Happy Halloween

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween. I've just realised we won't be in to answer any trick or treat callers so I guess that means I get to eat the sweets? On Saturday the pub where Richard works had a themed evening for the Day of the Dead. He can't use face paint as it makes his skin very sore so he printed himself a mask on his 3D printer and then spent time decorating it.

I forgot to take a photo of him before he left for work.

I'm following the bear quilt along. I'm way behind as I haven't started yet but I've downloaded all the instructions. I finally had a chance to shop for the background fabric when I went to the Stitching and Knitting Exhibition a couple of weeks ago but between work and decorating I haven't made a start on the bear paw blocks. Today I'm marking from home but as all our marking is computer based there is only so much you can do before you need a rest from it. I love the rest breaks as this has given me a chance to get on with cutting the fabric. It also gave me time to throw together a test block. No point in cutting fabric if I didn't like the block or couldn't make it work.

The pieces were cut very quickly and stitched at the same speed so the whole piece is very inaccurate but I know how it goes together and that I will enjoy sewing it. This piece won't make it into the quilt top.  I also hadn't realised that the whole block makes up at 7.5 inches to finish at 7 inches. I'm not sure why but I thought they were bigger. Just goes to show you should read the instructions very carefully before you start.

Having decided to go for it, after marking two essays I stopped to cut some pieces for the blocks. I gave myself 20 minutes and then got back to marking and continued like this all day. This made the cutting process slower but it's getting the job done and reducing my boredom of marking. The light brown will be the same through all the blocks but the background will change. At the Stitching and Knitting exhibition I bought several half metre lengths and fat quarters to use as the background for this quilt.

At 5 p.m. I had to stop work, pack away my neat piles of pieces and take Picasso for his yearly appointment with the vet. He is always well behaved and today was no exception. When we got home he demanded to go out but was soon back and settled in his basket.

So that put paid to Picasso playing his witch's cat role.  Having seen Picasso happily settled for the evening Lucy and I went grocery shopping. This is our weekly trip. Monday evening is a relatively quiet time to shop and suits us both well. Lucy doesn't drive and shopping together means I can drop Lucy and her shopping at her home before continuing on to mine. Once home again it was time for dinner and now I'm ready to do a little knitting before bed time. Tomorrow I need to be up early to get the train to Reading.  I need to find some stitching I can do on the train or I could start knitting one of the sleeves. 

I hope you've enjoyed Halloween.

Lyndsey