A weekend away.

At the weekend John and I went to East Sussex, to be more precise to Rye. Rye has a large nature reserve and we wanted to find out more. I had a couple of things to do before we could set off. The first was to collect my machine from its extended spa treatment. Both Brother and the engineer who worked on it insisted that the foot pedal I had been using since 2017, was the wrong pedal for the machine. The manual tells me that there are two pedals available, one for everyday sewing which was the one that came with the machine when I bought it from Brother and an all singing all dancing pedal made for free motion quilting. This pedal, I am reliably informed has much better control over the speed of the machine. I'll let you know when I have time next weekend to get to some quilting. 

My second appointment was a visit to the podiatrist to have my feet pampered  and cared for. Walking out of the surgery I felt like I was walking on air and it meant my feet enjoyed all the walking we did over the weekend. On Friday afternoon we visited Rye harbour. I always love seeing the boats in a harbour. The harbour itself is on the River Rother. We had a look around the area, and popped into the pub for a drink, with John enjoying a beer whilst I sipped a coca cola, since I was driving.

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We then headed towards the nature reserve. The visitor centre was just closing but you can follow the trails very easily.  Walking down to the beach we passed this cute hut. Not sure what its purpose was but it made a good picture.

As the light was fading we didn't walk very far but got a feel of the place. Saturday was to be our bird watching day. Dinner at our hotel was delicious and I spent a little time knitting the collar of my jumper.

On Saturday we set off early and spent the whole day on the reserve. We got a good walk and saw lots of different species of birds. None of them were particularly easy to get a photo of and in the end I gave up trying and just enjoyed spending time with nature. We looked across the river to Camber Sands.

Across the river is a beautiful expanse of sand whilst the beech on the reserve side was pebbles mainly with a limited amount of sand. The light was very interesting and i managed to get a reasonable photo shooting straight into the sun.

In total we saw nearly 40 different bird species, walked nearly seven miles and had some interesting conversations with other bird watchers. By the time we needed to leave I was very tired but it had been a good day. After dinner our evening was very quiet as John was reading and I carried on with my knitting.

On Sunday there was a warning for strong winds and rain so we decided to cut our weekend short. I was very pleased we did as the weather deteriorated as we headed home.

Today, after work I finally finished knitting the collar for my jumper and now I can get it finished before the end of the month. That will be the first finish of the year.  I've still got a lot of the sewing up to do. The collar has to be folded lengthwise and stitched to the neck opening.

Tomorrow I am hoping to get some sewing time as I haven't done very much on my January challenge. I do have a sewing weekend to look forward to.

Take care

Lyndsey

Wednesday already!

I'm not sure what happened to Monday and Tuesday but here we are at the mid point of the week. I stayed late at the office on Monday to finish some lesson preparation. It's much easier to do when everyone else has gone home and there is peace and quiet at last. It was 9 p.m. when I got home and by the dinner I'd eaten dinner I just sat and watched the TV for half an hour, to be exact I caught up with a vlog I follow. Over the last two days I've tried to check my storage space for projects that I haven't worked on for some time and I've forgotten about.

One of the projects I found was these small 9 patch blocks set on point. The squares for the 9 patch are one and a half inch square. I started it to use up small scraps and I love the way it looks. This would make a pretty baby quilt.  I need to decide the size I want the quilt to be so I can make the number of blocks I need. I have a lot of 1.5 in squares.

I started these bear paw blocks several years ago but decided I didn't want to make the whole quilt. I'll relook at the pattern and make a final decision. I do like the bear paw block.

I had also started making apple core blocks as they looked fun to make but I didn't enjoy it. However I have quite a few blocks and I want to use them up. Decisions, decisions!

I found the embroidered blocks I've stitched for the Jane Austen quilt. These are nearly finished.

and these really cute frogs to make a baby quilt. These really must be finished up.

I'm certain there are still some projects languishing elsewhere in the house but I think I've got enough to work on without finding more. The big question what to work on first.

Tomorrow I have work but Friday I'm off. First job of the day is to collect my machine. It will be great to have her back at home. Unfortunately we are away for the weekend so I'll have to wait until next week to have a good sewing day.

Right, time to pack up the computer and get to bed. I have an early start tomorrow.

