We had a wonderful holiday in Mexico to celebrate 25 years of unwedded bliss, Al and I would both go as far as to say it was a perfect holiday.  We completely relaxed, enjoyed good food and the glorious setting of our hotel on the Caribbean Sea.  Now we are home and it is definitely Winter and I have been sewing enthusiastically.  

I have finished the koi wall hanging that I've been working on for a while.

My sister came for a visit and she has recently started patchwork.  Her first major project is a wedding sampler quilt for her daughter.  The wedding is in August 2017 so Jane's going to be busy.  While she was here we had a good look at Mummy's quilt.  You might remember this is an English paper-pieced "Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilt.  Mummy was determined that it was to be all recycled fabrics, in the traditional way.  I had thought I might do something dramatic with it but when we laid it out on the guest bed it looked just right so I am simply going to finish it.

My first job is to remove a lot of the papers to reduce the weight and make the quilt easier to work with.  I say "papers" but they are actually more of "cards" being cut from Christmas and birthday cards and art and education supplies catalogues.  The fabrics are a real mixture, a lot of furnishing weight and the plain is all curtain lining.  Fortunately I also inherited a box full of extra hexagons and fabric.  Alan and I have been sitting in companionable silence, with our thoughts, unpicking Mummy's tacking stitches.

Some news resulting from my sister's recent visit is that she has decided to join me when I visit Japan next year.  Golly, it's been a few years since we've shared a bedroom!!  We're both really excited about it, or rather, Jane was excited, until I explained about onsen etiquette!!  Still, she'll rock the karaoke experience while I'm hiding in the corner.  And, speaking of holidays, here's a quick reminder that only a few weeks ago we were enjoying temperatures of 30+° C rather than today's 2°C.