A busy Tuesday and a great weekend

I planned to write this post on Tuesday evening but life got in the way. I had taken annual leave on Tuesday which gave me a five day weekend, since Monday was a bank holiday in the UK. Everyone else was working so Missy and I had the house to ourselves. As always there were several household chores to complete before I could claim the time as my own.  Obviously one of the 'chores' was taking Missy for a walk but that is only really a chore when the weather is cold and wet. Walking in the sunshine is a joy and Missy's love of life and walking is very contagious. We spent some time at the park while I threw balls for her to chase and for her to have a good sniff at everything. She stuck her nose in a patch of flowers and spent the next little while sneezing, very delicate ladylike sneezes for the size of dog. Back at home I started some bread. Most weeks I make one large loaf and it lasts all week but sometimes everyone wants toast for breakfast. 

Eventually I was able to make myself a cup of tea and sit and consider what I wanted to achieve on my annual leave day. I have a new quilt project percolating in my brain but it isn't fully formed yet so it was back to the ones I've already started. The dinosaur quilt was calling me. Having finished the first set of 6 dinosaurs I still have 3 more sets to make or 18 blocks. I decided I would cut the fabric for two of the brachiosaurus blocks but cut the background fabric for all 6 blocks. This took quite some time as there are a lot of small pieces. The pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman who also designed Cats in pyjamas

and dogs in sweaters

                               

I also have both of these patterns for future use. They are such fun designs. The patterns have a lot of pieces to them but the instructions are well written and easy to follow. From experience don't try to make too many blocks at the same time, one at a time works very well.  Anyway I spent time cutting fabric. Restricting the amount of cutting I did was a good idea as last time it made my wrists very achy. This time my wrist was still feeling comfortable. Gracious me, does this mean I've started to realise my limitations at last!

Later in the afternoon, once I done some ironing, I got my knitting out and worked on the second sleeve. It should hopefully be finished over the weekend and I can sew my cardigan together. Writing it down my day doesn't sound very busy but I was worn out and needed to go to bed early.

Wednesday and Thursday I was working and so that bring us to Friday. This morning John and I set off on a weekend in Portsmouth. I'm going to tell you about our trip in the next post but over the weekend I did some sewing on the little countryside embroidery. I didn't get a huge amount done as we were out and about all day and I was tired by evening. Here's how far I've got.

I've cut the red fabric for the poppies and I'm really excited to get this piece finished. I'm linking this post with Kathy from Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday stitching Pop over and see what everyone has been working on.

I need to download my photos so I can share them on my next post. I'm working tomorrow but I have a day off on Tuesday so blog post and more sewing.

Take care

Lyndsey