The joy of embroidery

The weather here in London has been beautiful for the last week. There is real warmth in the sun and there has been no rain. That doesn't mean it hasn't been cold but in the mornings I did have to defrost the car before I could drive to work. I guess the answer to that is not to leave so early, as once the sun is up, the car would quickly defrost on its own. It's also great that the sunrise is so much earlier and sunset later. This last week it was quite light as I left for work For this coming week sunrise is around 6:30, the time we leave if I'm dropping younger daughter at work and sunset is 17:55. That still means it will be dark by the time I get home.

This week I have been having fun working on the embroidered tablecloth. This is my Chookshed challenge for March. At the beginning of the month this is how far I had got with the stitching.

Over the week I have been stitching in the evening. By evening my eyes are a little tired and so I can't do a lot of stitching but some is better than none. Some of the flowers and leaves are stitched using satin stitch. I've done this before but I'm not great at it. I'm enjoying improving my skills. I wish I'd paid more attention when my mom was teaching me to embroider.

I'd like to finish two sides of the cloth this month but I've realised I'm a very slow stitcher and I won't get that far. I'm planning on finishing the equivalent of one side. If I manage more then I'll be very happy.

Last week I showed you some blocks that I'd found in my sewing cupboard. These were my starting point for my Saturday sewathon.

The muddled of pieces to be sewn together made another 5 blocks.

I had some bright yellow fabric and decided to use this for the sashing. I also decided to use it for the borders so I had to buy some more. This is such a sunny, happy quilt top

I have to finish quilting the Churn dash quilt and then the dinosaur quilt before I can complete this one. It exciting finding unfinished projects from years ago and I know there are more to find in my sewing cupboard.

Tomorrow I will cast on the left front of my pink cardigan. I've had a week off knitting as it can make my right arm quite numb (which is good) or very painful (which is very bad). 

On Friday I had my pre surgery assessment which found I am fit and healthy. I wasn't happy to be told I was 5 foot 4 inches tall. I've always been 5 feet 6. I know everyone shrinks as they get older  but no. I'm not playing. No wonder I find it a stretch to reach things on the top shelves of cupboards.

Tomorrow is a work day so I need to go and get some sleep. 

Take care

Lyndsey