Wednesday, April 26, 2022

I was out in the yard weeding again this morning. I never feel much like going out to the job but once I’m at it I can’t say I hate it. The alyssum and periwinkle seem to be doing well in their new spots and I have space cleared for a couple of clumps of heather. I completely tore out our euphorbia plant; it has been looking sadder and sadder the past couple of years and we decided it was time for it to go and make more room for the mock orange and honeysuckle. I saved these three viable stems to admire inside for a few days.

Pat trimmed a couple of bushes this morning and once I had my shower we headed down the hill for lunch. After lunch we headed back up the hill and wandered around the garden centre. We found the plants that we’d like to put in the yard but they were very expensive so we decided to try Canadian Tire. Their prices are a bit better but we didn’t make any purchases yet. I still have some weeding to do in some of the spots where these new plants will go. We need to replenish the soil in some of our pots and I didn’t want to buy anything until we took an inventory of how many pots we need to fill.

It was mid-afternoon before I got up to work in my sewing room. I finished another card top – two more to go in this batch. I’d like to get them out in the mail on Monday so I’ll keep at it tonight. Pat is doing a couple of online events and, since I had a big lunch, I don’t feel the need to stop for any supper.

Tuesday, April 25, 2022

After I went to bed last night I got thinking that maybe two Blocks of the Month weren’t enough to keep me busy for my day of sewing with the Guild. So I quickly found the pattern for the next block in my Happy Scrappy quilt. Again, having my scraps sorted by colour worked in my favour and I was able to have the block cut out in plenty of time to pack in my project bag.

I thought I’d be running late but it turned out that I had lots of time to repack my sewing bags. Last week I was lamenting to the ladies about how much stuff we needed to take each week and how many loads it took to get it from the car to the Legion and back again. Quite awhile ago I purchased a large project bag that I only used a few times. This morning before I left I managed to stuff everything I was taking with me into the one bag. I only needed one trip to carry it all; one hand for my sewing machine and one hand for my project bag.

I had the two Blocks of the Month almost done before lunch so I was glad that I took along something extra. I must have been half asleep when I was cutting my fabric because I had to trim a couple of the pieces; fortunately they were cut too large or I’d have had to quit sooner. I almost had the four scrappy blocks done when I realized I had stitched one of the pieces on backwards. Since the corners had been cut off there really was no way for me to reverse stitch and save it so I packed up and came home.

Because of my hurrying around this morning my sewing room is a mess so I should try to clean it up a bit before supper. I may even have time to fix that one piece on the one block.

Monday, April 25, 2022

I expected rain this morning and was looking forward to a full day in my sewing room. The sun was shining when I got up so, after walking up to the mail box, I started the yard work. I finished clearing the bed along the side of the house; the blueberries aren’t looking very good and I think we might have lost the red current. We’ll get some fertilizer and new soil on them and hope for the best. I pulled most of the weeds (there are always several small ones I miss), planted some sunflowers and transplanted some periwinkle.

I finished up about the time Pat finished his first online session of the day. We sat outside on the downstairs patio and had our coffee. It was nice to be out there but all we did was look at the yard and think about what needed to be transplanted to where and what needed to have a good trimming. We also found some spots where we’ll put in some colour – after talking about pansies this morning with the cousins I think I’ll be getting some of them.

I was able to get one card top done after lunch. I was paper piecing using the freezer-paper method and although I had a few issues the one pattern worked four times. When it was all done and I put the pieces together it was completely wrong. I went back to the book and convinced myself that the error was in the pattern and nothing I did. There was no way the four squares I made could turn into the four triangles in the photo.

Now that I’ve had another look at my paper-piecing pattern and the pattern in the book I realize they are different. I was making the Iowa Star but the picture I was looking at was Stars Above. I adjusted the fabric colours when I made the first top but now I wish that I’d done it more like the photo in the book (the right photo). I have a couple more to make so I’ll do them a bit differently than I originally planned.

With that mess behind me I cut out a couple of blocks for the Guild bee tomorrow. I’ll pack up my sewing machine and accessories before supper and then I’m going to work on my Peppermint Purple project (Pat has a long online session tonight).

Sunday, April 24, 2022

I finished my card this morning and got it ready for tomorrow’s mail. I did a bit of cleaning up and I should have started on my next round of cards but my Home Circle blocks were so close to being finished that I decided to finish them.

While I worked on them this afternoon I listened to an open mic that Pat was hosting. There were some good musicians in the group that played today. A few are Powell River folks but most were from the States and joined because of Pat’s participation in other open mics.

The blocks are finished now and I’ll take my pattern book downstairs to see exactly how these blocks are put together using the Circle of Nine technique.

I’m off to the Hall tonight as it is the monthly Coffee House. I’ll be selling memberships and tickets to upcoming shows.