Well not as bad as I thought. I have to have steroid injections but have to wait a week to have them. Gosh the arm could have dropped off by then! But at least I haven't been told not to sew. I spent the rest of the morning designing quilts in EQ5 and looking at Sashiko designs with a friend over coffee. I haven't quite made my mind up yet whether I like sashiko or not. It is a bit rigid for me but does look beautiful when done. The book I have is all about doing sashiko by machine and that is much more appealing as when all is said and done I am basically a machinist. I was over joyed when Marsha Mischler brought out her book Crazy Quilting by Machine. Some of the work in this book is lovely and there are some great ideas for quilts.

I am trying to design a pieced quilt with applique on top. As if I needed anything else to do! But the idea has bitten into me and I have to go with the flow. The basic trouble is that my understanding of EQ5 is just that....basic! So I need to now look through the books and quickly gen up on the bits I need to know! I'm also thinking of incorporating trapped flowers into the applique part especially as there are some lovely flowers out in bloom in the garden now. Also a friend gave me some gorgeous flowers for my birthday and they would be ideal; especially the lily petals and stamens. This is such a useful technique. I have hydrangeas that I did nearly ten years ago with my C & G students and they still look good and have kept their colour.