Sunday, March 20, 2022

I was so good about staying on track with my task list until after lunch. I got all my computer work done relatively quickly; I even had time to clean out a file and do some shredding. I reconciled my bank accounts and, as I was getting rid of a bunch of receipts, I remembered a sewing project done with cash register receipts. So I saved them from the recycle and set them aside.

I finished the birthday project I was working on. It turned out well enough but I won’t hurry to make another one. It was an easy pattern to follow and except for one place where I had to do some reverse sewing it went together well. And, in truth, the portion I ripped out was actually right in the first place.

I got the top of my cutting table cleared off right after lunch while I waited for Pat’s Sunday Song Circle to start. My next task was supposed to be packing things up for Texada but did I do that? No, I tried out the idea of sewing with those receipts. It is messy but easy to do; another scrap project for the list. I’ll need to do a lot of shopping before I have a quilt done though.

Now, I’ll clean up the mess I’ve made (again) and get started on that packing.

Saturday, March 19, 2022

My paper-pieced card is finished; I’ll take it to Texada to hand stitch the binding. It wasn’t easy but the freezer paper method is so slick. There were six sections to the card and I ended up doing three of them twice – a misplaced colour in two of them and one piece that didn’t give me enough coverage. I was prepared this morning to start taking out my stitching when I realized, with the freezer paper, all I had to do was separate the pattern from my fabric and I was good to start over.

I cleared out one of the lower cupboards in the kitchen and moved the juicer and the mixer into it. That clears up a lot of counter space; I may never bend down to pull the mixer out again but that might be a good thing as we don’t need the baking products. I freed up some good plastic containers; once they were washed we stored a few items from another cupboard in them. I think we needed to contain those things because when Pat took a package out of the cupboard to see if it would fit in the container we had a bit of an avalanche.

I procrastinated as long as I could but I made a start on one of my birthday projects. It involves a zipper and zippers and I don’t get along. I had to check my machine manual to be sure I had the correct foot for sewing in zippers. So far it is going well and I’m on the last page of instructions. Dare I hope I’m over the worst part of it?

Friday, March 18, 2022

One of my decluttering tasks today was to clear off my cutting table. It was several layers deep in fabrics and patterns so instead of tackling that I decided to do some prep work for Texada projects.

I wanted to take the Guild’s blocks of the month; the first one was appliqué and once I had all the pieces cut out and attached to the background I decided to go ahead and do the appliqué stitching. I’ve grown used to (and don’t hate) doing appliqué on my small machine here but I wasn’t sure what the appliqué was like on the machine I have on Texada. It took very little time and the block is done and ready to hand in. The other two blocks had a lot of pieces but I have them cut, packaged and packed in my bin to take with me.

One of the other projects I wanted to take was That Fairy Tale Quilt. I knew one block was a real mess but I wasn’t sure how far I had managed to get in rebuilding it. I hadn’t gone far and it’s a good thing because two of the sides had to be taken off. Once that was repaired I moved on. I was careful to cut according to the directions but the pieces didn’t all fit together properly. When I looked at the block I had discarded I think I tried to make it work and that is probably the reason it didn’t.

I went online to see if I could find corrections for the quilt but I didn’t have any luck. What I did find was a second edition of the pattern “with correction errors on first edition”. I’ve sent a message to the designer (in Australia) to see if I can get the corrections without purchasing another pattern. Even if the response is negative I won’t buy another pattern; I’ll cross my fingers and hope I can make it work. This first error I ran into was an easy correction to the size of the piece that I needed to cut.

Once I had enough finished that I knew where I’d be starting from next time I packaged the fabric and pattern up and it is ready to go to Texada. I also threw in my scrappy project for the month although I don’t suppose I’ll have time to do much with it. That Fairy Tale Quilt is my focus.

I was lucky that it was an easy cleaning day and now I’m ready to start some paper piecing for a card.

Thursday, March 17, 2022

I started my morning by sorting through more scraps. I don’t think that 1.5” bin is getting any smaller. I hadn’t unpacked my sewing machine from Tuesday’s sewing and I didn’t want to dig it out only to have to pack it up for today’s session so I decided I’d get the cutting done for a couple of gifts I want to make. By the time I dug everything out Pat was up and about so I left it thinking I’d be back to it right away.

When I got back upstairs there was a message from the Guild which reminded me I should take the blocks of the month to Texada with me. I’m three behind so it seemed like a good time to catch up. I downloaded one of the patterns. Then I remembered I had finished a book last night (Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers) and that I should update my Goodreads list. Before updating my website I thought I should add my tablecloth, runner and calendar block so I stopped and took photos.

I realized I had to get the tablecloth package in the mail before we went to Texada if I wanted it to arrive in time. I got it wrapped and to the Post Office before sewing. I had a couple of other stops to make – the thrift store and the liquor store (not the day to be out of Jameson).

I thought I might get my Guild mystery top put together today but I’ll still have another week before it is done. It won’t be done-done but it will be together and ready for borders. I’ve already decided on my next “Thursday” project – putting together those scraps that I got from Jessie.

I’m back to my knitting tonight.