Lately and pledges
Wow, how did we reach May already? Time has got away from me recently and I've been struggling to do more than work, sleep, keep up with the house, celebrate getting to the end of another week and fitting in something creative - however small. Work has been relentless over the past month but I'm hopeful it will settle down again in the next few weeks (I'm ever the optimist!) and I can get back into the rhythm of actually blogging what I've made.
This past month has been wonderfully productive for my English Paper Piecing quilt. I started this back in January and had been slowly but steady piecing the hexagons into small groups. It has been rare to see me without a needle and two hexagons in my hands when I've finally sat down for the day to watch TV. It is blissful to keep the stitches going and follow my plan - no real thought is needed! This and picking up exercise again (I got a bike and now cycle to/from work) have definitely kept me going. All of the hexagons in the photo above (and more) are now stitched permanently to at least one of their neighbours.
I've been venturing out into the gardens. It turns out we have some very healthy fruit plants out there! The rhubarb is thriving and makes a wonderful syrup that works very well with prosecco. I was surprised to learn we have one small strawberry plant, a thriving small community of raspberry plants, that our pear trees are in good health and we have a lot of herbs in pots. I've supplemented this by adding tomatoes, peppers and chilli peppers to grow bags in the green house.
And finally, I've been keeping up with what some of you are doing via social media (I've been really poor at blog reading since we moved and am trying to get back into the habit). So much so, that I made a late pledge to join in Me Made May. I was in two minds whether to do this as I often wear my makes and wasn't sure what the challenge would be. I realised that I had a number of makes that I rarely worn - mainly old makes and I thought it would be a good idea to try and reintegrate them into my wardrobe. If I can't by the end of the month, a few tough decisions might have to be made. I'll be documenting the makes I'm wearing everyday on Instagram.
I'm also very late in declaring my Vintage Pledge. I'm thrilled to be part of the wonderful group that Marie and Kerry have put together for the activities in July. I've completed the item for this and you'll have to wait until 20th July for the details but it's deep red and rather different to the styles to which I'm normally drawn. I'm pledging to make two more vintage makes this year - this seems reasonable and I have one dress already traced waiting patiently to be toiled.
What have you been up to recently?
This past month has been wonderfully productive for my English Paper Piecing quilt. I started this back in January and had been slowly but steady piecing the hexagons into small groups. It has been rare to see me without a needle and two hexagons in my hands when I've finally sat down for the day to watch TV. It is blissful to keep the stitches going and follow my plan - no real thought is needed! This and picking up exercise again (I got a bike and now cycle to/from work) have definitely kept me going. All of the hexagons in the photo above (and more) are now stitched permanently to at least one of their neighbours.
I've been venturing out into the gardens. It turns out we have some very healthy fruit plants out there! The rhubarb is thriving and makes a wonderful syrup that works very well with prosecco. I was surprised to learn we have one small strawberry plant, a thriving small community of raspberry plants, that our pear trees are in good health and we have a lot of herbs in pots. I've supplemented this by adding tomatoes, peppers and chilli peppers to grow bags in the green house.
I'm also very late in declaring my Vintage Pledge. I'm thrilled to be part of the wonderful group that Marie and Kerry have put together for the activities in July. I've completed the item for this and you'll have to wait until 20th July for the details but it's deep red and rather different to the styles to which I'm normally drawn. I'm pledging to make two more vintage makes this year - this seems reasonable and I have one dress already traced waiting patiently to be toiled.
What have you been up to recently?