Friday, December 8, 2017

It has taken me all day but I finally have everything I need to start wrapping gifts for the mail. All the shopping is done – online, in Saskatoon, and locally. All the stitching is done – at home, in airports, and on Texada. I feel like I’m really late getting this done and, as I do every year, I vow to start earlier next year.

It was a real treat to be at home all day – it doesn’t happen very often. We’ve spent some time looking at the calendar and trying to decide when we can get over to the studio again. Surprisingly enough it is Pat who has more on the schedule next week than I do.

The last time I left the studio I mentioned to Pat that I would like my sewing/crafting space in Powell River to be as tidy as the room I have on Texada. That will take a lot of work but I’m determined to try to make it happen – starting with putting away all the scraps and miscellany from my Christmas sewing. My new desk is the only space that I’m able to keep clear on a consistent basis!

Thursday, December 7, 2017

It took all morning to finish my Guild work for the meeting tonight. Our website is a freebie and therefore comes with size restrictions. Although we aren’t entirely out of space I decided (for some strange reason) that today would be a good day to archive some of the pages and photos. I’m not sure what I’ll do with them now that they are off the site but I’m thinking maybe some sort of binder with the “old” stuff. I’ll check with the person who does the Archives, although she doesn’t really do anything with her photos either. It will involve lots of work but perhaps I can do a little each week/month when I’m on the site anyway.

After lunch I went out to run a few errands; dropping some Cranberry Hall membership cards off and making a bank deposit. I did a bit of Christmas shopping and I think I’m done, unless I’ve forgotten someone or something. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not DONE DONE as I still have a bit of sewing and stitching to finish up. I’m hoping to get a few packages ready for the mail tomorrow though and have everything ready by the end of the weekend. No Texada trip for me this week.

I’m going back to my sewing until it is time for supper.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Although I wasn’t able to find the patterns I was looking for last night, I think we all knew I wasn’t just going to pitch the cross stitch pieces (partly because Mum stitched them and partly because I’m too cheap to waste an almost-done project). The back stitching might not be exactly as it should be but I think it is adequate enough to highlight the pattern. There is one more to do and I’ll get to it soon.

I started my morning by working on reports for our Cranberry Hall board meeting tonight. I had kept up with things quite well during the month so there wasn’t too much to do. I didn’t have anything on the “Action Required” list; I usually forget about any of my action items until the day before the meeting and then I scramble to get whatever they are finished so I can report on some progress. After the paperwork was done I started back into my Christmas sewing. I have only a few items left on my list but I really want to get everything done and in the mail by early next week. I was working on a new pattern this morning and I’ve just finished it now. Hopefully the repeats I am making will go a bit quicker.

This afternoon I signed up for a class on how to make drier balls; the local wool shop was offering the class for free if you purchased the yarn. I needed to have 100% wool, which I had at home, but since they didn’t release the supply list I couldn’t take any of my own. They are quite easy to do and, in addition to my wool for the balls, I also purchased some red and blue roving (to spice them up a bit) and some felting needles. I’ve always been interested in needle felting so I think these supplies will work for more drier balls as well as other projects. I threw the one ball that I made into the washing machine with a load of laundry when I got home; the hot water is meant to felt it. It is ready to go into the drier now so I’ll soon see how it turns out.

I’m going back to my stitching before heading off to the meeting.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

It’s been awhile so it was good to be back at the bee today and I accomplished quite a bit. I had one complete project to do and I didn’t think it would take long, even though it involved a zipper. I was congratulating myself on how well I managed putting the zipper in when I realized the instructions mentioned top stitching the lining. I had neglected to attach the lining with the zipper so everything had to be taken out again. Thank goodness I had someone to ask questions of and I managed to get it done before noon. I started on a collection of ornaments based on the English paper piecing I did while on my trip and at Texada this past weekend. Although I don’t have them all done they seemed quite quick to put together so I’m confident I’ll have them done with time to spare.

Before heading to the bee I wanted to get a package mailed so I was at the post office shortly after they opened. There was a small line-up when I arrived but I didn’t think that was unusual. What was unusual was that the clerk had a phone attached to her ear; she had been on a support call for 45 minutes as their computer system wasn’t working. The woman at the front of the line finally decided to bring her packages back tomorrow. The next two people in line needed stamps so they were able to deal with them manually. I had a bubble-wrap envelope to purchase and mail and I decided I’d buy the envelope and come back tomorrow but, since the package was small, they were able to send it as a letter and could do it manually. Fortunately the package has lots of time to arrive at it’s destination so it should be good. I admire the patience of the women who work behind the counter at the post office; they never rush you and they never seem to be in a flap no matter what the situation.

Last night I dug through my patterns and imagine the happy dance I was doing when I found the leaflet I was looking for. And then imagine the let-down when I realized the patterns I was looking for weren’t in that particular book. I have a feeling the patterns might be part of a Precious Moments collection; I know I have at least one of those books and I’ll search through my patterns again. If I don’t find what I’m looking for I’m going to get rid of the half-done projects and start over. I had hoped to have them done for Christmas but it isn’t looking too promising at this point.