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.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

It took most of the morning to get the binding cut, pieced and attached to the quilt.  Why does it always take longer than you expect? I understand why some of the Guild members get their bindings cut and pieced along with their blocks. I’m seldom sure what size the quilt is going to end up so that doesn’t work for me. I’ll start hand stitching the binding in the evenings, but probably not tonight. I have a knitted toque almost finished and I’d like to get that off the needles first.

I heard that one of the quilt shops in Comox was offering classes for the free-motion templates. I called yesterday but they are specific classes for the Bernini. I could go and I might learn something that I could transfer to my Janome but I decided not to bother. Craftsy was having a buy-one-get-one sale this weekend so I purchased two ruler quilting classes for less than half the cost of taking the ferry across to the Island. They don’t use the same brand of templates, but I know these will help me.

After the binding was attached I headed off to Cranberry Hall. In order to get the insurance quote I needed to take some measurements and get some photos of both the interior and the exterior. I was half-way there when I realized I hadn’t picked up the tape measure. I did my measurements using a foot length; I’ll have to measure the length of my shoe and then calculate the approximate length and width. They would also like to know the height of the building but all they are going to get is that it is one storey; I didn’t have anything long enough to get even an approximate measure.

I spent the afternoon working on some cross stitching. The piece I’m working on was started a long time ago with Dad in mind. If I get it finished before the quilt show I’ll offer it for sale; if not, I have someone in mind that I can give it to.