What I have been up to.

The days fly by and I look back wondering what I have accomplished.   Sometimes not much:-)
Mowing the lawn and tidying the garden seems to occupy many hours and I have yet to develop a true love for that part of my responsibilities.   Presently it is a needs must situation and after rain yesterday the lawn is telling me it needs another haircut.   I tell myself that this must surely be increasing my Vitamin D levels which for many years have been so low that my doctor has issued dire warnings.   She would be pleased to see me "enjoying" more time outdoors.   I am enjoying the flowers though and the DBEM wanders through each morning and then tells me where I need to weed and what needs cutting back!   She is technically Vision Impaired but can still manage to nag me into working in my garden (ha ha).

I have been sewing as I am determined to use up the pieces of fabric in my stash. 

This navy wool gaberdine was purchased about 20 years ago and has been kept safely to make a jacket and skirt for work.  Well I don't need that now and I wanted to try out a new pattern for a warm jacket.   As the New City is cooler in winter than Auckland I interlined this with a flannel and also added a thick lining so it has become a Heavy Warm Jacket.   Taking time over this to ensure that it is well made and fits properly has been satisfying and now I face the task of hand sewing in all the lining.   With temperatures still in the high 20's I don't need to rush as I won't be able to wear it for many weeks yet.   Having proved the pattern to be a success I will go ahead (after a short break) to make up the black quilted woolen fabric I have for the real deal.

On the stitching front I am finishing off the hardanger piece which will make the front panel of a bag.  This piece of linen is woven with off white thread one direction and brown thread the other and although it has been in my stash for some time it has never sparked joy.   However I think it will make an excellent durable tote bag and so will this week go to the store to choose a coordinating fabric and interfacing to complete that.  The chart had this as a cushion design but I don't have such things in my house so came up with the bag as an alternative.   There is still a piece of linen left but I have ideas to use that so watch this space.

At a Craft Morning at church we made needlecases.   This is on the fringe of my comfort zone - I don't have much artistic sense and was flummoxed as to how to decorate the shape.   However the end result is passable.

Tomorrow night is Embroiderers Guild and we have Book Club.  Each member has been asked to take a book and a piece of embroidery inspired by that book.   I'm not sure if this means an embroidery book or a "real" book so have one of each and will then be able to participate.