Welcome to May

I enjoyed April, the days lengthened, the weather got warmer and the trees and flowers took on their beautiful colours as their leaves and flowers appeared. For the first time in years I planted quite a few seeds and they have germinated successfully and are now ready to plant out in the garden or window boxes. I've really enjoyed the journey to and from work and the traffic holdups which have given me time to appreciate the daily changes to the trees and shrubs along the way. I've put extra effort in to make sure I've seen the beauty of the world around me. On the down side work has been demanding and so I didn't get to enjoy my sewing and other crafts as much as I would have liked. So let's see what I achieved.

I finished the scrappy donation quilt and this has already gone to its new home. I finished knitting the left front of my cardigan. Since then I haven't done any knitting at all.

John and I went walking to test out a new bluebell walk.

We visited the Constable and Turner exhibition at the Tate Britain which was good. We had all of our three children, partners and our two grandsons for Easter dinner. Both my daughters celebrated birthdays during the month, as a result I've eaten far too much cake. I also ended up with several Easter eggs. The Terry's chocolate orange egg was the best egg I've every had . Unfortunately the Easter eggs and the birthday cakes cause a small increase in my weight but it was worth it! Fortunately I'm back to my usual weight.

My Chookshed challenge for the month was to try and finish the orange round of the Grandmother's Garden English paper pieced quilt. I didn't complete the whole round but I now have 4 sides completed.

The remaining two sides. I need to make 17 'flowers' and to sew them to the quilt to finish off this round. 

I'm hoping to get this finished this month.

Looking forward to May the Chookshed Challenge is number 1 which for me is my embroidered table cloth. I have two sides left to complete plus the butterfly on each side. The picture below was the side I was working on and this is now complete.

It would be great to finish a whole side but being realistic that won't happen. We are away for a weekend later this month and I am on annual leave at the end of the month. That makes it sound like there will be loads of time but we want to make several visits to places this month, so time will be tight.

Yesterday John and I visited the William Morris Museum. We visited the exhibition about William Morris which was very interesting. We also visit the Women in Print exhibition. I have some photos to share but I will post about that tomorrow. Today has been busy as we went over to see older daughter and grandsons. I'm always tired after a visit as the nearly 4 year old is so energetic.

Take care.

Lyndsey

Sewing hexies.

Apologies for my lack of posts recently but work has been a little overwhelming so I've been getting home really tired and with no energy to sit and write a post. The last three or four days I haven't even had the energy to sew a few hexies together. However, prior to this last week I had been using all available time to create 'flowers' for my Grandmother's Garden quilt. When I started the month I had completed two sides. I am now working my way along the fourth side and I'm just over half way along. I'm very pleased with the progress I've made and as a result I decided to put all other projects on hold to try and get this orange round finished this month. I'm really enjoying the orange round as the fabrics are so bright and colourful. 

I've also started pulling my yellow fabric ready for the next step of squaring up the quilt.

On Saturday I was at work as we had an open day for prospective students. It's fun meeting them and making sure they have all the information they need to make up their minds where they want to continue their studies. Some are still deciding what they want to study and for me these are the young people who need to take a gap year. The cost of higher education is high and you don't want to make the wrong choice and waste both time and money. Although the open day was enjoyable it was nice to get home and continue my sewing journey. Having made up my mind to only work on the one project for the rest of the month my brain started to fill with lots of ideas. First up was a plan to turn the Texas panel I received many years ago in a mini quilt swap into a quilt. Here's the panel. It has a lot of potential.

I've roughed out a couple of ideas but don't panic I won't be starting it any time soon. By the time I get round to turning the panel into a quilt, I will have quite a range of ideas to choose from.

This week I received this little embroidery kit through the post. It's always nice to get a present. The kit is by Seductive Stitch and comes with everything needed to make it up and display. This is another project that will not be started for a while. 

I met Katy, the designer at the Stitch Festival in March. She has a beautiful range of embroidery kits on her website www.sipandsew.co.uk I particularly liked the toadstools.

Also for those of you who like embroidery there is a YouTube channel called Marion's World. Marion posts about sewing , knitting, embroidery, painting etc. She also does some tutorials for embroidery and in April she stitched a bluebell wood. In the first video she created the background of the wood and then over the two following weeks she created a beautiful bluebell wood. I just wish I could stitch as well as she does. She posts videos each week. Over this year she is creating videos each month of embroidering different flowers. The videos are well worth a look if you like embroidery.

I now have some time to sew more hexies and on top of having some space for stitching the weather is getting sunny and warm.  

