Monday, April 30, 2018

I was at the Hall by 10:30 on Sunday morning and we managed to have a few minutes to spare before people started to arrive for the Member Appreciation at one. Our guests had time to renew their memberships and have a bite to eat and before they knew it we had started our AGM (a 20-minute affair). After the meeting we had some live music and then they went home. On the way out people were heard to say that it was the best AGM they had ever been to – I think it will become an annual event. It was after four before I got home. Some of the die-hards (me included) returned to the Hall in the evening for the monthly coffee house. I was there to show my support for the out-going coordinator and the new coordinator. I cleaned up as much as I could after the intermission but left before it was over; there were a couple of other Board members in attendance who sat through the first half without helping so I figured they could do the final clean up.

It was a lot of work preparing for it and I spent all morning today on minutes and accounting for the Hall. There are some reports that need to be filed, and everything will have to go to the accountant. I’m going to remain on as Secretary/Treasurer; in addition, I’ll be handling the bookings. Bookings will add a bit to my load, but we have a Board member who lives next door to the Hall and another who is two doors down so I don’t think (at least I hope) I won’t be having to open and lock up too often.

I had a couple of things that should have gone in the mail this morning (sorry Dave – your cheque is in the mail!)  but by the time I got to the bottom of my pile it was too late to get them out today. I’ll walk up to the mailbox later this afternoon or drop them off tomorrow morning on my way to the bee.

Pat is teaching this week – online from 5:30 AM to 1:30 PM. I set my alarm as a backup for 5:15 but I heard he was up before it went off so I turned it off and slept until my usual time. He is using the main floor computer so I have to be quiet; I think that is why I spent the morning working at my computer on the second floor. I did a bit of cleaning in my studio too – I think I can safely say I’m unpacked from Retreat!

I should be finding something to take to the bee tomorrow; I have sampler blocks, cards, a Guild block and Row by Row but nothing is appealing to me. I have a miniature started from left-overs of the baby quilt so I’ll take that with me. I think I’ll finally drag my chenille project out of the box and see if I can remember what needs to be done on it.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Today’s free-motion class was a lot of fun. I’m not sure that I learned any new techniques because I already knew that it involved practice practice practice!

The first question from the instructor was “Do you doodle?” I don’t, but she went on to explain that free-motion quilting is really all about doodling on our machines. I had a lot of fun with my own particular version of doodling – I can’t wait to try some of them on some real projects.

I was happy to have a chance to try some pebble work; my leaves were rather sad but I could get used to those curly stems. The designs inside the flower petals in the middle were fun and I even practiced my ABC’s. Some of the things I tried will never see the light of day again!

Friday, April 27, 2018

I started the morning with the baking I need to do for the Hall’s AGM on Sunday. At the Retreat weekend someone brought some brown sugar fudge; Deloise gave me a microwave version of Aunt Ethel’s Fudge so I decided I’d make a pan of that. It isn’t exactly a square but I didn’t see any reason it couldn’t be part of the sweet tray. I also had a new recipe I wanted to try – Lemon Bars. Once the fudge was made and cut I was able to reuse the pan for the Lemon Bars. I tried one after they had cooled; they were tasty but a bit sticky to be served as finger food. I put them in the fridge and I’ll see if they get any better. If they don’t I might make something else, or I might buy something, or I might make some cookies.

The next thing I needed to get done was my quilt sandwich for my class tomorrow. I spray basted the baby quilt on the back step but I don’t have the right-coloured thread so I might just take some muslin blocks that are sandwiched. I have some that will need to be resprayed but I think they will be better for a class than the baby quilt.

I have always used my SUV for any away-from-home quilting – either straight-line or free motion. At the Retreat we needed to quilt the fabric we were using for our bags and I only had Pearl with me. I was able to attach my walking foot to Pearl and it worked like a charm. That got me wondering about whether or not I’d also be able to attach my free-motion foot. I spent some time this afternoon trying to find out if I could lower the feed dogs on Pearl and, although I haven’t done it before, I found out they can be lowered. That saves me some time as I won’t have to clean the SUV (which has been waiting for a cleaning all month).

Our trip to the Island yesterday was a lot of fun; the three of us get along well. The place where they have their sewing machines serviced is actually a beautiful quilt shop. I picked up a couple of pieces of fabric and a pattern (all at 50% off); I also found two books on techniques that I’ve never seen before. One is full of walking foot designs and the other is full of instructions about the different ways to Quilt As You Go. The quilt shop was very close to Michael’s so I was able to get all the floss I needed. We also made a stop at FabricLand but I didn’t see anything I needed to bring home (I think I was shopped out by then). We were back in Comox in plenty of time for the last ferry; it was a long day and I was tired when I got home.

I still have my report to write for the Hall’s AGM and I need to finish preparing some of the freebies we are giving out as door prizes to our members. Other than packing things up and picking up some cream, coffee and tea I think I have everything else done. Hopefully I will have time and energy to take care of than tomorrow after class.

Pat arrived home late this afternoon and we’ll go out for dinner since there is almost nothing but Lemon Bars and Brown Sugar Fudge in the fridge!

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

I had a few things to do today so I got started right after breakfast; my back was already sore so I decided not to go out and work in the yard.

I made my vegetable drink for breakfast and then remembered I needed to wash the flannel for my quilt class on Saturday. It was upstairs so I came up and, on the way, picked up a note about a Hall rental. As I was adding the information to the Hall calendar I got sucked into some accounting and paying some bills. But the cheque book was downstairs.

When I went to get the cheque book out of my purse I realized the laundry was waiting for the flannel but I needed to make a phone call so I headed back upstairs to get the number and the flannel. When I got back downstairs with the flannel and the phone number I realized the flannel needed to have some stay stitching around the raw edges or I’d have a real mess when it came out of the washer. So the flannel went back on the stairs for my next trip up.

When I got back to the kitchen I noticed that I had neglected to clean up the mess from my juicing. I washed all the parts of the juicer and started some soup with the pulp. Once I made my phone call I came back upstairs to stay stitch the flannel and then another trip downstairs to get it in the laundry.

I also had to make a trip to City Hall (for Hall stuff), deliver a couple of cheques, and pick up a pattern from a friend. So I decided I should look at my list for baking (for the Hall) and pick up groceries while I was out. And when I delivered the cheques to the Hall renter I could check the tea supply for the event on Sunday.

Like the crazy woman I have become I also tried to get a card ready for the mail. My appointment with City Hall was at 11:30 and if I wanted my card to go out today (from the 7-Eleven mailbox) I had to have it there by noon. I ran out of time but I knew if the card was mailed at the Post Office by 3 PM it would still get out today. I had to interrupt the card for my meeting but I managed to get it ready before lunch, but in my hurry I forgot to take a photo.

In the middle of all this I got a call from the accountant regarding our Income Tax. There were pages to sign, there was her invoice to pay, and of course there was a big cheque due to Revenue Canada as well. The next time Pat and I are in the same place we have one more form to sign but the rest of it is done until next year.

After my errands, shopping and laundry I have a bit of time left before dinner. What should I do? Clean up my sewing room (I’m really not unpacked yet from the Retreat), spray baste a quilt or a couple of table runners, stitch a card, or give up and go knit.

I’m off to Nanaimo on the first ferry tomorrow morning and not home again until the last ferry. It will be a long day but I expect to have a good time.