Messy pieces

After years of spilling boxes of pins and cursing my lack of a pincushion I’ve finally got around to rectifying the situation. Years of procrastinating resulted in only minutes of stitching. I’ve spent longer digging pins out of the carpet than I did making this; I probably should have got around to it a little sooner. But, I am a procrastinator and these fabrics have been sat in a pile on my desk for over a month.

So today I threw out the tape measure and rotary cutter in favour of wonky lines and speedy completion. I love the haphazard appearance of Denys Schmidt‘s designs, although I suspect her patterns are a result of a little more planning than this. A little order and tidiness is great at times, but there is also a lot to be said for a project that is finished in the time it takes to bake banana muffins.

A few flowers

With the first summer on our allotment fast-approaching, I am getting equally excited about giving the back garden over to flowers for the first time. I went to the nursery with optimistic visions of returning with trays of sweet peas and geraniums to fill the garden. But, in my predictable way, my not-so-green-thumb timing is off and I’m about three weeks too keen.

All was not lost, as I did return with this lovely ranunculus and a few other finds. I am realising that a flower garden is a slow process; I can’t make it happen in one weekend! So I will slowly add to these first few flowers and welcome bees, butterflies and all good creepy crawlies. We already have a toad resident in our tiny spot and I’m hoping more life will soon follow.

Patchwork pieces

It’s been a while since I did any patchwork quilting. The fiddly pieces of fabric and worry over matching up corners puts me off a little. And unlike knitting, there’s no way you can do it on the bus or in front of the telly. But making this gift at the weekend got me back in to the swing of things. Ever since, I’ve been pulling quilt books off the shelves and revisiting favourite Anna Maria Horner fabrics and Denyse Schmidt designs. I’m not sure I have the attention span for a whole blanket at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll be stitching a few more patchwork pieces soon.

Mothering

In one of my favourite songs Alela Diane sings of her mama giving her melodies that she will one day pass on to her own daughter. I love the thought of sharing and passing on the things we love best. I have many happy memories of baking and sewing with my mum as I grew up, and many more of us exploring new places by bicycle. So it seemed fitting this Mother’s Day to meet my mum at a favourite cafe, mid-bike ride, and give a hand-sewn gift.

Bikes, stitching and cake; three of my favourite things. And only a few of the marvellous things that my mum has passed on to me.

Reclaiming the day

It’s been foggy around here for days, complete with fog horns and a chill air that cuts right through optimistic springtime dressing. But this afternoon, the sun peeped out just a little. I was out of the office door at 5:01pm and within fifteen minutes Tom and I were Up Allotment.

This wide open space on our doorstep is still a novelty and, with these lengthening days, it’s an inviting post-work destination. We have the place to ourselves and a big view out to sea, still hazy in the fog. We make wild speculations about root systems and worm populations and give firm, unfounded opinions on composting and allotment etiquette. Thoughts don’t go far beyond this square of earth; dig and barrow, dig and barrow… It doesn’t take long to work up a hunger and talk moves to similarly vital debate such as What’s For Dinner.

This is my new favourite way to reclaim a weekday.