Take care  

Lyndsey

Sewing fabric and seeds

I'm pleased to find out I'm not the only one with a loads of projects on the go. Not that I was worried about it, I mean why would I be worried when I can pick and chose what I work on. That is unless it's for someone else. My older daughter asked me some time ago if I would make her some dining room curtains. I said yes and was given the fabric but needed the window measurements. I got the measurements and checked the fabric quantities and spent time working out the lengths I needed to include hems and headers. Cutting the fabric was a little tiring as curtain fabric is heavy and there was a need for pattern matching as well. I put the curtains off for a little while as fabric matching is a bit of a pain but made a start on them earlier this week. I'm a little off on the one leaf but over both joins there are only minor areas where the pattern is slightly off. On the whole I count the pattern match as good.

The other problem with making curtains is the size and weight, especially when they are for a big patio doorway. Anyway I'm pleased to say these are all finished now and ready to take to my daughter when next we are seeing them.  The fabric is fun with animals and plants on them and they will look good in situ. I've very happy to have them finished and it's one less item on my sewing todo list.

Earlier in the week I also made time to sow some seeds. I had several packets of seeds that needed to be sewn in March or April. Well March came and went and I didn't get time but with the sun shining brightly I set to and got the job done. Although the weather has been warm and sunny we are expecting it to go cold again so I have put the seeds in my mini greenhouse. This way I can close the front as the afternoon cools down and it will help prevent any frost getting to the seeds. All the seeds were new so should come through nicely.

On the quilting front I need to cut a load more fabric for more flowers for the Grandmothers garden quilt. I'm enjoying making progress on this project however I do wish I could master the art of using a thimble when hand sewing as the tips of my fingers on my right hand are getting sore. I will just have to persevere to train myself to use a thimble.

In  between sewing curtains and sowing seeds John and I managed to take a walk around the local cemetery. This is a nice green area to walk round when we don't want to travel far. The perimeter path is one mile and makes a pleasant walk. On our walk we saw a beautiful re cherry tree.

there is also a white cherry

This tree is cherry laurel and was in full bloom.

The horse chestnut was in almost full leaf and the flowers were developing well.

Along the grass at the side of the main path there were three cornered garlic in flower.

I'm not sure what this tree is but it was very pretty.

Work on my Chookshed challenge for the month is continuing. I spent time working out how many flowers I needed to make to complete the round. That total was 19. Since then I have cut fabric, basted hexagons and sewn them together into flowers. I still have more to do. I checked which fabric I had already used for the flowers attached to the quilt and I then labeled the fabric I would be cutting the remaining hexies from. I didn't want to end up with too many similar flowers in the round. Have I made the process too complicated? I haven't taken a photo of the progress on the quilt but I will do that at the end of the month and hopefully all the orange flowers will be added, (fingers crossed). I have one finish for the month with the curtains but it would be rather nice to have a second.

I need to check out my other objectives for the month. I know one of them was to make a start on the second front of the cardigan. I may cast on the stitches tonight as we have planned to watch a film but we haven't decided which one. For now I need to get back to the hexagons.

Take care

Lyndsey

Quilt completed.

Saturday the weather was very chilly with occasional rain. I had thought about doing some gardening but after just a short time outside I decided I had pressing commitments indoors. With my main machine back from its spa break, this was the perfect weather to give it some exercise. I wanted to quilt the blue donation quilt made in January. I'd already made the quilt sandwich so once I'd identified the thread I wanted to use I was ready to start. I used a blue Guterman cotton thread 50 weight for both the bobbin and the top thread. I had decided to use straight line quilting. As it's a child's size quilt it didn't take too long to quilt. Next I add the binding and by the end of Sunday the quilt was finished! I used the same fabric as the backing for the binding. I need to take another photo of this quilt as the one on the camera is blurry.

Yesterday I started adding the already made 'flowers' to the Grandmother's garden quilt and today all of the completed ones had been added.

Today I started prepping hexagons to create the remaining flowers I need to complete this round. I have some other orange fabrics if needed. I also need to find a thimble as there is a lot of hand stitching to do and the tip of my middle finger on my right hand is already sore. I don't usually use a thimble but sometimes you just have to.

Yesterday was a fun day. Older daughter and family came to share a festive dinner. I had cuddles from both grandsons and enjoyed chatting with my daughter and son in law. Older grandson played with the Lego that my son has. Grandson enjoys using his imagination to build things but also likes playing with his uncles large Lego models like this crane.

It's currently on the top of the dresser so that it's available when grandson visits. He had fun yesterday testing how much weight it could lift. Mmm I must dust that top shelf!

