Teeny Tiny Hexagons

So there were lots of sniggers in the workshop when I started on a little project I've been looking forward to since I bought the kit from Foltvilag at the NEC.  I love all the Foltvilag things - they're a Hungarian company and watching Margit working with all her different templates is always fascinating.  There were sniggers because it was generally thought that, yet again, my ambition was greater than my skill.

Anyway, I got my head down, and by the end of the day I'd made these:

See how tiny they are?  That's a real 50p piece next to them!

Annoyingly Foltvilag don't supply patterns with their kits - you have to email them to get the instructions.  I emailed at least twice, and kept checking to see if they'd sent them, but they didn't come.  And I couldn't wait.

So I went ahead and made the purse anyway, hoping I'd got it right.

When the instructions came through today, I realised I hadn't done it quite right, but it's okay and I'm pretty pleased with my little change purse!

I'm going to make more - the right way next time!

Our Visit to Lorne Hill Farm

I didn't realise this post had worked! - but it has.  This is a little video my friend Mary made of her and Trevor's visit it to us the other week.  We had a lovely afternoon with her six grandchildren aged from 2 to 16!

Festival of Quilts 2016

Brilliant time at the NEC last weekend and top of my list was going to  see Angela at the Bobbin Patch to get the kits for our Giant Bobbin Pin Cushion workshop on the 14th September:

You can choose from Owls, Sheep, Scottie Dogs or Cats and they are really fun and quick to make.

We looked at all the quilts, and the good thing about going for two days is that it's all a bit overwhelming on the first day but on the second day you can take more in.

I took loads of photos, of course, but am going to try and select a few favourites for this post.  I try to be really careful about taking down names etc but I'm not always so clever about it.

The first two quilts I was very excited to see was Medallion Quilt II by Jenny Otto - which is, of course, one of our very own Lynne Johnson Quilts:

So that was very exciting.

And then this one by Faye's daughter-in-law Anna Galvin:

That's not Anna in front of it, it was someone I don't know but she and her friend were really admiring Anna's quilt!

Next up is this 'Walled Garden Broughton Castle by Dorothy Clee which I loved because it reminded me of the gardens of my relatives in Blockley in the Cotswolds.

This one, Tumbling Blocks by Abigail Booth, was very clever and won third prize in the Modern Quilts.

and this one, Vintage Bouquet is by Jo Colwill of Cowslip with Eileen Luxford

 

I loved this one -  Wallachien Colours by Vera Skockova and Skocek Citbor - because I love the folky feel to it.

 



 

This one below was a massive quilt on the end of an aisle and the more I walked past it the more I warmed to it.  You had to admire all the work that had gone into sewing all the little hexagons together - each on about the size of a 50p.

 

 

The softness of the colours in Grey is Beautiful by Anne Lillihom Jorgensen really drew me

 

 

I loved this one on the Diversity in Europe stand

The border was so beautiful:

And finally, since so many of the ladies who come to our workshops keep bees, I have to include this:

So, there you are, a tiny selection of the many beautiful quilts we saw at the exhibition.  We had such a good time, enjoying the over night stay so we could attend the delicious meal and then be entertained by the brilliant talk afterwards by Kaffe Fassett - I wonder if any of my Hastings cousins know him?

Then how lovely to get back home to find this:

All stacked up nicely for me to wash up - thank goodness our new dishwasher has arrived!

Penny Quilts

They're on again, so I'm enjoying these long August days when I'm pretty much left to myself.  Living with a farmer and his son who work together with uncle means the day follows the following plan:

7.15am - farmer sets out to work bellowing at son.
7.25am - son charges out to work
8.15am - both return and bicker over breakfast
9.15am - son leaves for work
9.20am - uncle telephones to ask where son is
9.30am - farmer goes out to work

12.30pm - farmer comes back for lunch - son may or may not do the same so there may be a bit more bickering

1.00 pm - if son came back for lunch, he'll go out again about now

1.05pm - uncle telephones to ask where son is

1.15pm - farmer goes out to man the drier

8.15pm - both return too tired to bicker and just eat

and that's it really.  At least for now when Jonathan is working at the drier at Maidencourt.  Once they move over to the drier barn here, things get a bit more complicated and there are lots of calls for lifts back and forth, or cups of tea, or slices of cake which really disrupts my peace!

