Post Comment Love 19-21 August

Welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here this week we’re pleased you’re here.

It’s been one of those weeks - another doctor’s appointment for my troublesome toe resulting in more antibiotics, but not penicillin based ones as I’m reacting to those in a way I shouldn’t, and our coffee machine broke. Never rains, but it pours hey? A new one is on order and should be with us early next week. To be fair it’s had quite a good workout since and during the pandemic and in use every day.

I’m hopeful that my toe is on the way to being fixed now, it’s much less red and the swelling seems to be going down - it’s been playing up since 21 July, so it will be good to have a normal toe back.

Talking of rain - we’ve still had very little here, and I’m disappointed that none of the forecast thunderstorms arrived. We’ve a hosepipe ban starting on Wednesday, and like much of the country more rain is definitely needed.

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Deliberation lies ahead

If you’ve been here for a while then you’ll know that I’m a fan of scrappy patchwork quilts, and may even know that I had a grand plan to make my own using fabrics from my stash. As it turned out, progress has been slow - it’s been on the go since 2017, but as the saying goes you can’t rush a good thing! Or that’s my excuse anyway.

Over the Christmas break of 20/21 I picked it up again, the delay had been cutting the cream fabric which surrounds the coloured blocks, and once that was done I’ve been plodding through making up the blocks. The pattern says twenty blocks, but I’ve decided to make more i) for practice, ii) because I’d already sewn more when I realised and mostly because iii) so I can make sure the quilt fits a double sized bed.

This week I finally met the target of my forty blocks. Some are better than others, but overall even though I say it myself, they’re pretty good.

So having reached the target, I’ve stepped out of my chain sewing comfort zone and I’ve trimmed all the blocks so the final cream piece can be added on all four sides.

The next few stages are ones which create some offcuts. Hating waste I contemplated what I could do with them, but as I have no need for even more new projects they have gone into the bin.

Now I’m ready to square off the blocks. I’ve practised this next step on my wonkiest blocks, with the ones where the seams were not quite aligned. And I’ve surprised myself - this was my first sewing project for a long time, and since I started putting the blocks together I temporarily broke off to sew masks for both MOH and I during the early stages of Covid.

I’ve got fifteen blocks that are trimmed, so that leaves 25 to go - and then the deliberation and procrastination can start as I’ll need to decide on the layout for the quilt top, and exactly how many blocks I’ll use and the subsequent adjustments needed for the rest of the pattern.

With any luck, and a good wind behind me, I could actually have a quilt top in the not too distant future!

Post Comment Love 12-14 August

Welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here this week we’re pleased you’re here.

It’s turned warm again hasn’t it, which is not what our gardens or countryside needed. Thankfully though while it’s warm it’s not the record breaking temperatures we saw last month. I hope you’re coping with the heat, traditionally as it’s the summer school holidays it should be raining shouldn’t it?! As I’m writing this next door’s cat is making his way slowly through our garden looking for shade and a vantage point - he’s finally settled on the earth under the fatsia, close to his bolt hole back through the fence to home. He uses our garden as his own, and mostly tolerates our presence in our own garden, but isn’t the most sociable cat so if we get too close, he’s off. Though increasingly in this weather if we can reassure him as we walk past - keeping a suitable distance of course - he’ll tolerate that, and has even deigned to lap from the occasional saucer of water that’s offered - I feel honoured!

Last week we had a couple of days away, and you can read more in the post I’ve linked up this week. But let me tell you about this week’s photo - yes, it’s a proud peacock perched on the wooden gates of where we were staying. We were staying in an annexe in the host’s garden, and it’s clear that the peacock came by to survey the newcomers and let us know he was there - the noise!!

We’d heard him that morning, but never having seen a peacock like this before were none the wiser. I called to MOH and we both stood in our doorway marvelling at the creature - truly magnificent (and knew it) but also aware that keeping our distance was the way to go. The dog, and the house owners took no special notice of him as he waddled through the yard, so from that we took it not to be an unusual event.

For us Londoners it was quite the sight to behold.

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