Wild Kingston and stitching.

Friday is usually my fun day, do some sewing day but today I had a work commitment in the morning, however I had a plan. Once I'd finished my morning meeting I would be free to go shopping. Quickly winding backwards to the morning I didn't need to be there until 9:30 but John and I arrived early so we could go to a delightful coffee shop near work. They serve the most delicious almond croissants and it's been ages since we last treated ourselves. A great way to start the day. The meeting was interesting and when it was over we headed back to the car so we could go into Kingston upon Thames. This is one of my favourite places to shop. From where we parked we needed to walk across the town to the first shop we wanted to visit. On the way we found a new public art exhibition by artists Gillie and Marc called Wild Kingston. It features ten wildlife inspired sculptures that are intended to help stimulate discussion about conservation. We didn't see all 10 sculpture on this occasion but here's what we saw.

I really liked this next one.

I had to take a photo from each side of this one. I love that he has his tea or coffee cup at the ready.

The small children were enjoying stroking the tortoise.

We only saw 5 of the sculptures so I will need to track the rest down. The exhibition is running until July 2026 so I have time to get photos of the rest.

When we got home I wanted to get the frog stitchery I was working on, finished. It's taken a little while but here it is completed. I love having a Friday finish.

I have one last stitchery to complete and then I can start work on making the blocks.

Tomorrow John and I are going to Minsmere nature reserve to do some bird watching. I've consulted the weather forecast and it is predicting a lot of rain. Fortunately the reserve has a good cafe and also quite a number of hides where we can shelter from the weather if needed. We are going by coach so at least I don't have to drive. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some dry weather over the day.

I'm linking my finish with Finished or not finished Friday at Quilty Girl. Now to get the last block stitched.

Take care

Lyndsey

Trying something new

This month I have a short list of things I would like to do. There's no point in having a long list since the month is rather short and there is a lot going on already, birdwatching, our visit to the Victoria and Albert museum and I've added in a visit to the orchid festival at Kew Gardens. I would like to do a couple of longer walks over the month and by longer I mean probably about 5 miles. I would also like to update our bedroom. It's been a few years since the last time it was updated and our tastes have changed. I'm currently thinking about paint colours or do I want to wallpaper as well as new rugs and a new lighting system. I'm not sure this is something that will happen this month but there are various options under consideration.

Last month I used double ended knitting needles for the first time. I'm not sure why I hadn't tried them before and I really liked that the sleeves of the baby cardigan didn't have a seam running down them. Having learnt a new technique in January I decided to try something new in February. I might even consider trying something new to me each month this year. Anyway this month I decided I wanted to try spinning. My mother had a spinning wheel but she didn't use it which always seemed a bit of a shame. I didn't particularly want to spin on a wheel, instead I fancied trying a drop spindle. Even as a child I can remember wanting to try spinning but the Disney film of Sleeping Beauty had put me off spinning wheels, the witch was just too scary for me!  I ordered the drop spindle and some fibre as a kit 

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The kit included 100g white wool, 25g hand dyed wool, 25g hand dyed wool blend and 25g dyed Blue Faced Leicester sheep wool. The kit came with instructions but the pictures were small so I visited YouTube. I watched a few videos to find the consensus of how to use the drop spindle. Different people give the information differently and I was particularly interested in the hints and tips people give. I am now as well prepared as I can be to get started. I'll let you know how I get on in a later post.

Meanwhile my large frog stitchery is going well and should be finished in the next couple of days. I'm using the floss from my stash and where possible using up left overs. All embroidery projects seem to create lots of left over threads. My idea is to use up as much of the leftovers as possible before buying new. I'm working on the same process with my fabrics and yarns.

I totally forgot that I had used a pen that is removed with heat. I went to press the fabric and suddenly realised I was removing the pattern. Fortunately the iron wasn't that hot! I also need to take the photo in daylight so you can see the colours properly. I'm happy that the stitching is progressing well. I want this and the remaining block stitched by the end of the month

 as my one monthly goal.

I'm working all week this week and so I won't get to the quilted jacket until Sunday. That gives me time to pull out the wadding I need and to reread the instructions for the pattern.  It will take more than one sewing day but I should be able to update you next week. This is my Chookshed challenge for the month.

The basket weave blanket I'm currently knitting is now about three quarters complete so could be finished this week. The blocks from the January scrap challenge just need to be sewn together into a quilt top for a child and I need to sort out my green scraps for this months challenge.

On Sunday my daughter and family came to visit and she gave me permission to share a photo of their new addition. He is so cuddly.

I hope you are all having a good week.

Take care

Lyndsey

February plans.

The first day of February and I'm wondering what the weather will be like. I've had enough rain during January and would greatly appreciate a little more sun. I'm enjoying the fact that daylight hours are slowly increasing even though I'm still driving to and from work in the dark but by the end of this month that will have changed

The Chookshed challenge for February has been announced. This month is number 8. My number 8 is to make up the quilted jacket that I've planned to sew for a while. I used black and white fabric squares to create the fronts and the sleeves. The main pattern pieces are already cut out. Below are the two fronts and the back fabric.

Here are the sleeves and the fabric lining. The sleeve will have cuffs added.

I have the wadding I need for this project so I just need to get started.

February is National Embroidery month in the UK. That feeds in nicely to the various stitching projects I have on the go. I will use the month to complete the frog stitcheries so I can start on the quilt blocks. Finishing the frog stitcheries will be my one monthly goal for February.

I should finish the frogs at the latest by mid February and then I will work on the embroidered table cloth. I have other embroidery to work on as well including the star trek cross stitch and the sashiko on the Japanese style quilt. For now the frogs are my priority. I've started on this first one but keep forgetting to take a photo. I'll do that later.

This second one will be started as soon as the first one is finished. My goal is to finish both this month.

Next Saturday we have a bird watching trip. Since it has been raining for what feels like months I'm feeling a little ambivalent about the trip. At least the nature reserve we are visiting has a large and comfortable cafe. The end of the month is our planned trip to the Marie Antoinette exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition is all about her fashion style. There are other things that happen this month but I'll tell you about them nearer the time.

Take care

Lyndsey