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Small Update

It's been a while, but I don't have a lot to report by way of finished pieces. I've been working on some quite large projects recently, and that means that I've made progress on a few things, but I haven't actually finished anything.

The quilt that I'm stitching by hand has had a bit of a revival. i was struggling with it because I couldn't get the seams to align. I've now started redrawing the stitch lines on each piece as I cometo it and it was remarkable how, despite using the same template to draw around, each piece was rather inaccurate. It also explains why the seams weren't aligning! I've now successfully complete two 12"blocks and made a start on a third and I'm really enjoying it - I can do it all from the sofa, rather than having to sit at the table with a sewing machine, which is really nice. Once I've completed a few more blocks, I;ll take some photographs and share the progress.

Our local fabric shop, The Fat Quarters (Blackhall Mill), started a new block of the month this month. We went along to the shop on the second Saturday in October, paid £5 and got the pattern for the first block (12"). We'll go back on the second Saturday of November, prove that we've made the first block, then get the pattern for the second block free. Me, Linda and Aunty Barbara all handed over our £5. Linaand I had intended to use fabric from our stash, but the end result will be twelve blocks that we stitch together to make a small quilt. In order to maintain some degree of continuity (as each block will have a different design) we decided that we would pull it together using the same fabrics, so we bought a new selection - 1meter of the background fabric, then half meters of four other patterns. I chose pastel greens and pinks, which will look really fresh and summary - Linda bought the fabric for me as my Christmas Present. Linda chose greens and purples, but unusual shades, and her first block looked stunning. I bought Linda's fabrics has her Christmas. We convinced Aunty Barbara to have a go and her fabric was her Christmas present - she picked blues, reds and creams. Last Sunday we all went to Aunty Barbara's and we all made our blocks together. All three looked stunning. And we all successfully managed to complete Y seams for the first time!

In the meantime I've also been working on Charlotte (the Elegance desin by John Clayton from Heritage). I'm making good in-roads with her hat, though it's a lot of counting - I've tacked in grid lines which has really helped. I've also worked on the Jazz music piece, but that is slow going. And yesterday I completed my first Christmas card - a small design by Margaret Sherry, that I won't show you a photo of until after Christmas!

At some point soon I'll have to start Unlce Terry's birthday present. My concern is, that because it is quite Christmassy in style, I won't want to stitch it come January....but I have quite a few works in progress already.... I also want to stitch the quilt for James..... so many projects, so little time.

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