I have probably told you before .......

........ that foundation piecing is my absolutely most least favourite patchwork method (in case you got lost in that ungrammatical statement, I don't like it!!).  However this year's Abbey Quilters' challenge is a foundation pieced landscape.  As we have to hand it in at next month's meeting, I thought I had better get a move on.  I had drawn out a rough pattern before we went on holiday (sorry, forgot to take a photo), so on SaturdayI auditioned some fabrics, putting some sheets of paper round them as a frame

 

I was so busy concentrating on the despicable horrendous delightful method, that I had stitched on several pieces of fabric before I remembered to take a photo

 

I trimmed the finished piece, leaving a big margin - the finished size is just inside the line of stitching which you can just see an inch from the edge.  I still have to embellish it with hedges, trees and fences - I might even add some sheepies!

 

I thought I ought to put the final border on the sampler quilt!

 

I trimmed the little Linus quilt which I made before we went on holiday

 

and added the binding

 

this afternoon I did some prep of the step-by-step for next week's sampler class (oops, forgot to take photos of this week's)

I also spent some time today birdwatching.  This swallows' nest is on our neighbours'  house

 

I sat in the back garden for some time trying to get photos of the blue tits.  It was very difficult, as they fly straight in and out of the hole ....... if only they would land on the roof and pause for a few seconds, before popping into the nestbox!  So rather a lot of photos ended up like this

 

but eventually I manage to snap the tiny birds

 

you might think this is just a dried leaf caught underneath the wooden rail at the edge of the deck - but as I saw it fly past me and land there, I know that it is a moth!

 

and to finish, a little visitor to the studio this morning.  This teeny, tiny snail was about four feet from the bottom of the back door - quite a climb for it.  I stuck a sheet of paper on the other side of the door so that you could see it, and added the pin for scale