Slow.....Slow....Slow weekend

I do not think Easter weekend could have come at a better time....... I was absolutely pooped!  My plan for the weekend was simple......spending lots of time with the family, a little gardening, as little housework as possible whilst still maintaining a modicum of cleanliness and some slow hand stitches.
On the stitching front, I wanted to catch up with my Happy Flower QAL blocks.... I think Block 14 is my favourite so far.  I decided the pieces were way too small for the Interfacing Method of applique and needle turned all the petals and leaves.  When I previously needle turned, I have drawn the outline of the shape on to the right side of the fabric and used this as the guide to turn under the edge.  On this occasion, I tried out the authors Atsuko Matsuyama's freezer paper technique, instructions for which are clearly detailed in the book and loved it!

For the centre circle I used Sarah Fielke's method where by you cut out the finished size circle in card, place the fabric with seam allowance on top and then wrap silver foil around the whole thing carefully turning under the seam allowance.  Once you've got a neat little silver circle, you then press it and the heat from the foil keeps the seam allowance folded in place.  This worked a treat!

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I also finished off last weeks block......I have to say you can tell I was feeling a little bit peeky when I made this one, but I am sure when it one block amongst nearly 100 it will be ok!

On the home front...we're currently planning a new kitchen.  We moved in to our home when Jamie was six weeks old...... oh the naivety of being first time parents!  We moved from a Victorian semi to a nearly new build, which at the time only required a little decorative update.  But as Jamie approaches his 13th Birthday, it's now looking a little tired.  We are slowly working our way through the house, last summer we did the bathroom and ensuite.  So far this year we've tackled the living room, painted, laid new carpet and bought new sofa's....we've never looked to neat and tidy!  Later this summer the outside is getting new fascias and guttering etc.....not terribly exciting, but the kitchen certainly is!  

On Saturday we had a trip to a kitchen showroom where fingers crossed we have found the kitchen of our dreams..... think painted wooden units, oak worktops....sigh!  We softened the blow of kitchen shopping ...for some reason Poppy and Jamie are not quite so excited by the prospect of a new kitchen.....with a trip to the coast.  We went to one of our favourite beaches, it's between Skegness and Mablethorpe and is about an hour away from us.  It's perfect, you can park right next to the sand and all you can see is more sand and sea and not much else.  Obviously the boys are never happier than when they have a rugby ball to throw about....

.....and Poppy still loves to build sandcastles.....  I did partake in a little bit of both, but I had half an hour or so just sat in the car in the warmth of the sun all on my own..... doing nothing, not even sewing..... just watching them and the world go by....absolute bliss!

 On Easter Sunday we went on a Easter egg hunt...

and in the afternoon after finally working my way through trimming the HST blocks for Jamie's quilt,  I sat down for some more slow hand stitches.  I've been playing with EPP paper pieces and combining compatible shapes.  

which soon became two.

The weekend passed by in a flash and mum and I were back to work yesterday packing all the orders that came in over the Easter weekend...thank you!  Before signing off for today, I just wanted to share some rather important news about our Ruskington Bricks and Mortar Shop opening days, for those of you who come and visit us in person....... with effect from the 1st May, our Ruskington shop will no longer be open on a Wednesday.  Thursday, Friday and Saturday opening hours remain unchanged. 

Obviously this is not a decision that has been made lightly.  We absolutely love having our Ruskington shop and the opportunity that it gives us to meet our fantastic customers in person.  We are however very aware that some of things that we are asked for on a very regular basis, we can not always do as quickly as we would like.  By not opening on a Wednesday, this will give us back a few additional hours to do some of those extra things.... more quilt kits, fabric bundles, more projects here on the blog etc which hopefully can be enjoyed by everyone.

Right I'll be back soon as I have some finished projects to share!

Happy Stitches!