New flooring at last

 Look at our new floor!

So much nicer than the flood stained concrete and old 1960s tile, and nicer even than the  previous battered black & white square effect flooring it has replaced.  Although the pattern was a last minute choice, it actually looks quite well with the skirting and doors.  A very nice man came on Wednesday and just got on with it all by himself, it took him six hours to do all the nooks and crannies of the corridor, utility room,  downstairs loo and all the doorways and corners.  So in terms of being in lockdown it worked quite well, I only brought him a few hot drinks and didn't have to interact with him otherwise.  And the replacement pattern was a bit cheaper than what we originally chose, so a win all round.  Today we put back the white goods and the furniture etc., although it did seem a shame to clutter up the pristine new expanses.  Let's hope it never floods again while we live here because I don't want to do all that again.

I've had a bit of a sewing burst this week.  I was looking through my tub of fabric I pulled a while ago to go with the Japanese book that I made the little appliqued sewing pouch out of.  I found the bit of panel that was left, and decided to throw on a few borders to make a tablecloth out of it.  This is a pic of just the top, I will put a backing and binding on it eventually.

Then I turned back to my production run of quilted notepad covers for Christmas gifts.  I cut out five of them, including one to cover the notepad I keep by my sewing machine.  I did each step five times: cutting out, quilting, sewing the pockets, sewing on the binding then hand stitched the bindings down over a couple of nights watching TV.  They've turned out fine and a couple are quite cute. The one on the right is mine, hopefully the recipients will like the others.

I had another look through the Japanese book because I really like the fabric colours I had pulled from stash, and decided to make this little embroidered zip pouch.  The instructions are in Japanese and I can't read kanji, so I just made it up from the pictures. The pattern sheet was in centimetres so I cut to the nearest easy imperial measurement for the piecing. I am not great at embroidery so that's a bit clumsy but I still think it looks cute.

I finished my vanilla socks and blocked them.  I've worn them as bedsocks once already and they are quite comfy. Pretty colours.

I've called time on my Bucks Lace edging, if it's not long enough then I'm just going to make the fabric centre a bit smaller.  So I brought the starting end around to meet the working end where I am with the bobbins, and did my best to pin the starting lace back onto the pricking.  I particularly tried hard not to twist the lace accidentally as I don't want a moebius strip.  Then I worked the final bit of lace down to join up with the starting lace.  So far I have only sewn in the newest lace to the oldest lace, and haven't cut any bobbins off yet.  Once it is fully joined, I need to go back and knot all the pairs with reef knots to secure, then cut the bobbins off leaving ends which I will need to darn into the lace.  If I do a decent job, the join will be unobtrusive. I find joining really difficult and time consuming.

It's mid-November and continues to be so mild (14 degrees C many days) that our pergola rose is having a last burst of flowers. 

But it's chilly enough at night that I've got two handmade quilts back on the bed, and I'm enjoying wearing handknit hats and handwear when I go out for my daily walk. I actually quite like this time of year.