There you go. The first 50 blocks done and sewn up to plain white squares. Hopefully I am over halfway there now. I think I need to order more white though. Quite pleased with myself.
Accurately pieced too. (For once!!)
Today I must crack on out in the garden, dead heading roses, weeding, potting on tomatoes and taking either tomatoes or cucumbers up to the polytunnel to carry on flowering/fruiting as too many in the greenhouse. Perhaps cucumbers would be best up there as they need stringing up and more room in the polytunnel. Tam's Cantaloupe melons need to go up there too.
I had an invitation from my neighbour to come up for tea, to meet his family who had come down for a couple of days and were staying in an Air b'n'b just up the road. That was a lovely evening (I had baked them a Chocolate Apple cake). Lots of chatting and great admiration for the wonderful wool embroidered picture his mum was making. It was gone 8.30 when I returned - no Pippi. Called and called. No Pippi. 9 p.m. she finally decided to come home. Little ratbag. She is NOT allowed out at night - nor is Lulu who is fairly gormless as she is an Upstairs House Cat only - until she decides to disappear in the bushes on the bank which she did the night before, and she would NOT come out. I had to stop playing "the game" and came in and then she gave up as it's no fun playing hide and seek with no one to try and find you!
Butter wouldn't melt . . .
As I had woken at 3.20, got up after lieing awake for an hour, had a nap later, I am surprised I managed anything at all yesterday. Today I had a lie-in - till 5.30 . . .
Progress with the chairs. The one on the right is nearly finished. I gave it a 3rd coat of Boiled Linseed Oil yesterday. Now it just needs a little polish with some wax. The one on the left slurped up the oil - being in a dip tank is the worst possible fate for wood. I am waiting to hear from my carpenter about the back splat, having sent him dimensions and a pattern. I need him to show me how to fix the top bow too as in order to try and glue the upright in, someone sawed a notch to the bow to do so and now the upright has come unglued and the top is unsightly. I Bri-waxed the stripped shelves on the bookcase I am sorting out too.
3/4 way through The Mechanical Devil by Kate Ellis, and have been listening to some excellent podcasts on The Three Ravens, especially the long one about Cardiganshire.
I think that cats just do what they want to do and we are merely their door opening servants, and official 'worriers' about their safety. Ginger has really bad arthritis in his legs now, especially his ankles and yet he is determined to go out the front door, through the neighbours garden and then re-enter our property over the fence at least once a day. Jumping around definitely aggravates his feet but he does it anyway. Are you going to be selling your quilt or is it to be a gift?
ReplyDeleteThey are small cats though, and I worry about them meeting up with that horrible feral tom. Though if caught together, they would beat 7 bells out of him as they did with Emma's cat when it lived here! Sorry that Ginger has such bad arthritis but it doesn't seem to stop him jumping off the fence!
DeleteThe pink and white quilt is a housewarming gift for D&E. The pink one I put the centre back in will be sold when it is finished.
nice work. My first bigger quilt was similar, Irish Chain pattern . Son#1 chose that and the colours..red and green with a black background. Fair enough, it is his quilt! Still using it 30 years later
ReplyDeleteOH gosh, that is a very definite colour palette! I made Danny something similar with an action hero in the middle. This will be appreciated more by E I think!
DeleteDead heading can be quite a pleasant activity can’t it? My lovely calendula have been ruthlessly dead headed by dozens of caterpillars, I didn’t know that they would be susceptible, grew them because they are considered an easy plant!
ReplyDeleteGreat progress on your quilt.
Alison in Devon x
I was doing it for half an hour this afternoon and managed 5 roses. Indigo had flowered profusely all at once and a lot had gone oer.
DeleteSorry about the caterpillars on the Calendula. Truly a sacrificial plant then!!
I did a double bed size Double Irish Chain by the speedy "Quilt in a Day" method. I did the prewash of fabric the day before, but cut from scratch in the morning, and by evening the top was complete. However, the only way to get it done in a day is to tie the layers together, so mine sits unfinished as I want to quilt it properly by hand.
ReplyDeleteOh well done. You certainly cracked on with that. What a shame you haven't had a chance to quilt it yet.
DeleteCats can be little b****** sometimes, and they know when you want them in, so they just thumb their noses at you. I spent some time gardening on Sunday, it was lovely in the cool air, dead-heading and cutting off browning leaves and removing some of the tomato foliage. Yesterday I did the same at daughter's, as Iris was at school until Grandad fetched her and Baby C was asleep. I could have done more there but the baby needed feeding and changing. They just don't have the time and Natalie was running the University graduation days at Buxton, she got home at 9.30! Xx
ReplyDeleteI am such a worrier. Losing Keith made me very vulnerable and I have always found death difficult to deal with.
DeleteThe dead heading was very therapeutic, as was sorting out cucumbers plants and Cantaloupe Melons, and pollinating all the flowers on those and the tomato plants.
Gosh, your daughter has a lot on her hands with working full time and the little ones.
Went down to the caravan and left my wife there for a few days while some work is done on out house, I came back today but via Garway and Kentchurch. Garway was interesting but a long way to go for an arch. Kentchurch was locked. Heading back later this week to the caravan for a few days and will worry more churches on the way down.
ReplyDeleteIt is always irritating when a church is closed. Garway is more than an arch. It has the remains of a probable Anglo-Saxon church at its roots, and the original round nave (which with the square chancel was very similar to the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The ruins still show, following the 1927 dig which revealed them. There are some symbols on the outside walls showing Greek, Maltese and Lorrine crosses and a reversed swastika. I must look for these next time I go there. I am glad that Keith got to see it as he was always interested in the Templars.
DeleteDam I missed seeing those though I did see the ruins outside, mind you I did wonder how they ended as ruins
DeleteI know, the number of times I have visited a church and managed to miss a particular feature I would have loved to have seen!
DeleteGosh that quilt is stunning!! I just love it & of course, being a pink lover, I am very drawn to the colours/fabrics you have used.
ReplyDeleteSo you have a Pippi cat too .... & it sounds like your girl is equally as "tart faced" (my sister in laws description 😉) as my girl is?
Currently I am trying to get her inside for the evening ... all the other cats are in. She is being particularly naughty tonight & runs when I call her but watches me from a distance. It drives me bonkers (& really I am already batty enough). I am glad your girl turned up for you & yes it does look like butter wouldn't melt! They are a law unto themselves aren't they. xx
It will look pretty when finished. I'm waiting on more pink prints to arrive, so can't plan the eventual layout until the new quilt blocks have been sewn.
ReplyDeleteThose girls wind me up. Lulu rarely goes out, and when she does it is late in a summer evening so I can get panicked over whether she is going to hide out until it's dark. Pippi can hear me perfectly well, but SHE is the boss :) Even when she was shut in the end of the stables this week, and had been for hours, she didn't meow at all until SHE decided she was fed up! We love them too much don't we?
Oh Yes we surely do love them! I totally agree. ♥️
Delete