My new quilting space

So far it working well.  My Lovely New Bernina (13 years old this month and still going strong) sits in its Sew-Ezi table; the darker table behind it is a typewriter table bought more years ago than I can remember in an office supply place, it has a shelf which slides out on which ever side you need (it's out on the left side here); and the lighter table in front was bought a very very long time ago, at the time it was the latest and greatest thing to hold one's sewing machine.  Usually my overlocker sits on the dark table and my Singer Featherweight on the light one, but when the tables are needed for quilting those machines have to sit elsewhere for a while.....like the floor.

 As you can see this set up works well - the tables to the back and left hand side support the weight of the quilt nicely.  The challenge quilt is finally being quilted, it posed for you so you can see how this works.

This is my suggested colourway for the Coronation block, for my quilt group tomorrow - what do you reckon?  Dark blue with brights.  If several blocks were being made there wouldn't be any repeated fabrics, this happens when you make only one.

The k-niddling is also coming along nicely after having to buy a longer circular needle, because more than 300 stitches is a lot when crammed onto a shorter needle.  It's now been divided for the fronts, back and sleeves with one sleeve currently being worked on - 72 stitches per row is an improvement on 300, let me tell you.

This week we have really been back in the depths of winter, with heavy frosts and a cold wind.  Towns barely an hour away had snow.  Today is sunny, and the wind isn't so strong or cold, for which we are thankful - but it's quite dry, some rain would be very welcome.  We have both noticed our skin is drier since moving here so I for one am making sure that vitamin E lotion is daily applied to lots of me, even the bits that never see daylight.

Some family history stuff: recently I found out that one could apply for divorce records online, so I applied for a copy of the record of my maternal grandmother's divorce from her first husband in 1923.  It must have been a deep scandal in those days.  The divorce was instigated by her husband on the grounds that she had been absent for at least three years, and the decree nisi was granted in April 1923 with the proviso sternly stated "If you marry before this decree is final you will be committing bigamy".  No beating about the bush there!  The decree absolute came through in 1928.  However in September 1923 she married my grandfather - no doubt my mother's birth seven months afterwards provided a reason - but I am now wondering, was that a bigamous marriage?  And if so, does that make my mother and her brother illegitimate?  Skeletons in the family cupboard!  Yesterday was open day at the local family history centre but the lovely folks there couldn't shed further light on the matter, except to agree with me that yes, her second marriage was probably bigamous.  Perhaps if I took the papers to the local court house, there might be someone more versed in legal matters than I am who could tell me.

57 days until we start our holiday.  Better get cracking on that sewing, hadn't I?

"Intruding on privacy.
Never enter a private room anywhere without knocking.  Sacredly respect the private property of others, and let no curiosity tempt you to pry into letters, desks, packets, trunks, or other belongings of another.  It is ill-mannered to read a written paper lying upon a table or desk; whatever it may be, it is certainly no business of yours.  No person should ever look over the shoulder of another who is reading or writing.  You must not question a servant or child upon family affairs.  Never betray an implied confidence, even if you have not been bound to secrecy."

Does digging into one's family history constitute an intrusion on privacy - bringing to light matters which have been hidden for years, or indeed never known at all?

Enjoy your days!