Starting to look back at Gardeners' World Live

January 25, 2024

* I was invited to the press preview for and provided with a pair of tickets to Gardeners’ World Live so I’m marking posts from the show as 'Ad’ - as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

This morning I’ve been looking through and editing more of my photos from Gardeners’ World Live last June, with everything else that’s gone on in the past year I seem to have been even worse than normal at keeping up with this. It’s been an ideal task for today as we’re waiting in for multiple deliveries - some of which are more exciting than others, but as we’ve grouped them to arrive on the same day where we can, it doesn’t feel like time wasted. It’s also a good time of year for me to do this (though it’d be better to do it throughout the year!) as I’m not a big fan of January, which I agree seems to go on forever, plus the weather so far hasn’t been great for getting out into the garden either.

So what better way to get my garden fix. I had to smile to myself though when I saw the name of this beautiful garden - SubAqua - it almost sums up the dire weather we’ve had this winter, where there’s been a lot of water about. Either the day of rain we had with Storm Babet back in October, or the more recent Storm Henk, thankfully there wasn’t quite so much rain with Storms Isha and Jocelyn, but the wind was something else.

I’m sure many of us can relate to the wet conditions around the country and beyond this winter, the weather has felt never ending and times, and seeing the disruption and damage it’s brought to villages across our local area is sobering. I’m hoping that we won’t continue on this record breaking storm season for much longer, and I’m very much looking forward to more spring-like weather.

Despite this introduction though this isn’t about the storms, but a beautiful and tranquil garden which incorporates a pond into its space in an unexpected way. And as you can see the pictures are from a much warmer summer’s day, you can just feel the warmth.

The seating area with pond beneath in the show garden - SubAqua designed by Joshua Fenton

The garden is designed by Joshua Fenton who acknowledges that ‘most people can’t afford to give up too much space in their garden to house a large pond despite knowing that it brings a tranquil quality to a garden and brings many benefits to the local wildlife.’

And so in this garden the seating area outside the garden room is suspended above a pond, which not only allows for the space to be fully utilised but also enables planting and provides that oh so calming sounds of water.

Clever, hey?

A closer look at the metal grill with plants and water beneath

But it’s more than just the pond, just look at the planting.

Corten steel planters in the border of the seating area, with a white path linking the two areas of the garden

It also incorporates my favourite corten steel planters, and with the plants tumbling over the edge towards the coolness of the path - well, it just makes you want to pull up a lounger and relax.

And what a space to relax in.

The central part of the garden with planting to encourage wildlife

For me this is one of those gardens you could escape to, and while I admire it and the work behind it, it’s not something for our new garden, though I would be very tempted to have an area/bed planted with similar plants - but I just need to work out how, and where - and how it would fit into the overall design - something we’re not even close to properly considering, yet!

Now that I’ve made a good start on editing my photos from last year’s show, I’ll start to share them here more regularly - with the hope that I’ll get through them in time for the show this June - well, that’s the plan anyway…

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was as fabulous as ever!

Admiring Carolyn Forster's quilts at the Newark Quilt Show

January 18, 2024

Last Friday I went along to the Newark Quilt Show held at the Newark Showground which is just a short drive away - I think it’s probably the closest-to-me quilt show I’ve ever been to, closer even to those at London’s Excel and that alone was a treat. I’d also not been in to the Newark Showground, though have driven past it several times - it’s on our list to go as they look to have some great shows on there, and the Newark Air Museum, which is also on our list, is also close by.

But they’re for another today, this visit was all about the quilts. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect size-wise, but I knew there’d be some quilts on display and some suppliers also present. Thankfully the show was clearly signposted and I followed a slow trickle of cars into the ground and to the parking area.

I was pleasantly surprised, while the hall wasn’t huge it was plenty big enough and the central section was dedicated to the quilts on display - and there were many. Suppliers, around 60 or so, were positioned around the edge of the quilts on display, and like every other show I’ve been to (and not just craft shows) the aisles were full of people making their way through the plentiful stalls.

You’ll know that I’m a long time admirer of scrappy quilts, and have many plans to make my own - even if many of those plans don’t quite come to fruition every time! And so I was keen to see the ‘Stash Busting Scrappy Quilts’ by Carolyn Forster that were on display.

I took many pictures because they were so lovely, and as future inspiration for myself and while I took pictures of the whole quilts, it’s the details that really appeal to me and so I’m only sharing partial shots of Carolyn’s quilts here.

The Vintage Linens Quilt is a great way to reuse embroidered linens, especially those with a stain or two - though it needs some bravery to cut those up. I’ve acquired a few old tablecloths myself and I can see this being a good way to get them out of the cupboard and in use. Carolyn has used fabrics that compliment the embroidery to form a repeating block which I think works really well.

The Triplet Block Quilt is one that really caught my eye, I’m not sure I’ve really seen this block much before but spotted it in a couple of Carolyn’s quilts and it’s one that looks really effective repeated over a whole quilt too. I agree with Carolyn that the fabrics here give the quilt a summery feel, but hadn’t spotted that the block is set in alternating directions, until I read the card pinned alongside.

After that I did spend perhaps more time than actually necessary looking at how the blocks I liked were constructed, and without being mean or taking anything away from Carolyn’s work, they often are what appear to be quite simple shapes. I say what appear to be quite simple shapes, as we know that not everything is always what it appears to be, and there is real skill in not only the sewing but the fabric choices and layout.

