Summertime

It's been quite a busy few weeks round here - and very wet!
Here are some of the things we've been up to:
Christine Brewster came and gave a workshop on willow weaving.  In the morning we made a trivet and basket, and then in the afternoon we moved on to more challenging things and using a sort of 'freestyle' weaving made sculptures.

It was a very productive day and we were all pleased with our efforts.

The day before was Medallion Quilt day - and another of these beautiful quilts was completed:

Well done Jackie.
The day before that was Pitch and Stitch - and Dawn brought along the lovely picture she has needle-felted:

It is of their little dog and Dawn had saved some of his fur from when she used to groom him, and incorporated it into the picture.

Then we went on our lovely holiday in France.  We stayed at Les Jincheres in the Deux Sevres and had a wonderful time.  As you can see from the weather house

The weather was quite changeable, but when it was hot it was very hot, and when it was cloudy it was still warm and we had very little rain which was a welcome change from home!  The gite was lovely and in the middle of nowhere so, as George said, the bad things about it was that it was quiet and there weren't loads of people about and the good thing about it was it was quiet and there weren't loads of people about!



On our return we discovered some new inhabitants at Lorne Hill Farm:

They've moved on now that we're back and banging in and out!
Last Wednesday we had the last day of the Beginner's Sampler course.  Everyone had done so well and Carole had actually finished!  Although not a complete beginner, Carole wanted to do the course to try out stitchery and applique.  She chose to make her quilt to celebrate her daughter's trip over to the other side of the world and so all the pictures were relevant to her travels.  It was so funny one day when we were all sorting out our blocks and talking about hearts and flowers when Carole said "Has anyone seen my Sidney Opera House?"

And this is the whole quilt:

Really stunning!
Finally, we went into Newbury to see the Olympic Torch.  It was far more exciting than I expected and I don't think I've ever seen so many people in town - all happy and cheering

Took some great pictures of the actual torch but it was a pity that the camera wasn't switched on at that point.....