Making blocks

It's been a very quiet week on the stitching front as I had work and more tests but this weekend I have been resting and so had time to get my machine out during the day and make some blocks and do some knitting and slow stitching during the evening.

I started the Austen Family Album quilt run as a block of the week by Barbara Brackman back in 2014. There are 36 blocks in all and I made several as it was running but can only currently find blocks 1 and 2. This isn't a problem as I know which blocks I made and they were later in the run so yesterday I started on block 3 and created 5 blocks

These are big blocks finishing at 12 inches. Making them was an interesting experience as my brain is a little woolly at the moment and I kept forgetting which fabric I had planned for which bit of the block. Still I managed it all without making a mistake. Next week I'm only working Monday and Friday so I'll have some more sewing time.

On the knitting front I'm working on the sleeve of John's jumper. I need to do both sleeves up to armhole level and then they are added to the body on the circular needles. I've never done that before so I'm interested in how it will work. It will probably take me ages to fathom out the pattern in my current woolly state, but I like a challenge.

I made a start on Charlotte, the second bag lady. The pattern instructions tell you to work all the stem or back stitch first and them do the fancy bits but I find that a bit boring so last night I started on the embroidery on her skirt. I'll finish this once I've published this post. I will be adding a yellow french knot to the centre of each flower.

I've also been working on the binding on the 'it's a dog's life' quilt. I rounded the second corner but it isn't going very fast as when I start stitching on it I fall asleep. Something I really need to concentrate on works best at the moment.

At the start of the posts I said I had more tests this week. Because I am allergic to iodine they couldn't use this medium when I had the CT scan so they weren't happy with the results. On Tuesday I had a PET scan and they showed everything was normal and OK so I started my treatment on Friday. Lucy came with me and we spent the time gossiping and giggling. I'm using a cold cap which helps to slow or prevent hair loss. Lucy took a picture on her phone and when she emails it to me I'll post it for you to have a giggle over. It pulses the cold over your scalp and at its coldest is like brain freeze when eating ice cream. The treatment has made me quite tired but I'm a tough old bird so should be able to deal with it. Today we took Scamp for his walk around the common which is nearly 4 and a half miles without a problem. John was aware that if I got tired he'd have to go home and collect the car! I'm hoping to be OK for work tomorrow even if I only stay for a half day. 

I'm linking this post with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching, why not pop over and see what everyone has been busy working on. For me I'm off for a short nap before I do some more stitching on Charlotte.

Lyndsey