This and that

Each month I check if there are any special awareness or celebration days and I discovered that today is World Wetland Day.  Wetlands are important because they are alive with biodiversity and help provide homes for many endangered species and people. They also help provide protection against problems such as flooding, drought and pollution. Not only that but they also make great places to visit. John and I enjoy bird watching and some of the best places are the wetland areas. Unfortunately with the current restrictions on travel we haven't been able to visit our favourite bird watching areas and even the wetlands centre in London is closed. This area was created from old Victorian reservoirs and normally we would visit regularly, but due to lockdowns and restrictions we haven't visited since November 11th. When we were able to get away in December we visited WWT Steart Marshes, which was opened in February 2014. It was a very windy and chilly day but we did get to see some birds and have a long walk.

Today is also Candlemas and if you haven't taken your Christmas decorations down yet you should do it today. As a child I remember people taking candles to the Sunday Candlemas service so they could be blessed. I remember finding it odd since if you need light you could just turn the light on. Several years later I realised it is symbolic as Jesus is the light of the world. As children we do accept things that adults do even if we think them rather strange at the time.

I'm currently enjoying catching up on some of my projects. Before Christmas I undid and restarted knitting a jacket. I remember putting this project on the back burner because I was finding it difficult. I kept on making silly mistakes with the pattern. When I restarted it I ignored the patterns instructions to start on one of the front pieces and cast on the back. I have almost finished this piece and I have only made one error which I spotted very quickly and was able to correct and move on. Maybe this evening I will finish knitting this piece and can then start on the front or maybe a sleeve as I hate to feel bossed around by a piece of paper. I think I prefer knitting cardigans and jumpers with raglan sleeves as you have less to knit as you shape the sleeves. 

In January I used up some of my pink scraps to make 9 patches for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I want to use these blocks to make a donation quilt for a girl. I have some ballerina fabric scraps that I will add borders to and make them the same size as the 9 patch.

I spent some time deciding how to arrange the blocks and considering if I needed to make any more. Finally I cut the fabric to add as borders for the ballerina blocks. I have several fat quarters that I can use to add in additional blocks. This is going to be a very pink girly quilt.

I have a regular fabric subscription box and I realised that recently I haven't posted the yummy fabrics I've received. In the time I've been subscribing I have only had one box that I didn't like the contents of.  Even then my dislike of the fabric was about my tastes, as it was perfectly acceptable but not fabrics I would normally use. No problem, I will manage to use it in some project or other. Towards the end of 2020 I received this box.

I like the fabric and the pattern included in the box. I may make the dream catcher later in the year. I have other projects I want to work on at the moment. Another box I received has a cute quilt pattern in it. These fabrics are gorgeous in person.

So many good fabrics and patterns and too little time to make them all.

Tomorrow will be a sewing day as I have a day off. Yippee, I love a day off when everyone else is working, it feels slightly naughty to be having fun whilst others work. I want to do some baking first but then I'll set up the machine. I also need to order some fabric for the backing of the Austen Family Album quilt. This is a large quilt and having gone all the way through my stash I don't have anything that will work. Then I must decide how I want to quilt it.  For now I have some cutting I want to do ready for tomorrow's sewing day.

Take care

Lyndsey