Later in the evening I finished the left side of the cardigan I'm knitting. I'm using two balls at a time and knitting two rows from each ball. I'm enjoying how the colours are working out. All the other balls will give the same mix as the back of the cardigan but the two I used for the left front have created a very different look. Back on the left and left front on the right.

If you have been following my blog for a while you will know that I have a lot of projects on the go at any given time. I decided I needed to know how many I have and to start finishing some of them. I decided a spreadsheet was needed but in order to set one up I needed to know all my projects so I grabbed a pen and paper and started writing them down.  Once I'd identified as many as I could remember I looked in my storage places and found a few more I had forgotten. I decided to categorise them by quilting, sewing, knitting and crochet, embroidery and other crafts. I have identified 9 quilting projects, but I finished one yesterday so 8 in progress. There are 11 sewing projects at various stages. These may be dressmaking or curtains etc, so anything requiring sewing but not quilting. Knitting and crochet I have 6 projects, embroidery counts for another 9 and other crafts stands at 3. A grand total of 38. There are 2 projects in the knitting and crochet, 1embroidery project and 1 sewing project not started but recorded in the final number. I've included them as I have all the materials I need to work on them so may get too excited and decide to make a start on them. So there are 34 I'm currently working on.

The number of projects in progress is not as crazy as it sounds. I don't have a dedicated sewing room and use the dining table as my work space. Therefore I have to clear everything away for the 4 of us to eat dinner. I am also still working 4 days a week and by the time I get home I don't have the time or energy to work on a big project. Knitting and embroidery wins in this situation. My older daughter and children will often come to visit during the weekend if her husband is working so projects that can be picked up and put down easily are needed so I can stop what I'm doing to join in a game or read a story. My final reason is I get bored easily if working on one thing, particularly in the early stages of a project. Once the end is in sight I will work on it exclusively if possible until the finish. 

So why not join me in identifying how many projects you have in progress, how you like to work on your projects, and how you keep track of progress on each project. I know that Barbara from Cat Patches uses a white board for tracking projects and will put quilt tops into a pile to wait for the quilt sandwich to be created and then move them onto the quilting stage.  She also slots small quilts in when time is limited and she has hand stitching time in the morning. I'm envious of the organisation involved and hope to devise a better way of working on projects when I eventually retire.

This evening Lucy, my younger daughter, decided she needed a walk so we walked to the common with the two dogs. The weather has warmed up a little today and the sun was out. As ever, I was on the look out for bluebells or other spring flowers. As we walked through the wood area there were a lot of bluebells coming into flower. We let Missy off her lead and she enjoyed the interesting sniffs.

That's all for now as dinner is almost ready. I'm hoping to start cutting the blocks for the frog quilt tomorrow but this evening will be some embroidery.

Take care

Lyndsey

Getting organised.

Today has been a slow day after our walk yesterday. We had arranged to visit John's sister and husband this morning. The visit was fun and my sister in law showed me a quilt she had recently finished quilting. She had also been working on a  very pretty crocheted blanket. It was good to catch up. 

Back at home I picked up my project folder to help make a few decisions.  I have altered the project I'm working on this month for the chookshed challenge. It should be my brothers new quilt but he has put a hold on this for a while. I changed the challenge to my grandmother's garden quilt made using EPP, English paper piecing. I pulled the grandmother's garden quilt from my sewing cupboard. It is a bit scrunched up having been in the cupboard for some time  so I'll iron it before I start any sewing.  The orange 'flowers' have been added to two sides of the quilt. Four sides to go. I love these bright orange flowers.

I already have some more  stitched 'flowers ' to add to the quilt, but I need a lot more.

I need to finish the orange round and then square up the quilt. With four sides to work round I'm not expecting to get it finished in the month but it would be good to make some considerable progress. Guess I'd better get sewing.

I've also got a quilt I need to get quilted. This is a scrappy quilt that I made in January as a donation quilt.  My sewing machine stopped working properly before Christmas but it was only recently that I managed to get the machine booked in for a service. I was able to collect it on Wednesday and it is working beautifully again so I'm hoping to do the quilting tomorrow. 

The quilt sandwich has been made for a while. It is backed with a soft flannel.

I also realised I hadn't shown you the final frog stitchery I'd worked on.  This month I want to start making the blocks.

Here are all the other stitched pieces for this quilt.

Right, time for bed, I have a quilt to finish tomorrow!

Take care

Lyndsey

A walk in the sunshine.

Today John and I needed to complete a recognisance walk prior to the bluebell walk John has arranged to lead in a couple of weeks time. As a child, my family would try to visit a bluebell wood each year to enjoy these beautiful blue flowers. As a young adult I didn't always have time due to work commitments but once John and I had children we decided this would be a good family tradition. We didn't start it until our oldest was about 11 and all three of them enjoyed it.  We would try to find new places to visit and walk each year but we did have some family favourite woods. Once they were all grown up John and I carried on our tradition and for many years now John has led walks for friends to the various bluebell woods around London.

