We've been away in our little caravan, down to Cornwall again as we liked it so much last year. In contrast to last year's rainy blustery weather, this year was blue skies as the UK continued to experience the heatwave. It wasn't too bad the first part of the holiday, low 20s, but was going up to high 20s by the end but with the benefit of a strong coastal breeze. But at least we escaped the 31C at home. We seemed to spend a lot of time at, or near, the seaside this year which was lovely. Didn't actually swim as the Atlantic is pretty cold and there were strong waves in places, but we paddled up to our waists and just enjoyed hanging out and the beautiful views in places like Bude, Tintagel, and St Ives Bay. I even found a few places offering gluten free Cornish pasties, one of them quite good so I mail-ordered some more from them for the freezer when we got home.
Polzeath beach
Our amazing pitch, right above the coastal path
I was able to visit the famous Cowslip Workshop quilting shop, outside Launceston. It wasn't very big but crammed full of all the latest fabric lines. Almost no prices on display which I don't like, and it was a bit overwhelming trying to look around as everything is so crowded together, in the end I only bought four fat quarters. Interesting to see though it made me feel bad about how old a lot of my stash is. I buy things I like with the best intentions to use them, and then suddenly it's five years later and they are still sitting there on the shelf.
Cornwall is a very arty place, lots of artists and artisans, galleries and shops selling crafts. I got this cool re-made Victorian glass tile at a stained glass workshop.
And this hand-painted key holder from the gift shop of a historic house we visited.
I was also knitting on the Shawl that I started in St Kitts, and continuing to embroider the Spools sashiko panel in the evenings.
On the recommendation of my cross stitching friends, I've bought a Halo Go 2 folding daylight magnifying lamp. It's amazing, like having the eyesight of a 25-year-old again. I had been struggling with my cross stitch the last few years, even with magnifiers of different types and having a standing lamp next to my chair. But this magnifies as well as illuminating the work with bright LED daylight lighting, fantastic.
It was nice to get home to my sewing room again, although the garden had really suffered in the heatwave without water. We have a hosepipe ban in place now, so I had to lug buckets of water around to all the thirsty plants. I lost some pots of Mexican daisies, and a few other plants are looking pretty sickly, but most things have perked up again with some water.
I was determined to use up some of my fabric stash so I made a few project bags, trying out some online tutorials. For the first one, I used a piece of stitching I bought years ago from a woman selling off her deceased mother's prodigious cross stitch output, adding a vinyl front so you can see the stitching. The bird fabric I bought from Cowslip was perfect for it.
For the second, I used a set of three Simplicity fabrics I bought as a pack some time ago. Project bags are a great way to use feature fabrics.
I haven't had time to use the 3D printer much, although I did print off some cute 'wicker' baskets, including one to go next to the fireplace in my McKinley. I've pulled out a Cynthia Howe kit for a 1/48th scale Bliss house replica as my next project but haven't done anything with it yet other than spray sealer on the wood. I'm partway through warping up my little loom to make some more placemats, and I was happily collecting journalling supplies and scrapbook paper from some of the charity shops in Cornwall for my junk journal stash. I've done a bit of longarming on the Gail Pan quilt but it's been mostly stitch-in-the-ditch which I'm not very good at on the longarm so I am procrastinating.
The heatwave seems to have broken somewhat now - while it has still been going up to 26C in the afternoons, it is cooling right down in the evenings which is lovely and gives the house a chance to cool down. I don't mind it so much when I just have to stay indoors for a few hours in the afternoon.
