Monday, October 18, 2021

I had a lot planned for my day and managed to get very little of it done. In part because things took longer than expected and I ran off in a few unplanned directions.

After my sewing weekend I had a bit of paper work and computer work to get done. In my pile of paper I found a few more photos to scan and a package of cross stitch supplies that I hadn’t opened when it arrived in the mail.

The package had the fabric for a new pattern – Roses and Lace. I was ordering some floss from the same shop but neglected to check the pattern to see what I needed. I packaged up the floss that I had, along with the fabric, and sorted out what other colours I needed to order. I have another pattern coming any day now so I thought I should package up the floss I needed for that project. I added a few more numbers to my shopping list. The store I order from on the Island isn’t open until Thursday so I added a Reminder to myself to phone them. Also included in the package were a few other floss colours that I need for other projects.

That all being done (and unplanned) I got back to my plan. I had a number of bags of different yarns that I wanted to get listed for sale. I took photos of everything and then tried to find prices for it all; most of the yarn is discontinued since I bought it so for some I was just guessing. I think if anyone purchases it though they will be getting a bargain.

While I was quilting on the weekend there were a few things stacked at the end of my machine cabinet that were sort of in my way. Most of it was stuff that didn’t belong there or that needed to be better organized. While I was pulling pins from my quilts I thought of a better way to store the different sizes and I even had tins to sort them into. I put my threads and bobbins away and even managed to get the cover on my machine. How long before it is a disaster again is anyone’s guess.

Another area that needed some attention was my table top beside my desk. I do a lot of my hand stitching there and I had needles (on magnets) all over the top as well as a few pairs of scissors. I had some bookmarks that I use to keep the lines straight on the pattern as I stitch as well as a few coloured markers that I use to keep track of what I’ve done on a pattern. I have all that wrestled into one container now.

So I’m going back to my plan for the day even though the day is almost over – hand stitching the last half of one of my quilting projects.

Sunday, October 17, 2021

It’s been a day or two but I’ll try to get back into the habit again.

I had my first Thursday sewing day in over 18 months. There are only two others in the group, all are all double vaccinated and we sit at separate tables. I was over-cautious and wore my mask all afternoon but Jessie and Gail didn’t. It was wonderful to see the ladies and chat about what we had done and what we were working on. It turns out that Jessie and I both want to do the same quilt so I expect that will be a Thursday project over the next month or so. For this week I worked at putting together the first clue for the Guild’s mystery; neither Gail nor Jessie are Guild members so I wasn’t letting the secret out of the bag.

Friday and Saturday Stacia, Deloise and I did an online retreat. On Friday we all worked on the October miniature (which I’ll post soon) before moving on to other things. The crazy thing about the miniature was that I had almost all my pieces already put together (from another project that I’ll never do) but by our late morning/noon check-in they were both caught up to me. A bit of quilting finished my day off.

We had an emergency Board meeting for the Hall on Friday night. About an hour before the Zoom meeting was to start our power went out. Pat was able to check online and could see that the crew wouldn’t be responding until after the meeting should have started. We did more checking and I sent out a few texts to other Board members and determined that the Hall had power. I took my laptop to the Hall and joined the meeting from there. The power was still out when I got home.

On Saturday I completely finished the quilting on the project I was working on. I had a pattern I wanted to try out to see if it would work as a gift for Christmas. It was the easiest pattern – only a few seams – but I did it wrong twice. When I finally got myself sorted I went ahead and cut out the number of pieces I needed. And since the Christmas fabric bin was already open I did some cutting for another Christmas project. Last for the day was cutting and starting to piece the binding for two quilts.

This morning I got the binding attached to both quilts and during the Song Circle this afternoon I managed to get around two sides of one of the quilts. I’ll continue with hand stitching until they are finished so I can check them off my Reminder list.

Late this afternoon I dug into a yarn bin to see if I could find even a tiny bit of blue baby yarn. I’m working on a shell stitch blanket and I ran out of yarn two shells from the end of the row. I had no luck so I’ll have to rip it back one complete row.

While I was in the bin I took out quite a few bags of yarn that I’ll try and sell through one of the Swap & Shop sites in town. If they don’t sell I’ll pass them along to the thrift store.

Time now to get myself some supper. Pat is playing for his dinner tonight and, hopefully, a few tips.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

This was the first cross stitch day since I’ve added it to my schedule and it has been pretty nice over all.

I got the next step in my Peppermint Purple stitch-along delivered this morning and had it done before noon. I moved on to my October stitch-along but I didn’t get as far as I thought I would. I still had some grid work to do before I could start adding the design and, in a couple of cases, the lines going up and down didn’t match up with the ones going across. It’s all good now and I have the first block finished; mind you it was released on October 2nd so I’m still quite a ways behind.

Except for some Covid-protocol drama at the Hall it’s been a lovely day.

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

I spent the weekend away from my computer. Except for checking my mail and responding where I absolutely had to I did no work at my desk. So it is no surprise that today I’ve spent most of the day sitting at my computer. I managed to get my flagged e-mails down to 17 from 36; I figured out the final day for my 12-Days project, I checked in with the quilters a couple of times, I sent out the fabric requirements for the Guild Mystery, and I figured out a quilting pattern for my next quilt. Whew – no wonder I’m ready to quit for the day.

Pat and I took my Thunderbird to the framer’s this afternoon. On the way home, as I thanked him for helping me, I said I was the do-er, not the finisher. I’ll have two mats on the project and a simple but nice looking frame. He says it should be done in just a week so I won’t have to wait too long to see how it turns out.

I haven’t been cutting as much each day as I planned but I’ve got a couple of prototypes cut for sewing on Friday (after our miniature is done). I’ve got one more item on my list to make but it is something I’ve done before so I don’t think I need a practice run. I have an online order to make and a little bit of local shopping to do and everything will be ready to pack up and send.

I’m not really going to quit for the day just yet. I’ll switch thread on my quilting machine and get started on my next project.