Soooo how did it go at the shop?

It all went fine, I was a little nervous before my day at the The Wool Stop, but once I was there and got into the swing of it. I REALLY ENJOYED MYSELF looking after Tina's 'Knitting Emporium' - no really I did! I don't think I did anything daft, I saw the Carnival parade go past the door - in the pouring rain, poor things had water running out of their pants/skirts. but they were smiling and waving all the way up the High Street to the show ground. By Lunchtime the sun had come out so hopefully the rest of their events were OK, there were certainly a LOT of people around so here's hoping it was worth it in the end.
I cant show any pictures of me 'at work' but the shop is every bit as nice inside as it looks on the website

 This is what greets you as you enter

 The other end of the shop

 The 'cosy' corner where you can sit & browse the patterns, Tina will even make you  a cuppa! I just love the Elephant stool and if you look closely you can see the crowds watching the parade - well their legs anyway!

So how did my day go ... well I was quite busy for most of the day, talking to the customers and sharing my knitty advice :-)  I got started on one of my own designs for a 'premmie' baby jacket and managed to get 1/2 way up the back.

and in the gaps between customers I just went round the shop and smoothed ALL THAT YARN!!! All this and home in time for tea!

Other news this week; I added 2 more borders to the Kimono Panel since the last post about it on 31st May. I'll probably not add any more borders as it's now large enough for a cushion, so I'll quilt it and then add the back etc.

I did a little more to my Kantha style embroidery at the monthly sewing afternoon with Severn Valley Quilters

 I finished this butterfly

 and added some stitching round the woven wheels completed earlier

Last Wednesday I was demonstrating a Quilt as you Go technique at S.V.Q. for their Skills night so I needed to have some samples ready, I decided to use some of the Random Log Cabin Blocks (remember those??) I still have some LOTS!

 

so after choosing fabric for backing squares from the scrap bag and adding the wadding I decided to simply quilt circles on the machine, this is really easy to do so I took some pictures to show you how I went about it.

Decide what size circle you would like, my blocks are 6.5" so I thought somewhere around a 5" circle would do it. Using a ruler held gently under the needle measure out from the needle to half the size of the circle you   need, (so I measured 2.5"), using a flat headed drawing pin attach it pointy side up on the base of the machine with some masking tape - use 2-3 strips to secure it. it need to be in line with the needle so look at the measurements on the foot plate and use one of the lines if you can, you can just see my pin in the above picture! Once you are happy start sewing, place the exact centre of your block onto the pin, pushing the point all the way through (see below) sew slowly, don't try to push the block through, let the feed dogs do the work, just guide the block to keep it flat (I couldn't sew and take a picture of my hands!) Lengthening the stitch slightly gives a better finish! Experiment on some scraps till you're happy

and before you know it you will have a pile of quilted blocks - I did 12 in half an hour!

Last but not least and JOY of JOYS I finally finished the front of the Maisie Mouse sweater I am making for Little H. I got to Thursday last and I was sooo close! I'm always up around 6am to knit before my day starts and Thursday was pretty quiet, so I told DH that I was not moving from my seat in the Conservatory till it was done! I sat there in my 'Jammies' till 10.30am and it was finished!!!! Boy am I a happy bunny (and just a teeny bit proud of my endurance!!) So folks here it is....Drum Roll please

Just the neckline and sewing up and I can give it to her - shame it's too hot to wear it at the moment, hope she doesn't grow out of it before it cools off.

Well that's about it for tonight, I'm off for a TV dinner. I'll be back shortly.

Lx