De-construction

I have been working on a quilt since Christmas.   This is a first for me and something I have wanted to try for sometime.

The initial pattern came from this book

As it was being put together we decided that it was a little too plain for us so the patchwork lines were added to break up the plainness and add a little more interest.  This theme was carried through to the binding which is a kind of patchwork stripe.

It has been fun to do,  although a mammoth task.  When it was time to add the batting and the backing I had to virtually move all of the furniture in the living room to lay the whole lot on the floor to baste and pin it.   It took hours to complete this step,  fortunately I had Mr Milly on hand as a spare pair of hands and voice of reason to keep me sane as I struggled with the three layers and metres and metres of fabric.

Once this step was completed it was then a struggle to quilt all the layers - it took a couple of evenings to do this as it is really tiring feeding it all through the sewing machine, folding, tucking, squishing and balancing the weight all at the same time.

Quilt in Progress

The final step was the binding.   One side is sewn using the machine,  the binding is then tucked and folded and  hand sewn to finish.    Eventually the quilt was put on the bed,  we stood back to admire our handiwork and it was immediately obvious that it was too small!!  How very frustrating and disappointing is that!

This Sunday was a perfect day to de-construct and work again on the quilt - too much snow to want to venture out of the house.  One side and part of the top and bottom  of the binding was unpicked,  a new line of pattern strips sewn and joined together and the whole thing put back together again.   The next evening I spent hand sewing the binding back onto the quilt and it is done.

Finished!

This time (it is the final time as I have now run out of backing fabric and batting) the quilt is a much better size.   The quilt is a fairly basic pattern and I would like to tackle something more complex - but not for a while.   I think that will be a job for next winter, which gives me plenty of time to gather the fabric and decide the type of pattern to attempt.

We have been busy

I thought I had finished the quilt and have now decided a little more work is needed on it  :(.  Pictures to follow.

Yesterday the Portuguese Housekeeper  came to the Lottie with me - I had a definite mission in mind for this weekend - to clear as much as possible of the front on the plot.  Between us we soon got into a rhythm,  using my Azada I would take some grass off,  the Portuguese Housekeeper would load the grass into wheelbarrow and deposit it on the heap behind the plot, by the time she returned the next lot of grass and debris was ready for loading into the wheelbarrow.  A good couple of hours of this went on, we did have a  couple of tea breaks though as it is very hard work!  We didn't quite get the whole lot cleared,  however we were both really pleased with the progress and I am so relieved to finally be getting this eyesore bothersome bit of the plot tackled.   I want to get it sorted as soon as possible so that I can compost and manure it before the growing season gets properly under-way.

It does all look a bit grim!  I have been trying to find a before photo without success.
This has made me realise how carefully I have avoided photographing the front of the plot.

The shed looking as good as before following a little paint touch up this weekend, I even cleaned the window and now I am thinking how cute it would look with little curtains - I am sure I have some fabric that I could use!  

I am still debating on whether to take on another small plot - I do think I am going to rapidly run out of  space for all the things I want to grow.  Another plan and probably the more reasonable one is to extend my plot backwards.  There are no plots behind me  and unlikely to be - it is very tempting to go in this direction,  and I think with a bit of moving around I could get in another 1 reasonable size bed or possibly a couple of smaller ones and have a good size plot.  Brambles are growing here though - more roots to be dug out YUK!  I'm going to have a think about this and hopefully if the weather is good this weekend Mr Milly will be able to get to the plot and between us we can make a decision on what we are going to do.

Today I have acquired a table - Mr Milly is pleased as I was after him building me a potting bench,  the table will do the job nicely and of course somewhere for the camping stove and a cup of tea.    My Boy collected the table for me today and took this picture for me too - his photography skills leave a little to be desired!

 A lovely Freecycle freebie for me and with a coat of paint I am sure it will look as good as new.  There is a brilliant choice of colours on the market,  I think I have narrowed it down to 2 - guess which is my favourite?????

That's My Milly's job for the weekend - rub down and paint the table,  a lot easier than building one from scratch and how brilliant is Freecycle!

I have had a few lovely comments recently,  Blogger is frustration though as I will have comments left by Anonymous - I would really love to know who you are, please please leave your name if leaving me a comment!!  

Some comments for your comments!:

Nearly There Claire - Thank you for all of your comments, it is good to hear from a kindred spirit and your blog is great,  I'm looking forward to watching your allotment progress!  The flagstones for the shed were laid directly on the soil,  we did our best to level it all out and just plonked them on!  The shed is still standing with no wobbling so all is good!  The foot did heal OK!  And the cider Boat is fab - although I am always the oldest to visit I still love it!!

Anonymous - from this post Re-use and Re-cycle.  I am glad you have enjoyed reading my Blog witterings and hope you continue to do so!  The chickens are all doing great at the moment with feathers reappearing after the recent moult.   Egg production is definately down though and during the very cold spell we had recently, no eggs at all.   I think with the dark short days the poor chicks are confused and can often be found in bed at 3.30 in the afternoon - This really affects egg production!

Colin - How lovely to hear from you and thank you for your comment - I definately WON'T let them beat me!

Anonymous - from this post How annoying.  Your comment did make me laugh! A finally touch up with paint this week and the shed is now looking as good as new!

Quilting

Tonight I am trying to finish the quilt,  there has been a choice made tonight - keep on with the quilt or stop and blog for a while.   The quilting has won........  back to the needle and thread  with a Blog update tomorrow.

Alison x

Re-use and Re-cycle

The first of this years seeds have been potted up woohoo!!

Lots of little paper pots have been made with the freebie papers that drop through the letterbox,   old margarine tubs have been cut up to make the plant labels and the seed trays and propagators are from my freecycle collection last year.  Pretty good going I think and a really good use of bits and pieces around the house.

Potted up today were;-

Gardeners Delight Tomatoes
Geraniums
Candy Cane Sweet Peas
Aubergines

All are now residing on a window sill in the spare bedroom, fingers crossed they sprout and grow.

The weather as expected was not great today  - we debated all morning whether we should venture to the Lottie,  in the end though it was a no-go,  how disappointing :(.   I consoled myself with planting up the seeds and re-checking my planting list!

I spent a little time this afternoon at the lovely sewing machine tackling the quilt I have been working on since Christmas  - it is huge.   The end is in sight as all the blocks have been cut, ironed, sewn together, ironed some more, batting and backing applied and pinned and the hardest bit of quilting all the layers together is now under way.  This is really tough to do as there is just so much of it and it is a wrestle with all the fabric and the sewing machine.   I can only work on the actual quilting for short periods of time as it is exhausting!  Tonight I am cutting the strips to make the binding - I'm looking forward to this as then it will be done.

A very little sneak peak of the quilt.

Finally today my latest ornament - I have seen these types of things in a few places and decided I wanted one,  I had forgotten about the twisted willow growing in the garden, which is now getting huge.  Mr Milly thought I had lost the plot when I stood for ages in the garden looking at the willow tree - I wasn't mindlessly looking though I was deciding which bits would be the best to cut for my ornament.   Finally the decision was made and a few snips later, a bit of arranging in a vase and bingo - I had exactly what I wanted.   My oldest nephew had helped me last weekend collect some acorn cups when we were at the Lottie - another one in the family who thought I was losing the plot LOL!!

Anyway - it was a good excuse to do some needle felting - the result an acorn tree!   The plan is to change the decorations throughout the year  - hearts during February,  Eggs at Easter,  Pumpkins at Halloween,  baubles at Christmas and whatever else takes my fancy for the rest of the time.

Not a great photo - I'll try to take one in the daylight tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting today.
Alison x