How is it that I’m the only one who came away from the Cranberry Hall board meeting with a list of things to do? My list isn’t long but I decided not to do it today as I’m likely to get another list of things to do at the Guild meeting tonight. I think my New Year’s Resolution should have been to practice saying “No”, and learning to ignore work that needs to be done.
I had some printing to get done before the Guild meeting tonight so late this morning I headed out with a list of other errands. Most of my stops were short but they were things that had been piling up. Sadly the $4.25 I earned by returning my empty bottles wasn’t enough to pay for my bill at the fabric store. I have a new project that I want to do in batiks and my collection of batiks is quite slim. The Christmas fabric was on at 30% off and no one had to twist my arm much before I was asking for a few meters.
Finally this afternoon I was able to get a start on some quilting. I haven’t got to the fun part yet (with my new ruler templates) but most of the stabilizing is done. I’m very happy with the new layout in my studio; with the lower desk behind my machine the quilt falls nicely onto it as I quilt.
It’s been awhile since I spent any amount of time on my paperwork. I have a Cranberry Hall board meeting tonight and a Guild meeting tomorrow night so it was time. Once the reports for the meetings were done I caught up on Pat’s accounting and then started my own paperwork.
I planned to “just finish what I was doing” before heading down for lunch when Pat called to tell me it was time. He doesn’t usually call me for lunch and then I remembered that we were supposed to be at the bank at one o’clock. When that appointment (and lunch) were over I returned to the paper. My physical In-Basket is absolutely empty, I’ve gone through and dealt with all my e-mail messages, and I’ve even done a bit of clean up on my on-line files.
I’ve been spending a bit of time scanning photos and adding them to my digital frame. I was at a loss for what to do with the actual photos but since my studio clean-up I had a couple of small empty bins so I’m just throwing them in those; the bins will be separated in the same way as my online scanned photo files. I’ve been looking through some old boxes of photos trying to find some Disneyland pictures – no luck yet but there are still a few bins to look through.
The friends who borrowed my car over the holidays are taking Pat and I out for dinner after our Board meeting tonight. We see Geoff and Brenda often at different functions but it will be nice to just sit and visit with them.
It was so good to be back at my machine at the bee today. I’ve missed a few, and last week was a bit of a sewing disaster! Our friends still had my car because they were stuck on the Island when the ferry didn’t run on Boxing Day. Pat was going to drive me but at the last minute a friend called to say she would pick me up. Since I was going in an unfamiliar vehicle I decided to take only some hand stitching.
I packed up my Farmer’s Daughter bins (yes, there are at least three of them holding blocks in various stages) and headed out. I opened up my bin to begin stitching a block together and realized I hadn’t brought along my thread. The thread I use to stitch the pieces together is very fine and no one at the Guild had any. I was annoyed, but no problem because I had some basting I could do. Then I realized that I had set up my new Yazzii bag (from Houston) as my hand sewing kit and I left it on my cutting table when I carried things downstairs. I called Pat and tried to explain where the things I needed were located; he found the Yazzii bag but brought the wrong bin of threads. That was probably my fault as I may have told him to look on the left side of my thread holder rather than on the right side. In my own defence it had been a complete change in sewing plans when I decided not to take my machine, and I was still in the middle of redesigning my room.
Today was much better, but I very carefully packed up what I needed and even woke up in the night and remembered there were a couple of things I needed to add. I’ve got all the outer blocks done on my Celtic Crystal quilt; I’ve been managing one block a day at the bee but the block I worked on today already had been a work-in-progress for one whole day. I couldn’t figure out why it was taking me so long but I felt better when I realized I was making four blocks rather than just one. I pressed all the fabric I washed yesterday so I’m set to go on to the next steps – the centre medallion and the borders.
I finished up another set of mitts last night so I’ll get a package off to Elizabeth in the next day or so. I’m slowly (very slowly) using up yarn; it is often a challenge to find something to make with the small amounts I have left. I’ve started a new toque (for the Salvation Army basket) and I’m going to look for a triangular scarf pattern for the yarn I have left from this last effort.
After almost two weeks of doing next to nothing it was a shock to the system to actually wake up and plan to do a bit of work. I’ve accomplished a lot too; I’m on my third cup of coffee for the day so that may be part of the reason for my success.
I’ve been taking down a few Christmas decorations every day; the tree came down on New Year’s Eve but I set aside today to get everything down and put away for next year. Except of course for the one or two decorations that get missed and are usually found about March or April. A few gifts that we received for Christmas have been added to the collection. I’ve set a reminder for myself to check out the second trunk of Christmas stuff that is still in the shed; I’d really like to combine everything into one spot that will sit under the Christmas tree box.
Over the holidays I was anxious to get started with my new ruler templates for free-motion quilting. I did a bit of playing on a practice sandwich but I hate wasting my time and wanted to get at “the real thing”. The Guild ladies all say we should practice new techniques on our Community Quilts and I had one in mind that I could start with. The last few projects have been small and I was able to sandwich them using the island in the kitchen. I tried the same method for sandwiching this quilt but I had very little success. At the end of the session the quilt back was completely rumpled and puckered and there was no way it could be quilted in that state.
Ready for some fun!
I had some other options at this point – I could wait until the next bee and pin baste it on the tables there (although I’ve never had very good luck doing that) or I could wait until the next bee and try to spray baste it. We don’t use the spray basting method inside though so I’d have to wait until we had a dry bee day to proceed with that method. The last option was one I tried to avoid but it ended up being the right thing to do – I got down on my hands and knees on the floor and pin basted! I may not have time to start any quilting today, but it is ready to go when I get some time.
I’ve also done several loads of laundry today. My last load is in right now and it is the fabric I need for the last two steps in my Celtic Cross quilt, which I hope to have ready for the quilt show in April. I don’t usually pre-wash my fabric but this is done with batiks and it is recommended that they be pre-washed. This quilt will continue to be my bee project but I may also work on it at home (after the quilting is done) because I’m sure the photos of our show quilts will be due in February. Fortunately it is only a photo of the completed quilt top they need, not the completed project.
There isn’t much time left in the afternoon and I have a lot of mess to clean up so I’d better get at it.
Finally this afternoon I was able to get a start on some quilting. I haven’t got to the fun part yet (with my new ruler templates) but most of the stabilizing is done. I’m very happy with the new layout in my studio; with the lower desk behind my machine the quilt falls nicely onto it as I quilt.
