The months and seasons seem to be changing very fast. Suddenly we are at the point where friends and family are thinking about Christmas visits and presents. I love visiting family and friends but I find it hard to make the schedule work, especially as last year there was quite a lot of rearranging of dates. This year will be different as younger daughter is now a registered nurse and she will be working a night shift on 23 and 24 December. Never fear, she will enjoy Christmas day. Many years ago when I worked nights I never used to sleep during the day after the last shift and neither does my daughter. I haven't started thinking about menus or presents, except for the cat cushions and that was an easy decision. Somehow Christmas will get organised and we will have a fun family time.So I'm parking Christmas as it will sort itself out and I can think about what I want to achieve during November.
October was a fairly quiet month for sewing. I finished both my quilted jacket,
and my blouse. I am so pleased with these two items of clothing. They fit very nicely and all the seams are properly finished.
On the last day of October I completed 4 blocks for the Red Mansion House quilt. Yesterday I made a start on the remaining 8 blocks. I also need to check my stash for fabric to use for the sashing. The flower pot blocks need to have the leaves added. There are two sets of 4 blocks, 4 with red flowers and 4 with blue flowers. I'll take a pphto when I finish the blocks.
I need to think about what I want to try and achieve this month. Currently we are not going away for a weekend in November but we have a day with our grandchildren next Saturday and later in the month there is a bird watching trip. Oops I forgot that Lucy, younger daughter, and I will be away for the weekend 13th - 15th on a crochet weekend. We wanted to learn more about Tunisian crocheting. We stayed at the hotel last year for a crochet weekend and it has a swimming pool and a spa so we will be making use of both facilities. The food was good and we had a great time. The teacher is the same person from last years event and she was so much fun. We are both really looking forward to it. So not as much time as I thought in November for sewing etc!
Having finished my quilted jacket and the blouse there is a little room in my plans for a new project. I bought this mythical moths lampshade kit a while ago and I want to make a start on it. Everything needed to complete the kit is included. The fabrics for the moths are Liberty Tana Lawn and I love the feel of the fabrics.
I need to get back to my embroidered tablecloth. I will work on this in the evenings this month as I find it very relaxing. I'm working on the final side.
I will leave my weekly sewing day free to complete the current round of the Red Manor House quilt. If I get the round completed in the month then I have a dress I want to make.
I haven't yet restarted knitting the socks. If you remember Twiglet managed to get tangled up with the knitting and pulled all the stitches off. Untangleing Twiglet was difficult because he wriggled so much. He now keeps a wide berth of my knitting bag.
I will need to make my Christmas cake this month and Stir up Sunday is 22 November, which is the traditional day to make the Christmas pudding. My Christmas cake is traditionally divided into 3 or 4 parts depending on who wants some. This year it will be divided into 4, with a quarter for my brother, my older daughter and a friend. A quarter is plenty for us as only John and I like a traditional Christmas cake.
Ok enough chatting, time to collect my embroidery so I can work on it tonight.
Take care
Lyndsey
