Yes, we’re in ticking things off the list mode around here.

 

 

There was work to be done in Cwmbran yesterday.  Good, fulfilling work that is, with interesting people who make workshops as rewarding to teach as I hope they are to take part in.

 

 

Whilst I facilitated discussions about learning styles and Tuckman’s Group Dynamics theory, my Hero and chauffeur was working in the next room completing our tax return!  Hey, who says we don’t both have fun on a weekend?!  Seeing the poppy there in the photograph (it had fallen from my jacket a few minutes previously) I realised that we’d have been in Lytham St Anne’s this morning had it not been for this prior commitment.  Whilst preparing the lunch this morning, I thought of our friends there at the Cenotaph and missed our usual November weekend at the seaside.

 

 

But ticking more things off the list was the aim today and there was a box awaiting my attention since it arrived on Friday afternoon and at last I had time to open it up and discover what delights were inside.

Look what I saw!

If ever there was an intriguing parcel, this was it.  An hour later, I’d explored the other bubble-wrapped packages, each one as curious and amazing as the last and though I can’t share any more of the contents (because they’re not mine to share) I couldn’t resist taking a photograph of those little hands.  The life of a craft assessor is never dull, I can confirm!

I was able to tick off that task for the weekend and was delighted that the clever maker of the dolls will be able to tick that one off too.

 

 

So, having dealt with most things on my list by lunchtime, I felt I could spare a couple of hours to explore something I’d bought online at the end of last week.  I’ve done Foundation Paper piecing before and it’s a pretty foolproof process that even I can manage. I didn’t really need to buy a pattern or anything to create a simple shape like this.  But I was curious about how this would work in the embroidery hoop of my Bernina and with a special offer on the price of the pattern, I thought I’d give it a whirl and got out my bag of fabric scraps.

It’s interesting to see how carefully it has been worked out, but oh my, the process is very slow.  But all the stitching is programmed to be in exactly the correct place and in addition, each fabric placement is done along a stitched line too.  So there really is no excuses for not getting it perfect.

Except that as always happens, one piece of fabric wasn’t quite big enough.  The one, single process that was left for me to manage and I failed.

Grrr.

What’s especially annoying is that particular foundation piecing trick trips me up every time, too.