Stitching down the Wind

Wow! What a storm! I do hope that you aren't among those poor unfortunates who have lost their homes, or have had to move out while repairs are effected. We escaped here in our corner of West Norfolk but up on the North Norfolk coast they took a real battering, and I know in other parts of the UK the wind, rain and high tides have wrought devastation and loss of life.

In expectation of a couple of days of bad weather Jim and I planned for staying home and 'pottering' - home chores, long coffee-and-crossword breaks, and blissful hours to tie flies and order from fishing catalogues (Jim) and sorting threads and stitching (me). Mind you, the wind was so strong on Thursday afternoon in the little conservatory that is my sewing room, that I thought the roof would be ripped off and judiciously repaired to the Big Table in the dining room!

I made more headway into the task of tidying up the thread straggles - you know, when you cut into a skein of thread you always end up with an impossible tangle eventually, so I have started to wind the threads onto bits of card. It's a deliciously mindless occupation, high on the list of anyone with OCD I'd imagine! If you do it before things get too bad it's not such a task.

I did a little more on the Farmhouse Quilt. Some of the fabrics are quite gorgeous to quilt through, and this pale flannel here is one of them - see how the stitches just melt back into the cloth?

All the applique pieces will be embroidered when the quilting is finished and I have bound it. Yummy!

I'm using one strand of a hand-dyed 21st Century Yarn 4-ply cotton to quilt with - so much softer than quilting thread against the flannel, and I love the way the variegated colour changes just add a little something to the stitches.

A little Christmassy felty something. Bet you can't guess .......

And some more wool felt bangles. On a roll with these now. The bowl in the top photo contains tiny felt squares ready for embellishing the bangles. I must get my bead boxes out and see which ones will work with the wool.

So that's how I've spent these last couple of stormy days, stitching down the wind and really quite enjoying being 'stuck in the house'. I hope they have been good days for you, and if not, my good wishes to you.

Now then before you whizz off to your next blog stop, do me a favour and pop over to Potter Jotter, as Cathy is doing a really fab give-away of some of her lovely ceramic buttons. Hop across and say hello!

Bye for now and thank you all for your lovely comments these last couple of weeks about my lengthy wait for a hospital appointment. Believe me I know I am not in dire straits and other bloggy friends have been having a much more drastic time of it, health-wise. But it has been so good to read your remarks, thank you.