Take care

Lyndsey

Birdwatching and Red Manor house quilt.

Yesterday we had booked to go on a birdwatching trip to Titchwell Marsh in North Norfolk. The day was cold and foggy so I was very happy that we were travelling by coach. I drive everyday to and from work and I'm always happy to have a rest from it and watch the scenery go by. Fortunately when we got there visibility was good so we were able to the birds easily, well so long as they weren't hiding. 

Titchwell Marsh has diverse habitats, with freshwater lagoons, salt water lagoons, reed beds and the beach. We spent some time by the reedbeds, saltmarsh and freshwater lagoons and enjoyed views of Avocets, Bearded Tits, Pintails, Marsh Harriers and many others. Between the group we saw 90 different species of birds. We stayed later than usual as we all wanted to see the raptors come in to roost and it was well worth it with about 20 to 25 circling overhead before finally settling. The downside was the cold, especially on the beach as it is on the North Sea and the wind was coming in from the artic. I couldn't cope with on the beach so I went back to the cafe and enjoyed a very tasty soup to warm myself up.

Over the week I have been trying to prep the blocks I need to make for the next round of the Red Manor House quilt. There are 4 pieced butterfly blocks which are at the four corners, and then two large flowers and two pot plants on each of the sides. I'm trying to use fabric from my stash as far as possible so it took some time to find all the fabric I needed. My machine will not be back until Friday 24th January so I wasn't rushing but I have an Elna that I tend to use for dressmaking so I can complete the blocks. I use plastic sleeves to keep everything together. There are separate sleeves for each type of block.  

I also use post it notes to identify the letter of the pattern piece, the size and how many are needed for the block. Before putting things away I checked carefully to make sure all the pieces were present and correct. I'm hoping to work on these blocks on Tuesday evening.

I've finished knitting the main parts of my green jumper and I've started stitching it together. At the same time I've started knitting the collar. This has been my slow stitching all week as I want this project finished. It's cold here in London and a new longer jumper will be very welcome. I've just the collar to knit and then attach it to complete the project. This should be a finish by the end of the week.

Once finished I will be working on a mattress for the master bedroom of my dolls house. The main part of the mattress is foam but I need to cut some wadding from my scraps to give it a firmer feel. I also want to crochet a blanket. I have a very small crochet hook and will be using perle cotton or embroidery thread. It will be fun to work on a smaller sized item for a while. If I can't make it work I can always buy the finished item from Etsy

When I was looking for fabrics for the Red Manor house quilt I realised that I hadn't identified all my projects. I need to update my list. I also have a couple of WIP's that I'm not sure I want to be bothered finishing which is why they have been lurking at the back of my cupboard for quite some time. I've come to the conclusion that if it's not going to get finished then it is better to move it on to someone who may want to complete it and love it or if no one wants it, then I'll put it in the fabric recycling bin. 

Tomorrow is the start of another week and then next weekend John and I are having a short break away. I'm hoping the weather warms up before then.

I'm linking this post with Kathy from Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching. I need to pop over and see what everyone has been working on. It's a great source of inspiration.

Take care

Lyndsey

 

Bits and pieces

I started this post a while ago, well on the 5th January but didn't finish it because I felt I had very little to show since my machine was away at the spa. I've left what I wrote and will bring it up to date lower down.

When I went to bed last night a little after midnight it was snowing  but when I woke up this morning there was no snow in sight and the temperature had gone up. Instead of snow we had rain, not as much fun but we don't often get snow in London so not a surprise. Today being twelfth night I took our decorations down. I had planned to do this when our older daughter and family arrived but she phoned to cancel. Not a problem as we will see them very soon, probably next weekend and I do have a long list of things I wanted to get on with. one of the tasks on my list was to work on my doll's house. This was a Christmas present a few years back. This was the start of the day.

Here the house has been put on a larger base and the front basement area has been added. The side wall of the garden area of the basement has been glue together but the side walls have not been glue to the front of the basement of the house. This is because there is a garden area I need to complete before I do that

The black tiles in front of the railings are individual tiles. There are railing for the other side (already painted) and steps going down into the basement area and up to the front door need to be glued in place. I also have the tiles to finish the roof. The second chimney is now finished and ready to attach to the back roof. The chimney is a solid wood block and individual mini bricks are stuck on and finished with 'mortar'. Sticking the individual bricks down is a little fiddly and I have yet to add the chimney pots. 

