Tennis, election and some sewing.

Here in London the Wimbledon Lawn tennis championships started on last Monday (1st July). I drive very close to it on my way to and from work. I like playing and watching tennis but I haven't been to Wimbledon championships for over 40 years. I found that I ended up with a sore neck as a result of turning my head to follow the ball from one side of the court to the other (it does depend on where you're sitting). I am very happy to watch the games on the TV especially if there are some strawberries to enjoy as well. The shops and restaurants in Wimbledon village are decorated to celebrate the tennis, with lots of flowers and tennis balls and rackets. 

On Thursday night John and I stayed up to watch the election result come in. I have been doing this since I was in my teens but the evening was so unusual as the results were a massive landslide. Our MP was re-elected which I am very happy about as she is a great constituency MP. Whilst watching the results I alternated my knitting and EPP project. That meant I got quite a lot of progress on both projects.  As results came in a lot of the ministers, all well known figures, from the previous government lost their seats. We went to bed for a couple of hours at 5:30 in the morning.

Yesterday I took a photo of my grandmother's garden quilt as the one I posted last week wasn't up to date. I had completed the white round and at the top of the picture you can see the beginnings of the next round which is red.

This project is English paper pieced. To do this you use paper templates which are then covered with fabric. Normally I would print my templates from the internet but I received some in my subscription quilting magazine which has saved me a lot of time. I am using 1 inch templates. The fabric is cut larger than the template and the fabric is tacked to it.

When stitching the hexagons together I use whip stitch and try to just pick up the fabric, not going through the template. That way the template can be reused in a future project. The papers stay in the project until the top is completed and ready to be made into a quilt sandwich.

It is very easy to remove the papers by cutting the tacking thread and using your nail to pop the template out. The templates at the middle of the top do become very worn as a result of folding the top to put it away when not working on it. The templates round the outside fair better and can be reused. Different patterns can be produced by how you sew the hexagons together and by using other shapes that tessellate together. I like EPP and added bonus, it is something you can do whilst watching TV.

Today (Saturday) I was in work as we had an open day. It's been rather a quiet day as I think many potential students are preparing for the England versus Switzerland football match later today or watching Wimbledon or just staying out of the rain! I don't usually mind covering the open days but it is annoying to lose a sewing day when there aren't many people attending. When I got home I made a couple of pom poms. I have yarn in a big tub in the loft but when I was in Hobbycraft getting a large pompom maker I bought these bright balls of yarn. I have four sizes of pompom makers and so will make some of each size in each colour as a start. I then start using the yarns from my stash.

I also started pulling fabrics from my stash that I can use to make bunting. I needed to find some red fabric suitable for my grandmothers garden quilt so I started with my fat quarters and my scraps. I could end up clearing a lot of fabric. In particular I want to use up the larger scrap pieces I have as they are taking up a little too much room.

I have done my grocery shopping order this evening and I took the opportunity to add the cake ingredients that I'm short of. The delivery is for Monday evening and I will have time to make the cake on Tuesday evening. this wedding is already starting to play havoc with my plans for my sewing projects. It's not a problem as I can replan my sewing and it is so exciting for the wedding to finally be going ahead after it was cancelled during covid.

Tomorrow I plan to cut the pieces for the next set of six dinosaurs. I may not have time to start any sewing but I should be able to fit that in next weekend. The grandmother's garden quilt is all hand stitching and so much easier to work on in the evening.

Finally I'm really enjoying the flowers I had delivered earlier this week. The smell from the roses is delightful. 

 Take care

Lyndsey.