Nearly a month since I last posted - my apologies. Life here has been complicated and consumed by unavoidable domestic responsibilities. I am sure I am not alone in having to shelve sewing from time to time to attend to more immediate (can't really say 'pressing'!) concerns.
However there have been some highlights in amongst everything else: I ran a successful Plant Sale in aid of our village playground (the equipment needs replacing after 15 years) and raised lots of money; now busy organising the village fete which is in less that six weeks' time, still much to do.
Best of all was a free ticket to the Chelsea Flower Show on Friday last. Such an unexpected treat, and such an amazing show. The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot, the gardens were beyond perfect and there were so many interesting plants displayed with art and imagination. Watching the coverage on television just does not compare with seeing it all close up.
We spent over 8 hours there, and probably could have spent even longer but our feet had just about had enough. As at the French quilt show, I feel my reserves of colour and inspiration have been topped up for the next year at least. I hope you all manage to get your fix of creative stimulation somewhere this summer.
So you will understand perhaps why I have not been sewing recently, but I wanted to get another post written before we are into June. Nearly half way though 2016 - how did that happen? Before it all got quite so crazy here I was managing more or less to keep up with my 365 Challenge. I had almost done all the 3" blue blocks, had pieced the middle and first borders, and started on the 6" light blocks.
These are the blue blocks for the month of March (though I think I did most of them in April).
This is the 18" centre medallion and first borders roughly pinned to my design board. You can see that I have used the same fabrics for all four borders although they are different designs: I am now thinking that as it is a very scrappy quilt I should have used a greater variety of fabrics in the borders. So that will probably need changing in due course.
For the time being, though, I had decided to press on with the 6" light blocks and I had managed to do about half of May's blocks before grinding to a halt. I was managing about two of the 6" blocks in an evening, so should have been able to catch up. Unfortunately though, I have not sewn anything for a couple of weeks and there is no prospect of any sewing for the foreseeable.
Despite the recent lack of progress and being constantly behind, I have absolutely loved making these blocks and would not hesitate to recommend the challenge to you. Each new block is a new adventure and it is so satisfying to get the block together satisfactorily. Some blocks are harder than others, but those are often the most rewarding and attractive blocks. And of course there is the endless fun of playing with colour and pattern, which is what we all love about patchwork in the first place.
We are not quite half way through - if you fancy joining in, the downloads are available here, and the series will be repeated next year, I believe.
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