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