A sewing day

 

Today is the start of May and finally this weekend the weather seems to have warmed up a bit and to have stopped raining for a while. Through the centuries the beginning of May has always carried special meaning. In Roman Times the Festival of Flora took place at the end of April and early May. It was celebrated in honour of the goddess of flowers, spring and fertility. 

In early medieval times bonfires were built on the last night of April for the Beltane festival which gave power to protect livestock and the herdsmen. Gradually over time the bonfires disappeared but feasting and dancing on May 1st continued. At some point in time the tradition of crowning a May Queen came into being and dancing round the maypole. When I was young and attending a village primary school (5 to 11 year olds) we celebrated May day by choosing a May Queen and dancing round the maypole. The first time I did this I got very confused as we skipped round the pole clutching our ribbon and creating a pattern down the pole by weaving in and out of the other dancers. I found it even more difficult when it was time to dance in the opposite direction and unravel the ribbons. Over time I got the hang of it and I used to enjoy the May Day celebrations at that school but at that point my father changed his job and we moved to another part of the country where they didn't do maypole dancing..

Today I set about starting the quilting on the bag ladies quilt. This is an old UFO and I want to get it completely finished this month, hence it is my goal for the month. I had an idea of how I wanted to do the quilting. I had decided on swirls on the sashing and borders. I had also decided to do needles and thread on some of the embroidered blocks. I used this design for the ladies bordered in green.

I think this works rather well. I then decided to do reels of thread on the embroideries bordered in Blue. I found these slightly more difficult to sew.

Although the reels are not exactly as I pictured in my head I am happy with how they have turned out. So all three green bordered blocks are done and so is one blue bordered block. I have a design for both the pink and purple blocks but I need to practice a bit more.

By the end of this month my goal is that this quilt will be completely finished including the binding. I think this is doable but I do have quite a busy work diary which may mean I end up working extra days and I also have a busy social diary. I'm feeling very positive that this quilt will be finished.

This evening I finished up the binding on the Christmas mini quilt. This will now be put away with the rest of the Christmas decorations, ready for use much later this year.

Tomorrow evening I will start stitching the binding down on the tulip mini. The binding is already attached to the front and I've used clips so the binding is held in the right position for stitching.

I'm linking this post with Patty from Elm Street Quilts for her One Monthly Goal link up.

I didn't do any work on the dolls for the Doll house. I thought I had all the requirements to make a doll but I hadn't checked if I had any soft toy stuffing left. Lucy had been using it to stuff the rabbit she is crocheting. Never mind I'll be able to buy some later in the week. Next weekend there is another bank holiday, this time to celebrate the coronation of Kind Charles III. That means I have another sewing day but this time I might also be watching the coronation. Hopefully one of the dolls will be made over next weekend.

Take care

Lyndsey