this and that

December is nearly here and Christmas round the corner - there is so much more to think about this time year. 

Which probably explains the slow stitching week.

But I did manage to make 3 more sets of flying geese for "Cool Flying Geese" quilt; that makes 23;
7 more to make for the main part of the quilt.

We are having horrid first Sunday of Advent,
rain and strong winds; it is really dark and grey outside, not good for taking pictures.

I have completed the bottom part of wool embroidery.
I am enjoying stitching these mystical flowers and creatures.

I have also been doing some more hand quilting of the Yoko Saito's quilt and more applique stitching on "St. Germain".



On the dining room wall  "Winter House" quilt, finished a year ago, has replaced  "Four Seasons Chickens" quilt, which had been hanging there for the past few months.

And I want to start baking some Christmas biscuits this week.

I hope you are having fun with all your Christmas preparation!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2015

this week - back to St Germain

This weekend's stitching - automatically I turned to the somewhat neglected project box.

Perhaps this is my way of dealing with the feeling of sadness and helplessness of this weekend. 

The "St Germain" quilt is named after and paying a homage to that  beautiful part of Paris, St. Germain.

DH & I spent our honeymoon in Paris, 45 years ago this week.

I am now working on outer borders, 2 long and 2 shorter ones.

 One of the long borders is finished and yesterday I started on the other side, to mirror the first border.

It is a dull weekend, not ideal for taking pictures.

Earlier in the week I finished the yellow flower on the wool embroidery and nearly completed another one;

 I need to get more of the main colour thread to finish this one.

©pleasureinstitching.blogpot.co.uk 2015

FNwF - wool embroidery

The first Friday in November (really?) and another enjoyable time stitching with friends around the world.

Thank you Cherryl for hosting it yet again, you are a star!

So what was I doing doing?

I resurrected a wool embroidery for a cushion, which I started a year ago and which was lingering in the corner of my room. It is interesting how, when the weather gets cooler, we gravitate towards something warmer to stitch. That said, it has actually been quite warm for the the time of year, be it wet and windy, quite horrid the last couple of days. Sitting indoors with some stitching has been absolutely the best place to be.

The design comes from this book by

Karin Holmberg.

I love this book, I wish I had the time to make more of the projects in it.  

I made a mistake right at the start (this is my first wool embroidery) by marking the whole design on the wool felt I am working with. 

Live and learn - it just doesn't stay there, most of it rubs away while stitching. The thing to do, obviously, is to mark only the outline; the details later, as and when working it.

I finished the central motif,

and I started working on a flower further down the design.

If you want to know what the others got up to on Friday,

just visit Cherryl's blog by clicking on her name at the top of this post.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2015

1st November

The past week was very changeable, early frost one morning, but all changed again as the week went on; heavy rain mid week, but getting warmer again.
 Halloween evening was dry and warm; we were expecting friends for dinner, so I was busy in the kitchen, while DH was distributing "treats" to small scary looking creatures ringing the doorbell; he thinks there was about 30 of them this year, accompanied by their parents.

And what a glorious Sunday; in some parts of the country they recorded the highest November temperatures ever, as other parts were shrouded in a fog.

We were the lucky ones, basking in full on sunshine and enjoying our lunch in the garden, with temperatures around here in high teens. 

We keep talking about "putting the garden to bed", but there is still so much growing out there, it seems the shame to cut it down.

The cosmos shot up last couple of month, it think it is a beanstalk. It is even still charming butterflies.

Abutilon will keep showing of until the really cold weather hits.

We planted a passion flower in the spring and it has done very well, but the buds failed to open, probably due to our cold summer this year. 

Lets hope for better result next year.

 The winter flowering clematis can't wait, the buds are forming earlier than last year.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

It is hard to believe, but we have found a space in this tiny garden for one more flower bed, and this is the start of it; some plants are already lining up for it.

Next years this patch of dirt will be full of colour.

Not very much sewing going on; but now the autumn evenings are with us, I have returned to hand quilting my "houses" quilt, a slow progress.

And 4 more sets of flying geese blocks for "Cool Flying Geese" quilt.

Thank you for stopping by,

have a great stitching week!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2015