New Tricks … the title of a new favourite on Netflix but not the point of this post.
Last year I thought I might sell my quilting rulers as I wasn’t using them and they weren’t cheap. But then I decided I really hadn’t given them a good try. I took a class at the Guild but I don’t do well learning in a crowd – especially sewing techniques. I tried a bit at home but didn’t feel very comfortable with them. Hence the thought that I should sell them.
But later in the year I decided I was going to go through my instruction manual one ruler at a time to see if I couldn’t get myself sorted out. The instruction manual has you making a large quilt and then quilting smaller sections but I decided to start with smaller blocks and not worry about having a quilt at the end of the day.
Today’s ruler instructions used a six-inch block and my cards are a perfect size. I spent the morning playing with the ruler and a six-inch square without planning to use the block for anything. By this afternoon though I felt confident enough to try a “real” card. Although not perfect it is better than I ever anticipated for a first day. Doing the quilting this way means I need to bind the card by hand rather than use an envelope finish but I’m okay with that.
I’m a long way from moving on to Step 2 in the book and the idea of using rulers while manipulating a full quilt makes me cringe but I’m okay if all I ever accomplish are my cards.
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.
