I did some cleaning up today – in the house and in my sewing room. I’ve been having some issues with my wrists; they’ve always bothered me when I crochet and lately I’ve done a lot of it. Today I realized that scrubbing floors hurts them as much as crocheting so what do you think I’m going to avoid from now on?
I’ve enjoyed cross stitching over the past couple of weeks and I’ve signed up for a couple of online stitch-alongs. I prepped for both projects today. New steps for one of the projects will come out weekly and the other one will be once a month. Who knows if I’ll manage to keep up but I can try. The last thing I need is more projects but I also spent a lot of time online during the holidays and this is the result.
Supper is in the crock pot (stew) so I’ll get started on one of those projects now.
Back to normal might just be a dream, but I’m certainly looking forward to getting back on schedule. I’ve enjoyed a long break, stitching whatever I felt like whenever I felt like it. I had my sewing machines back from the technician for a couple of days before I even bothered setting them up.
Windmill
Crossroads
I haven’t been completely lazy as I finished another two cross stitch quilt block (#12 and #13 of 24). Christy posted, and perhaps challenged me to make, this little snowbird. Mine doesn’t look too much like the pattern because I used what yarn I had on hand and handy, but he is growing on me.
When we were putting things back together in the basement after the renovations Pat had two grocery bags full of old computer manuals. He posted them on Facebook for free but didn’t have any takers. I contacted our local Let’s Talk Trash team who consulted with the Recycle BC folks to find out if they could be recycled. A couple of months passed and the books moved from the kitchen to the laundry room. I did a quick search on the City’s website last garbage day and they say books are not recyclable either at the curb or at the depot. So out they went to the curb with a garbage tag on the bag. I went out for some groceries right after I put them out and when I got back home (before nine) the bag of books was gone! Who knows who took them, or what they will be used for but I’m glad they are gone.
Don’t mind the mess – work is in progress!
I played a bit with lights over the holiday. I had a large clamp-on magnifier light that has been moved from pillar to post across the years – sometimes in use, sometimes just stored away. I most recently had it attached to my “craft” table but it was in the way of plugging in (and unplugging) my iron. So I moved it over to the other side of the desk. But it was so dark and stormy the last few days that it was too dark (the fact that another light bulb had burnt out didn’t help) at my cutting table. So I moved the light over there and it is working really well for me.
Over the years I have spent hours cutting up and storing scraps of fabric. Large pieces get stored back in my fabric cabinet, smaller pieces are stored in a chest that I pull from for small projects. Strips get put in shoe boxes and the smallest pieces go into drawers in a small cabinet separated by size. It takes a lot of time and work to get everything where it should be when I clean up.
Stacia, Deloise and I are planning another retreat in a couple of weeks. I had one project almost ready to go but when I read the pattern I noticed that the technique they used for half-square triangles was completely different from the way I have learned; I’d never seen them done this way. I tested this new method out on a few scraps and couldn’t make it work. So I decided to cut my losses (as in recut the pieces I needed) so I could make the HSTs my way. I was so happy to be able to go to one of my scrap drawers and pull out 100 squares of the right size, as well as some strips that were easily cut into the additional 50 squares I needed.
But all was not lost. One of the projects we will be doing together needed 35 squares and from the fabric that I had pre-cut for that first project only needed to be cut down to give me all the pieces I needed.
I think this is the first time I’ve been able to make extensive use of my fabric scraps. It was definitely worth it this time around so I’ll continue cutting and storing in hopes that I’ll again have just the right sizes for whatever project I have in mind.
I think most people will have the same hope this year as I do – that we can all get our Covid vaccination and we can start getting back into some sort of routine that involves seeing other people and moving about the province and, at the very least, the country.
My 2021 UFO Challenge includes ten quilts to be quilted, a finish to That Fairy Tale Quilt, and I’ll continue making cards from the Splendid Sampler series. I know full well that I’ll start (and maybe finish) other projects during the year but having this challenge keeps me on track.
I’ll sign up for another 50 books in the Goodreads challenge but I’m not making any other predictions for the year.
Photos – I really hoped to get at my bins of photos but I’m not sure I even opened one of those bins. I sorted through a few digital photos though.
Music – I mentioned last year that I wasn’t enjoying the concerts as no matter if they were Home Routes, Cranberry Hall or Pat Buckna Presents they just seemed like work. Did I cause this pandemic shutdown? We only hosted one Home Routes concert, we cancelled two sold-out Pat Buckna Presents shows and the Hall didn’t do any shows, in part due to the ongoing renovations that were happening.
Volunteer – I have one more year to serve on the Guild’s membership committee. We wondered in September if we would have anyone joining because we stopped meeting in March. We had a couple of parking lot meetings and most of our members signed up for another year. I also joined the Program Committee and I’m running a mystery quilt for the members. The Blog and Facebook duties also continue although there is little to do on the blog and the members have been much more active on Facebook. At the virtual AGM for the Hall I managed to pass off my secretarial duties as well as one of the new Board members took over most of the work on the website and Facebook.
Needlework – I finished the Princess and am half-done another cross stitch UFO. I’m not thrilled with it so it is taking me a long time but I won’t allow myself to start something new until it is done. I have been working on my small cross stitched quilt blocks but they sit by my chair and I pick them up when I’m waiting on something in the kitchen.
Knitting (and Crocheting) – I made another delivery of knitted and crocheted items to the Salvation Army. I managed to start working on the first afghan only a few days ago.
Guild – The Challenge for the year was finished in time for the June parking lot meeting. None of the Guild classes ran during the year and the retreats were both cancelled. We’re continuing with the Block of the Month program via e-mail and I’ve managed to keep up.
Books and Movies – I completed my 50 book challenge this year. As I entered my last book into Goodreads and was browsing the titles I noticed a couple that were missing. I went back to my journal and found the dates for some missing book finishes. So, in total, I read 53 books according to Goodreads but I know it was 54 because I read one book written by a friend.
Outside of the film festival I only saw three movies except for Netflix and I didn’t keep track of the good ones or the bad ones.
A couple of my favourite cards
Cards – Including all my Christmas cards I made 75+ cards this year. With the exception of a few bonus blocks I have completed the Splendid Sampler series and have started on the Splendid Sampler 2. I’ve added a couple of my favourites.
One of my favourite quilt finishes
Quilting – All the adventures Stacia, Deloise and I had planned were cancelled but we managed a couple of online retreats that were a lot of fun. Of my 12 projects on my UFO Challenge list I finished three quilts and have the tops done on six others. I made three sets of curtains and finished an additional three quilts. I have seven additional quilt tops ready to quilt (guess what is on my UFO list for 2021).
