Garden flower bouquet and a Monday finish

I love this time of year. The sun is shining and the garden is looking beautiful. This is the result of of all Mike's hard work, but under my direction, of course. The best thing is that there is plenty of choice to fill a vase for the house.
Today's choice is a mix of pink shrub roses, late flowering honeysuckle and Sambucus Nigra "Black Lace". The last is a version of the wild elderberry that we planted in the quarry garden years ago. I'm afraid that part of the garden is a bit of a mess but this bush is a towering display of tiers of pale pink blooms.

Last year our bees made a bee-line for our chimney for the winter. Unfortunately they died out early in the New Year. We were lucky enough to be offered a swarm of bees last week and we are thrilled to have honeybees in the garden again.

 Half of the bees were tipped gently into the top of the hive and the rest were left on a sloping board to make their own way into the hive. They instinctively walk upwards to the opening.

The hive is right down at the bottom of the garden and the bees seem to have settled well. They have been  drawing out the comb from the foundation and are busy bringing nectar and pollen back. Hopefully, the queen will start laying this week.

So to my finish. Ta dah!.....

It is the finished foundation pieced table runner. I have appliquéd the centre flower with whipped buttonhole stitch.

The glass bottles are all Victorian in origin. Mike rescued them when he excavated the ice house here on the farm. They are a mix of seltzer, medicine and poison bottles! We found a dozen Victorian champagne bottles too. The ice house must have become redundant and was then used a a dump. I think the bottles look just right with the colours of the table runner .

I have spent the afternoon preparing for tomorrow's masterclass by Harriet Hargrave on invisible machine appliqué. Bags now packed, machine checked and all the class requirements ticked off. I think I'll need my brain in gear tomorrow so I will be having an early night.

I will be linking to several of the link parties (see the right hand margin for the links)

Hope the sun is shining on you too today.

Catherine

Monday morning

It is sunny outside and I've woken up feeling optimistic and happy. For some reason I started thinking about the song "Monday, Monday" by the Mamas and the Papas; anyone remember it? Well it was a long time ago (1966) so you are forgiven if you don't know it. I checked out the lyrics and find they are so sad- that's really weird. I'm not sure why I associate it with feeling good. I must never have paid attention to the words. Still, it is a brand new week full of possibilities.

First, the almost finished top of a table runner.

I took a class on foundation paper piecing with Jeannie Duncan-Farr at Cutting Edge last week. I love FPP- the way you just cover the paper and get accurate points. Jeannie had designed a colourful table runner with a flying geese border.

Jeannies table runner from the Cutting Edge website

 I had chosen an entirely different colour palette for mine and struggled a bit as I did not have any green for the leaves. Still, here are some photos of my progress.

I have pieced the whole top now but still need to appliqué the central flower. It will be interesting to see how everyone else got on when we meet tomorrow for our monthly meeting. I plan to start a new embroidery as it will be something that is easy to do in the garden while enjoying the sunny weather.

Mike and I took a trip to the National Botanic Garden of Wales yesterday and what a treat! The main aims of the garden are conservation and research that is accessible to all. This gem of a garden is only an hour away from Cardiff and yet I only visited it once in the year it opened to my shame. The planting has matured and there is something for everyone to explore; history, sculpture, plants in medicine, bees, glorious gardens and the largest single span glasshouse in the world that was designed by Norman Foster and partners. A few photos....

It was difficult to show the scale of the glasshouse because of the way it nestles in the landscape.

If you are planning a trip to Wales try to get to visit the garden. Something here for everyone.

Have a great sewing week,

Catherine

I'll be linking to several link parties this week and I have the links in the sidebar on the right;

A brand new to me Monday link party Monday Makers run by Nurdan of Hug-a-bit Quilts. It would be nice if you could drop into her party and show some support.
Anything Goes Mondays seems to be missing this week.
 Linky Tuesday (Freemotion by the River) and So Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.
 Esther Aliu's WOW and WIP Wednesday (Freshly Pieced)

Reasons to be cheerful- finishes and flowers.

Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who has visited via Vicki's Grow Your Blog party 2015 and decided to follow my quilting and crafting adventures this year. The link to the party is in the margin on the right side as is my post for the party so if you are just catching up and want a chance to win the giveaway please visit my  original post and leave a comment. You do not need to follow to enter the giveaway or you may have been a follower for some time- anyone can enter!

I LOVE the end of January and the beginning of February. The days are now getting slightly longer and the dreary long month of January with it's low light levels is over. I've got several finishes to share as well so hold on to your hats and here we go!

I made the two foundation pieced hearts at a class with Sue Warren at Busy Bees in Newport ages ago. They are made on the quilt as you go principle. I really enjoy FPP. This was a simple block but I think it is quite effective. It has been languishing in a drawer for a bit (I've just checked and it was October 2014 I am ashamed to say!) so I decided to make the blocks into the front of a pillow (20 x 16"). Just right in time for Valentine's Day this month.

I also have two small knitting finishes to share.

• My very first pair of socks

The pattern is Hermione's Everyday socks by Erica Lueder. I adapted the pattern and used the Fish Lips Kiss heel which I found on Ravelry on Sox Therapy This pattern for the heel gets rid of any holes, flaps, picking up stitches and is well worth checking out. Full details of my socks are on my Ravelry page. 

• My first knitted hat

The pattern for the beanie is Oak Trail by Alana Dakos from the first Botanical Knits book. I used a SweetGeorgia Superwash Worsted yarn and the colourway is Oxblood. The yarn is subtly shaded and a very pretty color to cheer me up. I also treated myself to a few new circular needles and after lots of advice on Ravelry I plumped for Chiaogoo Red Lace fixed circulars. The tips are stainless steel with the size etched on, so no more guessing as numbers rub off. The red cables are flexible and they are a joy to use. I got mine from Loop who turned the order round very quickly. Sorry, just checked and I got mine from Meadow Yarn.

Lastly, even the garden is waking up with snowdrops poking cheerful heads through the ground. The best thing out there though is a Daphne Buhloa "Jacqueline Postill". Mike and I saw this bush a few years ago on a garden visit and had to have one. The scent is very sweet and it is covered in pretty pale pink florets.

Only problem is that the flowers do not last more than a day inside but the smell in the room was divine.

I'll be linking up to last Sunday's Wool on Sunday at the Rainbowhare blog and Nicole's Keep Calm Craft on at Frontier Dreams

I'll also be linking to Yarn-along with Ginny at Small things. Unfortunately, I've been reading on my Kindle this week so no book jacket to show. The novel is The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. I'm half way through and really enjoying the descriptions of a mother and daughter struggling to maintain their genteel household in the post war years and the effects of taking a young married couple into the household. It is a great study of manners, class distinctions and the blurring of boundaries in the 20thC.

Also linking to Freshly Finished Friday for knitty finishes and TGIFF (link in the sidebar)

Did you notice my new orange social media buttons in the margin? I was reading one of the new blogs I followed from GYB 2015 this morning. Fabric and Memories with Cheri, the quilting nanny. She had added one or two new widgets to her blog by following tutorials on Code It Pretty. It was all explained so easily on the site so I had a go..... et voila!

So until February 15th when I'll publish the winner of the giveaway, have a wonderful week,

Catherine