A New Year and a New Project!

It may be having all this time off, but I've been really very creative lately.  I started making a patchwork star the other day as it is almost Epiphany.  I had no real notion of what I would be doing with it...

I then started painting a very small acrylic picture of Charleston House in East Sussex.  I always sketch in first so I have an idea of what I'm doing.  It was based on a photo I took during the Autumn when we popped in on our way home from Rye.  It isn't perfect but I was happy with it as I haven't painted for a little while and the size of the canvas was rather small!

 

I was still keen to do something creative, and thought about Mr C saying to me about making a patchwork quilt.  So I got out a huge pile of materials, made a lot of mess then had an idea about using bits and pieces of unused material to make a patch with applique in the middle.

 

 

Above is the background, which I've used a zigzag stitch on the sewing machine.  I will then hand sew some embroidered flowers from badly stained old linen onto the top of that.  I can't embroider myself, but I like the idea of reusing something that was made years ago.

 

 

This will then make the second patch.  I expect the quilt will take about 25 years to complete, but I like the idea of doing a patch at a time and seeing where it takes me.  Wish me luck!

 

I can't quite believe it is January already and we only have three more days of the Christmas season.  Work is looming again on Monday, but I'm trying not to think about it too much.

 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain.

Apple jam and patchwork hexagons

I decided to make Apple Jam with the apples from our tree (and some from a friend who is inundated this year).  I would usually make chutney with apples, but we have made a lot of marrow pickle and still have some left over chutney from last autumn.    

I found this recipe which is an old recipe http://recipewise.co.uk/apple-jam-victorian-recipe.   

It is pretty simple and I found a handful of blackberries from the freezer to add the bit of colour and taste they mentioned, as I didn't have loganberies.

Apples from our tree

The slightly tedious bit - peeling!

The ingredients in my new jam pan

Ta-da! Fourteen jars of apple jam! 

We found a rather dull modern pine wall shelf on eBay recently and Mr C did a lovely job on painting it and making it look fabulous.  It now sits on our bedroom wall in a little corner filled with old small books that were scattered about the house.

I've started putting together some hexy patches to make a patchwork picture.  I've got an idea what it will look like of course, and if it works well I will post a picture later on.  I've just started to make the hexagon patches and still have a way to go before I can sew them together.

 

Its now September and the weather has cooled down a little, especially first thing in the morning and last thing at night. We seem to have a bit more rain too, which is very welcome.  The most exciting thing in the garden at the moment are the visitors we've had.  We saw a thrush on our bird feeder several times last week and last night we kept on hearing a loud kik kik kik sound from the garden.  It sounded different to the usual blackbird and robin sounds we hear, so I stood at the back door looking to see where it was coming from, and from the top of the large fir tree next door was what we think was a Great Spotted Woodpecker!  I managed to take a poor picture by zooming in madly, which helped us identify it.  This was wonderful news!

A sudden burst of creativity...

About six months ago I planned to make a new patchwork cushion to go on our bed.  A few weeks later I cut out the squares and planned how I was going to do it.  Just before Christmas I started hand sewing a few squares together.  Then about March I marked out the rest of the squares.  The half sewn squares looked rather pretty strewn on the table in the study for a few weeks, but they weren't becoming a cushion any time soon.

Spot the bits of material not becoming a cushion, bottom right.

The garden starting calling my time and effort, and there has been a lot of work to be done. This weekend after quite a lot of problems getting the sewing machine to work (due to me probably not understanding the technical aspects), Mr C managed to sort me out. 

We made some bunting to go out the front of the house for next weekend's 'Open Garden' day (terrifyingly we are allowing the people in our church to walk around our garden for charity, more of that next weekend), then I not only started on the cushion but actually finished it entirely and found time to also make a simple dress for my old childhood doll Tina.

Finally completed!!

Tina and her halter neck summer dress and matching hair band!

And now the table in the study just features a small vase of the wonderful lilacs that are gracing the bottom of the garden.  I just hope the lilac will still be out next weekend so people wont notice the weeds at that end of the garden!

I'm really a complete beginner with sewing other than some very simple projects, but I'm so pleased that I've managed to get some bits and pieces done and they don't look too bad.  I will take a picture of the bunting at the weekend, and report back on how the open garden goes....

Easter weekend and the missing simnel cakes

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter, when I thought about my post I had to add in a picture of a lamb.  This one belongs to my sister in law.  It was being taken for a walk a few weeks ago.

A year ago the spring bulbs were out in our garden and looking resplendant in the spring warmth.

This year they are still tightly in bud and despite the increased daylight hours, nothing is warm for very long and they remain closed.   We've read that this has been the coldest Easter weekend for some years, and I must agree as I sit here typing with a blanket on my knees!   I was very pleased to help our church flower ladies this Easter and am really quite proud of my first major display.

I don't know whether its the cold weather, but we've seen some different birds in the garden lately - a pair of wrens flitting around our herb pots near to the back door, and a small group of chaffinches feeding at the end of the garden with the blackbirds.  Mr C has taken a few pictures which I hope to post soon.

We did a lot of cooking over Easter, and instead of my usual large simnel cake I did mini simnel cakes.  I would have taken pictures but they were so lovely most of them have been eaten! I did take a picture of our Easter tree though

I must also continue with my patchwork cushion... 

Patchwork cushion joy

After a morning at our local church helping to clear up the garden, I  came home determined to finish my patchwork cushion.  Mr C and I had put together the design a couple of weeks back:-

I started sewing it a week ago but had been too busy since and was dubious about my ability to even complete it.  I am a complete novice at anything other than basic hand sewing but really want to make pretty homemade items for Hazel Cottage and figure that even if I'm not particularly good, I am at least learning!  Even though I struggled at times, and it isn't as exact as it should be, I am incredibly proud of the end result!