Saturday, August 1, 2020

I finished the inventory of all my works in progress, projects not started, and projects ready to be quilted. It is a little scary to see how many of them there are. I’m not even sure I have them all listed; I added them to the inventory as I was moving things around to accommodate my new sewing set-up. As I said to Pat, they are organized so they will be easier for whoever has to deal with them when I’m gone!

I did some sewing this afternoon to test my set up; although piecing on Pearl isn’t as convenient I will get used to it. Part of the issue is that some of the tools I need haven’t been moved over so I was constantly having to go look for something. The pressing isn’t as easy either; I have to get up and move to the pressing board (to the right of Ruby and just out of the photo) each time there is a seam to press. Again, I will get used to it and I heard someone on CBC say that just standing from a sitting position is considered light exercise!

I’ll test the setup for quilting on Monday. I have a quilt ready to go and, if memory serves me correctly, I already have a start on it. I also need to get some cards done for August so that will be another easy test of the plan.

I made the daily block today but it ended up being smaller than it was supposed to be – the error was definitely my own and nothing to do with my arrangement. It is, however, a perfect size for a card so that is what I’ll use it for.

Friday, July 31, 2020

While I waiting on a phone call this morning I finished a daily block – another six-inch quickie.

I brought back the sewing table for my quilting machine from Texada. The plan for the day was to move it into place. I wasn’t sure how it would fit in my set-up so I shifted around a couple of other things until I had it in place. I’m quite pleased that I was able to keep both my thread cabinet (although I moved the thread) and my pressing table (now my thread cabinet). I don’t know how the arrangement will work when I start quilting but I’ll give it a try.

I moved Pearl (my travel machine) to the other side of the desk I was using to sew on. I needed to find a plug in and I knew approximately where it was located – buried behind a number of bins. While I had everything pulled out I decided it would be a good idea to fill in the spreadsheet that Deloise developed for keeping track of her sewing projects. The day is gone now and I don’t even have them all recorded and the rest of the room is still a nightmare.

I guess I’ll be taking another day!

Thursday, July 30, 2020

I probably wouldn’t have done a daily block today but it was a small one and I had some time between other projects. My selection of fabrics certainly fits into the name of the block; all of the pieces came from my scraps and the four-patches were already put together.

Now, my day. I slept in a bit so I got a slow start but the jobs I set for myself were pretty simple. I was a block behind on one of my on-line quilt alongs so that was the first thing I did. I was a week behind on purpose because I wanted to wait until the final block was released to decide whether or not to add an additional colour of fabric into the mix. I also needed to see the final layout to see if the added colour would be okay. It all worked out very well and I have just one block to finish and then, of course, all the blocks need to be stitched together.

When I got home yesterday my car wouldn’t start – not a surprise that the battery was dead. Pat tried to boost the car to get it going but we didn’t have any luck; I bought my own booster cables awhile ago and I’ve used them successfully a couple of times. At that point I called BCAA to tow the car to my mechanic’s shop. Of course he attached his booster cables and the car turned over first try!

Just as I finished laying out the quilt-along blocks the shop called and said the car was ready. They couldn’t find anything that was draining the battery but they have given me another gizmo that will allow me to plug the car in when I’m away and it will maintain the battery charge. I’m hoping that will solve the problem. I asked Ken if he thought the car was worth keeping and he said that given the amount of driving I do it is just fine.

When I got home I moved on to the daily block and next I started working on the first step of a curved hexie quilt-along. I have a couple of shapes basted and I hope to finish them off this evening in the coolness of the basement. Anne (with an ‘e’) has a new season so I’ll watch that as I stitch.

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Five years ago (when this photo was taken) almost all of us were together for a few days in the summer; we were missing Dave and Dylan B. The celebration was in honour of my up-coming 65th birthday. We were hoping to do it again this summer for another milestone birthday.

I planned for the event starting shortly after Christmas. Kathryn was helping me pick out some good skim boards and I had a cupboard full of new-to-me games from a yard sale. We had all three sections of Higgins Inn booked and all that was left was to book the travel and check the tide charts.

We cancelled all our plans several months ago but I’m feeling particularly sad today. Had the pandemic not hit we would have been checking into Higgins Inn today.

There is much to be grateful for though – we are all healthy and even isolation isn’t too much to handle. I have plenty of crafts to keep me busy until we are safe to meet again.