Wednesday, August 31, 2022

I’ve had quite a productive day – the first in a long time. It was either do some housework or some yard work after breakfast and I decided on yard work. I wanted to test out the new tool we bought at Lee Valley. What a find that was! I did both sides of the patio as well as weeded one of the side beds and was done by 10:30. I started at 7:30 so it still took some time but I don’t think I’ve ever accomplished that much in so little time. Now that the patio is done I’ll have to get to work on some of the other beds. Much to my surprise I don’t mind not having the fence. What I’ve notice most is that no one really looks into the yard – whether driving or walking by.

Since lunch I’ve finished the table topper I started at last Thursday’s sewing. I didn’t get it done yesterday because I started to feel quite sick late in the afternoon. I lay down for several hours before taking a Covid test which turned out negative. We sat outside in the cool air until my regular bed time and I was happy to have managed a good sleep. I also got two more table runners (different patterns) ready for stitching tomorrow.

I have a Zoom meeting tonight to help someone on the Board with the monthly newsletter. She has just purchased a Mac and so is having to learn a lot of new programs. At least now that she is on a Mac she can use the same template that I’ve been using; I just have to walk her through how she makes the changes.

I’m off now to wind some bobbins and then I’ll see if I can “fix” that English paper-pieced card – that is if I can find it. I don’t see it on the top of any of my surfaces so I guess I’ll have to dig. If I don’t find it I have another quilt top laid out on the floor that I could start putting together.

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

We had a lovely weekend in Victoria. We were in no rush to get there so we took the scenic route down the island. We were right on time to check into our B & B and then we headed out to do a little shopping. The mall that was closest to our accommodation had both a music store and a Michaels so we were set. Pat found a guitar that he really liked and I hope he doesn’t regret not bringing it home with him. I went into Michaels and pretty much turned right around and walked out; the store was messy and cluttered and I just didn’t want to spend any time in it. There was, however, a Fabricland right next door and I was able to pick up a metre of fabric (on sale) for a project I’m working on. When I walked back to the music shop I found a Cobb’s Bread, a wine shop and a market.

After dinner at Milestones (in the same mall) we went shopping again. Cobb’s Bread was disappointing; it was the end of the day and they were sold out of a lot of things. We picked up a few things in the market before Pat did a thorough walk-about in the wine store. He came home with what he says is a great bottle of wine.

More shopping on Saturday – Costco, Lee Valley and new shoes for both Pat and I. There were also bags of tea and books that came home with us. We had a good dinner at one of the restaurants we like but we both agreed that we weren’t as happy this time as we have been in the past. It was still good, but we’ll likely give it a miss the next time.

Sunday morning we went out to Butchart Gardens. Of course everything was absolutely beautiful and even though there was a large crowd we didn’t feel cramped. We were able to find lots of shady spots where we could just sit and enjoy the environment. We had an early dinner at another of our favourite restaurants and this time we were not disappointed. I had a really nice drink before dinner and I’m going to try and recreate it at home – cranberry lemonade with limoncello. In the evening, Pat performed at the Victoria Folk Music Society’s weekly Open Mic and he was very well received.

It was another long drive home on Monday but again we did the scenic route most of the way. We decided to drive to Campbell River for lunch but were disappointed that the fish and chip spot on the pier was closed on Mondays. We found a White Spot and had lunch but we were worried we were cutting it close for the 3:15 ferry. We had no trouble getting on the ferry, unlike the half-dozen cars that were left behind.

I did my unpacking this morning and headed out to the Guild sewing bee a bit late. Since I was only doing some hand sewing I decided to walk. It isn’t far but it is a hot day and I was ready to sit at both ends of the trip.

This afternoon, between answering and sending e-mails and telephone calls I’ve managed to get one set of borders onto the project I worked on at our Thursday session. The extra fabric I purchased is for this one so there is no excuse not to get it done right away.

Wednesday, September 24, 2022

My plan for the day was to get the borders attached to another quilt top. When I came upstairs my English Paper-Piecing card was wanting some attention so I started to work on it. I knew I was late getting it turned into a card but I still thought it was possible.

Several hours later the pieces still aren’t put together and it isn’t going to be possible to get it done and in the mail in time for an early September birthday. After coming to that realization I thought maybe I could go with one of my pre-pieced card tops but I’ve run out of energy and time.

I have a couple of things to do before my extended sewing session tomorrow. Maybe I can get that accomplished and at least have something done today.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

As usual there is never enough time in the day to get everything done that I have on my list. Yesterday was no different. I thought I could get a couple of quilt tops finished but by the end of the day I didn’t have even one done. I started a card but that also got set aside to finish another day.

When I got up this morning I didn’t feel my usual, “Oh boy, it’s a sewing day”. Although I had my bag packed for the day I wasn’t terribly interested in doing any of the things I’d packed so I decided to stay at home and work on something I did want to get done.

When I emptied my bin of orphan blocks and things I thought the Guild could use for Community Quilts I found a bag of hand-pieced stars that I brought home from the Guild a few years ago. Nobody wanted to tackle putting them together so, like the fool I am, I brought them home with me and hid them away. Yesterday I managed to get all the stars put together in a quilt top but it may have been a waste of time. There are some stains on the fabric that I’m hoping will come out in the wash, and some of the fabric is very, very thin. It isn’t good quality quilting fabric but it is old and, for the time, that may have been the best that was available. Finding a quarter-inch seam was almost impossible so I lost a lot of points. Today I added borders and I’ll set it aside again for sandwiching.

While I was putting the stars together I was using my postage stamp block as a leader and ender. I finished putting that block together today. This is the last one that I need for the September Reveal party.

I could have moved on to borders on another quilt top but instead I’ve started on the next clue for my summer mystery. I may even have time before supper to tackle the card that I have started.