A finished flimsy

Sunday morning and my younger brother phoned me to say he was going to take his boat out for a run up the river since the sun was so warm and made it a perfect day for an outing. He lives on a narrow boat at a marina which has access to both the river and the canal. I looked out the window at the rain and hoped it would clear up enough for us to walk later in the day. Not that rain mattered as I wanted to finish the batik rainbow quilt top. The pattern I used had the outside border made of lengths of the batik fabrics which meant they went round the corners.  This didn't give the look I wanted and seemed a little slap dash having put a lot of effort into matching the seams.

So I got my trusty tape measure out and carefully measured the sides before doing a quick bit of maths to get the length of fabric I needed. I wanted each side to have all six colours in it. It was then a case of getting the machine out and sewing. I had one iffy moment when I was pressing the seams which did involve a few choice words but I won't share the details. Fortunately there was no one around to hear. I've had my iron for some time and recently it has taken to suddenly going hotter than the setting it's on. When we went shopping on Saturday I had meant to look for a replacement but unfortunately I forgot. I was just about to put the iron on the fabric when I decided to put test it on the ironing board cover and it scorched the surface. I did manage to press the seams but the setting on the iron was the lowest it would go. When the laundry I've done this morning is dry I won't be able to iron it until I've visited the shops again.

The top was finished fairly quickly but I had to lay it on the bed to take a photo as it was raining again.

Now I need to either make the back or buy some fabric. I have some other batiks that I could use for the back but I think I may order some of the aubergine fabric for the back and the binding. Then I will need to think about the quilting. At the moment my head is completely empty of ideas so all suggestions on quilting very welcome.

Later in the day the rain stopped and the sun half halfheartedly came out. It was still very warm. John and I went for a walk around the cemetery. We saw a couple of Jays and also Green woodpeckers. John has become very interested in the wild flowers and is trying to identify different ones That will keep him busy for months!

In the evening I pulled out the millennium sampler cross stitch. I'm working on the lunar module at the moment. I haven't fully finished the spitfire but I need to study the pattern for that as I haven't worked on it for quite a time and I don't mark on the pattern to show where I've got to.

This really has to be finished this year as it was a present for Christmas 1999 and I started it at the beginning of 2000. If I tell you that cross stitch isn't my favourite form of hand stitching and that it has a lot of fractional stitches in it you'll probably understand why it's taken so long. 

I'm linking this post with Kathy from Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching  link up.  I love seeing what everyone's been working on.

Today being Monday it's back to work and in a few minutes I have a teams linkup with some students. I'm hoping to fit in some stitching later today.

Take care and stay safe.

Lyndsey