Catch up time and slow stitching.

Yesterday I decided that I needed to catch up on some sewing. John was out for the morning and Lucy and Richard were doing their own thing so it was a perfect time to take over the dining table and catch up on some sewing bits. Last year I decided to make this dinosaur quilt.

and in January I made the fern blocks. There are three blocks of each colour.

I pulled out the bags I had prepared for each of the blocks. Two had the colourful fabrics and the background but the rest needing the background fabric and I needed to cut the sashing and border fabric. It took quite some time to get all the cutting complete. At this stage all the fabric is in big pieces e.g. width of fabric. As you make each block you subdivide the fabrics. This suits me as there are quite a lot of small pieces such as 1.5 inch x 1.5 inch. I would lose these pieces if they were already cut. By the time I had finished, all the block bags had the background and colourful fabrics in them.

Everything is carefully labelled so I don't have to stop and worry if I've pulled up the right piece of fabric. It took some time but it was time well spent. After that I decided to make the Cycad blocks. There is no point in starting the dinosaur blocks until all three plant blocks are made. This is because they fit into the completed dinosaur blocks. In total there were 18 cycad blocks to make, three of each colour. These blocks are all trimmed to the correct size and ready to go when needed.

I still have the vine blocks to make before I can start the dinosaurs. I've set myself the target of making one type of block a month. I have the vine and 4 different types of dinosaur blocks to make, so this project should be completed by the autumn at the latest.

Sharing the dining table with my machine is a flower arrangement. I love these frilly tulips.

The lilies are also a fabulous red.

In the evening I had planned to do some stitching on my poppy embroidery but we decided to watch a film and so I opted to carry on with my knitting. I find it easier to knit when watching TV. I have almost finished shaping for the armholes and the back will be finished quite soon.

Today I am working from home as I am interviewing students this afternoon and all our interviews are conducted online. That means I should have some time for sewing this evening as I don't have the commute home. Right now I'd better get organised and start work.

Take care

Lyndsey