Month: April 2016

Work in progress – appliqué leaf mini quilt

I subscribed to the magazine “Love Patchwork and Quilting” recently and the latest issue popped through my letterbox the other day. It’s lovely to look at for us fabric addicts as they show a lot of new ranges, and there are some really fabulous looking projects in it too.  Problem is, they’re often quite large or fiddly which is usually a bit ambitious for me and my short attention span. Anyhow, in the last issue (33) there was a lovely appliqué leaf mini quilt project, and I decided to give it a try. It’s going well so far, I’ve got all the leaves made and pinned into position, I just need to stitch them all on now. Then add the batting and the backing and quilt it and bind it, but that sounds like a lot of work, so I’m not thinking about those bits until it’s time!

You can see the quilt I’m trying here. For the leaves I’m using Cotton + Steel Basics in greens, teals, ochres and navy, with some gorgeous metallic gold detailing, then the background fabric is white.

 

 

Work in Progress: Cotton + Steel fabrics for my leaf quilt, greens, blues and ochre - www.cherrypeg.com

 

Here are my leaves, all ready to go.  If they didn’t take up space I’d leave them like this, they’re very satisfying.  The instructions in the magazine have been good up to this point, very clear and easy to follow.

Work in progress: Here are the leaves I prepared for appliqué - cut out, stitched onto template and pressed. Www.cherrypeg.com

I’ve tried a few different layouts but I think I’ve got all the leaves where I want them now, there are a few evenings of stitching ahead for me.

Work in progress: here are my leaves laid out on the background fabric ready for pinning. Www.cherrypeg.com

Hand stitching is the perfect accompaniment to a good tv programme I find – we’re currently watching Trapped (Icelandic drama, recorded from BBC4) and Line of Duty on BBC2. I also want to start Blue Eyes which I’ve been recording from More4 but just need to persuade Mr O.  Any more drama recommendations anyone?

Easter Holiday Fun – North Berwick

We’re just back from a lovely week in North Berwick, on the east coast of Scotland.  It’s a super cute little town! Very family friendly.   Our holiday home was about 20 steps from the beaches and rock pools and Scottish Seabird Centre, and the town itself is 35 minutes from Edinburgh by train, so there was plenty for us to see and do.

View of Victoria Road, North Berwick

North Berwick Law, is a tall steep hill which you can see from pretty much everywhere in the area. It’s relatively easy to climb, a bit steep in places, but the view from the top is definitely worth it.  We conquered it on our first day, so we could say we had done it whenever we saw it the rest of the week. View from North Berwick Law

There are also lots of little islands out to sea and I think you can take boat trips out to some of them but we didn’t do that as the water was a bit choppy for my liking. Take some binoculars though and you’ll be able to see all sorts of seabirds – my favourites were the little turnstones that came pecking at the seaweed left by the tide, looking for food.

We spent quite a while each day poking around in rock pools looking for crabs and other things.  You can use the beach as a kind of short cut to the shops or station – that’s brilliant in my book.  There are lots of nice little shops in North Berwick selling pretty things, as well as some fragrant delis, a butcher with fabulous pies, and a couple of convenience stores.

North Berwick harbour from the beach

There were a couple of rainy days though, but our holiday home was so lovely with such spectacular views that it was ok to stay indoors at times. I would highly recommend the company we hired our home from, Gone To The Beach, you have to have a look to see their beautifully decorated cosy homes here!

The National Museum of Scotland is one of the places we took the boys in Edinburgh. It can be summed up in one word: fantastic! We must have spent four or five hours there and there was still more to see. My youngest boy loved the dinosaur and animal exhibits, while my oldest loved the science bits. There were also comprehensive exhibits on Scottish history and world culture, plus the most amazing views of the city from the roof terrace on the 7th floor!  There was more as well but some galleries were being refurbished I think.  Roof terrace, National Museum of Scotland

It was a wonderful family week as my mum and dad were with us, and my brother for part of the time too.  I’m sure we’ll be visiting again, but it’s really good to be back home now.

PS look at these lovely doors, this boat park(?) used to be an outdoor pool!

Doors of North Berwick