; and of course the sunshine to enjoy.  Enjoy every last bit of warmth there is in the sun before the seasons really do move on and there is Christmas around the corner. x