Thursday, December 10, 2020

I allowed myself to be totally self-indulgent today and I’ve had a marvellous time. This month I’m working on That Fairy Tale Quilt and today I made the Three Little Pigs and some mushrooms. I’m not sure where the mushrooms fit into the pig story but the ones I made look like magic mushrooms so anything is possible.

I’ve started working on the three houses now – straw, sticks and bricks. It took me a long time to get the first row finished (Little Red Riding Hood) and I wasn’t particularly liking the process but this row is so much fun. I have a Zoom meeting tonight so with the camera and audio off I can get a little more done.

I’m not having as much trouble with the templates today. To be clear though there has been a good share of reverse stitching along the way. One little piggy was almost sent to market!

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

I made one of my Splendid Sampler bonus blocks this morning. The book is finished but there are a number of seasonally-themed bonus blocks. I’m anxious to be able to say, truthfully, that the Splendid Sampler is done.

My thought was that I would play when the block was done but it was still mid-morning and that seemed too self-indulgent so I worked on a couple of dog pillows for the S.P.C.A. When I have scraps I set them aside to use as stuffing for a pillow (and for me any scrap I put in a pillow is less than 1.5″ square). I use pillowcases and, up until now, I’ve just stuffed them, sewn them together and donated them.

But I’ve seen some of the pillows other Guild members have made and mine are definitely less attractive. So I changed my method and put boxed corners on one end of the pillowcase. But the top of the pillow was still odd so I put boxed corners on that end as well. Without realizing it I managed to completely sew up the pillowcase without leaving any room to turn them right side out or stuff them.

I did a bit of reverse stitching and managed to get one done. The shape is better but I think I stuffed it too full. I have enough scraps already set aside for at least one more pillow so I’ll be able to do some more experimenting. In the meantime, I delivered two pillows to the S.P.C.A. this afternoon.

I finished a couple of knitting projects in the past few evenings. I had some very thick yarn that couldn’t be used in hats so I made some hanger covers. I took a photo of them but for some reason I can’t get it off my camera; I’d take another photo but they are already in the closet with clothes hanging on them.

Kathryn and I picked up some scrubby yarn on a trip to Michaels. I wanted to make a round scrubby but they are crocheted and I found it very difficult to see where the stitches should go so I switched to a knitted pattern. I had enough to make a couple of scrubby dishcloths as well as one small scrubby pad.

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

I had an early start this morning and my task list for the day wasn’t large. I managed to get everything done but I certainly didn’t think it would take me all day.

I had a few things to do as a result of the Hall meeting last night. I’ve sprinkled those tasks out over the next few days. The jobs I did today were the simple ones but it involved contacting a couple of people and having them meet me on the back step to hand over some paperwork.

I worked on Clue 5 of the Guilds’s mystery quilt project. The clue won’t be released until February but this step took quite a long time to finish. I think I’ve been at it most of the month. There was a fair bit of reverse stitching involved over the course of putting it together but I’m pretty sure I have it right.

As I was reviewing the instructions for the clue I realized that the instructions for the next clue wasn’t ready. It doesn’t get mailed out until January but in my mind both Clue 4 and 5 were set. I’m not sure they are done yet but I need a few days (or weeks) before I go back and look at them.

Pat has a meeting tonight so I’ll read while he’s doing that and then I’m looking forward to some easy-peasy knitting.

Monday, December 7, 2020

Today was a “quilting” day according to my schedule. Although I have a lot of quilts and wall hangings that need to be quilted, I also had three birthday cards that were ready for quilting. I picked the easier of the choices and worked on my cards.

I usually do an envelope finish for the cards and that worked for one of them. One of them had too many seams for me to be able to get a good turning line and one of them had embroidery on it; I had used the batting as stabilizer so it wouldn’t turn without another layer of batting which would make it too thick.

It has been a long time since I did a binding on cards but that’s what I’ve done for those two. As I wait for Dr. Henry’s press briefing I’ll stitch down the bindings. The envelope finish means when I’m done I’m done but there is that extra step on the bound cards.

And speaking of cards I had a horrible feeling today that I had missed someone who should have a Christmas card. I took a look at my labels and yes, one address was missing. Over the last couple of days I was thinking I would send out one more card to a friend so I have the label printed for that one. I had three cards left when I did my larger mailing so all I need to do is get these ones addressed and in the mail.