A lovely relaxing day.

Before I sat down to sew yesterday I had a little reshuffle. Firstly I hauled one of the sofas away from it's spot under the window. Then in went my armchair. I've been having problems with back and hip pain recently and wondered if a change of seating would help.

My old granny chair as one of my colleagues calls it was just the thing. I sat here for hours yesterday, with barely a shuffle, it seemed I only moved to change projects and threads. When it got cooler in the evening I pulled the curtains and wrapped myself in that cosy looking quilt and continued to sew using my lamp. Perfect!
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What did I sew? I used some of this beautiful De Haviland Embroidery thread.

To do a little stitching for my SSCS project.

Yes I know it's not much of a picture, but if I showed, then it wouldn't be secret would it?

Then, because I was so comfortable and wanted to stay put I decided to revisit my cross stitch.

If you remember this one came to me already started. I've done quite a bit of it though and keep pecking away at it now and then. I have to say I'll be glad when it is finished. Yesterday and last night I really enjoyed working on it though, it was lovely and felt like I had slowed down a bit. Bliss.

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Today I have a late shift at work, having slept in until almost 10am I've had a late start too! I plan to work some more on my SSCS project and depending on how things go, maybe a little knitting.

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Thanks for the get well wishes for the cold, it's not come to much, I was worried as some of my colleagues took time off with it, but I seem to have a milder dose.

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I'm off to play.

Doing stuff.

In spite of a head cold, I'm not letting a day off get away from me, I'm busy doing stuff. Yesterday was a good day too, I had a late shift, so spent the morning getting pickled! Mum brought me a load of beetroot, so I popped some into a jar and the rest is in the freezer awaiting it's turn in the vinegar bath!
I've made a start on a new project, so I've been doing lots of this....

and some of this too....

But it's my SSCS project, so I can't share.

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I cast off the knitted baby blanket, it's currently rolled in a towel drying out, I'll show a picture when I remember. I also have the two sleeves for the baby sweater knitted and I'm back to the cables again! NO mistakes yet though. Phew!

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My Hunney has his exam a week on Thursday, so is beavering away in his study, there are books and notes everywhere.

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I'm off to play.

Phew!

I'm hoping things will slow down a little over the weekend. Life and work, as they do for all of us from time to time , are still getting in the way. I've had very few late shifts at work plus more than my fair share of extras! All I have the energy for when I get home is to cook the dinner, then sit and knit a few rows. So I thought I would take advantage of a rare morning off to pop in with a progress report. 'Flight of the Bumblebee' has it's binding all closed up and is awaiting a label. That's it, that's the only quilty part of this report! I've made a start and a mistake on a little Aran sweater for our pregnant friends. NO prizes for spotting the mistake! I noticed it on the next right side row, but decided to leave it. This is the back of the sweater, so less visible than the front. Even though I'm struggling a little to get the pattern rows and repeats to settle in my mind, I am enjoying this little project. In between doing bits of housework and one row each morning while I have my cuppa before work I've been plodding away on the blanket too.

It's growing slowly. I also do a few rows if there is something I want to watch on TV. It's a wonderfully easy pattern. Now that the weather is cooling it's nice to snuggle under this piece and it's good to know that as the weather continues to cool, this will continue to grow.

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What else can I tell you? I just purchased my fabric choices for my SSCS project, so I should have that tomorrow. I love how some Internet shops are so very fast! I've also bought more yarn for another little baby knit.

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The countdown to my Hunneys final exam is gaining momentum, he's feeling the pressure, but is still managing to spend more time with me, which is both lovely and worrying. He really needs to be revising. I half heartedly remind him of that each evening. He has a night out with his colleagues tonight and has promised that we will spend the whole weekend together.

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Work? Hmm, well there has been very little of note on the job front, certainly nothing worth applying for. We were visited by my bosses boss yesterday. She was very complimentary of my work and acknowledged my skills, then dangled what amounts to an empty stick. If they really want me to stay, they have to try harder than that! It's supposed to be my long weekend off, four whole days off! Supposed to be. It's been shortened to three, and will I be on standby for another, oh and could you just do.......? NO! I have three days off, two with my Hunney and one for me, I intend to make the most of them.

Almost done

I think I'll call it 'Flight of the Bumblebee'. As I meandered all over the floral patches I was mindful of a bees meandering flight through a garden.
I'm not overjoyed with the quilting and haven't even touched the borders. I used a brown thread for a big wide meander on the pieced areas and I plan to look for a bumblebee patch or some fabric with a bee on, I'll applique that on somewhere. I've pieced the binding, and I have assorted 1 - 2 inch pieces left of most of the strips, and just 3 pieces at about 5inches. Not bad huh? Maybe I'll use the tiny amount left in a label for the back.
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That's it for today, I'm off to forage for lunch then go to work.

Even better that I hoped.

Well, I did it, I got to sew. I took the advice that was offered and dusted a little and sewed a lot. I was so busy I forgot to eat! But look, the top is done and it has borders.
I had thought about adding a deeper all round coloured border, but decided to stop here.
Question? Will it 'do' for a boy or a girl? There are pinks and blues in there, some reds and browns too. All the fabrics are florals. What do you think? Will it work for either?
I have plenty of the strips left to make a scrappy binding.
I have another late shift this week and I'm hoping to get this quilted then, who knows, maybe I'll do a little quilting on something else too! And I need to make some labels.
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Hey ho, off to work.....