Emma very kindly treated me to an outing tonight. We are going to the cinema in town to see "Vanya", based on Chekov's Uncle Vanya. It's a National Theatre production, screened live. Danny will chauffeur us so we can have a drink, and sort Keith out for bed for me. I won't know myself!
D, E & I have gone out for a walk across the fields (my favourite walk over towards the little church) to see The Fairy Tree with I. It has all sorts of nooks and crannies in it where the fairies might live.
I have put the crawler quilt back in the bag till tomorrow. All the blocks are sewn and squared off and the top two rows sewn in lines of 5. STILL more airtime for the stitch ripper. I have NEVER made more mistakes in any quilt before, but it is hard with "noises off" and "I" 's screaming dolly. Thank heavens her mum found the off button! You need concentration for sewing.
Your evening out sounds like just the ticket. Hope you have a good time.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great evening out, and we even went to a pub afterwards for a glass of wine, whilst we waited for Danny to come and pick us up.
DeleteAs I type this in mid-afternoon EST you are likely enjoying your outing. I'm sensing a gentle 'give and take' amongst you and Keith/Danny, Emma and I. No doubt there will sometimes be 'off' days or hours--times when anyone needs breather space.
ReplyDeleteI would love your walk to see the Fairy Tree. I'm always watching for trees with strange openings at the base or 'boles' partway up the trunk.
Re squaring blocks: I've never had to do much of that since I really got into quilt construction. I tend to cut all the pieces of one shape or dimension at a time, then go on to the next. I'm guessing that as you had to create your block with a bit of trial and error and 'unstitching' there might have been a wee bit of distortion along the way. I know it will come right in the end and be treasured.
It works out quite well, although there are times when some peace and quiet feel needed! I will walk across to the Fairy Tree for you soon, with my camera. I think it's a big Silver Birch but I may be wrong.
DeleteThese blocks went wrong on every level - having to work in snatches is never good, and the totally blunt cutter didn't help matters and then the central blocks I bought pulled out of place when I ironed the blocks. Hmmm. That was a mistake buying those as they were a thinner cotton than the fabrics I'd bought at Doughty's. Accuracy is essential. Rushing hasn't helped either. . . Just as well it's only to crawl around on.
J I am green with envy! My friend had a ticket I could have had but it was in Yeovil and I had to be at hers for 18.15, I’m here on my own and needed to shut the hens up and couldn’t have left in time . I adore AS, and the live theatre screenings are superb. I cannot wait to hear about it, you will be absorbed into performance and come out renewed I am sure. There is nothing like theatre to take us away from our present hubbubs in our heads. Danette x ps the witch hazel is lovely x
ReplyDeleteI hope you can still get to see it my dear as it truly was impressive and he (Andrew Scott) is such a talented actor. We had a drink whilst watching it, and another glass of wine waiting for Dan to pick us up. My first night out in a long while.
DeleteEnjoy your evening out. I have heard great things about Vanya.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It was nice to have something to stimulate my brain again. I really did enjoy it, and the night out.
DeleteLovely. I hope you enjoyed your evening out. Uncle Vanya, like most of Chekhov’s work - although I adore his short stories and return to them again and again - is a tough nut to crack. Sounds like those Peter Rabbits have been very troublesome. I think I might be tempted to cut my losses, remove the appliqué panels, square up all the blocks and not worry about wonky lines as long as the finished blocks are square and all exactly the same size. Otherwise I fear you will have more trouble when joining and then you really will be tearing your hair out. Since my cold/Covid I have not been able to drink wine as it tastes like metallic paint stripper. Luckily my food appreciation is back to normal and it was so miserable yesterday I made a coffee and walnut cake which cheered us up while watching antiques road trip. We had shared a piece of coffee and walnut cake during a visit to the Manor of Dean, open for the National Garden Scheme, on Sunday afternoon when it was warm enough to sit outside in the sunshine. After our supper of garden leek and Comte tart with corn salad (what I thought were forget me nots growing in the veg plot turned out to be delicious rosettes of self-sown corn salad!) we watched a double bill of Dad’s Army while I did an hour of stitching on an Annie Jack embroidery design and then I left the TV to S and went to bath and bed. I’m reading a good book for book group, “Wake” by Anna Hope set in the aftermath of WWI when the utter horror of the war continued to destroy lives. War does not end with a cease fire sadly. Anyway, Annie Jack was the wife of one of William Morris’ artisan workers and a talented embroideress with some of her work in the V&A. I’m using a chart from my “Antique Flowers” book and using up more of the gifted pillowcase of tapestry wool. This will be the third cushion i have worked with the free wool and after this I am definitely going to give the remainder to the charity shop. It’s so nice to have a short walk to a pretty church so looking forward to your walk. We’re about 10 minutes walk along the lane from St Agatha’s, the sweet little shepherd’s church with a churchyard full of snowdrops at the moment. I hope you can relax today, I imagine you will feel tired after an evening out. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly the blocks line up going across and I have a plan B if they are wonky going down, I will just put in a complimentary strip of one of the fabrics used, to take the eye off the wonkiness.
DeleteEnjoy your Annie Jack embroidery, and it is good that she is still remembered. What design is it? As it's from your Antique Flowers book it will of course be floral, but what sort of flowers?
I didn't work on the quilt yesterday - I know I can't get it finished, so pressure off. I had a nap yesterday as tired from being up late.
Ah, good idea. Like a sort of vertical sashing to keep it all straight and shipshape. It’s Elizabeth Bradley’s “Needlework Antique Flowers” book. You can buy a copy for £1 on Abe which I suppose demonstrates how unfashionable this sort of needlework is nowadays. Yet I enjoy the mindfulness of slow stitching and as I am working from a chart I have to keep my wits about me and concentrate. The flower is a natural-looking rose, very pretty and the chart is just for this single rose. When made into a cushion it will be a pretty and useful addition to my garden room. had to bring S home at 9.30 last night and I returned to the hall for the end of the quiz. I drove despite the full moon which had a rainbow coloured aura around it because the mist from the river was swirling around and chloroforming the fields. Did you see the lovely fire screen with a Berlin woolwork panel sell for about £30 at auction on Antiques Road Trip? I hope whoever bought it will treasure it. Sarah x
DeleteI hope you have a lovely evening, you really deserve it. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue. Indeed we did. My social life has ceased completely due to Keith's ill health.
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