Saturday, May 13, 2017

I had a couple of loads of laundry to take care of and it looked like a nice enough day to hang the clothes outside. I went out to the clothesline and had a couple of items hung when I saw some pretty dark clouds overhead. The forecast said a chance of showers in the morning so I decided to bring the clothes back inside.

We went out to our first Farmer’s Market of the season this morning. Pat stood in line for some fresh bread and I picked a line for some rhubarb. She had eggs for sale (which we needed) and I also picked up a package of lettuce and some radishes. We stopped for a cinnamon bun and ended up visiting with several different folks we saw along the way. We could have had a Cranberry Hall board meeting if we wanted; one of our members sells her pottery at the market and the rest of us were shopping.

When I got home I decided to hang the clothes out. It hasn’t brightened a lot this afternoon, but I don’t think there has been any rain. This is the first time I’ve had clothes out on the line this year. It has been a crazy spring!

We’re going out for dinner tonight – an early Mother’s Day. We talked about going out for dinner tomorrow but there aren’t a lot of choices open on a Sunday evening. I’ll be in a sewing class for the next two days and will be happy to stay home tomorrow night.

I have another card ready for binding tonight and, just maybe, I’ll make our first rhubarb crisp of the year.

Friday, May 12, 2017

I washed and pressed my fabric for the class on Sunday and Monday. Here’s what I’ll be working with.

I only plan to make one block but when I was at the fabric shop yesterday Deb said that she tells all her students that they should purchase enough for the entire quilt because she knows from experience you can have a lot of trouble trying to get more of the fabric later down the line. She had figured out the requirements for the quilt so when I was pulling fabric from my stash this morning I kept that in mind and I think I have enough for the quilt should I be crazy enough to add it to my list. I know a lot of the people in the class are making the 9″ option and putting three together for a table topper; the instructor is also offering a 6″ option. I’ll make the 9″ block and see where I go from there.

I had fun picking these fabrics and called on Pat for a bit of help. The orange fabric came from my Portland trip; the four other coloured fabrics were recent purchases at Deb’s shop. The light background fabric was purchased in 2013 when Stacia, Deloise and I took a trip to a quilt shop a little ways from Saskatoon. It was purchased for an entirely different project but, since that project never got started, I was glad to be able to use it.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

The coffee jar was empty this morning and, since I was up before Pat, I didn’t think the coffee grinder would be the best “waking up” sound. I made plans to meet a renter at Cranberry Hall between 8:30 and 9:00 so I was out the door before I even had a coffee. Even on bee days I set my alarm early enough that there is time for coffee before I leave.

I got caught up on so much paperwork today that I didn’t really mind that it was pouring rain outside. I was less thrilled though when I went out to the bank after lunch in the downpour. The bright spot was stopping at the fabric store. I put a couple of things on order; when Deb asked if I wanted anything else both she and her co-worker laughed when I said my order wasn’t something I wanted, it was something I needed! I’m glad I stopped in because we are all taking a class this weekend and they alerted me to some work that needs to be done before we get started; fabric has to be picked, washed and Best Pressed. I’ll get at that tomorrow.

I received a new cross stitch pattern in the mail today; it was one I added to an Amazon order so I would get free shipping. Having so many new cross stitch patterns has spurred me on to get the one I’m currently working on finished.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Lainey (who owned the first fabric store I frequented) still has a lot of fabric, patterns and threads for sale out of her home. She invited me over today to see what she had, and I took my Celtic Crystals quilt for her to see. I purchased the pattern as Blocks of the Month through her shop. She was very generous in her praise and she showed me all the beautiful wool felt appliqué she has been doing. She will have a big sale in the near future and I will look through my patterns before I shop next time.

But I had fun today! Lainey maintains an Etsy Shop (The Wool Felt Ferret) and I knew there were a couple of patterns  I wanted. I also got four colours of hand-dyed burlap – I think it might be fun to try some cross stitch patterns using burlap. Her thread was a real deal at $6 so I got a few colours to add to my collection. Fat quarters were only $2 so I got a few – some colours for my Bingo quilt and a bit of neutral.