Anyway, the garden is finally being a bit more productive and I made pasta with sunburst squash and courgettes yesterday:

both of which have been a long time coming.

And I've also finished my chair back cover made as a Penny Quilt:

Penny Quilts or mats were very popular in the 19th century and made with whatever fabrics the maker had around the house.  Pennies were inserted in the little circles to make sure they laid flat, and the folk art designs usually included hearts, flowers and birds.
I've used the off cuts from the woollen quilt I made and I'm pleased with it (the woollen quilt is over the sofa).  I really wanted something over the back of the chair but it would make a really pretty cushion too

- I've put it in the Autumn schedule on the 16th November - yes, the schedule is almost complete, just waiting for one more date to be confirmed!

Harvest On Hold

Well, after such a good start last week, harvest has been on hold for quite a few days now.  Even if it's been sunny the corn is either too wet or not ready - and a drizzley day like today is no help at all.

This is a video of the boys working last Friday - harvesting the Barley.  My friend Colin, whose company is Cobi, made it with his drone. 

 

 

I think it's great - he did a lovely video of my daughter's wedding the other year, too.  Might cause problems when I do Blog to Print at the end of the year though!

Murder and Iced Coffee

So, Ros announced at Pitch and Stitch this morning that she is going on a knitting week in Shetland, which obviously led to our in depth discussion on how all 12 knitters could be bumped off, one after the other, 10 Little Indian Style.  Most popular were being garrotted by a skein of wool, obvious techniques with knitting needles, and then Jackie moved over to the dark side with a particularly horrible act which I won't repeat here.

Anyway, because we'd all got a bit hot under the colour, the topic of cool drinks came up and they all started moaning that I hadn't made any Iced Coffee this year, although I have, but it all gets drunk as soon as I make it.  Sandra said I really should put the 'recipe' on the blog, because she wants to make it, so here it is:

  Lorne Hill Farm Iced Coffee
 

Put a little hot water into the processor and about 12 heaped teaspoons of (good) instant coffee and 10 heaped teaspoons of sugar and give it a whizz:

Add about 4 ice cubes to cool it down and give it a whizz:

Top it up with Milk (you will probably have to add more when the bubbles have gone down) and give it a whizz:

and be sure to use

and then finally add a couple of dollops of ice cream (clotted cream ice cream is particularly good)

And that's it!  Simple!

Obviously this is extremely unhealthy so drink sparingly......actually, perhaps serving gallons of this would be another way to bump off one of those knitters........

And We're On!

That's what they say when the combine rolls out of the yard and out to the fields.  Harvest started on Friday, and the boys were out all that day and yesterday.  Today was one of those days when it looked like it could rain, but maybe it wouldn't.  This means Jonathan and George are kicking their heels around the house, not being able to decide whether or not to get on.....very frustrating,  but they have now decided that they are, in fact, on.

I'm trying to make my garden look great - it doesn't, but some bits are quite good.  The Tomatillos a friend from work gave me are really fascinating:

 

Can't wait to see how they open and then make green salsa from them.  I thought they looked like the Chinese Lanterns which are so pretty, and it seems they are from the same family.

The tomatoes I was given by Italian Maria have turned out to be plum tomatoes, which I've never grown before, so that's quite interesting too

I also rather like this plant:

 

which is Laurentia Astro and this, which is  a Night Sky Petunia

 

but I'm afraid the rest of the garden is very unspectacular.  Unbelievably I was able to pick enough beans for dinner yesterday but the plants actually look like dwarf plants - and my Sweet Peas are still less than a foot tall!  Oh well.....

 

We had a really good machine quilting class with Lynne on Wednesday - I actually managed to do it, although in a rather jerky fashion!

 

Still, more than I've ever done before!

And Sheila managed to sign her practise piece!