Monday, August 21, 2017

I was awake really early with a headache and, when I finally got up at seven, even with meds and coffee I still didn’t feel all that well. But today was my first day back in the yard and the daisies needed to be deadheaded. Deadheaded is putting it mildly – the flowers were pretty much all dried and brown. I suggested that Pat do the weed whacking around the borders so I could cut the grass and the boulevard. Once he started he continued on until all of the grass (and I’m using that word loosely) had been cut. He raked it up and the yard looked not too bad so I’ll delay mowing until my next yard day.

It was interesting to be outside during the eclipse. It definitely got cooler and darker; Solana, the girl next door, made a cereal box viewer and she came over to let me look through it. I remember a solar eclipse in 1979; I can picture myself in the house in Yellowknife and it got totally dark. Nothing that dramatic today but there’s another one in a couple of years.

When the yard was done (for the day) and I had a load of laundry in the machine, I walked up to the mailbox. By then it had turned pretty hot so when I got home I sat out on the back deck in the shade and read my book. I got a notice today that the books are due in a few days and I still have one I haven’t started.

After lunch I took some more meds and had a nap; I’m feeling much better now. I’ve packaged up a couple of cards for the bee tomorrow and I’ve done a bit of cross stitching. When I have a day that I don’t do any sewing my mind tells me I haven’t accomplished much but I know that isn’t true. I accomplished quite a bit already and I’ll be back at my knitting tonight.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

I looked forward to catching up on my Splendid Sampler blocks today and then doing some cross stitching this afternoon. I didn’t quite manage it.

I got a good start this morning and I re-designed the block that gave me so many problems yesterday. There was just one more to do and it was already cut out and prepped. But they released a bonus block this morning to honour the eclipse, so it was going to be touch and go as to whether or not I could get three blocks done in a day. I had just made a start on the sewing when Pat suggested we go up to the Farmer’s Market. I picked up some carrots, beets and cucumbers while Pat stood in the line for bread. While he chatted with folks I bought myself some lavender cream and some hummus made by one of our Syrian refugee families. Someone at the Guild had said it was very good so I tested it when I got home and she was right.

I had so much trouble with the pieced block that I wasn’t long into the afternoon before I realized I would be lucky to finish two blocks today. I think I stitched every seam at least twice in the heart block (Lots of Love) and it still is a bit off. My thought is that when it is stitched with 119 others the mis-matched lines won’t be too obvious!

I’m going to be back to yard work and some cleaning tomorrow so it might be a good idea to spend the rest of the afternoon getting card projects ready for the bee on Tuesday.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

I didn’t get much accomplished today but I tried. I have two blocks left in order to catch up on my second set of Splendid Sampler blocks – one is pieced and the other is part-appliqué and part-embroidery. I had some time this morning so I made a start.

There are 48 pieces in the pieced block so you can imagine how small they are when they are only 6.5″ once they are all stitched together. I got them cut and a bit of the prep work done but I didn’t start sewing. The other block seemed a bit complicated as the pattern was for needle-turn appliqué and if I wanted to use fusible (and I did) I had to reverse the shapes. So I did a bit of online searching and saw that a lot of the people in the group were embroidering the entire block. That seemed like a better choice so I got it traced out and even put a few stitches into it before walking to my afternoon job.

Today is Day One of Arts Alive in the Park at Willingdon Beach and the Guild have a booth; I had booked myself in for a two-hour shift. The tent was located so we were looking out at the ocean and there was a nice breeze so the space was cool. I sat with a couple of our Texada quilters; all three of us are all doing the Splendid Sampler. There wasn’t a lot of “strangers” stopping by the display but we did have a lot of friends and acquaintances stop in to say hello. Carola, my neighbour down the hill, had a large booth set up right beside us and on the other side is a new-to-town textile artist (Kristin Miller) who will be teaching a class at the Guild this year. I got a bit of advice on my Guild Challenge idea and nothing major needs to be changed; Barb suggested that a challenge with fabric included was better than one without but she also gave me an idea of the fabric I could use for my idea. It helps that she works at the fabric shop and knew what was in stock.

I was hot after walking home and sat to do a bit more embroidery work but overall I’m not happy with the way it is turning out. I’ve picked out quite a bit of it and I may rethink my process. There is a lot of small detail in the pattern and my clunky embroidery doesn’t look very good. Some of the smaller pieces could possibly be coloured rather than embroidered, or I may change the whole design entirely. The pattern is called Gran’s Button Jar and I think that gives me lots of ideas to play with that will be simpler than the embroidery.

We’re invited to a pot luck tonight – a Blue Grass group this time around.

Friday, August 18, 2017

I’m so thrilled to have my life back! I’ve had two full days of doing pretty much what I want to do; there have been a few errands taken care of but I’ve managed to ignore most of the cleaning that needs to be done and simply relaxed with some stitching.

Yesterday afternoon I joined Sandra and Gail for another afternoon of hand stitching. We are all working on the same small project and I think we’ll all be moving on to something else next week. I have a bit more hand sewing to do on my project but then I’ll need my machine; Gail’s area really isn’t set up for additional machines – I think she already has two long-arms and two embroidery machines in the space.

I was so relaxed when I got home yesterday that I completely forgot about my journal. Pat was out for most of the evening and I did some knitting while I watched TV.

Today has been more of the same – I ran a few errands this morning and I have been stitching all afternoon. I have another Splendid Sampler block (Second Time Around) finished as well as a card that will be ready for hand stitching this evening.

How I wish all my days could be this relaxing! Reality will strike soon and I’ll have to get back to my weeding and cleaning but I’m planning to take the weekend off.