The plan for yesterday just didn't work out. As we were ready to go out for our walk the rain started and was heavy. I like walking in light rain but heavy rain soon soaks through everything and if prolonged even gets though a really good waterproof coat. Unfortunately yesterday, although rainy was still very warm and so a waterproof coat would have been unpleasant to wear. Instead I sat down and did an online food order. We had already decided what we wanted to eat next week so this was fairly straight forward but that didn't stop me needing to amend the order later in the evening once my brain had run through various non food items that need to be topped up such as freezer bags and floor cleaner. We don't order our vegetables online so we still need to go out to the shops for them and everyday basics such as milk. I haven't bought bread for a couple of months now as I've been baking my own. Later in the day John and I took a short walk, by which time it was cool and dry.
Yesterday I decided my scrap box was getting out of hand so I set about pruning it a little. I have a scrappy 9 patch quilt I'm making for donation so I was cutting 2.5 inch squares. I didn't do very much as my arm was aching. I used an old photo as I forgot to recharge my camera battery.
I had planned to make a start on quilting the rainbow quilt but I couldn't decide how I wanted to do it or the thread I wanted to use. The thread was easily resolved and I had a little play as the thread thickness is slightly different between the top thread and the bobbin. It worked just fine so 1 problem solved. In the end I decided I would stitch in the ditch and let the colours of the fabrics do the talking. I will do something else in the borders. A photo will follow once the quilting is done.
I told you yesterday about the fabric Katy had bought to make a skirt or something for my birthday last year. I took a picture of it but the camera blurs it a little because of the squares and distribution of colours in the pattern. This fabric is a super soft woollen fabric.
I didn't do any work on the millennium sampler as my right arm was painful. I have a light with a magnifying glass that I use for this cross stitch as the thread count is high and without it I often go over two spaces. I've realised I'm not sitting at the right angle to use the light and so I'm giving myself a crick in the neck and also putting my arm at an odd angle. I played around with the position of the light and cushions on the chair and got Scamp involved as he usually sits on my lap whilst I sew. In the end I found a really comfortable position that should reduce the strain on my neck, back and arm. Scamp found my wriggling annoying whilst I was finding the right position but once we were all set up he slept happily on my lap while I read my kindle.
I've been trying to increase the amount of reading I do and also to try new authors. At present I'm reading Cal by Bernard MacLaverty. It's about a young Catholic man living with his father in a Protestant Housing Development in Northern Ireland. Cal is involved on the fringes of the IRA but an act of violence makes him want to be away from the conflict. It was made into a film in 1984. It's well written and certainly gets the tension of the situation across to the reader. This is my 15th book this year and that number is up on last year. I'd hoped to do even more reading during the working from home time but I put more time into sewing. Unfortunately there just aren't enough hours in a day.
This evening I will be picking up my hand stitching. Having found the perfect position for my light it should be a pain free enjoyable experience. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get on with the quilting on the rainbow quilt.
Take care
Lyndsey
No comments:
Post a Comment