Thursday, May 14, 2020

We caught the first ferry over to Texada this morning. There were a few things both Pat and I wanted to pick up and we also wanted to check on the studio and workshop. The spiders and other creepy crawlies have moved back into the workshop but I didn’t bother cleaning; when I start going over on a regular basis and staying I’ll take care of that job. I wanted to bring back some of my quilting thread and, since I couldn’t decide what colours I needed, I brought it all back in a bag. I wanted a bit of batting for one of my finishes but decided to bring back the whole roll. I brought back a bin of quilts that are already sandwiched – there will be no lack of things to do for a long time. Also tucked into the truck for the return trip were some quilting books that I didn’t know I needed until I saw them.

We left the driveway at 6:30 and we were back in the driveway by ten. I think we will soon be ready to go over and spend a week or two. When we were in the line-up waiting to load on the way back I spotted Barb (a quilter) going as a walk-on. She also spotted us and she and I sat upstairs and chatted; I guess I’m making the move from self-isolating back to social distancing. It was so nice to be chatting to someone; I don’t think I realized how much I missed it. It won’t happen very often and I’ll pick and choose what I’m comfortable with.

I’ve spent the day working on my May UFO Challenge project. I’m not sure how it got to be the middle of May and this is the first day I’ve worked on it. I don’t think it will take long to finish so I should still have it done by the end of the month.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

What a perfectly-named card for these challenging times. There may be times when it seems difficult to cope, but the issues we face with this pandemic are so much better than so many others. The block itself wasn’t without its own challenges – I was uploading the photo to my computer when I noticed a mistake in the way I put the block together. It was a quick fix though.

I took my car out for a drive again today. I always head south of town with the intention of going at least to Donkersley Beach and often carrying on to Lang Bay. Today I drove all the way out to the ferry terminal; there were very few cars on the road on the trip out but more traffic on the way home. I ran into a few heavy rain showers on the way back. I intended to stop for gas but decided it could wait until my next trip.

I worked on cards today and have two more ready for the mail. I have a bit of time before supper and I could carry on, but I think I’ll clean up for the day and do a bit of cross stitching.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

It was a block buster kind of day. I like the way the morning block reflects the scraps I created the day before. When I sandwiched one of my quilts yesterday I used the blue/pink fabric as backing. A big piece of it was on the top of my scrap basket so that is what I picked up.

The June block for the Guild was announced a week ago when I was still in mystery quilt hell. I dug it out today and got it done. The members each make a block and then, at some point, we have a weekend where we piece all the blocks together. This month the colour was purple and did I ever give them purple.

Although I don’t think our get-together with quilt Guilds from the Peninsula and the Island will happen in October I decided to go ahead and make the block. Our theme was to be Colour the World and I’d saved scraps from my Seminole quilt (one of the ones I sandwiched yesterday) to use for the block. After it was done I went through the bin and started on the Hands Across the Water challenge – a minimum of six colours and maximum of 24″ around the perimeter. I had a few pieces left from the seminole project and I’ve started cutting and piecing them together. I’m sure I have enough scraps to make a full-sized quilt but I don’t think it is going to end up being one I’ll want to hang on to – very improv!

There was one other block I thought I might get at today but time has run out. The Texada ladies included me in a Challenge and this one was one of the Splendid Sampler 2 blocks. I’ve been lucky so far in that of the four they’ve challenged us with I already had two of them done.

I’m off now to make a rhubarb crisp for supper. I remember the days when Bud (across the street) would come and tell me I could come over a cut his rhubarb. He’s no longer there and so far the new owner hasn’t offered, although I can see it growing when I’m out on my balcony and I don’t think he uses it. We had some rhubarb delivered today with our grocery order; I know I could get it at the Farmer’s Market on the weekend but so far we’ve avoided going up there.

All my troubles from last week were sorted out with good things happening this week. I have been looking for a particular fabric for weeks; couldn’t find anything in Canada and it was too expensive to order from the States. But yesterday one of the shops I follow on Facebook were showing off their new fabrics and there it was. I called today and am having some sent. There was also a pattern I wanted and I thought while I was ordering I’d see if they had it. They didn’t but one of the staff had a copy and she said she’d xerox it and send it to me for free. I guess karma does work sometimes!

Monday, May 11, 2020

I’m totally back on track today.

While I had my second cut of coffee this morning I pulled together some financials for the Hall. It wasn’t as difficult as I expected, but not as easy as it would have been had I had my accounting program. When I ran into issues with balances I switched to my daily block. Once that was done I went back to my reports and worked everything out. After lunch I did another Hall task; this one has a deadline of the end of the month so it is nice to get it off my to-do list.

And speaking of to-do lists – since my new computer I’m no longer able to access my reminders from my iPad. Not a big issue and perhaps my morning coffee will be more relaxed with not knowing what my tasks for the day are.

Today was to be a quilting day; although I didn’t do any actual quilting I got two projects spray-basted and ready to go. I was working on the back step and the smell of the lilacs from our tree and the one from our neighbour’s was overpowering. I love the scent, but before I was done I was sneezing and my nose was running from my allergies.

I moved my portable cross stitch project downstairs yesterday; it will be handy at the end of the day to pick up and do a few stitches before supper.