Sunday, May 31, 2020 (Day 76)

I worked outside in the yard yesterday morning and it wasn’t until after lunch that I came upstairs to my sewing room. Yesterday’s block was 18″ so it took longer than most blocks. It was complicated even further because it was almost all done using templates, which had to be cut, traced onto fabric, and cut again. Putting together the first block wasn’t without it’s problems. I was finished and taking the photo when Pat called for supper; it was then that I noticed I had switched around one of the striped blocks. There wasn’t time (or energy) to spend another minute on it so I put it off until this morning.

When I saw the name of today’s block I immediately thought of Diane. I dug through the bin of her fabric; I found a lot of fabrics that were meaningful but I did a happy dance when I came across one particular scrap. Diane and I exchanged birthday cards since we first met and it seemed like we both kept them for one reason or another. At some point we decided to re-gift the cards back to each other on our birthdays (e.g., on her birthday I would send her one of the cards she had previously sent me for my birthday with a new note added). One year Diane sent my birthday card in an album she made to hold our cards; the inner fabric of the album was the one I found today.

I have some cleaning up to do and since it is the end of the month I’ll clean my machines, change needles and blades and generally get ready for another month. My leaders and enders basket is empty so I’ll find something to fill it with. And if there is any time left I’ll do some vacuuming and cross stitching.

Friday, May 29, 2020 (Day 74)

A couple of days ago I decided I would stop counting the days since I went into self-isolation. Once things started opening up a bit I wasn’t sure what I was counting towards. So the number of days came off my daily post. But it was missed (maybe only by Stacia) so I added it back in; again I wondered what I was counting to. But today I realized that the number of days matches the number of daily blocks I’ve made.

In spite of saying I wasn’t going to do it I put the binding on my Guild challenge project. We had some TV watching to do – during the day and not just our usual evening’s entertainment. Pat had marked a Cirque du Soleil special that started at noon and there is a Lyle Lovett show on at supper time that we want to see. So rather than knitting through the shows I thought I could be stitching down the binding. We were all set up for the noon show but I realized in order to really see what was going on with Cirque I had to be watching, not just glancing up every now and again. So no knitting or stitching was done during the noon show. I’m hoping that the concert will allow me to do a bit of handwork.

I’m making another attempt at bread. Last time it was a complete disaster but Stacia mentioned she had the same problem and it was due to the little paddle at the bottom of the pan not seated correctly. Before I put the ingredients in I made sure it was able to turn easily. The bread won’t be ready for another hour but I peeked through the window and it has mixed fine so I expect it will be okay.

I think I’ll call it quits upstairs for today and do some cross stitching or reading (which might lead to napping).

Thursday, May 28, 2020 (Day 73)

I got all the ends tied in on my quilting project last night before Pat finished his online meeting. I even had time to figure out a border pattern for the quilt.

As soon as my daily block was finished I started work on the borders. I had three of them finished before lunch and I had dreams of having the whole thing finished by the end of the day.

But the dream was shattered as I had problems with some of the small things that were left to do on the quilt – thread breaking, no thread the right colour, too many layers of appliqué and everything sticky from the appliqué.

I have everything done on it now except the binding and since I’ve been frustrated more than enough times with the project I’m putting it in a time-out and will pick it up again next week.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020 (Day 72-for those who are counting)

Last evening, before stopping for supper, I came up with a method for some straight line quilting on my project. I tested out three blocks and I was happy with what I came up with. I added a bit to the plan this morning and I think it works well – almost as if this is what I planned in the first place (before the free-motion fiasco). It involves a lot of knots to be tied in but anything is better than all the reverse stitching I had to do yesterday.

The project is slowly getting done but I don’t think I will get it finished tonight. Pat has an online “thing” tonight so I can work into the evening but my thread containers arrived today so I may sort more thread instead of sewing.