Recently I haven't had time to work on my doll house. In fact it has been several months now so on Sunday I decided that I would finish the roof tiles. I'd been putting this off because I needed to cut the tiles to fit round the dormers. I had hoped that if I left it long enough that the fairies (in the shape of husband or son) would come along and finish it for me. This is how far I'd got when I last worked on the roof.
I'd been sitting in a position that meant the house was in my line of sight and as I looked at it I gave myself a little talking to. The talk went along the lines of ' you've learnt how to knit, crochet, quilt and do a vast variety of things so why do you think you can't finish this roof? I made myself a cup of tea and considered why I had put off doing the job and the answer was 'I might break the tiles which would be a waste'. Not a problem as the N gauge model railway being made by husband and son has a slate quarry and the roof tiles are made of slate. Any breakages could be used in their railway. I covered the dining table with a large cloth and set about finishing the main front roof. It did involve a lot of cutting of tiles and yes I did break several but finally it was finished and I'm very pleased with how it looks. Later this week I'll put the tiles on the dormer roofs. The back half of the roof will be easier but it does have two chimneys I'll need to work round and I'll have to order some more tiles. Meanwhile I have ordered the ridge tiles to finish off the top of the front roof. The roof is hinged and the ridge tile will only be on the front half of the roof.
Having finished the quilting on the dinosaur quilt I prepared the binding. I'm using the same fabric as the back of the quilt. The binding has been attached and I've already sewn it down along one of the shorter edges and round two corners. That does mean there are three sides to stitch down. If I get a wriggle on I could have this finished this week.
When I was quilting the dinosaurs I decided to do a meander pattern but I also played. Here I was practicing my feather interpretation.
On some of the dinosaurs I also quilted a heart.
On Monday John and I went over to our older daughter, Katy's house to help her and her husband Olly with some painting and DIY. They had ordered a new bed and had decided to paint their bedroom before setting it up. Probably a good idea as some paint had already been spilt!. I took my knitting bag and the quilt I'm hand quilting. My job was to play with my grandson Aubrey. Olly had set up the sand pit and water plus the play kitchen in the garden with big parasols to provide shade. We started off playing with the kitchen. My grandson had a great time 'cooking' and creating strange imaginary drinks. We enjoyed a pretend picnic and we played in the sand. Whilst Aubrey was cooking I got on with some quilting and we chatted all day. I put together a large cardboard play train that he had been given for his birthday and we went on several journeys. In the run up to his bedtime we cuddled together on the sofa and watched Thomas the tank engine on TV. It was a lovely way to spend a day. I can't wait until our next play day.
My hand quilting is coming along quite well and I hope to have this finished by the end of next week at the latest. This was the first block I did and my stitches aren't very even but they have got better as I've gone on. Katy has already adopted this quilt.
The temperature here in the UK is getting hotter again and we are supposed to be having yet another heat wave. I think this is number 4 for the year. What I'd really like is some rain, preferably overnight. When I think back to my childhood, every day was sunny through the summer holidays and it only rained overnight.
Today I have some ironing to do and then I can get on with some sewing. I love holiday time.
Take care
Lyndsey
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