A nice note!

Received the following e mail and I'm sure Gill won't mind me sharing it:

First we would like to thank you for a wonderful peaceful and restful week on your CL site last week, you made us so welcome. we really enjoyed just watching the cows and especially the red kites.

Also thank you for making me so welcome to your Tuesday morning quilt session, it was really interesting to meet new people and see other peoples ideas and quilts.  Already planning when I can get back, visit must include a Tuesday. I have attached a photo of the little cathedral window piece I was working on.  I think I might turn it into a cushion.

 Here's the picture she sent:

Isn't that lovely?

Last week Clare Kingslake gave a wonderful, inspiring talk at the Market Square Quilter's club.  She talked us through each chapter of book, Folk Art Applique, showing us the actual quilts and explaining the process of publishing a book - so much work, to such tight deadlines, I don't know how she did it.

Saturday night I went to a party in Devon which involved me spending a night in a tent.  The party was great fun, the night under canvas confirmed my belief that it's time to put camping behind me.  I have never been so cold in my life - and just when I'd adjusted to it I realised I really HAD to go to the loo.  It's bad enough going to the bathroon at home when you're snug in bed, but having to put on clothes and wellies and trudge across a field to a portable loo was really not the nicest thing in the world!  Sitting in front of the tent in the morning, with a cup of tea in hand and looking at the beautiful view almost made up for it though!

Meanwhile, back on the farm, harvest has started up again.  It's been so difficult this year and later than I've ever known.  However, I shouldn't moan too much, in my father-in-law's day they would be desperate to finish it in time for the Agricultural Show - three weeks' away.

Here are some pictures George took from the corn trailer:

How can there be so much dust after so much rain?

Christine's quilt

Christine brought her lovely quilt to Pitch and Stitch this morning.  Her mother had made it for her when she went away to college and sent it to her in the post.  As with all the lovely old quilts, Christine could point to patches and remember what dress or skirt it had been taken from.  These sort of quilts, which evoke so many memories, have got to be the best.

Thanks to Sheri for the photos - she's back at work next week so we'll miss her at Pitch and Stitch - make sure you keep knitting though Sheri!

All kinds of sewing and knitting was going on - and an awful lot of chat!
Sandra and I have been drawing up the Autumn schedule - lots of interesting and fun classes.  We are also running a six week beginner's knitting on Monday evenings which will be great - I'll be using it to fill in the gaps in my rather sketchy knowledge of the craft!
We are also very excited about the Clare Kingslake workshop in October -we'll be making the hanging she has designed especially for Lorne Hill Farm (wow) and you can see it on her blog - http://www.clarespatterns.wordpress.com/

Finished!

Well - thanks to the rainy day I've managed to finish the Naive Flowers hangning!

Also, I've noticed a new development in my quilting - I've started unpicking.  I don't know what's come over me - I used to be proud of being slapdash and would happily point out mistakes in a finished quilt.  These days when things go wrong they get on my nerves and I unpick and start again.  I blame Lynne Johnson - she took one look at the disastrous centre of my Medallion Quilt and said, in the nicest possible way, "I think I'd have to unpick it".  So I unpicked it.......5 times.  And then it looked right.

Meanwhile, back on the farm....
Jonathan and George brought in the rams

and then George just mucked around on the bike!

Pitch and stitch

Lots of new faces again today! - including Gill from Felixstowe.

and Beverley and Caroline from Market Square Quilters - our quilt group in Newbury.  This is a detail from Beverley's lovely 'Smallholding' quilt:

Meanwhile, out on the farm - because I take George and Jonathan their tea down to the drier barn during harvest, I'm a bit late feeding the animals: so this is what greeted me when I opened the back door this evening!

But not everyone's moaning, Salt and Pepper are very happy.....

with all the apples they are getting from our trees!!

No time for quilting!

I've realised I talk to much, so have decided to put up a few pictures.  No finished quilts because it's summertime!  Last week we visited Tinturn Abbey which was fabulous:

But most of the time I am

Mostly dead-heading now

 Lots of tomatoes but my cucumbers are rubbish.

Sweet Peas are good this year - but I have to keep picking them or they'll be over before harvest!

Which is, by the way, finally underway.........for now.

Festival of Quilts

We've just got back from a really good day at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC.  It was really inspiring - there were lots of really beautiful quilts although, naturally, I didn't agree with the judging a lot of the time!
Most exciting was bumping into Clare Kingslake - and she has DESIGNED A LORNE HILL FARM REDWORK stitchery!!  Can't wait to see it - look out for the workshop in the Autumn.  Clare's new book is so lovely - it should be on every quilter's bookshelf.
Out of all the quilts I saw (and of course I didn't see them all) the one that I really loved (and this is where I wish I'd bought the catalogue - but I usually buy one and then when I get it home, because there are no pictures, forget which one was which - and yes, I know, if I was a serious quilter I'd take photos and make notes) was called something like Lady Isabella's travels - it was machine stitched pictures on white with what looked like faded embroidery templates in the backgrounds - hard to describe but it was beautiful - old-fashioned and delicate - I must find out more.  In the Picture quilts ( I think) there was an amazing hanging showing women in Australia preparing to decorate an old 'watering hole' with quilts and marching in with quilts and cakes - it was stunning, a real work of art and I don't usually warm to the art quilts.  There was also a beautiful double wedding ring (I know the pain that goes into them) and some lovely hexagon quilts which had been quilted in interesting ways.
On the shopping front I don't know what was wrong with me - I bought one quilt as you go book, some fat quarters, some thread.......and that was it!  I was really disappointed with the Il etait une fois stand - no stitcheries - and couldn't find the Petra Prins and assumed they weren't there.  When we got outside and I saw Helene had a bag of PP purchases, I could have happily scratched her eyes out.  I didn't.
A good day though, and thanks to Barbara for driving.  No thanks to Sandra who didn't make the sandwiches I was expecting.
Meanwhile, back on the farm, harvest is not happening so I have two very sullen men around the house who had to content themselves with worming the sheep today.  Probably won't be on tomorrow either so we will be morris dancing in Hungerford tomorrow afternoon, but if the forecast is right they should be combining again on Sunday.
And no-one bought the Friday Night Pizza Night pizzas so I had to drive into town as soon as I got home.

Tuesday morning

Another productive morning at the workshop.  There were 9 visitors all busy quilting, knitting and sewing so lots to see.  We had three ladies up from the CL - two from Devon and one from Australia - so lots to talk about.  Joan goes to lots of workshops in Devon and had some beautiful bags to show us, and the other two ladies were making 'disappearing blocks' quilts (how can it be that two people from opposite sides of the world would be making quilts from the same pattern and almost identical fabrics?).  I'm still working on the naive flowers hanging (too much gardening going on) but it's getting there.
It has been so hot these last few days and I envy Victoria who is spending a couple of days down at the beach.  Harvest has started round here so there is, as usual, a lot of tension in the air.  It comes around every year but farmers always seem surprised!  George is spending a week at Sparsholt learning tractor maintenance so we are one man short to drive the corn trailor.
Since visiting our village allottments (-they were immaculate) I've been doing a lot of gardening - weeding mainly.  Everything is coming up now so we have beans, tomatoes, courgettes, potatoes and peas - but it all has to be picked so work, work, work.
Better get out there now.......