ANOTHER HICCUP

 

My sewing days are jinxed. Every time I pickup a UFO or new project something goes wrong. Last week I basted a quilt ready to do some straight lined machine quilting. I am not good at machine quilting but I have quilted straight lines before. So, I took ages fumbling around trying to attach the walking foot properly , put a quilting needle in and set the stitch length ready to go. Before starting I did a test run on  2 pieces of fabric with the batting in the middle and it was perfect. However, when I was quilting the actual quilt the stitches were teeny so I had to work out what was wrong. Needless to say, I put it aside in disgust. Last night I unpicked the quilting I had done and I am seriously contemplating hand quilting it instead . I may try again after Sue ( kiwi kid) suggested something when I sought her help but I need to get in the right frame of mind again.

The only thing I achieved is a bookmark which I gave to my mum. I showed you the stitching I was doing last post from Jennifer's blog and completed it during the week. Somehow I even managed to make that a bit wonky. 

Ah well. Maybe this coming week will see me stitching properly. 

NOT MUCH DONE

 

My dear hubby gave me a present a few days ago....his cold. It was the gift that kept on giving . I am almost over it now but I lost my voice for a day, had a massive migraine the next and there was no way I could achieve much stitching while one eye was swollen closed and my nose was constantly running. However, before I came down with the cold and after Little Lucy wouldn't play nicely and I put her aside again, I was determined to pin baste another UFO. 

(Apologies for the ugly toes )

I prepared everything I need to do some machine quilting but haven't started yet. 

I did start a little stitchery for a bookmark. It is a free design from Jennifer Reynold's blog. ( Jenny of Elefantz). Sorry, I still haven't worked out how to add a link. Jennifer has been creating free monthly bookmark designs this year and they are all really sweet.

The book that Chooky recommended was hard to put down. It is a true crime story here in Australia which is about a woman who is a very interesting but dangerous person. A really good read.

It has been difficult to sneak into my sewing room because we have a furry house guest for 2 weeks. Freya is my daughter's cat who is staying here for 2 weeks while her family are away with their caravan. She has settled in quite quickly and is getting used to a much quieter household without 2 noisy little boys running around. She has been trying to sit on my lap and was washing my hand while I was typing this. 

It is another miserable winter's day, but no rain. I am happy to have Freya sitting on my lap or stretched out on my legs to keep me warm. Stay safe.

NAUGHTY LUCY

 

It's Saturday. Housework is done, 2nd load of washing is in the dryer, what better time to get back to Lucy? I have to get it finished sometime so today was the day....note I said 'was'. I spread it out on the floor with the floor rug behind me and managed to get a carpet burn on top of my foot from constantly moving backwards and forwards aligning and pinning the borders. I finally pinned the corners of the borders straight, not mitred, folding the fabric about 7/8ths inch for the neat join. I then ironed the fold before machine stitching the first border along the join. After searching for a bandaid for my pricked finger after realising blood was on the fabric I finally sat at the sewing machine and sewed. Oh dear! It didn't join as planned so I unpicked it all, put the sewing machine away and put Lucy back where I found her.

I sewed along the crease but that was a silly idea. It didn't catch the other border. Dah! I cannot work out how to attach the borders corners despite searching You Tube. Look like Little Lucy is staying unbordered a while longer.

           I enjoyed this light humourous read last week.

Well, I think that is my sewing day gone kaput so I shall attend to hubby who has a cold, open the bottle of sparkling rose I bought yesterday and binge some Coronation Street.

Keep warm and safe.

STILL GROWING

 

My EPP has grown a little bit. A round has been added to each side and now I am wondering if I should start filling in the gaps to make it rectangular at this size, keep making it larger or leave it the shape and size it is.  Any input will be gratefully received.

I finished the crocheted head warmer that I was still making last post but it is not the right tension so I started another one using a smaller hook. This one is much thicker and hopefully I will finish it tonight. The photo is darker this time but still not the true colour.

I enjoyed the 3rd book by Christian White. He lives here on the Mornington Peninsula.

I am halfway through another book and have a couple more in the queue including an Australian true crime book that Donna ( Chooky)  recommended while chatting on Zoom. I ordered it from Booktopia and it arrived quite promptly so I am eager to start it. 

It is very chilly here with little sunshine , gloomy days and early nightfall. I was up extra early yesterday morning to take my mum to hospital for minor surgery. All went well and she is fine. Fortunately, I slept last night after no sleep at all on Thursday night and little sleep on Friday night. This morning my youngest grandson stayed here for a few hours as my daughter is unwell and her hubby took my other grandson to a birthday party.  My grandchildren always bring me great joy and are a welcome distraction from life's woes. 

Keep warm and safe.