Monday, November 15, 2021

You would think that after four days I’d have at least one finish to show for myself but I don’t. I spent a lovely long weekend on Texada stitching on my own at the studio. I missed being at the Retreat but I made the right decision when I saw some of the photos from the weekend – no masks, no distancing particularly at the table for meals. I didn’t miss the pressure I put myself under when I’m sewing at a Retreat. I take so many projects to work on and when I’m not able to stick to my schedule I feel like I failed. No such issue with hand stitching though.

I spent half of my first day sorting things out in the studio. I got Moreen’s bed made up and changed all the clocks to the right time after power outages and the time change. Batteries needed to be changed in a smoke detector and our kitchen clock and I spent quite a bit of time trying to find the password for the network over there. There were a few cobwebs that needed to be dealt with but when the work was done I started stitching on my Peppermint Purple SAL. I caught up on all the clues, finished all the grid work and did some stitching on the border.

I spent the second day down in the workshop. I had a quilt top that I wanted to put together but first I had one block that needed to be turned because I had put it in wrong. As I was putting other rows together I checked very carefully that the blocks were turned the right way and I found two more that needed to be restitched. It wasn’t until after dark that I finished the job but it is ready now for a border.

I went back to my cross stitching the next day. I took a bin of small projects that I expected to work my way through but I didn’t get very far. I was trying out a new finishing technique that involved learning a new stitch. The new stitch looks good on the project but my finishing idea was a bust. Back to the drawing board on that and a few more projects I expected to finish. I managed to get a small cross stitch done that I will use for a card; I need some backing fabric for it so it didn’t get completely finished. I started on another project that I’ll use for a card but only got about a quarter of it done.

I fully intended to do some hand quilting on my last day. I’ve had a hand quilting project waiting for a few years but I was in no rush to get it done except that now I really wanted to use the bin I was storing it in. Sadly that didn’t go well as I only had a tiny hoop. So I switched to another card project that I thought would be simple but when I took a good look at it I realized the way it was finished in the pattern wasn’t going to work for me. I’ve changed the pattern so it will work for me but of course I didn’t have time to get it finished – there was more reverse stitching in my pattern than I would have liked.

I’ve puttered most of the day away today. I took care of some computer work this morning and then started getting my projects ready for tomorrow’s sewing. I realized when that was done that I had packed away all my sewing supplies so decided I may as well pack up my machine as well. I went back to my computer and took care of an update it was asking for and now the afternoon is pretty much gone.

We survived the atmospheric river but are in for another wind storm tonight.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

I went grocery shopping this morning but not until eight. I knew the store would be busier and there were a lot more cars in the lot but my preferred parking spot was still free. The store itself didn’t seem busier but I had to join a short line-up to check out. I noticed that all the directional arrows have been removed from the aisles. It was a free-for-all that worked well for me although I only traversed the aisles once.

I spent most of the rest of the morning getting things packed up for my retreat; Moreen is picking me up at 7:30 in the morning. We need to be at the ferry early because it is hunting season and we’ll be fighting with the hunters for space. I know I’m going to miss being with everyone and I think now that I’ve had my booster it would have been quite safe to attend. Pat is still a bit nervous about gatherings so I’ll stick to the studio on my own. Moreen will come in at night and leave in the morning and I’ll spend the day mainly hand stitching but I have one quilt top I’d like to get put together.

Moreen stopped in this afternoon and picked up everything I’m taking. I told her I’d have one bin but when all was said and done I had a bin of projects, a grocery bag of food, and my laptop. I’ll have a bag of groceries from the fridge to take along tomorrow but she said she still had lots of room for her stuff.

I have been feeling guilty this afternoon because all I’ve done is sit and cross stitch. It wasn’t until a short time ago that I realized that today was supposed to be a cross stitch day; I’m just working on something other than my usual Wednesday project.

Pat has an online event tonight and I hope to finish my book.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

It was just like I never left almost two years ago. Except I had trouble figuring out what I should be packing to sew for the entire day. I did quite well but forgot a couple of things – a sewing needle, an extra foot for my machine and my rotary cutter. Fortunately I was able to borrow a needle and rotary cutter and I managed without the extra foot for my machine.

Also as usual I took along way more projects than I had time for. It took me most of the morning to fix my cat and I’m only slightly happier with it now than I was before. I had to rip apart so much that I might as well have started over. I finished the top of my table topper; it is a Remembrance Day theme but I know it won’t be quilted before the day is long gone. I had all the makings, including batting and backing, for three cards but those bags never even got opened.

I knew that we could purchase lunch at the Legion so I didn’t even try to find something to take. I had a nice bowl of soup and a small cheese and tomato sandwich for $10; I don’t think I’ll be doing that very often but it is nice to know it is available.

I’ll take a bit of time to unpack my carrying bags and then I’m going to relax and cross stitch. All that social gathering makes me tired.

Monday, November 8, 2021

There was a bit of a line up at the Rec Centre this morning when I checked in for my Covid Booster. I couldn’t help but notice how old everyone (except me) looked. Then I realized that from behind me perhaps there were others that were thinking the same thing, not realizing how young I actually am!

The woman who gave me my shot was the Manager of Public Health when I was volunteering for BOND. We had a nice chat. Although she had retired she was asked to come back and retrain some of the nurses on giving vaccinations and she has stayed on with them. She said she likes this better than she did being in management.

Gail sent me the missing page for my cat block today. I have it all put together, quilted and bound. As I was loading the photo onto my computer I thought it looked a bit strange. Sure enough, I have the tip of the tail on upside down. It will be quite a procedure to take it apart and fix it. I won’t decide now but I’ll probably take it to the bee tomorrow and start ripping out stitches because I can’t bear to toss it and I can’t use it the way it is.

I dug out some patterns for my December cards to work on tomorrow. So far that is as far as I’ve gotten so I’d best get busy and find some fabric and thread and then get things packed up.