Sunshine and stitching.

Today the weather has been fabulous with lots of sun, which meant our walk this morning with Scamp was very warm and enjoyable. Out of the sun it was a little cold but walking keeps you warm anyway so no problem.

Once home I had cleaning and laundry to do before I could get back to my sewing. I also had a moment of panic as I realised how much work I needed to clear for work..... but I didn't give in to the panic. Instead I got my 2 1/2 inch scrap boxes out and started choosing squares for a new project. I'm planning on taking part in 'another little quilt swap 10' and I wanted to try out a couple of ideas. If my idea works out this will also be my 'Let's book it' project for May. I'll tell you more tomorrow once I've decided exactly what I'm doing.

Yesterday while out walking Scamp I popped into my local fabric / craft store. They are a huge shop that sells lots of fabric of all types from quilting to wool, dress making, bridal and curtaining. There's also knitting yarn, threads, zips, beads, ribbons and a variety of other crafts including cake making. On this occasion I was simply looking for black cotton.fabric for the back of some cushion covers. Richard bought these Star Trek fat quarters ages ago with a view to making cushions for his room. As this is the next room being decorated the time has come to get the project done.

I cut the fabric to size and got stitching. He wanted 20inch cushions so there are some off cuts of fabric to go into the scrap system. I'll show the completed covers when I buy the pillows later in the week.

So for the rest of the day it's slow stitching. This week I'm working on my knitting. I started this pattern for Maria's baby (the same person the baby quilt is going to). I need to do one pattern repeat every week to have it done for when she goes on maternity leave (June 10th) So far I have almost finished two repeats....I'm 3 rows short and there are 7 repeats in total. I think this will take priority over all slow stitching for a while.

I love this pattern as it's so simple to knit but looks so effective. The pattern repeat is 46 rows and the pattern is repeated 7 times so lots of knitting. Once the main piece is done there is a lacy border, but I might not knit that as the holes in the lace are perfect for small fingers to get caught in.

I'm linking this post up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching Kathy asked what is inspiring us this week. The weather and the changes in nature that comes as a result of the warmer weather. You can't help feeling positive as Spring moves on. It awakens my senses and makes me see everything with new eyes. It's such an energetic and happy time of year. I feel the need to clean to make way for the warmer weather, to finish up old projects and start planning new ones. What's inspiring you at the moment?

Lyndsey