Carolyn acknowledges that in the Beach Houses Quilt saying that ‘the simple shape belies the fact that the sewing can be quite challenging. All the rows need to be set0in with the often-dreaded Y-seam!’

Beautiful though isn’t it?

The Scrappy Crosses Quilt was another favourite of mine, this was inspired by a vintage quilt. Carolyn says that in this quilt she ran out of the original fabric for some of the centres of each block, but the good thing about scrappy quilts is that most of the time no one notices the substitutions. That’s so true, and a good lesson as I think often we’re so focussed on getting it right, when really a small deviation doesn’t really matter at all.

PART OF THE SCRAPPY CROSSES QUILT USING MULTIPLE FLORAL FABRICS — CAROLYN FORSTER: SCRAPPY CROSSES QUILT

The Hexagon Lozenges Quilt using big hexagons, which is great for stash busting! The quilting design suggests smaller pieces have been used, but look again and it looks like this would be one that would grow quickly, and be relatively simple to do.

In the Diamonds and Stars Quilt for me it’s the plain fabric that becomes the star (quite literally) with the patterned fabric playing a supporting role - though the yellow floral fabric in the centre of the picture below looks pretty special. This quilt is based on a 60 degree diamond and an old fashioned block which is simple and effective.

CAROLYN FORSTER: DIAMONDS AND STARS QUILT

There was a good reminder alongside the Curtains Quilt that anything goes, and quilts don’t have to use dress-weight cotton. This one uses old curtains and curtain fabric off-cuts and I’ve no doubt that it would keep you just as cosy as any other quilt.

Carolyn started, and finished, the Maple Leaves Quilt during the first Covid lockdown and was inspired by one in the book ‘Unconventional and Unexpected’ by Roderick Kiracofe which gave licence for unusual choices. I love its boldness and larger prints, and I know I’ve plenty of larger prints stashed away which I could use in a similar way (one day!)

So much inspiration here for me, and hopefully for you too - my planned project list is perpetually growing! But if I get close to anywhere near through that list I know I’ll have some beautiful quilts - both fabric and yarn-based - and will have plenty to choose from!

There were plenty more quilts on display at the show and I’ll share my favourites in a separate post soon.

My Christmas (and now my Winter) wreath

January 6, 2024

I’m getting into this wreath making - and even though I made my latest wreath at the start of December as a Christmas wreath, I’m not ready to let it go yet so it’s be renamed my Winter wreath! I think that’s ok, don’t you?

For this workshop I headed over to a village outside Grantham meeting up my SIL for us each to make a wreath for our front doors (or in my case, as before, my back door!). I hadn’t realised the workshop was to be hosted in a private house and so struggled to find where I was supposed to be. Luckily though I stumbled upon a villager who was also attending and helped me, I’m so glad she did as it was a brilliant evening hosted by Chloe Jonason, along with expert wreath advice from Sarah at Sage and Satin Floral, who we discovered during the course of the evening lives in the same village as my SIL. A small world indeed.

But anyway, wreath making - entering into a room set up for the workshop with a large table in the middle and wreaths complete with moss laid out ready for easily 15 of us, with a huge pile of greenery in the centre of the table made quite an impact. The lebkuchen and mulled wine on arrival, and throughout the evening were also very much welcomed, though with a drive ahead of me in inclement weather the lebkuchen were very much more my thing!

My wreath after adding greenery, some ivy flowers and a few red berries - secateurs at rest in the middle of the wreath — HOW IT STARTED…

My completed wreath complete with decorations - including a large silver bow, golden lotus flowers, cinnamon sticks and dried citrus fruit — HOW IT ENDED…

Compared to my autumn wreath, this one has more decorations on which feels right for a more Christmassy effort - and it was good to learn how to wire these and attach them to the wreath. I’ve had one casualty - a cinnamon stick on our doorstep - which I’m quite impressed with, and used a very similar technique on my repurposed autumn wreath. Which reminds me I need to retrieve those pine cones and dry those before someone thoughtfully adds them to our brown bin…

Learning from my previous workshop, this time I had prepared my boot for the wreath’s journey home with a large piece of plastic and instead of moving it into the garage overnight, I left it in the boot! It was fine. In fact I didn’t hang it on my back door the next day either as I needed to make plans for storing the autumn wreath, and it was still fine. It’s still going strong and we’ve definitely had some weather in the last month or so, so I’ve also learnt that wreaths are pretty resilient.

It was only when I hung it on the door though, that I realised that my golden lotus flowers could have signified the Five Gold Rings from the 12 Days of Christmas, if only I’d thought to add another at the bottom. Never mind, it’s something to bear in mind for a future wreath, and as you’d expect I plan to remove the decorations, dry and store them for future use.

But in the meantime, enjoy a few more pictures of my newly renamed Winter wreath - I’ll let you know how long it hangs around for, and if there’s a replacement (though I’m pretty sure there will be one!)

A full length shot of the completed wreath on our dark grey door - which really sets off the silver bow

A closer look at the golden lotus flowers, along with yew and ivy greenery, some ivy flowers and red hawthorn berries

A closer look at the bow at the top of the wreath, the silver ribbon has wire in the edges and some transparency, the tails are long (to the bottom of the wreath) but aren't included in the photo

Wreath making is definitely a skill I’m pleased I’ve added to my repertoire, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be scouring my garden for plants to use in future wreaths, as well as looking for places locally to forage materials, as my garden is unlikely to keep up with my new wreath habit for a little while yet!