yarnstorm

booking ahead

In the course of the next twelve months I'm going to be making a pile of quilts. A big pile of quilts. Because I have been commissioned to write a book on quilts and quilting. Just the thought of working with wonderful fabrics like this makes me very excited, although I know there will be times when I wish for Rumpelstiltskin-style speed and skills when turning my piles of fabric into a pile of quilts.

I can't answer any questions about publication date or contents or any other aspect of the book, but this news does explain why there has been a lack of quilting posts recently (I'm saving all my quilting thoughts and projects for the book).

And now I'm taking two of the quilts to the seaside to hand-quilt. I booked ahead, and we're off on holiday with a carful of children, books, bats, balls, bikes, needles and thread.

at home

Our version of 'at home' is very different to the posh At Home version of entertaining. I have always been intrigued by the fact that some people send out extremely expensive invitations on thick card with gilt edging to announce the fact that they will be 'at home'. I now know that 'At Home' entertaining is in fact far removed from a simple domestic gathering round a table with wine and fishfingers and chips and children running around (which is exactly what I used to imagine it was and therefore couldn't understand why the letterpress invitations were necessary).

We have been 'at home' for a while now, but there haven't been any upmarket parties in that time. Although one day Phoebe and I decided to dress some plain straw hats with fresh flowers and foliage to create millinery that made us look as if we were about to host some wild garden party (at home, of course).

Phoebe's was more extravagant and My Fair Lady-ish than mine. She believes there's simply no point in trying to keep these things restrained.

She's also been harvesting her fantastic mix of salad leaves recently (sadly none would stay on her hat) while I've been cooking tomatoes which look like snooker balls (photo by Phoebe),

and picking my roses like something out of an E M Delafield novel (in which the heroine always sends out At Home invitations).

So there we are. The Brockets 'At Home'.

pools and reflections

This is the right way up. When I came back from a walk with Simon around a lovely garden, I saw that my eyes and camera had been drawn to pools of blues and whites, above and below and around. This is a pool of blues and whites reflected in a literal pool or pond.

In fact, I was surprised to see so much blue in the photos. It's a not a colour we are seeing much of in the sky at the moment, and I think I must have subconsciouly wanted to capture some to bring home, as if to convince myself that it really is summertime.

I love hydrangeas (they remind me of many happy summers in Brittany) and much prefer the blues to the pinks. These look as though someone's painted them with watercolour paint then left them out in the rain to let it wash off.

The topsy-turviness of a tree-filled sky and clouds to walk on below has a certain appeal.   

And I wonder why isn't there a 'hydrangea blue' in the paint-box? It would be lovely to create little pools of soft, watery blues and play with them on thick white paper. Especially when it's a mostly grey July.

delistcious

 

I had great fun choosing my top 10 favourite food moments in children's literature for the Guardian blog. (The list includes Paddington Bear's buns and cocoa elevenses - with the buns as above, I like to imagine.)

   

though i say so myself

[Front cover of book. Top: Phoebe's feet. Bottom: mine wearing OPI Peru-B-Ruby. Like you do.] 

I love that phrase, 'though I say so myself'. As in, 'the cover of the US edition of The Gentle Art of Domesticity is absolutely gorgeous, though I say so myself'.

It really is. The very first copy arrived this morning and had Phoebe and me gasping with delight. Those colours, that typeface, the silky smooth paper. And Simon has a fabulously rich orange dedication page in this edition (he's collecting lovely colours - 'his' page in the UK edition is a crisp lime green, lucky man).

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and to let you know I am fine and dandy and very much enjoying the summer, the children and the publication of cheery Cherry Cake. I'm not able to get back to blogging on a regular basis just yet - but I am thinking of you all.

[Back cover. Phoebe's toes wearing approx. 10 shades.]

As you can see I'm still painting my nails, and so is Phoebe whose feet are enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame on the front cover of the book.

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And just so you know, there's also no danger of any shortage of colour in general in the sock-knitting that's going on at the moment.