Look what's been under the machine..........

Yesterday, I dug out the red & turquoise quilt which has been lying in it's storage cube as untrimmed, unloved blocks with grey sashing for a while. I have always said this will be our picnic quilt. Because the weather has been so awful these past few weeks I've had no desire to finish. But now the Summer months are fast approaching and I have a renewed love of hand quilting, I thought it best to get a wriggle on!

And here is the quilt top in all it's glory (it's a super blustery day here today so these are "action" shots, I'm afraid!!)

Incidentally, that is a "waterfall" we have in the back garden along with a fully fledged "rill" (about 3 ft deep) which forms curved zig zag along the width of our garden. We had our back garden heavily landscaped whilst I was pregnant with the twins and are, on the whole, very pleased with it. Unfortunately, we signed off on this huge water feature about 6 weeks before the final stages of our 2nd round of IVF. We weren't sure whether or not it was going to work (the first round was a huge failure) and we absolutely fell in love with the plans so went ahead with it.

So, the entire pregancy was spent wondering how we were going to protect the kids from the water. Dad suggested a grand sandpit. I couldn't face emptying the sand in years to come & the thought of that amount of sand being strewn across the garden was a definite no-no for me. We considered crates in the rill to bring up the floor level but mum was concerned that "children can still drown in an inch of water". That set my nerves on edge a little as I wanted them to have freedom in the garden as they got older.

The first summer was fine - they were just born.

The second Summer dad built a huge network of wooden frames covered with chicken wire to slot over the rill and these have been a huge success. We don't have to worry about them out in the garden playing (which they love) but can still enjoy the sound of the waterfall tinkling it's merry tune. I think this year will be the last of the rill cover but we will keep it handy ready for baby Beth when she starts toddling around the garden on visits!

Anyway - now for the quilt back. I really don't want to hide this away for another 3 months!!