Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Today was the first time in three weeks that I’ve been at the Guild’s sewing bee; it was lovely to catch up with everyone. I was hand stitching today – more work to be done on my Farmer’s Daughter quilt. I’m not sure if I feel I’ve accomplished more by saying I’ve done four or by saying I’ve only got eight left. Regardless, the rest of the quilt is waiting for these little bits to be attached before I can say it is done.

I have one edge of my Farmer’s Wife quilt that I want to take apart and fix. For some reason the setting triangles in that spot aren’t fitting properly. I tried to stretch them out enough but when I added the top corner it looks “off”. I’ll recut the triangle, making it a bit bigger, and then it all should work out fine. It is only one block and one row I need to work on and I know I’ll feel better if I do it properly. I asked some opinions today and I think using Mum’s stitched tops for the back will work. I have no idea if the two pieces I have will be large enough, but if not I still have lots of Mum’s fabrics so I can add to them.

I left the bee early today so I could attend a meeting at City Hall. There has been a situation created by the developer or maybe the property owners (the mayor just happens to be one of the developers and a property owner) but the end result is that it could raise our taxes significantly to fix the problem. It was a good presentation by the person who dug up all the information but, of course, no solution was put forward by Council. I stayed beyond that presentation and found it quite interesting. I left about 4:45 thinking Pat might be wondering where I was (he wasn’t) but there were other items on the agenda I would have liked to have stayed for. I may go back again another time.

I might be able to finish my crochet project tonight – provided I ignore the pile of paper on my desk, items in my e-mail and the Guild blog that I should be writing.

Monday, January 14, 2019

I haven’t accomplished much today but that is usually the case when Pat returns from Texada. I managed to take care of a bit of my paper work but some of the sewing-related things I had planned didn’t even get started.

I put Taylor’s quilt in the mail this afternoon and made a deposit for Cranberry Hall. I needed more packing tape so I stopped at Dollarama and then went next door from there to pick up a box of staples (at Staples). I had a showing at the Hall mid-afternoon so when my shopping was done I headed out to the Hall. After the showing (which took about three minutes) I stopped at the grocery store in Cranberry to pick up a few things Pat needed for making supper.

I’ve needed new shoes for a long time. The ones I’ve been using for our recent walks are actually my garden shoes; I stopped using them for walking last year. Moreen said she wears Merrell’s because they are light. A quick look online showed they were available at amazon.ca and SportChek; we don’t have a SportChek and I didn’t know what size so couldn’t really order from amazon. Pat saw that Mark’s carried Merrell’s so I stopped in to check them out. I couldn’t find the right size in the women’s section but I found a pair, on sale, in the men’s section. I’m walking, not making a fashion statement, so I brought them home.

I got a lovely pair of slippers a couple of years ago (from Kathryn I think) and I’ve worn them completely out. I like them for sewing; I can’t sew with shoes on and if I’m in sock feet I pick up all sorts of threads off the floor. But these slippers have a sole on them that doesn’t collect the thread and they are so soft. I’d been meaning to get another pair for awhile (although I’ve been wearing the old pair with the holes in the soles); while I was at Mark’s I picked up a couple more pairs (on sale). One pair will stay at home and I’ll put the other pair in my sewing basket.

Speaking of sewing, I’d better get my bag and projects packed for tomorrow’s bee.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

The sun was shining and, for just a brief moment, I thought about getting out in the yard and doing some work. Not much, but cutting back some of the gladioli stems and taking out a few weeds. Moreen (who is a gardener for hire) showed me her tool for weeding. She whacked a few out of the driveway and I’m thinking I’ll get one of them for myself.

I had to open and close the Hall today. Moreen and I headed to the Hall for the opening and then went on a hike. We went up Valentine Mountain but beyond the top, where I thought the trail ended, she found a path that took us to the opposite side. It was more of a challenge than the Sea Walk was but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I finished the top of my Farmer’s Wife Sampler quilt after I got home. I thought I might have had it done last night but I was getting confused and ripping out seams; I knew that was a sign I should quit. It still needs to be trimmed but I’ll be able to get the photo I need for my quilt show application. Next up is more hand stitching on my Farmer’s Daughter.

After returning to the Hall to close up for the day I stopped and did a bit of grocery shopping; I’m not sure when Pat is coming back from the studio but I like to have at least something in the fridge for his first day.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

I feel like I’m practising today. My Thursday sewing group are having our own little retreat next weekend. Gail is a member of the Guild but won’t go to the overnight retreats and Jessie isn’t a Guild member. Both said they’d like to do a retreat so there was no way I wasn’t going to participate. We’ll do a scheduled pot luck for meals and come home to our own beds at night.

I’ve been in my studio almost all day working on my Farmer’s Wife Sampler. I’m loving the progress I am making when I can sew with no (well very few) interruptions. But will I be ready to go back at it just as hard tomorrow? Right now I’m thinking no; thank goodness I have a few commitments tomorrow so I won’t need to find out.