Wednesday, November 9, 2016

It has taken a few days to get back into the routine of “life after the show”. It was a wonderful few days spent with Stacia and Deloise; we could have enjoyed our visit anywhere but the fact that it happened at an International Quilt Show made it so much better. Even Alex was impressed when I told him the vendor area was the equivalent of nine (yes 9) football fields. No wonder we had trouble keeping our purchases under our allowable limit for getting back into Canada duty free!

The quilt exhibits were absolutely amazing; it was like walking through an art gallery. They were so amazing that I was able to enjoy them for their beauty knowing that I would never make anything that came close to their beauty. There were a few favourites though and I did get some ideas from them. We saw demos and tours by some of the exhibitors, and I can’t even begin to describe the samples we saw in almost every vendor’s booth.

It was interesting that all three of us were drawn to the same vendors. My purchases were mainly kits for wool felt embroidery and “regular” embroidery (no doubt a reflection of the redwork class I just finished). There were a few new tools that came home with me, and I have a couple of new techniques that I’m anxious to try. There is no way I can show you my purchases, but here are just a few of my many favourites from the show.

Monday, October 31, 2016

I had a bit of work to do in the office this morning, and then I had several errands to run. It is amazing how much time a few stops take; it was noon before I arrived home. I stopped at the dollar store for some goodies for the girl next door, then on to Walmart for a few items I needed for my trip. After that there were some groceries we needed, and I had a parcel to get in the mail. My final stop was at the bank because I had a Cranberry Hall deposit to make. It seemed everywhere I went there were line-ups.

I stopped in at the clothing shop as well. In my mind (because I haven’t actually started packing) I knew what I was going to take – some sweaters and scarves, and a couple of pairs of dress pants. When Pat and I looked at the weather and realized how warm it was going to be I decided I needed a couple of blouses to replace the sweaters. I found a few on sale but most of her summer stock has been replaced with winter wear.

While I stood in line at Quality Foods I spied a display of poppies. I put $5 in the bucket and picked a poppy. I know how bad I am about losing poppies so I pinned it to the inside of my bag, but the pin was sticking to the outside so I pinned it to my sweater (under my jacket). Less than half an hour later when I was home and taking off my jacket I’d already lost it! I shook out my coat but couldn’t find it; Pat checked the car and, fortunately, I’d lost it there. I don’t think I’ll take it to the States with me; I think they do a Memorial Day at a different time.

We leave for home on the morning after the time change so that will add another wrinkle in our plans. Not really a wrinkle I guess as Stacia and I are used to changing time but we’ll have to be sure any wake-up calls from the hotel are at the new time and not the old. Even though Deloise doesn’t change time I’m sure we can trust her to keep us on track; we’re depending on her not to lose us at the convention centre!

This afternoon I’ve been cutting fabric for my Farmer’s Wife quilt; I want to baste the pieces while I’m on the bus, the ferries, the plane and in the evenings in the hotel. The basting goes quite quickly and I’m sure I have more than enough for the return trip. I’ve also added a bit of cross stitch into the mix – the charms for the Advent Calendar.

Now I must get busy packing. I’m also hoping to finish my monster book tonight so I can take some lighter material with me tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

We had a full house for our concert last night. We try to limit our numbers to 30 but one or two regulars were added to the list at the last minute. When we set up our chairs we were at 32 so still not too bad. As the time for the show got near we had to add a couple more chairs which seemed odd but we assumed we had miscounted when we set them up. It wasn’t until Pat and our performers were sorting out the money that we realized there were two people who had paid but hadn’t been added to the list. It was only by good luck we realized this as one of the unaccounted-for guests knew the performers’ mother. When they were trying to find her name I remembered that I had sold them their tickets at the Mary Flower concert and Pat had neglected to add their names to the list. Mystery solved and it was an exceptionally full house. We’re already at 26 people for our November concert; it is nice when these things just sell themselves.

Our performers generally leave on the noon ferry but the girls wanted to spend a bit of time in Courtenay on the way to their next show so they caught the 8:00 AM ferry. It was an early morning for all of us, but it did give us the whole day for ourselves. I’m filling my extra time by getting my office work done (I had to prepare for a Board meeting tonight anyway, as well as get the Guild blog written), getting several loads of laundry and dishes done, and I’ll go out for my flu shot this afternoon. I’m gradually getting everything sorted for our Houston trip – shopping list, vendor list, travel insurance and reservation list.

We’re off to a movie tonight after our Board meeting; we’re both tired but, as Pat says, it’s a good excuse to keep the meeting short (meeting at 5:30 and movie at 7:00).

And with any spare time I have I’m going to get back to some cross stitching.

Friday, October 28, 2016

It feels like I’ve been backstitching on this project for weeks, and I still have weeks left to do before it is finished.

If it didn’t make such a dramatic difference I’d be tempted to skip it.