A weekend away and some sewing

John and I try to get some time away at least every other month. It's not that we don't like being at home, we do. It's just that sometimes you need your space as a couple. We have son and younger daughter living with us plus Missy and now Wesley, the cat. It's fun but sometimes we want to slow down and be able to enjoy being us. Last weekend was our first trip of the year and we went to Worcester. Worcester is a cathedral city in the heart of the West Midlands on the banks of the River Severn The weather was cold but sunny and we had a pleasant drive. We stopped at the services on the motorway to pick up coffee and whilst we  enjoyed our drink we watched the little penny wagtails picking up crumbs in the car park. Once we had settled into our hotel we had a brief wander around the city centre. We had no plans for the evening other than a good meal and chill out time. Relaxing was important as it has been busy at work and stressful at home looking after Wesley and nursing him back to health.

On Saturday we set out to walk along the Worcester and Birmingham canal  and then follow the River Severn. There were a few ducks on the canal.

In the marina we found a variety of traditional narrow boats.

We passed the locks. I love watching the boats going up or down in the locks but on Saturday morning there were no boats travelling along the canal.

The canal joined the River Severn and we followed the river for quite a distance but the ground got more and more boggy where it had been flooded so we turned round and returned to the city.  We decided to have coffee and then have a look round the city centre. Some of the streets are narrow and the building are old. We went back in the evening to get pictures as the streets were very crowded earlier.

Having explored the shops we headed to the Cathedral.  I had fun trying to get a photo of the tower.

The entrance into the cathedral was very decorative.

This view is looking towards the altar.

The altar was very ornate but beautiful.

I love looking at the floor tiles as sometimes they give me ideas for quilt patterns.

I particularly likes these tiles.

This tapestry was one of the few pieces of textiles that I found as we looked round.

Meanwhile the ceiling was beautiful.

After we had explored all the Cathedral we walked to the main bridge in Worcester so we could get a photo of the cathedral. We saw the spire of a ruined church.

The were a lot of mute swans on the river.

There was also a good view of the outside of the Cathedral.

We went on another walk on Sunday but I'll tell you about that tomorrow,

This evening when I got home I had some time to myself and I enjoyed some sewing time. I started by sewing the pinwheel blocks together into a quilt top.

I'm not adding borders to this quilt top . I need to make the quilt sandwich and I already have the backing fabric for this quilt. I love these cute teddy bears

I also started a mystery quilt . It uses 9 fat quarters and I just happened to have several fat quarters that I needed to use up.

You have to cut 16, 4 and a half inch squares from each fat quarter and then sort them into a set order . These are the fabrics I'm using.

I made a start this evening and this is what I achieved.

I'm working tomorrow so I need to go to bed. I plan on getting home early so I can do some more sewing. I'll also finish off our trip to Worcester as well.

Take care

Lyndsey