Summer has started

 We have successfully launched the caravan for the 2022 season.  We did a 'first night test camp' yesterday at a small site near to our storage site, just to check that we had got everything back in (we'd missed a few things) and that everything still worked (a few minor issues identified).  We also ran steriliser through the water system, and then gave the van a bath with caravan cleaner and shiner in the washing area at the storage yard.  So it's all shiny and ready to go when we are able to get away - or rather, when DH is able to get some holiday from work.  We tried out the new chairs and table we bought at the NEC show, both worked well and the chairs are quite comfortable.  Because of the comfort level, they are too heavy to put in the caravan - we checked our noseweight and had to move the chairs into the car instead.  I have a sense of achievement - I was a bit nervous that we would have forgotten how to do caravanning.  We did have a very difficult time reversing the van back into our parking space at the storage yard (hemmed in by other caravans on all 3 sides).  Luckily no-one was watching as we went back and forth about 15 times before giving up and unhitching and just manhandling it into place - fortunately it's quite small so we can just about shove it around on a level surface.  It can be quite daunting at a big campsite when you arrive and have to reverse in while all your neighbours are watching.  In the caravan I was working on my Aldi mint green boucle knitted t-shirt and made a first start on embroidering the caravan stamped embroidery towels I bought in America, and worked some more on the Lace Shawl pattern that I bought at Tuscan Rose in Paducah along with some cotton mix yarn.  

In another milestone, I have actually started to set up the Grace quilting frame.  First I had to retrieve the various boxes of bits and ferry them up to the dining room - apart from the poles which would just get in the way at this point:

Then I had to undo all my careful wrapping and bubble wrap from 2017 to unveil all the meccano pieces:

I've now started to screw the table frame together, consulting the manual and my scribbled notes from last time.  It's going to take a while...  And I went ahead and ordered an entire roll of Hobbs Polydown wadding which should be delivered this week.  I probably have enough Hobbs Heirloom wadding for the nicer quilt tops, and I'll use the Polydown for the rest of them and will have some left over for future quilts.  Although buying a roll is a big investment up front, it is far cheaper by the yard - working out to less than £6 a yard as opposed to £8-£10 a yard buying it in precut packets.

I've made a push this week on Month 12 of the Australian BOM as I feel that I am falling behind.  This was another month with a lot of elements to create.  There is still embroidery to add to the shoe pincushion and the darning mushroom, and I am currently stitching the 'lace' edging around the doiley.

I went to a lace day recently, the first one for a while.  I was seated with some very pleasant ladies and we had a good natter while working on our lace.  I was adding the edging to my Bruges mat from my instructional book - this is a simple mat to teach you the grid filling and the three-picot edging.  It's a bit wobbly but I feel like I am progressing.

I also snagged a Platinum Jubilee commemmorative bobbin.

Earlier in the week I was working some more on the Tannenbaum quilt.  After doing Row Four (square in a square), I decided to practice using my Brother Scan N Cut to cut the fusible applique pieces.  It was a bit of a learning curve.  Scanning in the pattern is easy, so I didn't have to do any tracing.  The machine cut beautiful circles and 44 leaves in various fabrics backed with fusible web, but some of the leaves didn't fully cut and I had to finish them by hand.  For the stems, to avoid wasting fabric and fusible web, I switched the machine function from 'cut' to 'draw' and drew out all the required stems nested together on the fusible web.  Then I could cut the web into sections to add to various green fabric before doing the final cut with scissors. I've fused the design in place but I need to wait for my big machine to come back home before I can stitch the edges - the Singer of course only does straight stitch.  I'm enjoying this pattern, I like scrappy quilts with lots of different elements so I don't have to make too many repetitive blocks.

Future travel: I have started to book up travel and hotels for a solo trip to Italy in the fall for a couple of weeks.  I've sort of had to make myself do it - a part of me just wants to stay home where it's easy and safe.  But I am listening to my adventurous part instead, the part that took me travelling the world in my 20s and landed me here in the UK married to an Englishman.  That part is pretty buried by decades of wage slavery, motherhood and indolence but it's still there, and it's been waiting a long time for me to retire.  Time to give it some rein and see if the joy is still there, even if it is a bit scary for my homebody self.