Wednesday, October 25, 2017

I fully intended to start quilting on my sandwiched donation quilt but when I started to clear my table and unpack from yesterday’s sewing I changed my mind. As of the bee yesterday I had two projects that just needed a bit more time before they could be moved to the “Finished” pile so I decided to work on them. I still have three projects that could be finished fairly quickly and I might work on them tomorrow morning before my hand stitching session. Some of my finishes aren’t ready to be revealed just yet as I’m not sure if they will end up as gifts but I’ve posted some of them.

I spoke to someone yesterday who had done a session with the long arm quilting machine. She advised against using anything “good” for my first session. According to her the first couple of hours on the machine produced some pretty rough results, but she was better by the time she finished. I have a couple of quilt tops that I had in mind for the long arm but, based on Sandra’s suggestions, I’m rethinking that plan.

My next idea for the long arm was that I would make a quick quilt top of some sort. But no matter what pattern I use it would take time and be “just another project”. I have a bag of orphan blocks (squares, half-square triangles, etc.) but putting different sizes together into something would probably be a nightmare so that idea was off the table. Then I thought maybe I’d just sandwich a couple of pieces of fabric together but that wouldn’t give me any experience going over seams so I set that idea aside. I have worked on something I was calling my Bingo quilt but when the grandkids were here this past summer the game didn’t work out as well as I would have liked. So I think I’ll finish off the few blocks I have done and use that as a practice for the long arm. We have a new dog in the family so perhaps George will end up with a blanket for his kennel.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

It was same old … same old for a Tuesday – I was off to sew with the Guild. I had just a little bit of work left on a project that has been “in a bin” for almost two years. I finished off all the bits and pieces and, with a bit of hand stitching, it will be done.

I took a new project to work on today and it went together very well. I still have a couple more steps but, with the exception of some raw edge and top stitching it too will be done. I sewed quietly in a corner and it wasn’t until the end of the day that anyone asked what I was making. Now it seems this pattern may be the Friday Night project at the Texada Retreat; I said (in no uncertain terms) that I wouldn’t teach it. It might be kind of nice to be done the Friday night project before it even starts – it generally takes me most of Saturday to finish whatever the project is. And I have no shortage of other things I could be doing.

I’m off for my first (of six) qigong classes tonight. I did an introductory class a few weeks ago and enjoyed it but I may feel differently having to go out and come home in the dark.

Monday, October 23, 2017

I should have had a quick finish this morning. I was quilting my miniature (a table topper) but somehow I messed up and had to unpick six lines of quilting. Fortunately it was all straight lines and by after lunch I was ready to start another round of quilting. The binding is attached now and I’ll hand stitch tonight. If nothing goes wrong I’ll have a finish in plenty of time for the Mini Meez meeting in November.

I’ve packed a new project for tomorrow. At the last Texada retreat we were given a fat quarter of fabric; our challenge was to make something with it for the next retreat. As that weekend is fast approaching I thought I’d better get started. I’ve wavered about what to make but when I saw a photo on Facebook this morning, and realized I had the pattern, I decided it was a “sign” and so that’s what I’m going with. I have it all cut out and, hopefully, I have everything I need to get it stitched tomorrow. I’ll also take along my bin of Rail Fence blocks in case I run out of things to do.

I started on a Prayer Shawl last night and it is knitting up quite quickly. Maybe I’m supposed to be saying prayers or at least thinking heavenly thoughts as I knit  but I opted to knit while watching a few episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. I hope that isn’t bad karma!

Sunday, October 22, 2017

I’m having a lazy day today. I did some cleaning this morning before heading out for a few groceries and a bit of other shopping. I was annoyed with myself when I got home and realized I had neglected to shop for a couple of things; I didn’t have them on my list but I was certain I would remember them. Oh well, I guess I can go back out tomorrow, or the next day, or another day.

I finished stitching the binding on my Twinkling Stars quilt last night. A mini meeting is coming up soon so I decided, while it was nice out, I should spray baste and sandwich. By the time I got a backing pieced, the batting cut, the outside table wiped down, and everything set up the wind had picked up. I went ahead and did the spray basting but I’ll start quilting it fairly soon in case the wind took more of the spray away than I thought.

I’ve done a bit of tidying up in my craft rooms but the floor still isn’t clean enough to do the vacuuming – maybe tomorrow.

While I was out today I bought yarn for a new project and pulled some yard quantities from my bins for some prayer shawls. I might do more tidying before heading downstairs to start some of that knitting.