Slow Sunday stitching

This week was an odd variety of weather, I found myself driving to work in a heavy frost, heavy rain and worst of all thick fog. There was also a day of bright sunshine but it was still cold. i spent a little time each day getting my various projects into some semblance of order. It took longer than I expected but now they are all in project bags and neatly labelled. The only thing I couldn't find were the bird houses that I had almost finished. These were the Crabapple Hill studios stitcheries for February 2022 for the International month of embroidery. I love Meg Hawkey's  designs. This evening I remembered where I'd put the bird houses. I want to get these finished and framed as I'd intended them as a present. I only have a few left to do (I think - I need to check).

 Although the weather's been iffy I have had a good week. I'm managing to be more organised and I'm getting things done. This week has been a great stitching week.  In the evening I've made myself comfortable with something good to watch on TV, Missy lying at my feet and I've got on with some stitching. As the week started I was working on the redwork Christmas piece. I didn't have much to finish and so on Tuesday evening it was done.

This is the middle of a small wall hanging. I need to pull out my Christmas fabrics to make the border. On Wednesday I drew out a couple of patterns from the frog quilt pattern.  The embroidery blocks on this quilt are a variety of sizes. Here's a glimpse of the pattern.

All of these blocks are supposed to be stitched in green but I'm using other colours as well. The top left hand block is finished and I've started on the fish block on the right.

Over the week I also finished quilting the 8 remaining blocks on the Austen family quilt. Most of this was done on Saturday as I had a day to myself. I still have some sashing to finish and the border needs to be done. I'm off on Friday so that will be my sewing day this week. Getting this quilt finished will be my goal for February. When I finished the quilting I got John to help me fold the quilt and I forgot to take photos. I'll make sure I do that when I get it out again on Friday to finish the sashing.

I'm linking this post with Kathy from Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching. I'm also linking with Kate from Life in Pieces for her round up of weekly stitching. Once again this week I've managed 7/7 which means I've stitched 25 days out of 29. 

I realised that John and I have done two visits but I haven't shared them. I'll try to that this week. 

Have a good week Take care

Lyndsey

Slow Sunday stitching

This week I have had a great time stitching. I've managed to stitch for at least 15 minutes every day and often it has been for longer, I'm feeling so much calmer and more relaxed than I was last year. I'm not sure why I hadn't been making time to stitch or how I was using my time but I'm really enjoying the change I've made. Not only I have I managed hand stitching I've also had time this week to get my machine out and quilt 4 blocks of the Austen family quilt. 

This week I continued work on the redwork Christmas scene. It still isn't completely finished but I am very happy with my progress. The main picture is finished and I'm currently working on the wording. I'm going to finish the stitching on this piece this week. It will then have to wait to have the borders added. This week I stitched on all 7 days

Since the beginning of  January I've stitched18 out of 22 days.

Friday was my quilting day and I really enjoyed it. First John and I had an appointment for our flu jabs. We should have had these in September but the vaccine was in short supply. Still better late than never! I also booked a dental appointment and a date to go to medical photography in preparation for my breast reconstruction. Once back home I set up the machine and spent an enjoyable afternoon quilting 4 more blocks. I now have 8 blocks left to quilt. I've been keeping the quilting simple, straight lines and meanders mostly. I love the effect you get on the back of the quilt. 

I forgot to take a photo of the blocks but I quickly snapped this before I packed up. It was all bunched up so difficult to get a good photo.

I'm linking this post with Kathy from Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching link up and Kate from Life in Pieces blog for her weekly stitching round up   

Take care

Lyndsey

A relaxing weekend stitching

This weekend was perfect as far as I'm concerned. It rained and was cold on Saturday so I set up my machine and got on with some quilting. At the start of the weekend I had 18 blocks to quilt on the Austen Family Quilt. There are 36 blocks in total. I think the reason why I haven't got on and quilted this before is because I feel I have to do different designs for each block and that it must be amazing. Well amazing isn't going to happen as I don't do anywhere near enough quilting to be that proficient. I realised I was looking at the job from the wrong angle. I want to be able to use this quilt so it needs to be quilted. The piecing isn't perfect as it's one I made in the aftermath of cancer treatment and my concentration was minimal. The perfect answer is to keep the designs simple and use it as a practice quilt. As a result I managed to quilt 6 blocks over the weekend and I'm happy with the results. The pictures aren't great but here are two of the blocks.

As well as getting some quilting done I've also managed to do some hand stitching every day. I haven't finished the Christmas stitchery but it is progressing rather well and I'm pleased with how it looks.

I'm going to continue with this piece and try to finish it this week. I am not allowing myself to start another stitching project until I've finished one already in progress. 

This week I have stitched for at least 15 minutes a day. It is proving very relaxing at the end of the day and as a result I seem to be sleeping better. So this weeks stitching was 7 of 7. In total for January to date I have stitched for 12 days out of 15. I'm linking this post with Kate from Life in pieces for her weekly stitching link up.

