New to my craft room in September

I finished my post last month waiting for a pattern to arrive to use with that gorgeous block printed Indian cotton, and I think it’ll be perfect. I have decided to pause this outfit making foray for the moment though as despite the October sunshine as I write this post, it’s not going to last is it? That and given that I’ve recently lost weight and subsequently need to alter the sundress I made, I know it makes sense but I must remember to pick this up again early in spring next year - in fact I’ve set myself a reminder!

In other less shocking news, my love of stash sales continues this month. I picked up the three reels of glossy cotton and the wedge of sparkly vinyl they’re sitting on along with the cupcake material, both reels of thread and the lime green ric rac below at my patchwork group early in the month for a tenner - that’s what makes it hard to resist, but I do intend to try out the thread for quilting my smaller quilts, so fingers crossed my machine likes it as I think it’ll look fabulous.

I’ve no plans for the ric rac yet, but since I’ve got this I’m seeing it used as an edging on quilt bindings, so it could be bound for that if there’s enough for a whole quilt, or if there isn’t then maybe I’ll mix it with another colour on a bright and colourful quilt - plans will be made.

The green ribbon came on a bunch of flowers which MOH sent me - a bunch of cheery sunflowers, which brightened the corner of our kitchen island for a good week or two, and the purpley-blue magical fabric was a remnant I picked up from the new fabric shop in Newark for £4, this one may come in useful for a project I’ve acquired, more on that later in this post.

There was a new wool show in Newark on the first weekend of the month, and with it being so close it would have been rude not to check it out. It was a good show, and I was pleased to learn the show will be repeated for the next three years, though potentially at a different time of year. It was good to spend some time with my knitting group, which given my lack of current knitting, I don’t go along to so frequently.

I think I took more wool with me than I bought at the show, which is unusual in itself, but I did have a very specific wish list for this visit - specifically for some mustard wool to go with the wool I dyed myself a while back, and some to go with a teal bundle I’ve been collecting - so job done there. I also fell in love (again) with the idea of crocheted mandalas, and this book should help with that project which has been long on my list. I have the hoops, and the ideas but wasn’t sure of the pattern to use, but I learnt at the show that the hoops should be my last, not the first, purchase! Oops.

The orange buttons were a bargain for a £1 and I’m sure will come in useful. I’ve also added some more red onion nets and a garlic net to my weaving pile - and I need to get this idea started too.

I’ve been watching Sewing Bee more keenly than in previous years, and the final three were my favourites throughout the series and any would have been worthy winners. I’m pleased that Anna won, but sad that the others didn’t as it was good to have so many great sewers on the programme. I’ve been following the three on Instagram, and that prompted this next purchase - another pattern.

Emma shared that she’d worn these Flint trousers on the programme, and they looked great and easy to wear - and they are, they were my next wearable make which I’ll share here soon.

But first more stash sale bargains - £2 for these two pieces. The geometric one would do a simple dress, but would also make a very snazzy pair of tailored cropped trousers (another one for my list!), and the rust one I just couldn’t leave behind. At the time I wasn’t sure what I’d use it for, but a plan is formulating for potentially a jacket - watch this space.

At the same meeting one of the other members was also clearing some of her older items, and I picked these five fabrics (of varying lengths) for £6 - and I quite like them together. I did have to smile though as one of the pieces she was selling was one mum had used to make quilts for my brother a good few years ago. Together we worked out it was probably more like thirty + years ago, not the twenty years we initially thought. I left that one there though, as I think mum still has some scraps left anyway.

These two were also from my patchwork group for a couple of pounds - the pink flowery one is pretty, but the glittery fabric is intriguing. There’s more than pink in this packet and I’m thinking that there could be some sparkly pouches on the horizon…

I thought I was done for projects, quilt projects especially, for the year but then the sampler quilt image was shared in our patchwork group chat, and I knew I was done for. It’s the Colour Study quilt along by Alison Glass and while I intended to use my stash, when I saw this Halloween fat quarter bundle in that new fabric shop in Newark I mentioned before I knew it’d be perfect. And I don’t usually even like Halloween, let alone Halloween fabrics - more on this one soon too.

I also thought my purchases were complete, and then I saw this fabric on an Instagram destash. I’d been resisting everything the algorithm threw at me, until this piece of fabric. There’s plenty of it there too - a good four metres or so, so for £22 it was good value and will be perfect for trying out a pattern before I cut the more expensive stuff.

Thank you for joining me for another month in my craft room, please check out my previous updates for earlier additions, and remember to let me know below what you’ve added to your craft supplies this month.