I had promised myself that I wouldn't buy any more fabric or other craft items unless I had finished a current project. That promise has already been broken as Rowan was having an up to 60% off sale. I bought enough Felted Tweed yarn to knit a cardigan. This yarn is variegated and will be fun to knit but it will have wait as there are two other knitting projects before it in the queue. The pattern for this cardigan is just stocking stitch. 

We had a second puzzle that we hadn't made so we decided we would work on it over the week, if we had time. I'm back at work tomorrow so I won't have much time. Fast forward and today is Tuesday 14th. This puzzle was finished over the weekend and was fun and challenging to put together.

In the evenings I have been splitting my time between the puzzle and knitting whilst watching TV. Yesterday I finished the second sleeve and now need to sew the jumper together. This shouldn't take too long. Then I need to knit the collar to complete the piece. I'm hoping I will have a finish on this project by next week.

Last week was very cold and frosty. We didn't have any snow but we had a lot of ice and each day I had to thaw the car out before I could drive to work. In reality I did nothing other than starting the car and turning the heater and front and back demist/ defrost on. The weather has now warmed up but the last two days have been rather dull with limited sun. On Saturday John and I went for a walk with some friends and it was a beautiful clear, sunny and crisp day. Perfect for walking. We are walking the Wandle path. The Wandle is the name of a local river that eventually empties into the River Thames in Wandsworth. We started the walk in Croydon, the photo shows Croydon Minster but it was closed on Saturday so we will need to visit on another day.

I also took a photo of the war memorial as I like the way it looked against the leafless trees.

Croydon has a lot of old and new buildings that are all fighting to be seen I think the tower block wins.

Following the River Wandle we came across a little waterfall (not natural) shrouded in mist as a result of the weather conditions.

The area used to have a lot of water mills because it was a fast flowing river which was once one of the busiest in the world. Because of the river and the mills the area was famous for many industries notably silk printing for Liberty of Oxford Street. We came across this old mill wheel on our travels.

When we reached the grove we came to another waterfall. I love the way the water looks in the photo.

My final photo was of some artwork at the community garden that we passed near to the end of our walk.

From here we walked a little further to Hackbridge where we had a filling and tasty lunch at the Hackbridge cafe. Lunch always tastes more delicious when you have earned it by walking six miles.

Today the service engineer for my sewing machine phoned to say it was all finished and ready to collect. He had needed a part and that had delayed the finish. I will collect it on Friday and plan on spending Sunday reacquainting myself with it and starting some quilting. I've missed my machine!

Take care

Lyndsey

I'm not sure about 2025

I'm not sure I like 2025. I know it's only 4 days old but it feels like a big pain in the neck. My main sewing machine is off at the spa. Most of it's issues have been sorted but the foot pedal stopped working. The engineer rang me and told me I'm using the wrong pedal for the machine. He tried it in other Brother machines in the shop and it worked fine but won't work in my machine. I did tell him it had been working since I bought the machine several years ago and that I bought it direct from Brother. I suggested it was a fault with the socket on the machine not the foot pedal but was told no. The machine model can use one of two foot pedals so he has ordered the other pedal (more expensive) but I'm betting it won't work. Time will tell! Anyway it means I am mainly working on hand stitching or knitting at the moment. This is where the second problem started. If I use my right wrist too much it becomes very painful. Knitting and hand sewing are very repetitive actions and have caused me wrist problems for years so I know how much I can do in a day. 

Enough whining, since the year won't get any better if I don't get on with it. I'm taking part in the Chookshed stitchers challenge again this year. The number for January was 6 and my project for 6 is the Red Manor House quilt.

The next round is an applique round so I needed to pull out my neutral fabrics to find a background. I'm making the quilt from scraps but keeping to a limited colour palette. I currently have very full scrap bins as I haven't made any scrappy quilts recently, so fabric shouldn't be a problem.  Here is a picture of the Red Manor House quilt that was on display at the festival of Quilts at the NEC last August. Made by Brenda Otter and  Lynda Edmunton.

