Friday, January 11, 2019

I had a busy day yesterday. For most of the morning I was out delivering letters on behalf of the Guild. We are asking some of the local businesses for donations for our door prize table. I’ve never had to do this before but I had a good start when Dave passed me a copy of the letter he uses for his fundraising – and I know how successful he is at his events. In most cases I was well received, in others I was immediately given something, and I had only one No (because it was their corporate policy).

Then I was off to sewing in the afternoon. I’m still working on my Farmer’s Wife Sampler as my project; all the blocks are stitched into rows with sashing between. We spent quite a bit of time helping me sort out fabrics for a Log Cabin quilt. I purchased some purple and green fabric (same pattern) a few years ago. About the same time as I bought that fabric I saw a log cabin online that I really liked. Over time I stashed my greens and purples in the same bag and yesterday I dug them out and we made some choices. Sadly half of the fabrics I had set aside just didn’t work. However, I now have two separate bags of stash – one purple and one green.

I did some tidying up this morning; I wasn’t sure if Pat was coming back from the studio but I thought I should clear up my mess in case he did. I still had more letters to deliver but it was rainy so I put it off until later in the morning. It was a lovely day for a walk down Marine; not such good luck today but I got one more item and another one picked up as a result of yesterday’s work.

I had a lovely stop at the fabric shop to pick up those extra fabrics I need for my Log Cabin. My Thursday ladies said I needed a bling fabric for the centre but Joyce at the shop didn’t agree. She helped me pick a shade of green for the layer I was missing, and three fabrics for the purple logs. It was on sale so the price was right; it doesn’t seem like much fabric but if it isn’t enough I know where the shop is! There were no quantities listed in the pattern (it was free after all) so I used my math to figure it out (and that is always suspect to error).

I had some tidying to do in my sewing room and, while I was at it, I cut out some batting strips for my jelly roll rug class. All of the batting was pieces I trimmed off the edges of Taylor’s quilt. I wanted to move forward with my Farmer’s Wife this afternoon but I had a couple of interruptions with people at the door and now I seem to have lost my momentum.

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

I made arrangements with a quilting friend to start walking in the New Year; today was the first one of those walks. I was a little concerned with all the snow yesterday but it was all gone by this morning. We agreed to meet at the Marine Inn at ten and decide where we’d go from that point. I paced around the building waiting and waiting; I could see the clock through the window and thought perhaps it took her longer to walk from her place than she expected. At the same time, Moreen was at the Westview Inn (just down the street on Marine Ave.) wondering the same things as I was. We did eventually meet and get on with our walk. It takes Moreen about 40 minutes to walk to my place so we decided we’d walk back to her place which would give both of us an 80-minute walk.

When we got to her place I got a tour of her sewing floor – yes, she has an entire floor to play with (I guess I do to now that I think of it). It sprinkled rain most of our walk but I managed to get home just before it started to rain in earnest. We’ll join a new walking group on Sunday and plan to do some walking twice a week.

While I didn’t see much to report on during my walk today I realized I hadn’t shared any photos of a walk we did on Texada over the Christmas season. So here they are.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

I was looking forward to getting to the bee today but when I heard the weather (snow in the morning, turning to sleet, and then turning back to snow) I turned the radio off and went back to bed. There are so many miserable days that I have to go out for something I didn’t see the need to go out in miserable weather when I didn’t really have to. The parking lot at the Church where we sew has a very steep hill and they don’t do anything to clear either the roadway or the parking lot. So I set up my sewing machine at the kitchen table and worked on all the projects I had planned to take to the bee. There is no doubt in my mind that I got a lot more done by sewing at home than I would have with the group.

My first project was a birthday card; I finished it, including stitching the binding by hand, before noon. I moved on to my Farmer’s Wife Sampler and got all of the sashing between the blocks done. I usually leave the bee shortly after two, but since I was home I carried on until three. I cut and sewed all the pieces I’ll need for the sashing and cornerstones between the rows.

The snow started about ten this morning and it hasn’t stopped so I’m glad I stayed at home. I have a few more things I want to take care of tonight so I’ll be ready to get back to my quilt first thing tomorrow.

Monday, January 7, 2019

Quilting on my snowflakes went very well today. I don’t know why I fight with my machine; I know it likes the same thread in the bobbin and the top but I seem to continually try to make it work with different weights between the two. Usually it is because the colour I use on top is different than the backing colour and I hate to have my quilting show. I think this quilt has taught me my lesson and I won’t struggle with it next time, I’ll just do as it wants.

I started the day without knowing exactly what sort of quilting I’d be doing around on the 22 snowflake blocks. In the end I did my usual squiggles – I’m not perfect at it but it is better and faster than most other things I try. I’ve finished them all and I even managed a few other tasks throughout the day.

I’ve been working on the insurance policy for the Hall and after half a dozen e-mail messages back and forth as well as one telephone conversation I think it has been resolved. It certainly was an education for me, and no doubt a huge source of frustration to our agent! I’m going to track how many messages were exchanged in the entire process so I can report to the Board; I asked for help with it but no one stepped up.

It was a beautiful sunny day today and I enjoyed my quick-ish trip to the Post Office. I took the long way around to get there (along Marine, through Townsite, up the hill to Cranberry and then back into town) because I like to keep my battery charged. The car may be sitting for a day or two as we have snow in the forecast for tomorrow!

I still have a few things to take care of before supper. I need to pick a pattern for a card so I can work on it tomorrow at the bee; I’ll also take along my Farmer’s Wife blocks as I may be able to finish the sashing on them. I’ll also throw in the final pieces that I need for my Farmer’s Daughter; they are hand stitched so will be a good filler at the end of the day. At some point this evening I’m hoping to find a pattern to quilt on the final border of Taylor’s quilt.