Post Comment Love 2 - 4 October

Hello there, welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a relaxed, friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they may be removed, and if you see older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

As we say a great big hello to October it felt right to share the image of this pumpkin which we saw on our recent visit to the Moco Museum in London. It’s by Yayoi Kusama who said she ‘loves pumpkins because of their humorous form, warm feeling, and a human like quality.’ And some of them are absolutely the weirdest shapes aren’t they? But they’re also good to eat, and that’s what I like about them most! Just saying.

Have a great start to October.

SHANGHAI PUMPKIN, YAYOI KUSAMA 2010

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My garden in September

I mentioned the tiny olives on the new olive tree last month, and this month they’ve grown to actual olive size, though I’m sure there’s not enough to do anything useful with so MOH’s hopes of olive oil production are entirely non-starters, even if he pools resources and crops with everyone else in the village!

But the new olive tree has shot up - and out - in the warmer months, and while it could do with a haircut and reshape, I know I need to leave it over the winter now. It’s really established itself on the corner of our patio and has been a good addition.

Our crab apple tree has a lot of leaves but fewer apples this year, which I’m sure is good for the tree. Every now and then I stick my head into the tree to see how they’re doing, and this was them with the sunlight streaming through early in the month. There’s a few more on the ground beneath the tree now, and I’m sure the squirrel which has just started to visit our garden isn’t helping that. I’m doing my best to scare the squirrel off as I’m really not keen on encouraging them - I can’t believe we haven’t seen a squirrel for three years though, but it was good while it lasted.

The cosmos continue to do well and are in various stages of flowering still, even at the end of the month. I still need to capture some seed so that I can grow them where I’d like, but I suspect that this area where the two pots have been will always be a cosmos hotspot.

It’s good to see the garden a bit healthier this month following a good four inches of rain. But it’s amazing to see how plants react differently; earlier in the summer I planted out two halves of a geranium, one has adapted and enjoyed its spot at least twice as much as the other. Both are in similar spots in the border, but the one below has over doubled in size - I’m thinking that the other may need a bit of help, or maybe a new spot but for the time being I’m leaving it where it is.

The Rowan tree brings some autumnal colour to the garden, and I’ve given the pyracantha in the outer border a seriously good trim, but even so that’s still laden with berries. The hebe that had issues earlier in the year continues to have issues and I’ve needed to cut some more dead branches from it. In London earlier this week I walked past some equally and probably more dead hebes near Marble Arch so I guess they’re really not fans of the weather we’ve had.

But in better news the struggling alstroemeria has perked up enough to provide more flowers, which I’m very grateful for. And the daisies which looked done in last month are now also green again - they’d still benefit from being out of the pot, but hopefully that may happen soon(ish). Later in October I’ve invited a garden designer over to see if my ideas for my garden are do-able, and to see if she can help with my problem areas, or rather the things I want in my garden but am struggling to make work - more on this at a later date, hopefully.

The fuchsias are continuing to dance into autumn, and they bring me much joy - even the one that makes my car beep as I reverse out, it needs a trim to get it away from the car’s sensors, but not when they’re as pretty as this. Or not just yet anyway.

Unsurprisingly the succulents have done well this summer, even though I lost the partner to the ever expanding one below over winter. It’s now bigger than the two of them were put together, and the usurpers I’ve added into the top half of the pot have also taken.

I’m especially pleased that the succulent rehoming I did when I faced my usual lack of pots crisis has also been successful - and I’m a big fan of the several varieties mixed together so I may even do this purposefully in future.

Last month I thought I’d picked the last of my red tomatoes, but I was wrong. And when I picked these I thought they’d be the last, but there are still a few stragglers on my plants and with the sunny end to the month I’m hopeful that they too will ripen a little more.

I think that if there’s one plant - other than our grass which has bounced back to greenness when all looked lost - that sums up the summer, then it’s the acer by the back door. As the heatwaves continued to come it too was struggling and the crispy leaves are testament to that, but as the weather cooled and the rain came the newer leaves were back to their resplendent red.

I’m in two minds as to whether or not to remove the crispy leaves or not, but as this plant usually drops it’s leaves over winter I’m waiting to see how it fares naturally. Fingers crossed - though I know there is new growth, so that is very good news.

And those olives that we started with at the top of this post, well they’re ripening and turning black, and continuing to look like olives - we’re still not in harvesting territory though!

Before I end isn’t grass amazing, the photo above is after some of the rain had come and as you can see it’s already turning back to being more green than it had for most of the summer. But what’s also interesting is that I also noticed that our grass was having its own ‘historic house reveal moment’ - and while it hasn’t revealed a grand parterre or anything too fancy, it’s clear that it is showing a former building - with the lighter ‘lines’ coming out from where the brick wall has been changed. We think this was probably one of the farm sheds, or outbuildings - but isn’t it fascinating what nature exposes in droughts?