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