Tuesday, September 28, 2021

I’ve been working on the binding for the tablecloth and it is taking so much longer than I thought it would. There may be a couple of reasons for that.

First, I’ve spent a lot of time on the phone and online today. It was a Guild check-in this morning and since I’ve not chatted with anyone since our September meeting there was some catching up to do. I made a start on the binding and then the head of the Program Committee called me and that took another half hour out of my morning. The Show and Tell portion of our Guild check-in was at 12:30 PM and it was a different crew of folks checking in so there was more catching up to do. Then I spent another half hour on the phone dealing with some Hall business.

Secondly, I’m doing a two-colour binding and it seems to be much more difficult to hand stitch down. I’ve added a few notes to the tutorial I was using and I think another time it might go better; I’ll add a bit to the width of one strip and use a scant quarter-inch seam in another place. It is hard on the hands to get the binding turned from front to back with the division of colours in the right spot. It is far from perfect but I’m hoping it will press out properly and, once it has been through the laundry, the imperfections won’t show.

I’d like to get the parcel in the mail tomorrow so I may be stitching tonight rather than crocheting.

Monday, September 27, 2021

The storm took out our power last night for a couple of hours. Fortunately it went out before it was completely dark outside and we were able to make our way upstairs and find the candles before the blackness settled in. Pat watched the progress of the hydro crew from his phone and it was estimated the power would be back on by ten. Ten is my bedtime so I saw no reason not to go to bed at half-past nine. I hadn’t fallen asleep yet when the power came back on so I was able to read for a little bit before turning out the light.

I finished sorting the final bag from Christy’s bin this morning. I have a few more photos to scan but I took the shredded paper downstairs so it is ready for the next recycle day, which I think is tomorrow. I also finished the last bit of quilting on the tablecloth; of course I ran out of bobbin thread with only two short rows to complete.

After lunch I went out to do a few errands. I stopped at Staples to pick up some printing that I needed to have done. Most of it was papers for my quilting project book but there were a few 12-Day sheets that I needed. I hadn’t done any printing all year so there will be some catching up to do in my binder tomorrow.

I’ve been keeping a brown bag open in my sewing room for donation items for the thrift shop. I had almost a full bag so I decided while I was out I would drop it off. From there I went to the drug store and then a stop at the library to drop off a book. I was happy to be out while the weather was a bit nicer, a little bit of sun. Since I’ve been home the wind has picked up again and I see a shower moving in.

I was dreading squaring up the tablecloth for binding. The width of the fabric (both front and back) is about 42″. But when I sandwiched the two I didn’t get them as straight as I would have liked. But I had to work with what I had. I was amazed that when the trimming was done the tablecloth is half-an-inch narrower than planned and just the right length.

My challenge now is to get the two-colour binding done properly.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

I worked on the Guild archives and the next clue in the mystery this morning; I was concentrating so hard I almost missed my chat with Stacia and Deloise (thanks for calling to see where I was Deloise). From there I switched to some more quilting lines on the tablecloth.

When I stopped for lunch Pat suggested we go downstairs and watch a program while we ate. We’re watching Bridgerton on Netflix and quite enjoying it. After watching one episode we asked ourselves whether it was back to work or another show; although it was tempting to sit and crochet the afternoon away we decided we’d better both get back to work.

I have the tablecloth more than half done; just cross hatch lines but they take time. If I don’t get them finished this afternoon it should be easy to get them done tomorrow. I’ve been investigating a two-colour binding; so far I’ve found three tutorials and each of them tell you to cut the strips a different width. I’ll do a bit more investigating before I cut into anything.

The storm definitely has picked up this afternoon – lots of wind and rain but I think the ferries are still running.

I started a new crochet project last night using some baby yarn and I can’t help but think of Dylan as I’m working on it. All of the blankies I made for him over the years have been blue and most of them were in baby yarn. The last time I saw his blankie he had at least three of them tied together in knots but still very well loved. I have no plan for this one – maybe he’ll want to add another one to the tangled mess.

Saturday, September 25, 2021

The morning was gone before I knew it. Yesterday I dug out some of the items I had set aside for my 12-Days of Christmas packages so today I took a look at my list and filled in some of the gaps. There was a lot of searching for ideas and some research involved but, except for the sewing I still need to do, I have all the gaps filled. There will be some orders coming but for the items I already had I dug out the Christmas wrap and got them ready.

But what was I to do with them after they were wrapped? I was almost finished shredding the bin of Christy’s stuff so I did another load of that and put what was remaining inside a bag. The empty bin became my hiding place for the gifts. I’m not actually hiding them from anyone but I’ve promised myself not to let the spare room upstairs become a dumping ground so everything needed a place. I’ll be ready just in case Canada Post offers their free shipping Tuesdays as they have in the past (when I wasn’t anywhere near ready).

I managed to get six lines of quilting done before lunch.

I ate lunch on the deck; the sun was hot when it was out and it felt good when a cloud covered it. I almost made my way back upstairs when I finished eating but decided that since this will be the last good day for awhile I would sit out and read a bit of my book. As it turns out I finished the book before I came in. The clouds were thicker and a breeze had kicked in by the time I finished but it was quite pleasant out there.

When I came in I stirred the chili pot; Pat made it for supper and left it to simmer on the stove. It smelled so good I decided to make some corn bread to go along with it. That led to cleaning up the kitchen, switching the laundry, making the bed and digging out some yarn for a new evening project.

Our new garbage carts arrived today; the same style as we had in Port Coquitlam more than ten years ago but much smaller. They won’t be as bear-proof as our current container so I’m not sure what we will do; Port Coquitlam made you purchase a lock for the bins. We don’t start using them until the middle of October but it will be nice not to have to purchase garbage tags as we have in the past.

I’m going to try to get in a few more lines of quilting before supper and before the storm arrives.