Summer / not summer

The weather continues to be bizarre and I actually broke out my autumn coat and lightweight hat  for a few of my walks to the station this week, as well as the umbrella for the drizzle.  It continues unsettled but has at least warmed up somewhat to 21 degrees C today. It seems strange to feel a bit chilly in the evenings.  Still, I am much happier with this weather than I was when it was so hot.

I had an extra day off this week and used it to applique the hexagons around my central panel for my One Block Wonder quilt.  As there is a hard horizon line where the ocean meets the sky, I had to be very careful to keep the hexagons parallel/perpendicular to that line.  I pinned the panel to the carpet and then did a lot of careful measuring with rulers before pinning the hexagons around the edge. I had previously pressed under the raw edges 1/4inch and held them down with Roxanne's Basting Glue.

I appliqued the hexagon frame using a small blanket stitch on the sewing machine and invisible thread.  Then I started sewing on all the side rows (not pressed yet in this picture).  It's come out a lot smaller now that it's all seamed together, I think this may end up only being a single size, or lap quilt even.

This week I have been sweeping up some of the final kits for the Japanese dollshouse.   I put together six little lanterns, painted to look oxidised, then hung them on the corners of the roof where they look very cute, like earrings.

I put together eight little armrests, and distributed them amongst three rooms of the house.

For the room above, I also made a second set of low chairs with cushions.

Still to come are three light fixtures, a TV, a stone lantern and a sign.  And of course the garden.  We visited a rather tatty garden centre complex near Barton Le Clay today and I picked up quite a nice Japanese style stone lantern and a little curved bridge, perfect for a japanese garden, from a range called 'Miniature World'  intended to accessorise resin fairy garden houses they were also selling.

On the knitting side, I've been distracted by a 'free' kit to knit four little miniature animals which came with Let's Knit magazine.

And the autumnal weather prompted me to retrieve my hibernating cross-stitch Christmas house project, to make some progress on stitching the final attic room.

We checked the moisture readings on our damaged wall and ceiling yesterday. Two and a half months after the leak happened, the wall is still reading fairly damp but the ceiling seems to have dried out at last. So we can at least redecorate the ceiling.  But I think we will have to paint the whole ceiling because we won't be able to match the aged existing paint, so that will mean clearing out the entire  room and lots of drop cloths to protect the books and floor. Sigh.