progressing and plodding

Not so much progress on the quilting front this week. I finished stitching the binding down on the pictoral BOM quilt, but haven't done the label yet. I keep looking at it and can't make my mind up as to whether it needs a bit more work in the white corners of each small block or not. I think a small white flower in each corner might look nice, but I can't find a design I like that fits. More rummaging needed in my design books I think.

Next on the list is the Round Robin, but that's ground to a halt until I can find the right thread to work with. I'm looking for a variegated thread that's in greens AND browns. Not difficult. Not greens, not browns, but greens and browns. Might have to keep looking for that! I've stay stitched around each heart using my normal bobbin thread, which gives them a bit more definition.

This week I'm planning to make a start on unpicking the ghastly borders I put on the lovely salmon and chocolate top. I really could do with some more fabrics to use for the border, not much idea what to do as I've not got a lot of the original pieces left and they were a gift in a Secret Santa swap a couple of years ago.

Mike and I went for another long walk around Saltram this morning, it's about 7-8 miles right round, so I've admitted in public now that I'm planning to do the Beachy Head Marathon. It can be done as a walker, which is what I'm planning.

My final update this week is on my ongoing battle with the complexities of the NHS! I'm booked in to see an ENT surgeon on Thursday for discussion as to what he thinks is the best way to progress with the tumours in my lymph nodes. I'm leaning towards asking for them all to be removed as soon as possible rather than waiting for what could be another couple of years then finding that the cancer has recurred and I need to have another single node removed.

April challenge completed!

This is my April challenge quiltlet from the BQL online group. Paper pieced handbags, hand embellished and machine quilted with random loop de loop squiggles and hearts. Although I didn't particularly enjoy the hand embellishing, the final piece is OK. I'm waiting now for the password for next month's piece...hope I feel more inspired than I have been with this one!

The reason for the particular FMQ design was I've just finished piecing the pink and white log cabin quilt for H's ballet group raffle in June. I'll be quilting it using the same FMQ idea, and hopefully using a pale pink thread.

This weekend I'll be working on a small wallhanging which will be going to my mother in law in August as a thank you for looking after B and H while Mike and I are in Boston. Win, win both ways, I get to try a new technique that's not really "me", and give a gift to Margaret, and if she doesn't find it to her taste either, she only has to hang it if we visit her!

And I got my number for the Plymouth Half last night...eeek!

Why I've not blogged recently

I've been getting the bathroom and kitchen refitted and it's all just been too, too traumatic!



Bathroom before



Bathroom after



Kitchen before



Kitchen after.

The sharper eyed amongst you may have spotted the floor in the kitchen isn't down yet and there's no oven. Despite ordering it in January, it's still not arrived. Guess how thrilled I am about that? Should be here tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath. We're off on holiday soon, so no floor until we're back.

I've also done a race. Teignbridge 10 (miles) which even though I've not been training fully, I managed to take 6 minutes off my previous best time for the distance. Luckily no photographic evidence of this as I went up with a workmate. No medal but a handy T shirt which will double as a tent should we decide to camp while we're away!