Tuesday, August 30, 2016

I thought about my placemat last night and before I left for the bee today I pulled another fabric to use for the borders. Had I left it as it was last week the placemat would have been square (a small square) rather than a rectangle and I wasn’t happy with that. So I began my day with some reverse stitching. The placemat is ready to be quilted now – a finish-it–up- Friday project perhaps.

I cut out the sashing I need for my Blossoms quilt. I could have done it almost as easy at home but my cutting table is covered in “stuff” so having a clear table to work with was a bonus. I think I’ll have enough of my sashing fabric to use as backing – I ordered the fabric so long ago I don’t know whether I planned it that way or not.

I got one more of my Celtic Crystal blocks done. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I can only get one block done a week. I’m okay with that as I only have two more to do so the end is in sight. Well the end is in sight for the blocks but I still have a centre and pieced borders to do.

It is hard to believe the first business meeting of the new season is on Thursday. I have a bit of Library work to do before then, as well as some quilt show paperwork to get in order. But all that will wait until my “office” day on Thursday.

My new knitting pattern worked out well last night and I got enough done to know (well at least think) the size will be right. I was able to see how the pattern works into it and I’m happy. But tonight I’ll be back to basting some pieces for I’m A Farmer’s Daughter.

Monday, August 29, 2016

I had some cards to get ready for the mail first thing this morning. When I looked at the calendar I’m not sure why I didn’t send them sooner because they may arrive late. In fact very late if the rumours of a postal strike are true. I didn’t go to the main post office today as I had a package to pick up at the postal outlet; one of their mail slots was covered over with a sign “Closed due to postal strike”. The regular red mail boxes didn’t have any signage so maybe they were just getting ready. The package I picked up was the yarn for Christy’s sweater – the same pattern as the one I made for Taylor.

Since I started on cards I continued with the theme. I picked out the binding for two cards, got backing, batting and binding ready for four more cards, and I found patterns and fabric for four new cards. Once I put these together I’ll be done with September’s cards.

I have my Blossoms sashing packed for the bee tomorrow as well as my Leaders and Enders and my Celtic Crystals. I was prepared to fix the placemat I did last week but didn’t have any more of either the focus fabric or the contrasting fabric. Rather than start from scratch I’ll just make this one a bit smaller. I have my camera charging and my camera case in my lunch bag so I won’t forget it tomorrow.

I still have lots of Farmer’s Wife blocks prepped so I skipped them today and did a bit more cutting from my scrap bin. I’ve pulled out everything that I think I want to cut down for myself and filled another bag of bits for Carola. I’ve given up on the knitting project I have been working on (it just didn’t look good) so I found another pattern to make with the same yarn. This one is intended for Gavin and I’m hoping the pattern I picked will be the same size as the one I gave up on. I’ll compare the two measurements before I start.

I finished the basting on one of the pieces (well 96 of the pieces actually) for my I’m a Farmer’s Daughter quilt so I cut 63 cardboard templates and fabric for the next batch to baste. They go quite quickly in the evenings when we’re watching TV.

I’ve managed to get a bit of cross stitch in this afternoon as well as some cleaning. I love a day when all goes according to the plan!

Sunday, August 28, 2016

It was cloudy and windy yesterday but we woke up this morning to more wind and … rain! Pat checked the forecast and it is to be rainy all week. Although I don’t like the hot weather I’m not ready for fall yet. Hopefully this is just a glitch and we’ll get the sun back for September.

I watched another water polo match this morning and this time Canada came out on top. They don’t play tomorrow and their next game translates to a time that is very early in the morning or very late at night. Either way, I expect to be sound asleep and miss it. I’m learning a bit more about the game. There are whistles and horns going almost constantly; I think it is because the players are being mean to one another (penalties don’t seem to be called) or that the time for taking a shot has run out.

I finished appliquéing my blossoms to their background squares. I’ll cut the sashing on Tuesday (or maybe tomorrow) but I’m done with sewing for today. I finished filling an old pillow case of scraps and got it stitched together as a dog pillow. The Guild donates them to the SPCA and it is nice that every little bit of fabric has a purpose.

I picked out a fall cross stitch last night so I’ll be joining the SAL. The pattern is one of Mum’s Hummel’s; I had already planned to make it for Emma (a long time ago) but it fits the criteria so it will be a good incentive to get it done. I’m missing a few colours of floss so unless I can find it locally I may be asking for Kathryn’s help.

For now I’m back to my Advent Calendar.