According to the Woodland Trust, bluebells symbolise constancy, gratitude and everlasting love, and are often seen as representing fairy enchantment. They are linked to ancient woodlands, representing a delicate, magical, and enchanting, but treacherous, natural world. We have some bluebells in our garden but they don't always flower every year.

For years I have had a picture of a bluebell wood as my screen saver but I recently changed it. The same wood also has a perfusion of wild garlic which smells delicious provided you like garlic.

So today we were going to walk through three areas where bluebells usually grow. It is a little early for them but we knew there would be some already flowering. We started at Lesnes Abbey Wood and followed the Green Chain Way. We saw wood anemones along the way, they are such delicate flowers. We walked across Bostall Health and then entered Bostall Woods. From here we entered Oxleas Wood. We only saw a few bluebells in flower but with the promise of a lot more by the end of April.

There were posts identifying the lore of the wild.

and several ponds. This one had some marsh marigolds but the water didn't look very nice

A little further on I took this photo of the fallen tree and the reflection in the water.

The gorse was in flower.

and there was lesser celandine in flower

We kept seeing lots of bluebell leaves but there were only one or two flowers open. 

This common dog violet, above,  was beautiful and delicate and the white flower below is three cornered garlic (the stem has three sides)

There was quite a lot of ground ivy along the way.

This stand of Hawthorne or May as it is often known looked amazing.

As we emerged from Oxleas Wood we came to the cafe. By now we were ready for lunch and a drink. We sat outside enjoying the sun and watching the world go by. The last bit of the walk was down hill to the station. 

When leading walks it is important to know where the toilets and cafes are but also access to stations and buses in case anyone wants to cut their walk short. We had seen the areas of bluebells and these should be in full flower later this month. The route was easy to follow and there wasn't too much up and down hill. The walk was about 6 miles but there was a short walk to the start from the station and the same at the end. I enjoyed the walk but including walking to and from the station we covered just short of 9 miles. By the time I got home I was quite tired. I had planned to do some sewing but that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Take care 

Lyndsey

April already?

Oh dear this year is whizzing along rather fast. How we've got to April already is beyond me.  April 1st was my mom's birthday and I found myself spending time today thinking about her. She died in 2002, but I still miss her. She taught me how to sew, knit, crochet, embroider and cook which makes me very happy. Happy birthday mom.

Having been away at the weekend with Alex and Karen, the start to this week was slow. On Friday and Saturday evening we had stayed up late chatting and enjoying each others company, not to mention drinking wine, so Monday was rather slow. I did a little sewing on a skirt I'm making but my older machine started playing up so I did some embroidery instead. I'd eventually managed to get my quilting machine booked in for a spa stay and it still wasn't back. With the back up machine needing some attention, machine sewing had been put on hold. 

On Tuesday I'd actually booked a couple of work meetings, as well as a full groom for Missy. She came home looking like a different dog! Please ignore the state of the kitchen floor as it had been raining and the two dogs had been in and out several times. No point in cleaning the floor until the rain stopped.

Today John and I visited the Turner and Constable exhibition at the Tate Britain. The exhibition was very big and quite crowded, but enjoyable.  I didn't take many photos due to the number of people.

I liked this picture of Old Sarum, a  prehistoric site in southern England by John Constable.

 This second picture of Dudley, Worcester in the West Midlands is by JMW Turner painted in 1832.

Each artist painted landscapes but used different styles. It was fun talking to a few people and finding out whose paintings they liked best. Among the people I spoke to, Constable was winning. 

After we got home from the exhibition I got a text saying my quilting machine was ready for collection. I wanted my machine back so I went and collected her immediately. At the same time I dropped off my older machine for a service. I can't wait to do some sewing tomorrow.

This months Chookshed challenge is number 10. I changed this with number 3 in an earlier month  so this month it would be start a quilt for my brother, however the quilt has been put on hold for a while so I need a new number 10. When setting up my challenges I didn't include my grandmother's garden English paper piecing quilt. This is my oldest work in progress and I would dearly like to finish this during 2026 so my challenge this month will be to finish the orange round of the quilt and then to add blocks to make it a rectangular.

I have several 'flowers already made to add to this round. I wonder how far I'll get with this.

I'm going to stop here as I need to go to bed as I am very tired. However over the next  few posts I need to update some of my projects including the Japanese style quilt from last months challenge. 

Take care

Lyndsey