Monday, February 26, 2018

Pat left for Texada this morning and I decided not to delay any longer in getting a quilt sandwiched. I’m using flannel as a backing so once I had the back pieced together I stuck it in the wash. I’ve picked out a quilting pattern and I’m hoping it can be enlarged enough to work. Even if it is too cold to spray-baste on the back step, I’m going to pin-baste it on my hands and knees on the floor.

With that decided I called my sewing machine service guy. I think before I get on a quilting stretch I should have my machine cleaned professionally. While I waited on a call back from him I finished another two blocks for my Bloom quilt. I also decided on a layout that will more than fit the bed I want it on but I’m going to need a lot more blocks to do it. I’m not sure how much longer my turquoise and burgundy strips will last but I hope I’ve got enough.

It was lunch by the time I made arrangements to drop my machine off this afternoon. Cam is working the next couple of days but he said if I got it over this afternoon he would get it started. In the back of my mind I thought I’d better start the car; when I went out to do that it was too late – the battery was dead.

Since Pat was gone I had no easy boost so I called my mechanic – they need to figure out what is draining the battery or I’m going to dump it in a ditch somewhere – provided I can get it started. Someone will come by after the shop closes this afternoon and put a battery charger on it until tomorrow. Then we’ll see what happens next.

So, while we sort all that out, my machine can’t get cleaned, sewing is likely a no-go for tomorrow, as is my trip to the library to return one book and pick up another (unless I walk). I also had another stop to make but that one can wait indefinitely.

When I called Pat to vent he suggested I spend the afternoon reading so that is exactly what I did. I’m still mad, but I’m enjoying my book.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

It was bright and sunny out when I got up this morning but half an hour later it was snowing; you could see it coming toward us from across the Strait. But within half an hour it was all gone and the sun was back; there was no accumulation at all and had I slept later I would never have known it happened.

I started my day by cleaning up my cutting table and studio. I hadn’t trimmed any scraps for a couple of weeks and the scrap bucket was overflowing. I’ve made four more blocks for my Bloom quilt; I cut fabric out for 20 blocks (which is what the pattern calls for) but I want to make it larger so I’ll have more cutting to do. Bloom was my UFO Challenge Number for the month. At the beginning of the February challenge all I had was a pattern but now I have 10 blocks made. There may still be time to make a few more blocks before I see what my challenge for March might be.

I’m going to finish off the afternoon with some crocheting, and then I’ll move on to knitting tonight.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Pat’s flight home was an hour late last night; I was late to be by the time we ordered a pizza and ate it. We were up early and even though we sat around with our coffee we still managed to be out the door before 9:30. Pat had to pick up a parcel at the post office and I told him I’d take him out for breakfast. We were seated at Magpie’s before the Saturday morning rush; a meal at Magpie’s does me for the day so there was not need to stop for lunch and, therefore, I’ve managed to get a lot done today.

My fourth week of my online sampler series was released on Friday so that was my first task of the day. And with the end of the month drawing near I wanted to finish a few more of my monthly UFO Challenge – Bloom. I’m already looking forward to the announcement for next month but I may still be able to get a few more blocks done before then. Even if I don’t, I’m well ahead of where I was at the beginning of the month.

I was looking for a quilt pattern this morning and decided I needed a better spot for storing my quilt patterns. I had a basket that would work very well but it was full of cross stitch magazines and leaflets that I didn’t think I wanted any longer but wasn’t ready to send them all to the thrift store. I sorted them and added a few to a pile for the fibre people; I took some photos of a few of the leaflets and have them posted for sale on one of the cross stitch groups I belong to. I have a stack more to go but I’ll add them a few at a time and see how it goes; I’ve already passed along three of them to a local friend.

Once that work was done I reloaded the basket with my quilt patterns but, so far, I still haven’t come across the pattern I was looking for. I suspect it is in a bin or a bag somewhere because I know it was sone that I had fabric picked for. Someday all my baskets and bins will be empty but, for now, I’m on the hunt for just one more bin to store my Bloom blocks in.

I have more hand stitching to do for the evening, and if that gets finished I have more knitting projects!

Friday, February 23, 2018

The snow arrived this morning, as predicted. It started earlier than I thought it would and it has been snowing off and on all day. During the early part of the morning the snow was sticking to the road but that seems to have cleared up some. A couple of cars were sliding down the hill and it was slow-going for the cars coming up the hill, but I think they’ve ploughed and sanded since then. I ran my car for a bit while I had lunch as the battery has sounded not-quite-right on my last couple of trips out; mechanic says it is charging fine so I guess it is the cold weather it doesn’t like.

Thursday sewing got a little more interesting yesterday. We have another quilter joining us; I knew Jessie from my first year at the Guild but I think she dropped out the following year. We had some good laughs yesterday and decided that we’ll stitch every Thursday rather than taking the day off when we have a Guild demo or meeting. We’ve picked out a new project and I’ll try to get some fabric for it pulled out over the weekend. The pattern is called Supernova; I think Gail is going to do it in colours from dark to light radiating out and Jessie says hers will be scrappy. I haven’t decided yet what I’ll do, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be scrappy; it is made up of 6.5″ half-square triangles and my scraps aren’t large enough for those measurements.

And speaking of Thursday projects, I have my Scrappy String Star quilted. I wasn’t sure how I would do the quilting but a friend sent me a link to an on-line free-motion quilting challenge so I decided to try a couple of her ideas – the meander and the echo with a meander in the middle. I wanted to try some more feathers but even when drawing them roughly with the Frixion pen I knew it wasn’t going to work out. So I dug out a couple of books, did some online looking and got some ideas. I’ll add the border and, hopefully, be stitching it down tonight.