Afternoon tea, cutting fabric and stitching on binding.

Yesterday was a crafting day but first I had to take Twiglet to the groomers. He was a very scruffy pup and now he's a handsome dashing Yorkshire Terrier again. Twiglet is a big Yorkie, not a teacup or a mini. If he was, I would probably have squashed him by now as he loves to jump into your chair just as you sit down. His grooming went well as he's always well behaved but the heat was getting to me and I felt dizzy so I was relieved when Richard came to meet us and we walked home together. Once home I had to have a rest before the next activity.

This week has been National Afternoon Tea week. I love a traditional afternoon tea and it is the perfect meet up with friends. However I didn't fancy a trip out so decided to do tea and scones for the family. I have a pretty bone china tea set that belonged to my mother. I think it may have been a present but not a wedding present. The design is from the 1950's and my parents got married in 1946. I set the table for the four of us. It was a simple afternoon tea with tea or coffee to drink and scones, jam and cream. In order to set the table I had to move all my sewing bits to the spare chair and top of my machine! I used one of the embroidered table cloths that had been my mothers. This is an antique, a bit like me, as I remember her embroidering it when I was still at primary school.

We all enjoyed the scones and we sat and chatted for quite a while afterwards. We decided we needed to use the tea set more, particularly for special occasions such as birthdays. The last time it was used was after the covid lockdowns. We celebrated Lucy's birthday with a birthday tea party in the back garden at older daughter's house. At this point you could only socialise outside.

After the scones and cream I cleared away and returned to cutting fabric. I started with cutting the fabric for the Christmas quilt. All the patterned fabrics are cut but I still have the background fabric and the sparks or star fabric to do. I worked out the fabric requirements for the additional three blocks.

I decided I wanted to use a yellow batik for the stars but I don't have enough of a single piece. Between the three batik yellows I can cut all the stars but I think I will order more of the bright yellow batik as it really does spark.

Alternatively I do have enough plain yellow fabric for the stars. Once I've cut the background fabric and the star fabric I can get the blocks sewn together.

The seed packets and back ground for the garden quilt are also cut out and ready for sewing. I think I did too much cutting yesterday as my right wrist is a little sore. At least sewing the blocks will rest my wrist.

Yesterday evening I finished a book called The sewing machine by Natalie Fergie

I really enjoyed this book. The story is multigenerational historical fiction. The story starts in 1911 with Jean who works at the Singer factory at the time the 1911 strike took place. It follows the lives of the family though to almost present day and the sewing machine is a main thread in the story. It is this story that meant I didn't get the binding attached to the dinosaur quilt this week. The story also made me look up information about the strike, how many women worked at the factory and what their lives were like. It was fascinating.

I realised I had forgotten to show you what I bought at the Festival of Quilts. I didn't need fabric although John bought me some to make a dress. I'll hopefully get round to that in the near future. I bought this pattern book. This is by the person who designed the bird embroideries. I've also shown the post card for Paint- box threads. These threads are hand dyed and are beautiful to the touch. I've ordered the threads I need to complete the bird stitcheries.

I also bought this kit to make a wall hanging. It comes with the panel of the birds required but the remaining fabric will be from stash. 

What I want to try with this is using the Inktense blocks to paint the background fabric. I bought a small set of the ink blocks a while ago but haven't had time to try them out. On one of the embroidery YouTube channels I follow 'Marion's World', Marion uses them a lot to get the background colours she wants for her embroidery. I'm all for trying something new. To use the inks you use a paint brush and water. They are good for using on fabric and adding more or less water affects the intensity of the colour. The can also easily be mixed. I'm going to be having a play with them over the bank holiday, next weekend.

I also have one of Kate Finlay's bird picture kits to make up before I start on this quilt kit.

Tomorrow I'm back at work. It's been great to be able to fit in some crafting, sewing or whatever I want to work on each day. On the upside, having been off sick and therefore unable to take my holiday, I have an additional 10 days holiday next year. Our holiday runs from September to August and I plan on taking some time off at the end of September.

Now I need to make good use of my time today as I have a lot I want to do.

Take care

Lyndsey