I need to sort out my scraps to make the 8 large flowers, the 4 butterflies and the 8 pot plants. I will be sticking with the blue and reds in my scraps and I'm hoping I won't have to cut into any yardage. I still have my small Elna machine that has a beautiful stitch but also a large number of patterned stitches I can choose from. The next few days will be cutting the fabrics. I will be using the double sided adhesive web to hold the applique in place whilst I stitch it. I will prep all the blocks before I start the sewing.

Over the new Year, John and I had fun putting together a 1000 piece puzzle that I bought for Christmas. It made a change from knitting or hand stitching whilst watching a film.

We also had to go over to our daughter's home to feed her two cats, Rothko, (the black cat) and Penny, as they were away for a few days. The two cats were happy to see us but were also enjoying the peace of their home without an energetic two and a half year old rushing round. 

Tomorrow is the last day of my holiday and I spent time today catching up on a few bits I should have done before Christmas. Tomorrow will be busy as we have older daughter and family coming for dinner. Our tree will be packed away tomorrow and everyone who helps will get a small present from the Christmas tree fairy. It's a tradition we started when our children were small to avoid tantrums when the decorations were put away. The girls in particular liked wrapping the glass baubles in tissue and our son was good at ensuring the lights didn't get tangled up.

Take care

Lyndsey

 

Plans for 2025.

2024 seemed to fly by. I know many of us say that every year but the older I get, the more the years seem flash by. However it could just be as simple as needing to chill out and relax more.  Maybe I should make that a priority for the coming year!

Last year I joined in with the Chookshed challenge and I really enjoyed it and progressed my projects. I'm looking forward to joining in again in 2025. There is a cute new button for the challenge.

For the challenge I need to identify 10 projects, and number them 1 to 10. On the first day of the month a number will be drawn and that's the project to work on for that month. I spent some time deciding which projects to work on or start for this challenge. This is what I decided.

1. Double wedding ring Quilt

I have done some work on this project. It took practice to get the curves right but I finally succeeded. I love the fabrics I have chosen for the quilt and want to get it made in 2025. It would look fabulous on my bed.

2.Embroidered tablecloth

John gave me this tablecloth embroidery kit for Christmas 2023. The photo shows the extent of my embroidery on the project so far. The embroidery goes round all four sides. This needed to move forward.

3.Grandmother's Garden Quilt.

This quilt is my oldest project. It's the oldest project because there has never been a need to finish it in a timeframe. I started it as a carry along project to work on when travelling by train or during my lunch breaks. Now I want to get it finished so I can give it to my younger daughter. Lucy suggested I did each round as a colour from the rainbow. The latest round is orange. Once I finish this round I will start to square up the quilt. This is a project I would like to finish in 2025.

4.Japanese Quilt

When I saw this panel I decided that I wanted to make a quilt from it  and use sashiko embroidery between the blocks. I want to start this quilt this year.

5. Dolls for my doll's house.

I bought this pattern a couple of years back. So far I've only made the baby but I need to make the parents and the other child. I've moved the dolls house project forward and now need the owners of the house.

6.Red Manor House Quilt.

The next round of this quilt is an applique round. Hopefully this quilt will be finished this year.

7.Garden Quilt.

I want to make this quilt as a present for my older daughter's mother in law. She is a keen gardener and also has allotments so it will be a very suitable choice of quilt for her.

8.Star Trek cross stitch.

I am slowly working on this cross stitch. I find the black background difficult to work with but I am enjoying the results so far. This will be a present for my son.

9. Kantha bird embroideries

I bought this pattern when I visited the Quilt Festival at the NEC in August. I want to complete these embroideries and make them into a hanging quilt. I have the fabric and floss but haven't started the stitching yet.


10. Pink Cardigan.

My final project doesn't have a photo yet. Earlier this year I bought some pink yarn to knit a cardigan. Before I can start this I need to finish my current knitting so I hope number 10 doesn't get pulled for at least another month.

I'm excited to see which number will be drawn for January. For now though I need to go to bed as 2025 has already started and it is really late or should I say early in the morning of January 1st.

Happy New Year everyone.

Take care

Lyndsey.