Mereth has been rummaging through baskets in my sewing room, holding up bits and pieces and saying 'What are THESE for?' And most of the time, I just shrug and say 'I don't know, orphans or crumb blocks, or... or ... something.....' So she made me decide to sew the leftovers from the Carolina Coverlet into little cross blocks, and very cute they are too. We need quite a few table runners for the workroom, so that's what this will become very soon.

We had a lovely day last Wednesday, sewing with two friends. We went to the local bakery for a decadent lunch, and sewed on into the afternoon. They were thrilled with their progress on their quilt tops. Both are beginner quilters, and it's so lovely to see such enthusiasm and confidence developing. They both said they thought they would find it difficult, but managed beautifully and were rightly proud of their achievements.

I amused myself by stripping down my new machines to clean and oil them. These two were NOT looked after. Both had thread jammed in the bobbin cases and this photo of the Featherweight gives you some idea of how unloved it was. I had to scrape this filth away; yech! I've oiled them both very well, and will clean them and sew on them when I get a spare moment. Interestingly, one of the manuals advises oiling with parafin oil if the machine hasn't been used for a while, letting it sit and then cleaning it off and oiling with machine oil. I'll have to get some parafin and try that.

I have been sewing my pinwheel blocks dutifully, I have only 14 left to make. I still love them, so it's a pleasure to work on them, but I'll be glad when I can clean up all the material I've pulled out of the drawers for the quilt. I just can't seem to keep it organised and my sewing room is a mess. Once I have the last blocks cut out I will have a big clearing day.

I've been trying to find the perfect leader ender, and tried this cross variation using some of the triangles from the other cross blocks. I cut the 2.5" strips for the cross at 5", sewed them into the block and then trimmed to whole thing square. It was fun, and I like the result, but it's not the right leader-ender project for me. Looks like my Orphan Box is going to be overflowing again soon.