Pergola finished

We finished off the pergola today.  We are pretty pleased with how it's turned out, given our limited technical abilities.  It's a bit wonky here and there but it's pretty sturdy, and the inside feels shaded and private.  I would love to have the patio done so we could sit in there, and so I could get the planting in.  But I have to be patient.

There will be a path through this arch leading around into the pergola.

The inside. Still more digging to do, to level out the floor.

Shady inside. I want to put a water feature where the pots are. The round topped bench isn't staying there, it's only temporary.  There should be room for a dining table and a couple of small sofas inside the pergola.  I'd like to grow a rose and a clematis up the trellis.

Crafting

While there has been some attention this week to main projects, I have to confess to getting distracted onto a couple of frivolous sidetracks. 

I was sorting my knitting patterns in an attempt to tidy up my craft room when I came across this little watermelon purse, which was a fun little knit out of scrap yarn.  I lined it with watermelon fabric. Unfortunately the zip tends to get stuck on the knitting so it isn't the most functional purse in the world. But it looks cute  :)

And currently I am playing with a Tilly kit which makes three fabric brooches, which was an impulse buy very cheaply on sale.  Not sure what I will do with them, I can't see wearing them on my person in public. I shall likely pin them onto a storage basket in my sewing room as a pretty decoration.  Maybe on the cute pattern for a storage basket that I picked up at the Poppy Patch sale, along with six half metres of assorted fabrics which were 50% off.

I finished the first bobbin lace snowflake.  On the one hand I've done a terrible job, this wiry DMC metallic embroidery thread is almost impossible to tension properly so the lace is really untidy.  On the other hand, I'm pleased with the overall wrought metal effect and I think it makes a nice ornament.  By the end I was getting better at wrangling the wiry thread.  I'm going to make a second one for m-i-l and hopefully will do a better job on that one.

I'm still trying to untangle the failed attempt at tapering the end of my Bucks Point lace bookmark.  I've sorted out one side of the taper and am currently reverse-lacing on the other side.

I've also finished my William Morris grid quilt and I'm quite pleased with it.  I loved working with these rich fabrics and the intricate border print.. I wasn't working to any particular size but it's turned out to be a really good sized double and looks good on DS's bed (which is also the guest room).  This summer, once the DH club visit is over, I'm going to dig out the machine quilting frame and see if I can get it set up somewhere, probably in the dining room.  Then it can stay up for a few months while I re-learn how to use it and then quilt my way through a couple of year's worth of quilt tops.

The photos I took of the quilt don't get the colour balance right, in person it is more blue-grey and the values are not as evident because the prints merge more in a kind of watercolour effect.  But I couldn't get the camera to cooperate, it kept reading everything as lighter in colour. I tried a few different settings but no good.  It's nice to finish something, I'll have to think what to do next.  I should probably go back to my indigo Bear's Paw and get the borders on to it.

The garden is looking lush thanks to a nice mixture of sun and rain.  The delphinums, which are supposed to be under the apple tree, have grown so tall this year that they have grown right up through the tree.  I'm a bit worried that they will suffocate the tree but I suppose the tree roots should be a lot deeper than the delphiniums. And eventually the tree may grow bigger.

yes, there is an apple tree in there somewhere.