Friday, March 9, 2018

I was late getting back from my Thursday stitching and dinner was ready when I got home. We have another person joining us for Thursday afternoon; we’re at four now and I don’t think there is room for anyone else. I spent the afternoon stitching my half-square triangles. Although I’d love to cut, press and trim them we agreed we wouldn’t work on them at home.

There were to be no more delays in getting at my quilting – today was the day. I had a quilting pattern in mind and I was ready to go. But first I waited patiently in front of my computer for my weekly 1880 Sampler block to arrive in my mail. I was late getting last week’s done and I wanted to get this week’s done before I set up my machine for quilting. With the time I had while I waited I did some prep work on my March challenge. When my block pattern finally arrived I was ready to start cutting and stitching; it was a fast block to do and I think I’m getting better at figuring out from the picture how to put the rows together.

I had to make a bank deposit today and there was a bake sale (a fund raiser for a quilting friend) I wanted to go to. And I had a book waiting for me at the library so I had to stop in there as well. By the time I was home it was lunch and it wasn’t until after I’d eaten that I was able to settle down and start quilting. I have three of sixteen blocks done so I’ve really hardly started. The three blocks I did all have the same quilting pattern but many of the blocks are different so I’m planning to do each of them a bit different. I’m using my walking foot right now and, provided I can come up with enough designs, I hope to finish it all with straight-line quilting.

It’s time to start a new knitting project and I pulled out a few patterns to choose from for this evening.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Appliqué isn’t something I particularly enjoy doing. I like the finished look of needle-turn appliqué but I seldom take the time to do it that way. For some patterns using the Blanket Stitch on my machine works but I’m not very good at zig-zags. I think that is why I was putting off starting my March Challenge project – invisible machine appliqué.

After reading over the directions one more time (it’s been two years since I took the class) I thought I was ready to start. But I knew I wasn’t going to like the process. Some of the pieces had already been cut and turned and that was where I should have started. I had the recommended thread but I’ve tried using it before and it tended to shred so I wasn’t looking forward to finding the right needle to make it work. I’d also have to change all my settings as I’ve got the machine set up for quilting.

So I decided that rather than use the machine appliqué technique I would hand appliqué the rest of the project. I got two pieces finished in hardly any time and I quite enjoyed sitting and stitching. I need to prep a few more of the pieces but this will be a good project to travel with – we’re heading over to the Island later in the month so I’ll be able to work on it either on the ferry or at our accommodation while Pat is at a concert. If things go well I may even be able to finish it this month.

So my invisible machine appliqué is almost invisible – it almost doesn’t exist (except for the two pieces I did in class).

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

I didn’t manage many stitches at the bee today but I got myself organized for some chain piecing on two projects. I pressed and trimmed the 120 half-square triangles that I need for the border on my Circa 2016 project. I managed to stitch a few of them together before my bobbin ran out and I packed it in. I also marked 60 squares for the half-square triangles I’ll be using in my Thursday project; that’s 120 finished squares so I’ll have more than enough to let me play with the design of the quilt. I’ve learned a new way to sew the squares together for half-square triangles; some of the quilters are saying it is much faster but others say it is just as much work. I’m not yet sure whether or not I’ll try it.

Tuesday is also errand day for me. I picked up my sewing machine from the technician; he gave it a good cleaning but I’m pleased that the mess inside won’t appear on his Facebook page! He found a small thread caught inside and I’m quite certain that was causing the intermittent problems I was having. Next stop was the pottery shop; I wasn’t buying anything but Dee is on the Cranberry Hall board and I needed some cheques signed because I forgot to take the chequebook to the meeting last night. She has a few new products in her shop that I had my eye on but I didn’t buy anything. I returned a book to the Library and my last stop before home was the fabric store. I’m taking a class later this month and it calls for a layer cake; I found one I really liked and, based on the fabric, I  know who it will go to when it is done!

I’ve got time to do a bit of tidying up in my studio and then I’m off to the movie tonight.

Monday, March 5, 2018

I had a great weekend on Texada. I cross stitched during the day and started a new project for the evenings. I won this hooked rug kit several years ago at an event I was volunteering at. I moved it from room to room until I had Pat take it across to Texada when he went over last week. It’s a big one, but I quite enjoyed the ten rows I managed to complete.

How long do you think it will take me to get from this  –

– to this? It’s a good thing I’m not in a hurry!

I’ve got a busy week ahead of me and it starts tonight with a Cranberry Hall Board meeting. I’ve got another Cranberry Hall-related meeting on Wednesday afternoon. I’ll be sewing both Tuesday and Thursday, and there are two movies to squeeze in the week.