Sewing in the heat.

 At the end of last week the heat wave finally hit the UK. It is fabulous that the rain has gone to be replaced by blue skies but all weather types bring their own problems. During the day our old Victorian house stays beautifully cool indoors and with the windows open there is a lovely breeze but at night it's hard to get the same airflow since we all close our bedroom doors. That means that for the first couple of nights of a heat wave it's difficult to get a good nights sleep.  After a couple of bad nights, last night I went to bed at 11 p.m. and woke up this morning at 7 feeling fully refreshed and ready to start the day. In addition the heat wave means that all the plants in the hanging baskets and pots have to be watered every day. We do this job in the late evening, before closing all doors and windows on the ground floor. On the plus side, any laundry put out on the line is dry in super quick time and I love spending time in our garden and enjoying meals outside. On the sewing front it's good I have a variety of projects on the go as the Austen Family Album quilt has been put to one side since its far too hot to be hauling large quilts around for quilting and I've stopped adding flowers to the grandmother's garden quilt for the same reason. I've also got some knitting to finish but that will have to wait for cooler weather. Instead hand stitching and smaller projects are the order of the day.

Having taught online for the last two days, today I'm interviewing online all day. The video camera has to be on and means 3 days spent looking at a screen and two days into this my eyes are tired but I have achieved a little sewing. I completed the 4 little hexie flowers for my cushion.

Now I need to remove the tacking stitches and give them a good press before I add them to the cushion front. I also picked the fabric for the watering can and cut the paper pattern pieces. I didn't separate the different parts of the watering can as it would be easy to misplace pieces. I will cut the fabric shapes at lunchtime so that I can start construction this evening.

I also sat down last night to complete the frog embroidery. I didn't complete it because I ended up napping but I got a little done. I'm sorry the photo is blurry.

When I looked out to the garden I found that the purple and red fuchsia had started to flower. These are very showy flowers and make me feel really happy. The purple skirt looks as if it could be made of fabric.

As we live in the city we have a small garden and are surrounded by other houses. My view from my work space at the dining table is limited because the door opens out onto the side of the house and the garden area is at the back. We got rid of a large shed, that used to house bikes from this area and need to sort out the concrete or put paving slabs or gravel down. This is a job for our holiday next month. The bay window on the left is the kitchen window.

I love our small garden but would love somewhere with more space outside. However we aren't going to move since where we live will be perfect as we get older with easy access to shops and services. There is enough room in the garden for the family to have meals outside and enjoy the garden. Having had the house re plumbed and rewired in the last 5 years we now need to get the outside space revamped. there is always work to be done around the house and garden.

My plan for today is to get the applique pieces fused to the cushion front with bondaweb and start the stitching. I should be able to get that done this evening but it all depends on what the day has in store. Now I need to take get myself ready for the days interviews and check there are no urgent emails. 

Take care

Lyndsey