Friday, January 26, 2018

I spent all morning baking but it went quicker than I thought it would. First I made Raisin Drop cookies but I used cranberries instead of raisins. When they came out of the oven I had a coffee cake ready to go in. By the time the cake cooled I had a batch of Ginger Snap cookies ready to go in. I’m running the concession at the Hall on Saturday night but I’m quilting during the day tomorrow so the baking had to be done today.

I spent a good part of the afternoon doing some cutting for the project I’ll work on tomorrow; one of the classes the Guild scheduled was cancelled so they added a UFO day in its place. I’ll be working on my regular Tuesday project; from the number of steps I cut fabric for you’d think I planned to be there all weekend. Between tomorrow and Tuesday though I hope to be ready to tackle those 120 half-square triangles.

I’ll spend the rest of the afternoon doing some computer work and paper shredding.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

I did my shopping first thing this morning and was home by 9:30; it’s a good thing my stores (Walmart and Safeway) and the bank open early. No waits at check-out and no line-ups at the ATM. I had enough time left this morning to finish the appliqué on my quilting project; the quilting comes next and it is a small enough piece that I can do the spray-basting indoors. But first I need to clean and oil my machine and change the needle.

This afternoon I’m off to my Thursday stitching session. We’re starting a new project and that keeps it interesting. Actually the project is one large block; hopefully one or two blocks will be enough for a table topper.

This evening I’m joining a new group. Last summer the newspaper reported on a new group in town – 100+ Women Who Care. The contact information in the paper was wrong and it took me awhile to link up to the Facebook group. I missed their last meeting but I’m able to attend their first meeting this year. When you join the group you had to name a charity or worthy cause, and from all the names that are submitted they pick three presenters for each meeting; we don’t know what the groups will be until the meeting. From the three groups we vote on who we most want to support and then we each give $50 to the cause. At the last session they donated $6500 to the Hospice Society.

I like that these groups are local and that the amount of money donated can make a real difference. It is fun not knowing who the presenters will be until you show up at the meeting. I vowed I wouldn’t join another group because I’m busy enough as it is, but I couldn’t resist this one. They only hold four meetings a year and I won’t (I promise) volunteer for anything!

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

I spent the morning cleaning the Hall. As I was cleaning I kept thinking this was my last week but unless our regular cleaner comes back early I have one more week left. Months with five weeks are sometimes good but this month not so much.

I had a few errands to do after the Hall cleaning but I was tired and my back and wrists were aching so I decided to leave the shopping until tomorrow. I need a few baking supplies but I won’t be baking until Friday (for the concession on Saturday) so no rush there. The smoke detector outside my studio started to beep this morning meaning it needs a new battery; I realize that I really shouldn’t put that off but, fingers crossed, one night without it will be okay.

I packed my bags for my sewing session tomorrow. These sessions started out to be hand stitching days but Gail wanted to do a string star pattern so we’ll be machine stitching for a couple of weeks. Depending on how the pattern turns out I may be able to use it as a table topper give-away at our Hall event.

And speaking of the Hall event I made a start on a project that will also double as my miniature for next month. Not that I think it will take a month to finish it (although you never know) but it is still too damp outside to sandwich my quilts so this is small enough I can probably get it done before the sun comes back again. Although I don’t particularly like appliqué I’ve been enjoying what I’m doing so far – I think I’ll go back to it for a little while before supper.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

My night wasn’t exactly sleepless, but I didn’t feel all that rested when I got up. The wind and rain started up (again) overnight and it is still blowing. I was awake and reading for about an hour and then finally got back to sleep around five. I turned my alarm off (I usually set it on a bee day) but just before it would have gone off on a normal day a contact of Pat’s (in North Carolina) called; I didn’t get up to answer the phone but I didn’t go back to sleep either.

Due to the wind, no ferries have come in today from the Island. There was lots of talk at the bee about the tsunami warning that was posted early this morning; we weren’t affected and I didn’t even hear about it until the warning had been lifted.

I was a bit late getting to the bee but I still managed to get more mini blocks done than I usually do. I spent some time last week pre-cutting all the blocks and, instead of my usual four blocks, I managed to get eight of them done. We have a UFO day on Saturday and I’m hoping to finish all of the mini blocks; I have enough left to make that I doubt I’ll be able to get to the border or attaching the blocks to the quilt but I’ll get the cutting done ahead of time just in case. I still have to make 120 half-square triangles so there is lots of work ahead.