It's looking like a beautiful day!

It's finally sunny today and I think I heard that it will be in the 60s' today. Yay for nice weather. I won't get much sewing done today because I need to take advantage of the weather to get some yardwork done.

Here's what I have done on the Violet candle mat so far....
The white basted lines won't stay on there. I quickly basted the thread in there so that I can easily center each flower bunch in it's own space. It's much easier and quicker to use a chalk line to mark the sections, but I've found that on darker backgrounds, sometimes that chalk is difficult to remove. Now, I just take the extra time to baste the lines.

Ok, so here's a picture that shows three things that are invaluable to me for my sewing. The circle template, the clear rulers and the sewing board.

Now obviously the rulers would be important for any kind of sewing. The two shown are old and back from my quilting days. It goes to show that if you spend the money to get good quality items, they will last forever.

The plastic circle template ... oh, I've used this so much for penny rugs. Think of all the circles involved with penny rugs and you'll understand why this template is so important. In the colonial days, coins were used to make the circles for penny rugs, hence the name "penny rug". When I first started, I used coins, cups, thread spools, lids ... anything that was circle shaped, I used it for templates. That works, but for a few bucks at Walmart this template will save you time. Draw the circles on some freezer paper, iron the freezer paper onto your wool and cut out the circle shapes.

The sewing board....when I show pictures of my penny rugs in progress, chances are, this board will be shown underneath. Oddly, it's been so long, I don't remember when I started using this. I don't even remember where the boards came from, but I have two of them that I use. I don't know what kind of wood this is, but it's thin but not flexible, lightweight and smooth and I know that sheets of it can be purchased inexpensively at Lowes. Mine measures about 15" x 20" but it probably would be nicer to have it a little smaller.
I never sew my wool to the tablecloth anymore because of this board. All my work is done on it. When I sew while watching tv, the board is on my lap, giving me a hard surface to work on.
I don't know if the picture shows, but I write little notes on it too. Measurements that I might need, ideas for shapes ... all kinds of things get penciled in on the board and it wears off after time because the board is used so much. I have two of them so that if I'm working on one project, I'll have one free to use in case I have to start on another project.
Oh sheesh, look at me sitting here typing on the computer when I should be outside appreciating this wonderful weather and doing yardwork!
Happy day!