All posts by Sherry

Another yard day

Saturday, April 23, 2022

After my last day of yard work Pat bought me a pair of knee pads. They don’t help me get up off my hands and knees when I’m down on them but they sure do work to stop any sort of discomfort from kneeling on the ground.

When I went out this morning my intention was to transplant the succulents. I transplanted and moved several of them last year and they did really well, spreading themselves through the planter. Unfortunately the alyssum and the California poppies also did well and were invading the succulents. I dragged a big pot from the back patio and started to transplant some of the succulents. It wasn’t long before I determined that the pot wasn’t going to be big enough.

Succulents (and Sunflowers soon)

About that time Pat came around to see how I was doing and we decided to transplant the alyssum instead. I still had to dig up a lot of the succulents to get the grass and weeds out of them but they went back in the ground in relatively the same area. I still have work to do out there and I’ll have to keep my eyes open (and hands busy) keeping up with all that I missed in this first go-around.

I don’t actually care how the alyssum does in this new spot. We purchased a few plants a few years ago and they have spread and/or reseeded themselves ever since. If they work in this new spot they might help to keep the other weeds down and if they don’t survive we can always get new ones.

I had lunch on the deck and noticed that the Snowbirds are back in Comox doing their practice runs. They generally fly over Powell River at some point but so far I’m only seeing them in the distance.

I was able to spend some time in my sewing room today. I couldn’t get the binding for my mystery quilt off my mind so I dug around and found some that will work okay. It doesn’t match any of the fabric in the quilt top but I think it is a good choice overall. I still need to purchase some backing fabric. I wonder if my bill at Deb’s shop will be higher or lower than my bill at Ken’s garage.

I almost have another card top finished. Lots of little pieces in this one.

Flutter

~ 43″ x 59″

The pattern is from one of the 3-yard quilt books that Deloise and I have shared. The fabric was from the Community Quilt cupboard at the Guild. It is seldom that there is enough yardage of colours that go together so I feel like I was lucky.

I worried about the colours running when the quilt was washed, particularly the darker pink. I think it was dyed by whoever donated it as other members had picked hand-dyed fabrics for some of their projects. I don’t always wash my quilts but I had to see how this would work out. I put two colour catchers in with the quilt, along with some Synthrapol. The colour catchers came out a bright pink but there doesn’t seem to be any bleeding on the quilt.

This will be a donation quilt for the Guild and a finish for my April UFO Quilting Challenge.

Two good days

Friday, April 22, 2022

I finished my flutter quilt yesterday so that is my quilting UFO off the list. I did a bit of the hand stitching in the morning, a bit while I waited to leave for my Thursday sewing session and a bit more yesterday evening. On my way to sewing I dropped a package in the mail (your calendar block is on the way Kathryn) and stopped at the bank to make a Hall deposit.

When I started the car I noticed that my ABS and Trac Off warning lights were showing so I worried all the way there and back that something would go terribly wrong. Pat didn’t think it was a serious enough problem that I shouldn’t be driving so I continued on. When I looked at what the warning light meant it didn’t seem too ominous so I waited until today to call the mechanic. The mechanic I use is the husband of the woman who has the wide backings for sale. I always prefer to spend my money at Deb’s but sometimes a cheque simply has to go to Ken.

I’ve been sewing all day with Stacia and Deloise. I got the borders on my Guild mystery. I didn’t have enough of any one of the fabrics that I used in the quilt but I was able to make a smaller border with two of the fabrics from the top. I don’t have anything just yet that will work for binding but I’ll worry about that when it is actually quilted.

Once that was done I made a few more blocks for my Home Circle/Circle of Nine quilt. The blocks are 15″ but they are pretty easy to make. I just have three more to do and then I can put it away until we sew at Panorama. I’ll be shopping for some background fabric when we are doing our shop hop on the way.

My back is sore again tonight – too much standing – but I should get some knitting done tonight. Pat has a couple of online events tomorrow but nothing for tonight.

The House of the Spirits

Author: Isabel Allenda

I’ve never read a book by this author that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. When I read a book in translation I’m never sure whether the credit goes to the author or the translator. It wasn’t until after I’d read the book that I saw that it was her first novel.

The story revolves around three generations of the Trueba family. The main focus is on the patriarch Esteban, his wife Clara, their daughter Blanca and her daughter Alba. The setting for the story is a home in a city (the name is never mentioned) and the family’s country estate. It is a time of political upheaval in the country and eventually a military coup overthrows the government and leaves the family on different sides of the conflict.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *