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Wednesday 5 August 2015

More random witterings.

On this gloriously wet and windy day I chose to put 2 loads through the washing machine. In my defense I have to say that the sun was shining at the time, I got the first load pegged out and 20 minutes later the heavens opened, hey ho, it is all on the horses now.

I have sewn the third cushion front, I used a different construction method and am much happier with the end result. Now it just a question of perfecting the method and hoping that it gets even better, practice makes perfect,  better will do).


The points are closer together here and almost line up, when I make another block I will see if this was a fluke. If my new (to me) method does work I will be sharing it. I am enjoying this block, and any way to make it simpler is well worth sharing. I am still unsure of a full sized quilt, the many layers of fabric make it fairly heavy without batting and backing. I am thinking of trying a few blocks with solid colours for the background and a very bold pattern for the middles.

I have started to load another quilt onto the frame, it is very big. This may be too big to sew on the frame, I have only pinned the lower edge of the top so far and am not certain that I can wind it onto the rollers with the 1600P on the slide. If that is the case I will pin baste and sew it on the table.


I have another top that is,at least, as large and then another 3 to quilt yet.
My neighbour has made a good start on the jungle, he has cut most of the undergrowth down and at least half of it has been burnt, the rest is too wet. The rampant growth has put so much pressure on the fence that it is leaning well over my side, we will be dealing with that asap. The idea is to cut it down from 6' to 4', then put in some more supports once it has been hauled upright. This will let so much more light into my garden that I am quite happy to help.

I am getting well excited about my visit to the quilt Festival, I had a long chat, via text, with Francesca this morning. She is almost as bad as me, and she can barely thread a needle never mind sew.

I cadged a lift into Swansea yesterday and paid a visit to the Grape Tree, a shop that sells nuts, seeds, dried fruits, whole foods etc. Their prices are very good and the quality is excellent. When I got back I googled them and now know why. The company is run by the founders of Julian Graves, the chain closed a few years ago, I used to use their Wisbech store on a regular basis. I stocked up on lots of goodies and will make a point of going back, probably on a monthly trip.

I am still dithering over what to grow on the house side of my arches, I may plant 2 pears and 2 apples, I did this at Tydd over a run of 6 arches and it worked well. I borrowed the idea from Geoff Hamilton. I also need to do a soil test to see if I can put Blueberries in the soil or will need to have them in pots.

I went down to the local library earlier, but it was not open, I will have another try tomorrow. I have a book to go back and want to find a couple to take with me.

While I was down that end I popped into the local shop and found 2 large packs of Chicken Tikka, ready to cook, reduced to 75p from £3.50, each will do 2 meals. I do have to eat through what I already have but that was too good a buy to miss.

Now I am off to put the kettle on.

                  TTFN                                                      Pam

6 comments:

  1. I'm glad you have found The Grape Tree, they are now expanding again, apart from the Ipswich one which has been there about 4 years we have one in Woodbridge now too. If only there was an Aldi or Lidl closer, shopping would be much simpler.

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    1. I plan on a trip to Swansea on a rough monthly basis, once I get to Pontardawe it is a 10-15 minute journey, depending on the traffic. I do most of my shopping in Lidl now.

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  2. Your quilting is simply amazing! I need to google The Grape Tree and see what it's like.

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  3. You can test the soil for the Blueberries, but I am sure you will find it is acid enouigh! That said, my blueberries are in a pot, mainly because I intend to take my (one!) bush with me. I saw a lovely planting yesterday - an arch of fruit trees (I think they were plums, but I could be wrong) - in a small orchard in Herefordshire (we were house viewing). It had formed a tunnel and was delightful, along with stand-alone trees.

    Your Cathedral Window blocks are splendid. I can imagine they would make a wonderful winter-weight quilt, or a hefty lap quilt for winter.

    I shall have to find the Grape Tree next time we go to visit Gabby in Swansea. We have Aardvark in Carmarthen, who carry excellent stocks but it will be good to compare prices.

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    1. I am sure that you are right about the soil in general but there are a few areas with thick layers of clay here, I had to grub one out.

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