Early May Catch Up

A lot has happened since my last post and I have finished work at the end of April and am now (I hope!) retired.  More time for doing stuff (again, I hope!).  Go places, see new things. catch up with friend, more time to sew, knit or crochet and this week enjoy the sunshine!

My work colleagues have been really lovely and they have been a good bunch to work with, however all the changes that have happened in payroll legislation over the past few years have made it a more complex job and felt it was right time to leave.  I also felt that my family needed more of my support too at this time.

So what have I been up to since then?  Well David and I have been out and about locally,  I went to Christchurch on Wednesday to sew an A-line skirt, went a local Knit and Natter group on Thursday and in between I've been slowly, slowly sorting out UFO's and using up fabric to make into small sewing projects and I have finished of one of my Finish A Long items.

Last Sunday David organised the family for a gathering at West Moors Country Park near Ringwood but it was soooo bitterly cold, we struggled to keep warm.  Managed to ride on the miniature railway and walking on the play trail with the grandchildren.  I won't show pics here as I didn't take many (good ones anyway!).

On Wednesday I went over to Christchurch to the Little Sewing Company to learn how to make an A line skirt.  Myself and another lady were taught by Amy and we learnt some really useful things, like neatening the side seams before joining the pieces, how to insert and invisible zip and about cutting the facing pieces inside the skirt.  I haven't sewn my own clothes for a long time (when patchwork and quilting took over my life!) so this was to give me back the confidence in making my own clothes.

It fits ok, but having worn this properly yesterday I think next time I could take in the waist a tiny bit more.  The pattern sizes are different from shop clothes sizes so it's having to go by measurements  rather than dress size.  It was a good class and I hope to do another later.

This week, I can't remember which day, I saw a blog post by Just Jude which had a link to a tutorial to make a Dumpling pouch by Michelle Patterns. My own attempt lead to a slightly wonky zip placement in the pouch, but it was quick and easy to make. I think there may be a few more of those.

Thursday was knit and natter at the local community cafe and although I know Carol from Bourne Quilters I also knew another lady from the slimming club and also met another girl who is a friend of my daughter Sarah.

Yesterday was one of the nice days in this Bank Holiday weekend and David and I went off to Sherborne.  Its well known for its Abbey and it was nice to wander around the town and market, also taking in the craft market too.

 It is really large and a job to take in the whole building, so here's the central section.  We briefly went inside although there was a big band concert going on so couldn't wander and explore.

 A memorial to one of the Digby family. who own Sherborne Castle

We went into Sherborne Museum and amongst the artefacts there came across this unfinished hexagon quilt. At the bottom of this pic you can see that it was turned over to see the papers. The museum was celebrating its 50th anniversary, so we had a piece of birthday cake!

I also took the opportunity to visit The Slipped Stitch, a lovely small yarn shop in Cheap Street and saw these lovely little yarn cakes in cake cases with stitch markers in the middle.  Irresistible.

But I finished something today - woohoo!  My house wallhanging, which is on my Solo Finish Along list, was worked on today and now hanging in the hallway.  I made this too small for last year's mini quilt swap so made another to send to my swap partner.

This is the quilt I made

And this was the one I sent my swap partner, Gillian

As you will see the one I sent was wider.

I didn't like the giant beanstalk that the one I kept had on it, but didn't know if it had enough room for a tree. A little while ago I removed the giant beanstalk and drew a tree to about the size I wanted for the quilt.  A bit different from the tree in the above wallhanging.

 The drawing was turned over so I could trace the reverse design onto fusible web.  The remnant of fusible was used to draw leaf shapes which I backed onto there scraps of green.

I used one of the decorative stitches to create drapes at the windows.  It makes them look less stark.  For a bit of fun I also appliquéd on an owl sitting on the roof.

It's properly finished now as I added a label.  I'm really pleased I've got that done.

During this week I've also managed to get all the black/grey and yellow/orange 16 patch squares done, all 20 or them.

I've put them into rows and will stitch those up this week I think.  Good to see a bit more progress with this.

I've also got 6 blocks done for the low volume/blue cross blocks for the block swap.

So one way or another its been a busy week.