Ironing the wallpaper (as you do)

 In yet another crafter activity that would puzzle a non-crafter, I spent an hour or so this week ironing dollshouse wall and floor papers to flatten them out - as part of the ongoing sort out of my chaotic wallpaper cupboard.  DH kindly drove me to the craft store where I picked up six sheets of greyboard, which I cut in half and hinged with duct tape to create big portfolios to hold the papers.  All much more organised and usable than the previous disaster of a cupboard. I made one for wallpaper, one for flooring and tiles, and one for smaller scales.

I've done some more work on the roombox kit this week.  I've glued in all the internal wood trim and the plastic window panes, and have been finding and printing some suitable pictures to be the views through the window.   I've painted the outer box in a light green colour, and tested the 15-year-old electrics before gluing them in.  I've had to order a new transformer as I don't have a spare one. I spent some time fruitlessly trying to puzzle out the leftover wooden pieces which are meant for the garden before giving up and doing my own thing with them. I used some of the brick paper from my stash and painted the top piece to look like stone.  So we're just about there with the construction, just some more tidying up, wiring in a ceiling light, and planting a garden behind the wall.

I finished knitting the ankle warmers I started last week, using a free pattern called 'Sock Buddies'. I've worn these out on walks several times already, they just give that nice bit of warmth above the shoe and stop icy drafts going up your trousers on days when it's not quite cold enough for boots. I used the Simply Stretchy Bind Off by VeryPinkKnits for the upper bind off so they easily go over my calf.

After sewing another block for the Tilda Wreath quilt (chore) I took another break to sew the medium size Brumby Pouch (reward) for DS.  I think it looks quite smart in this beach stripe twill fabric.  I've shown it with the large size for comparison. DS is quite pleased with it. It's nice to be able to make him something he will actually use.

But the big activity this week has been washing the 25 block applique quilt, drying it and sewing the binding on.  The packet of Hobbs Wool Batting says to wash it like a cashmere sweater, which is more or less what I did.  First of all I prepared an area in the livingroom where the quilt could dry, testing for fit and laying sheets down.

Holding my breath the entire time, I lowered the quilt gently into a tepid bathtub with three Colourcatchers, using some of my small stash of imported Orvis Paste for soap.  Watching for any sign of pink in the water, I let the quilt soak 30 minutes, stirring it gently halfway through.  I drained it in a plastic laundry basket then gently rinsed it three times.  Although the Colourcatchers did turn slightly blush-pink, I couldn't see any signs of running on the actual quilt.  I blotted with towels and spread it out flat in the livingroom for 36 hours, then finished drying it over a banister.  More breath-holding as I examined it in the sun - no colour runs that I can see!!  Whew!  After the trauma last year with the Let's Bake quilt colour run, I was quite worried.  I gave the quilt a gentle press from the reverse and then chose a white fabric from my stash for the binding, it's not an exact match as I don't have any of the actual block fabric left from 14 years ago.  I trimmed up the edges and sewed the binding on one side by machine, and now I am hand-stitching the binding down while I watch sumo on TV in the evenings. So it's almost done!! So exciting after all these years.

I also finished the surgery on the gimps of my Bucks Point butterfly hexagon mat this week. I finished the lacemaking some weeks ago then discovered that I had accidentally doubled up the gimp thickness on three of the butterflies without realising (because I was working with a windowed cover cloth so was only looking at one area at a time). Cue much bodging as I surgically removed the unwanted gimp thread while fighting down the urge to just throw the whole thing out.  So now I am back to square one and need to darn all the finishing lace threads into the work, then two years of work will finally be finished.

I've continued my papercraft journey this week, trying out some of the projects I've seen on Youtube although it's never as easy as they make it look. I continue to experiment with glues, trying to find one that grabs quickly without warping the paper by being too wet.  It's fun making things with pretty cardstock, similar to patchwork. None of these are perfect and I don't actually have any use for mini-albums but I'm having fun.

I made three mini-albums and decorated a file folder

and I made a birthday card to send to DH's sister (this

is a project you can download from Canvas Workspace then

cut on the machine)

My sewing machine is playing up so I am already feeling a bit bereft at the idea of it going away for another service.  It started skipping stitches when I was doing bagmaking which I put down to the bulky layers, but it's gotten worse and now it is regularly skipping stitches even when quiltmaking, such as sewing the binding on the applique quilt.  I've tried bigger needles and sewing more slowly but it's not helping. Something is definitely not right, so really this coming week I need to find somewhere to have it serviced. Sob.  Luckily I have a couple of others I can use but it's not the same. Are you emotionally attached to your machine?