What a change in the weather!! Gone is the searing heat of the past 6 weeks, now we have changeable weather with showers in between the sunshine, and wind from time to time from different directions.  It’s really lovely as there’s enough sun and dry weather to get things done and enough showers to save me from having to lug the watering cans about.

Apples, Tomatoes, Pumpkins, Cucumbers and Courgettes.

Suddenly the apples are ripening and daily there is a basket or two to be dealt with.  I’ve peeled, chopped and frozen them on trays then packed them in strong bags; I’m constantly making chutney from them and jars of jellies and pie fillings, so our small pantry is getting full of all our produce.  I have to remind myself that when winter sets in and its cold and wet, I will be thankful for a lovely apple pie.  Now I will have to get out my Mary Berry cook book and try my hand at making puff pastry the way I was taught at school (so many years ago I don’t care to remember!!).

We’re still getting loads of tomatoes in the greenouse, and we seem to have a new crop of cucumbers coming, just when I thought they’d finished.  Our pumpkin is growing like a trifid – it must be over 20 feet long, trailing around the outside of the greenhouse and cold frame.  Our pot of courgettes still gives us fruit.  Failures this year were the melons (which died, probably too much water) and the aubergines, which we only got two fruits on, probably poor pollination.

Pillows.

I thought you might like to see some pillows I made for a client.  They are about 24” square and done with raw edge appliqué technique.  I used blanket stitch and straight stitch and quilted them on my domestic machine.   I love making these pillows – they are a lot of fun to do and I get a chance to use all my favorite quilting techniques.

Esk’s Quilt.

This is a quilt I made for my friend Esk for his 50th birthday.  I’ve known Esk since I was a kid and he’s more like a brother to me.  He lives just around the corner from my Mum in Scotland and is always helping her with logs for the burner and pretty much anything she needs, so it’s been a really special quilt for me to make.

I must get back to the bottling of the next batch of apples and tomatoes, more news from our country haven soon!