Post Comment Love 12 - 14 June

Hello there, welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a relaxed, 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, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they will be removed, and if you see older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

I’m just back from ten or so days in France, and it was wonderful. We travelled to Angers and Tours in the Loire by train and it was really easy, and a lot less hanging around than in an airport. We’d built in an overnight stop in Paris on each journey, as well, why not. We also crammed a lot in, which means a whole new pile of photos to edit and stories to share - and we saw quite a few gardens along the way.

But that’s all for another day, instead I’ll share a poster for a music festival which caught my eye as we walked along the banks of the Loire. I’m not a festival goer, but I loved this poster!

Have a good week.

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The terraced borders and magnolias at Powis Castle

I ended my post on the giant hedges in this garden teasing you with magnolias and more flowers, and I won’t disappoint. But in that time I’m sure our own gardens have more than sprung into life, I really don’t know where the time goes, but anyway…

The borders are terraced with each mostly having a beautiful brick wall as their background, this immediately struck me as an ideal place for inspiration for my own garden, and I’ll share more in a separate post on how their use of plants against the wall has inspired me. These borders though are deep, gorgeous but deep and that means a lot of plants and probably in my own garden not an awful lot of room left for the grass!

They were full of fresh green spring lushness - whether that was the new growth, or the zing that the euphorbias bring.

But there were also plenty of magnolias. Their scent filling the air as we got close, such a joy.

I might have also found an euphorbia that MOH could get on board with - these orange flowering more spicy looking plants bring a less usual spring colour to the party, so I’ll be on the lookout for something like these, even though I will still continue to love the zesty lime green versions.

There was also the hint of the peonies to come, right next to the joyfulness of spring that is tulips.

And this spring these Imperial Fritillarias seem to have called my name - I’m seeing them everywhere, and they were even on the front cover of one of the RHS magazines that arrived in the post, and have subsequently become my phone’s wallpaper. So it’s safe to say that at some point I’ll be having my own plants, I just hope they look as good as these - and the ones on my phone!

Ah, more magnolias - such luscious pink flowers this time and such glorious scent.

But the irises and buddleia weren’t to be outdone and they each brought their own shade of purple to the borders.

But in springtime, it really was the magnolias at Powis Castle that stole my heart - it’s easy to see why isn’t it?

A quilty update - June 2026

It was only March when I set out my quilt plans for this year, and to be honest it seems like yesterday - but one of the things I want to do more consistently this year is my quilty updates, even if there isn’t that much to share.

I’m being harsh on myself, there are some quilt updates to share but while last year’s stretch project took over a bit, I’m finding that without that structure I’m not quite so productive. I’m sure I’ll work it out, but hopefully when the weather’s not so warm!

So how am I doing?

1. The teal flying geese

2. The jeans and pyjamas

3. My floral fancy

The update for all of these is there is no update, so that was easy!

4. My English Paper Piecing (EPP) blue diamonds

There is progress of sorts on this one, albeit small. It’s become my project to take to my monthly Monday evening sewing group, and so it has had an outing and a small update. I’ve even moved it into an organised bag so I don’t need to think about getting it all together before I head out, the issue has been life - and I’ve only managed two out of five of the monthly meetings, but then again this was always going to be a slow burn project.

5. Scrappy houses charity quilts

I have completed my first village quilt, and I’ve almost got enough houses for the second one, so that’s real progress. I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, especially as these are all pieces of fabric that were leftover from other projects (mostly the stretch project) and might have been deemed on the small side for keeping. And I’m sure whoever the recipient is won’t mind about that one bit.

6. Wonderland meets Moda

7. Word Star

Again, there is no update on these.

A couple of bonus quilty updates

1. My mystery block of the month quilt has been playing heavily on my mind, but now the quilt top is finally finished. After I joined the monthly blocks together and added the sashing between those blocks, I spent some time pondering the borders - or specifically how wide they should be.

I wanted them wide enough to add some width to the quilt so I can use it on a double bed, but not so wide that it looked silly. In the end I settled on increasing each border by an inch, and ahead of adding the final border I did the sensible thing and took it to my patchwork group for confirmation and reassurance, and the use of the floor in the village hall to check it out once and for all.

So the quilt top is now done - yay! Now it needs basting, quilting and binding which for the size of the quilt is no small job.

2 The second bonus quilty update is another quilt, but not one made by me. Mum decided to use up some of her charm packs and make a quilt to donate to Project Linus, which I’ll take along with me when I donate mine.

Isn’t it bright and cheery - I love it (but will still donate it, honest)

So there has been quilty progress against my long list, and none of it has been a chore - I just need to work out how to do more with my sewing time, and to make time for more sewing time!