Baltic!!

We had a lovey dinner last night - not very SW friendly but, hey, its good to loosen the corset sometimes now isn't it?  We sapped our presents and, coincidentally, my present came from my next door neighbour!  It was a  lovely Cath Kidston pen - just right to put in my pen case when it's finished Sewingbuddy!  I also woke up this morning with a dim recollection of having agreed to join the WI walking group and going on its first weekly walk on Tuesday - how did that happen?  Help!!

This morning I woke up to thick frost which, as the day has passed, has turned to a cold rain.  It was therefore incredibly stupid of me to take the dogs up to the beach - my hands were red raw just driving the car there (the heater hadn't had time to warm up) and, although I was bundled up, my face hurt with the stinging rain.  Suffice to say that the cup of hot (sugar free) vimto and water bottle was gratefully received when I got back.  Meanwhile the dogs must have been cold as well - they rarely snuggle up to each other like this!!However I was gutted to find that Mum and Dad had tried to phone whilst I was out to invite me out for coffee - when I wasn't in they just went home!  However we then arranged to meet up for a late lunch so all was not lost!




An early dog walk meant that I could get down to some sewing tasks - starting with assembling and preparing kit number 3 for our sewing retreat next month, followed by sorting out some sewing for a Scamblesby sewing day tomorrow.  Last year I spent a very enjoyable day sewing over at Sewingbuddy's where we were both making a beautiful case to store pens etc.  It was a complicated (aren't they ever?) case with multiple zips and, although Sewingbuddy finished hers, mine has sat unloved in its box ever since then.  Tomorrow I aim to get somewhere near to finishing it!


However the main event of the day was my attempt to get the Gail Pan wall hanging quilted.  That would just leave me with the binding and then the Suffolk puffs to make and sew on (truthfully I have a sneaky feeling that I may have made the puffs but would need to find them!!!!).  I decided to go with a traditional "Stitch in the ditch" for the cream rectangles and then some free motion work in the squares which will form the background for the Suffolk puffs.  I thought that a dense quilting may make the puffs stand out even more.  Having said that - the machine didn't want to play ball with the free motion so I de-fluffed it and have left that part of the quilting until tomorrow - I can then use the simpler machine!

After a trip out for a late lunch at a local tea room - where I filled Mum and Dad in on some family tree research that I had been doing (the war records are so interesting in their description of our relatives and I am extremely grateful to whoever has spent time scanning documents in) - it was then back home to get ready for my monthly volunteering at the theatre.