Slow stitching and basket making.

Today is the end of my rwo weeks annual leave and tomorrow I will be back in the office sorting out my emails and preparing for teaching later in the week. My holiday has been a lot of fun with trips into London to see the Frida Kahlo exhibition, the Summer Exhibition at the RSA and the Hepworth sculptures at the Courtauld Gallery. We also had afternoon tea at a London hotel and a delightful walk around St James Park and seeing the pelicans. We live in outer London so we are able to take the tube to go into the central area, so musch easier than driving. We took a drive out of London to go to Wakehurst Place and took a long walk around the grounds and enjoyed tea and cake in the cafe. Katy, Olly and the two grandsons visited a week ago and we had a fun day together. In between we have worked on the garden, done some craft projects, taken my main sewing machine for repair and I've done some dress making and slow stitching. In quiet moments I've managed to read 3 books. Not bad for a stay home holiday and it being the hottest two weeks of the year. Of course we also went on our annual trip to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC.

My Chookshed challenge for this month is my Star Trek cross stitch. At the beginning of the holiday it looked like this.

I have managed to add to the cross stitch over the two weeks.

I do find it hard working on a black background but I will just have to persevere in order to finish this piece. 

Over this week I have been working on a willow basket. I bought the kit earlier in the year, ready to make during my holiday. The kit came with a video tutorial, to walk you through all the stages. My kit made a small foraging basket and I will be using it in the garden. I finished it this afternoon. It isn't perfect by any means but I've had a lot of enjoyment making it. It has also given me achy wrists but it was worth it.

Due to the hot weather the willow was drying out as I was using. I'm pleased with the result for a first attempt. I will make another basket at some point in the future as I learnt so much from this project. 

I realised that I hadn't taken a photo of the completed frog quilt so when we went to feed my daughter's cats whilst the family were away we took a photo. It's not a great photo but it shows the whole quilt.

If anyone woud like the frog pattern I am willing to post it. Please let me know in the comments. The pattern is complete, instructions and all embroidery patterns.

I had intended to finish my red blouse this week but I ran out of time. I've just got the sleeves left to finish. Hopefully I'll have time next week. Next weekend John and I are going to visit my brother and if the weather is good Alex is planning a trip on the river. My brother lives on a canal boat in a marina and has done for quite a number of years but to date I haven't been out on the river on his boat. Fingers crossed for next weekend.

Take care

Lyndsey