Saturday, May 15, 2021

I slept much better last night and am feeling much more ambitious today.

I tied in all the ends on my quilt; it went much faster than I anticipated. I thought I might have “just enough” fabric for the binding but I was a bit worried it wouldn’t be enough. I had pretty much the exact amount the pattern called for but I’m never confident my seams haven’t made the quilt larger than it should be.

I knew trimming the quilt was going to be a big task and I had some other things I wanted to get done today. If I waited until I had the quilt trimmed and measured for the binding I’d probably be too late to get to the fabric store before closing. If I needed more fabric and didn’t get it today I wouldn’t be able to get it until Tuesday. So when in doubt – buy more fabric! The shop had the same fabric as I used in the quilt so it was a quick in-and-out to purchase another meter. If I don’t use it, it is a nice fabric to add to my stash.

When I came home there was a fellow walking up the hill towards our house. He was looking at all the yards and I was embarrassed about the way the boulevard looked. So I dug out the mower and cut the lawn as well as the boulevard. While I cut the boulevard Pat raked up the lawn and then did another shorter cut on the lawn while I rested on the patio.

I’m back upstairs in the sewing room and I have three sides of the quilt trimmed. I don’t guarantee it is straight but it will have to do. I hope to get the binding cut and maybe sewn on; the hand stitching is going to take quite some time.

Friday, May 14, 2021

I didn’t sleep well last night. I went to bed at my usual time and read before turning out the light. An hour later I turned the light back on and read for another hour. After another hour with the light off I got up and moved to the couch. I slept in a bit this morning but I’m pretty groggy today. I resisted having a nap during the day and I’ve been drinking lots; no doubt I’ll be ready to sleep but be up all night having to go to the bathroom.

In spite of feeling pretty draggy, I managed to finish the quilting on my queen-sized quilt. There are a lot of ends to tie in and there will be a lot of binding to cut, stitch and then hand sew. I thought I’d be ready to dance when I got this far but I just don’t have the energy today.

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

For the last couple of nights I have tried to sit and watch TV without having some sort of stitching in my hands. I just couldn’t do it; I was falling asleep. And if I fall asleep who will wake Pat up when he falls asleep?

I wanted to get that batch of wool posted for sale today but I thought I’d empty out the wicker basket it was in to see what else I had. My decision was easy – I would pull the bag out and if I didn’t immediately think, “I could make ___ with this” it was going up for sale. Surprisingly I only found two other collections that I didn’t want to keep.

It wasn’t long after I put up the postings that I got a buyer for two of the items; sadly the wool is still waiting for someone to want it. However, that is the bundle that I know someone can use if it doesn’t sell.

I’ve spent some time quilting my mystery quilt this afternoon. I’ll draw the final batch of lines on the quilt and probably do a bit more sewing.

I pulled out a new pattern and yarn for my evenings and I might get that started tonight. Pat has two back-to-back online sessions tonight so there will be a lot less TV though.

Based on the yarn I have left in that bin I see a lot more scarves and shawls in my future.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Two days into this online mystery quilt and I’m already behind. The four blocks yesterday led me to believe it would be easy to keep up with the clues but today I needed to make 20 blocks and that just wasn’t going to happen. I managed to get four blocks done and I have the other 16 cut out and ready to use as leaders and enders when I do my next miniature. Who knows what tomorrow will bring though.

I finished two more cards this morning. I’ll sit and stitch the binding tonight.

I was having such a hard time with my knitting last night that I told Pat I was done with all the yarn and I was either going to sell it or give it away. I’m having second thoughts today but I’m definitely going to sell the stuff I have been working with the last couple of evenings. It is 100% wool and I was making an afghan; the pattern I was using is better suited to a lot of colours, not the single ecru colour I had. The wool kept breaking, particularly the first and second balls; before giving up totally it seemed to be working better but I didn’t like the whole mess so what I have done is going into the scrap bin and I’ll try to sell the remainder. I have someone I could give it to and he will get it if I don’t manage to sell it.

I’m not sure about the rest of the yarn I have. I think if it doesn’t inspire me I’ll sell it (provided I have a decent amount in the same colour) or pack it up for the thrift shop. I’m making things just to use it up and not necessarily enjoying any of it.

But for tonight I have my bindings to stitch.