Saturday, June 3, 2017

It’s been awhile since I had a day that was full of things I wanted to do without the obligation of things I needed to do or should do!

I knew that I was going to make a rhubarb pie today but I didn’t want to sit idle while I waited for it to cook. So my first task in the sewing room was to get some hand stitching ready. I made a few adjustments to a cross stitch project and then got it ready for binding. But that wasn’t going to take me long as it is a smaller-than-usual size.

I know I am crazy, and you will agree, but I’ve decided to start all over again on my Splendid Sampler blocks. I purchased the book that contains all the patterns so I could see all the patterns in one spot rather than having to call them up on my computer. I swear that was the only reason I bought the book. But then one of our Tuesday quilters displayed her quilt top with all the blocks and I was inspired – again! The Splendid Sampler folks have started another sew along so I’m joining in – the blocks are posted once a week (instead of twice) so I’m hoping to keep up this time. Kathryn said she keeps looking for the fat quarters that she gives me in my cards so, with that in mind, my blocks this time around will be made out of my growing pile of fat quarters.

I cut out the first block last week so it was a quick matter of sewing the pieces together. The first block called for appliqué and I haven’t been enjoying my machine appliqué so I decided, for this block anyway, that I would do some needle-turn appliqué. Once I had the appliqué piece ready to hand stitch I got my pie made. My timing was absolutely perfect as I was just tying the knot after my last stitch when the timer on the oven went off.

I might have time for another Splendid Sampler block before supper. If I do, I’ll be completely caught up.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Weekends haven’t meant much to me since I retired but I’m looking forward to this one. I’ve finished my first week of working in the yard, I ache all over, and there is still so much to be done. But when I volunteered for this job I told Pat I wouldn’t work weekends so I have a couple of days off now. I’m behind on some sewing I wanted to get done this week but the cross stitch I’m working on is taking longer than I expected. It’s almost done though and then I’ll be able to move on to something else.

The Guild meeting last night lasted longer than any meeting I’ve attended; it was almost nine and we were just getting our snacks and coffee. We actually had two meetings (the AGM and the regular monthly meeting) and, of course, we are in our new space so there were a few questions on how things are going to work. I was nominated for a position on the executive but I declined to run. Part of my thinking for staying with the library was I knew there was only one of four executive positions filled and I didn’t want to be guilted into taken any of them. We eventually got all the slots filled and no one went home with a broken arm – a sore arm maybe, but not broken.

Pat got home from a meeting this morning just as I was finished my shower and putting clothes in the laundry. He suggested we go out for lunch but when we ran down the options none of them really appealed so we’ll go out for dinner instead. I thought about making a rhubarb pie this afternoon but I’ll do it tomorrow morning. I’ve decided on Rice Krispie Squares for the Cran Hall AGM – we going pot luck with the Board members. I wanted to make a peanut butter slice of some kind; I found several recipes but none that didn’t require me to go out shopping so I change my plan to something really easy.

Back to my stitching now.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

I’ve been report writing all day today. Not exactly what I wanted to do but it had to be done. The good news is that the work I did today for the Cranberry Hall Annual General Meeting puts me in good shape for getting everything to the accountant for our year-end review and tax filing. At least I’m making myself feel better that somewhere down the line the work I did today will have benefits.

I’ve got all my reports ready for the Guild meeting tonight. This will be the first event in our new area; it isn’t as great a space as we have had but I hope the members all get behind the change. I wrote annual reports for the Library (9 new books purchased; 150 books removed), Facebook (55 members), Blog (34 posts; 1806 views; 594 visitors), and CQA (4 reports for publication). When that was all finished I had to write my regular monthly report for June. I may be crazy but I’ve signed on for another two years with the Library; volunteers were hard to find so my partner and I both agreed to stay on. I’ll have to take a more active role in writing the reports and displays, and Nina will keep her eyes open for new books we should purchase (although with our limited space we doubt we’ll be buying anything).

With what time I have left this afternoon I’m going to relax with more cross stitching.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Between now and Sunday I have several meetings to attend and write reports for. The first one is a regular Cranberry Hall board meeting tonight.

I started my day out in the yard; Pat had an appointment this morning so I was left unsupervised. I had a corner of the yard that I was determined to get weeded but also determined not to spend too much extra time at it. I started early but finished up right at 11 AM which was the plan. After a shower I sat outside with my coffee and read a couple more of my quilting magazines. It seems odd to me that the patterns I marked at the time I got the magazine don’t necessarily appeal to me any longer; these first two magazines had Sunbonnet Sue and Joe in them and I think I have enough of those patterns in other books. However, I marked a couple of articles that I didn’t even notice before; one on needle-turn appliqué and one on quilting patterns using circles; those ideas will work well with my rulers.

Before stopping for lunch I finished up the reports for my meeting tonight. There was a message on the phone from when I was in the shower and I hadn’t noticed it. The fabric shop was calling to tell me I had some patterns in. I stopped in after lunch and I also had a $25 reward card waiting for me – I won’t tell you how much I spent in order to get that reward. What to do but bring home another lovely pattern book full of skinny wall hangings. I also found some lovely fabric in the 50% off bin.

I’ve been working on a cross-stitched card this afternoon and I’ll continue with that until it is time to head out to our meeting.