I haven't really been inclined to do any sewing lately, I've been much more interested in spinning and knitting.This is the fourth year that I've been spinning, and it's beginning to become second nature.  I've produced a lot of wool that's scratchy and over spun and lumpy, and finally I've got all that newby stuff out of the way and the yarn I'm making is useable.  There's still so many areas I can improve, and I have to perfect the techniques, but I'm happy with what I've done so far this year. 

I bought this beautiful multi-coloured fleece, and I'll have fun turning it into knitting yarn. 

This gorgeous Merino fleece is the finest I've ever worked with, it's like a cobweb.  It's a challenge, and I need to get better at spinning Merino before I tackle a large project with it, I don't want to waste it.

I'm using the lighter grey areas to make a little lace-weight scarf, and it's so soft it's like a dream.  By the time I finish this little project I should have improved my spinning technique and then I'll be confident enough to make enough yarn for a shawl.  I'll be able to grade the colours from light to dark, all from this one fleece; the sheep is called Fruitcake, and I hope I can get another of his fleeces next year.

I think I'm a bit jaded with the quilting projects that need finishing, and there's only one thing to do in that situation; finish them all, and start something inspiring.  So this morning I set to and attached the borders to the Cracker quilt, and I'm calling it Done.

 It may get a little blue border later on, or not; at this stage I'm happy with how it looks and it's in the To-Be-Quilted pile.  Next up are the cheddar and blue four-patches, and I actually feel a bit excited to be working on them, so that's a good sign. 

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Where to start?  The last three weeks are just a blur, so many family events, so much work, and hardly any sewing.  I'm a little bit unhinged from all the activity, we had a great time of course, but I need a little bit of solitude this week.  I hope I haven't jinxed anything by saying that.

I intend to get some sewing time in this afternoon, after I see to the necessary work, and I will be sewing on the units for the Cracker border.  I came home one night, after a long day of social stuff, and sewed 100 HSTs all at once, then ironed them.  That was nice, mindless, busywork. 

Now I'm ready to make them into Broken Dishes blocks and join them to the quilt, and then I will be able to write that into the stash report.  WooHoo!

I also started another project as a leader-ender.  I've been admiring Bonnie's Split 9-patch, and suddenly decided to make it in blues and yellow-creams, to use up the huge amount of scraps I've been generating with my blue quilts. 

It's such an easy block, and even easier if the triangles are cut with the AccuQuilt.

I'm going to have fun laying the blocks out in different patterns, I'm a long way from having to make a decision so it's pure fun to finish each block and put it on the design wall.

I also made a couple of blocks to see if they were suitable for a scrap reduction project, and I quite like them.

I like the dark grey backgrounds, and they are super easy, so I might kit up a few more.  I don't have the time right now, but the blocks can just sit there until I do.

In other news, I am back sewing on my Beloved, my Singer 538.  I managed to source another power cord for her, not an exact match, but it works. I answered an ad on Gumtree, a local online sales site, and went round to see two sewing machines.  I was really surprised to see that the seller was a young man, and he showed me his collection of vintage machines that he restores himself.  It was so interesting to meet a fellow enthusiast; when I told him how many machines I owned he called out to his Mum in the next room 'There's someone here with more machines than me!', and she came out to have a chat, and also showed me a chevron quilt he'd made and quilted on his Singer 201.  He'd done a great job, how wonderful to be quilting so early in life.

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