Wednesday, January 18, 2017

I love having a day at home, and today was a day-long continuation of yesterday’s sewing bee. I have almost finished the borders for the centre medallion on my Celtic Crystals quilt and, hopefully, I will be ready to sew the individual blocks together tomorrow. That is if I have any time for sewing tomorrow.

I also managed to get the first block finished for my Bingo quilt – my leader and ender project for this year. I still have to quilt my project from last year and, as you will see in a day or so, I’ve only just finished my project from two years ago.

I finished my first book on the Kindle that I borrowed from the library. I’m not sure that I will purchase one, but I like reading from it. It would probably cost a fortune but one way to get books off our library shelves would be to purchase them on a Kindle and get rid of the hard copies. We aren’t that short of space just yet though so I don’t think I’ll follow that path. I will definitely borrow the Kindle again should I be taking a trip anywhere. It was hard to find a book on it that I really wanted to read but I’ve only flipped through half a dozen pages (of almost 40) in the contents.

I’m off now to see if I can get five more seams stitched before dinner.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

As expected I took way more to do than I had time for at today’s bee. The blocks for the centre medallion of my quilt are finished but I didn’t have time to stitch the four of them together. This will be my sewing project for the week and I hope to have the top finished by the next bee.

Monday, January 16, 2017

I’ve managed to get through most of the day with very little to show for it. I’m fighting a cold that so far is mainly a sore throat that threatens to turn into an ear ache. My nose runs profusely, but only occasionally, and I cough every now and again. Although the ginger tea and Jameson last night tasted good, I don’t really think it did anything to soothe my symptoms.

I spent an hour or so getting the paperwork together for the insurance quote for Cranberry Hall. It’s been quite a bit of work and I almost wish I never thought about getting a comparative quote; I could have just paid the bill which seems to be what was done for the past seven years. I think a competitive bid every few years is a good idea and, as long as I’m Treasurer, I’ll continue the practice. I’ve kept copies of all the paperwork so the next time around shouldn’t be quite so difficult.

I cut my way through a scrap basket this morning. My latest leader and ender project required blocks in five specific colours and I was on the look out for more fabrics. So far I seem to have lots of greens but I may have to go begging for some of the other colours. I still have one tin of scraps to go through but a quick shuffle through them didn’t turn up much. I also have a couple of bins as a last resort, but they are likely to be smaller bits than I need.

I’ve got another block in my Celtic Crystals cut and ready to go to the bee tomorrow. I may be optimistic that I’ll get the block done that I started last week but I like to be prepared. This top will be my priority for the week as it is the last one I need to photograph before the quilt show entry deadline.

With what is left of my afternoon I’m going to make a start on my February cards.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

I’m involved in three challenges with the various cross stitch groups I belong to.

One of the groups has a January to March challenge to stitch something cheerful, suggesting something with bright colours or a tropical feel. While my piece may not be as colourful as some I will be very cheerful when it is done! There are some brighter coloured flowers coming along later but it looks a bit dull right at the moment. It is a spring-like theme so I thought it would fit – not that anyone is going to kick me out of the group because it isn’t just right.

The second challenge is to complete something for Canada’s 150th birthday. Someone posted their completed project using this pattern and I was able to track it down. Kathryn picked up the thread for me and I was able to make a start on it today. It is surprising how quickly it goes when you aren’t constantly changing colours.

The third challenge is to stitch our way across Canada, also in honour of the 150th. There are milestones along the way, you can stitch on any number of different pieces, and different stitches (full cross, half-cross, French knots, backstitch) all have different values in the count. The first milestone is Haida Gwaii and I was sure that after stitching all weekend I was going to get there but I’m 36 stitches short. I’m finding it surprisingly easy to count the stitches, something I’ve never done before.

My final challenge of the day was finding a pattern that I purchased in Houston. The Canada 150 project made me think of redwork and I hunted high and low for a Valentine’s Day pattern. I looked through my embroidery and redwork patterns a few times, and even more scans through my wool felt appliqué basket. It wasn’t until late this afternoon that I thought that it might have been a quilting pattern and there it was, stored in my basket containing my “small” projects. With the reminder about my February cards showing up today it is the perfect time to get a start on it.