I'm off to watch an episode of the new Father Brown which is on iPlayer, whilst I do some stitching.

Take care

Lyndsey

This weeks stitching project

I know it's January but why is it so cold and wet. It just keeps on raining and the puddles are like small lakes! On the upside this afternoon it did stop raining for about 30 minutes, the sun came out and there was a beautiful rainbow. I don't know why but rainbows always make me happy.

In my last post I told you I was trying to spend at least 15 minutes a day hand stitching or some sort of stitching. Last week I worked on the grandmother's garden quilt and I'm pleased with the progress I made. Since I have several hand stitching projects I decided to change the project I'm working on each week. Last year I started on a piece of redwork with a Christmas theme. I was getting on fairly well with this piece but then I fell and in the process hurt my right hand and elbow. Hand stitching was painful especially if I had been using the computer during the day. This is the point I'd reached when I last worked on it.

If I keep up my 15minutes (or more) stitching a day I should finish this by the end of the week. That would be great as my aim this year is to finish projects before I start the next one. I have several hand stitching projects that need to be completed but I also have several new projects to start plus I want to join in with the little stitcheries that Meg from Crabapple Hill Studios runs in February. I must admit I still have a couple of the bird houses to finish from last years event.

This evening I enjoyed stitching whilst watching some TV. Missy had worn herself out with playtime and was snoozing at my feet. A perfect evening after a busy day. Here's how it looks this evening.

The first week for 2023 was good for stitching with 15 minutes or more of stitching  on 5 of the last 7 days. I'm linking with Kate from Life in pieces for her 15 minutes a day link up.

Take care

Lyndsey

Slow stitching and fun

I hope the New Year Is going well for you. Going back to work after the break was a bit tiring and the weather is cold and wet. Apart from that I'm having fun. I promised myself that this year I would try and do some stitching for at least 15 minutes every day. So far I've stitched something for 5 of the 8 days and it makes a great way to unwind before bed.

Today was the first day I managed to get to my sewing machine. I'd planned a sewing day on Friday but I still had marking to finish so I got that done and out of the way. I spent some time planning projects whilst doing some hand stitching in the evening. Yesterday I needed to do some chores and I wanted to sort my fabric stash. That took some time but it also gave me the opportunity to pull some fabrics Today I got my machine out and started sewing. It was great fun and so relaxing. I can't wait for my next sewing day which if all goes well will be Friday.

I wanted to make a carry bag for my cutting mats. When the mats aren't in use they are flat on the desk but things get stacked on top of them and they are getting damaged. The bag will protect them on a daily basis but also when I take them to Guides or for a sewing day with friends they will be easier to carry and will be protected instead of just being put in the boot of the car.

I had a charm pack of Best of Morris Spring from Moda that came in my subscription box, along with a pattern. I've altered the construction a bit from the pattern. By the end of my sewing session I had the two side panels made and I'd joined them at the bottom. 

A nice simple project sewing squares together and adding borders. I now need to quilt it. The wadding and lining is cut ready for use but I haven't yet made the quilt sandwich. I love the William Morris patterns. The curtains in my parent's living room were in one of his prints and they looked fabulous. 

Having packed my sewing away I decided to try and make some bolts of cloth for my doll's house. The house is 1/12 size so this involved a little maths and since the numbers were going to be small I switched from imperial to metric measurements. I stuck two layers of thin card together to make the card for the bolt and I stuck the end of the fabric to the card and then wrapped the rest round. I used a very small lace  pin to hold the fabric in place. Here are two small bolts of fabric on a charm square. I need to make some more and also some fat quarters. The sewer in this house needs lots of fabric

I'm currently working on the sewing room. I can't fit a sewing room into our house so having one in the doll's house is the next best thing. I have been laying a wood floor but it takes a bit of time to do. It's starting to look quite good. The walls in the sewing room are all painted  a cheerful yellow. 

Once I finish the floor I can add the skirting and put the basement together.  The lighting will be added before it's all fastened together. The other side of the dividing wall is the kitchen, not far for her to go to get a cup of coffee.

For Christmas Richard bought me the kitchen cupboards, cooker, fridge/freezer, table and chairs and lots of other small kitchen bits. I love the little drinks set.

He felt it was important that after a hard day sewing the owner should be able to open a bottle of wine, relax and enjoy her handiwork. He also bought this set of pickles and spices. These jars are so cute.

Today is slow stitching day and I've finally started to add the next round of flowers onto the grandmother's garden quilt. This round is pink and red. After this round I will need to start making the quilt into a rectangle rather than the hexagon it is now. This is what I've been working on this week, making the flowers from the hexagons I'd already prepared and then starting to sew the flowers to the main quilt. This is my oldest UFO and I really must get it finished.

I'm linking this post with Kathy from Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching link up. I'm looking forward reading what everyone is busy stitching this year.

I'm hoping to post at least twice a week now that I'm fit and have got my sewing mojo back.

Take Care

Lyndsey