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.

Sunday, August 21, 2022

I had some computer work to do this morning and I decided that I’d work my way around the room cleaning up what I could. I passed off a couple of Hall duties to another Board member and cleared away some paper and digital files that I/they won’t need any longer. I paid my bills, as well as the Hall’s and I did a bit of prep work for the Guild meeting coming up early in September.

To the left of my desk I had a pile of miscellaneous blocks as well as my postage stamp blocks. I picked out nine of the blocks and set them aside for my Circle of Nine demonstration. Then I trimmed up a few four patches that will eventually go into my postage stamp quilt and put all of that mess away.

I tackled my cutting board next. I cut out five more block of the month packages for the Guild, sorted through their bin of fabric and put it all neatly back in the bin. I was tempted to do a bit of sewing, and even stitched a few seams, before deciding that I needed some cards for the mail next week.

The cards I’m working on are English Paper Pieced and I’m in the midst of doing the prep work for them. My table topper is in my Tuesday bag for hand stitching and, if I get these cards sorted, I’ll add them to the bag.

Pat and I are going to Victoria on Friday for the weekend. Pat’s truck has been acting up and we decided it might be better to take my car instead. Pat drove it to Lund one evening and said he could barely see out the windshield because it was so dirty; he must not have as good eyesight as I do because I never found it to be a problem. Today he decided to wash the car windows. Before he was done he had vacuumed the floors, washed the dashboard and windows, and he even took it through the car wash. Aside from not being able to see well enough I think he was embarrassed to be seen in my messy car!

I’ll get back now to my paper-piecing.

Saturday, August 20, 2022

I’m not sure what got into me over the last couple of days but whatever it is I like it.

I was sorting through a bin yesterday looking for orphan blocks I could use for my Circle of Nine class, as well as samples I could use for the Guild’s reveal party. I found so much stuff in there that I can use elsewhere that the bin is now empty. The stuff, however, is scattered over the surfaces (including floors) of my two rooms.

One of the things I found in the bin was a number of One Block Wonder half blocks that I used in a wall hanging. Not all the blocks that I made fit in the project and I probably should have pitched them immediately. But yesterday it seemed like such a waste to throw them out so I made a small table topper for the deck on Texada. First thing this morning I quilted it and I have it ready to hand stitch the binding. It has turned out that the fabric I picked for the back will now be the front and the pieced part will be the back. Either way it is nice to have something to show for myself in such a short time.

I’ve moved on now to my summer mystery. I’ve been quite a bit behind in it but I’m almost finished Part 3 of 6. I decided to make this more of a priority as I’m sure that there will be a lot of them on display at the next Guild meeting. Since I wasn’t at the final party in June I never got to show the Guild mystery from last year that was designed by the same woman.

So, before I lose my mojo, I’m heading back to my sewing machine.

Friday, August 19, 2022

While we were in Panorama in June Ron was organizing a garage sale at the lake. Stacia asked if I wanted the old dipper from the well at home and I jumped at the chance to have it. As the days moved on Ron found other pots that he thought I might be interested in. Stacia assured me the pots were either Grandma Erickson’s or Great Grandma’s but that may have been a story in order to switch a few things from the garage sale pile to Sherry’s pile. I do remember both of the pots though so I’m assuming Mum used them for something while I was still living at home.

Today I put those old pots to new uses. One holds my fabric scraps that are waiting to be cut and sorted. Another one holds my mad money (note to my kids: don’t look for it in the cookie tin anymore). While we were at a quilt shop in Cranbrook they were displaying buttons in an old pot and what could be more perfect than the dipper to store my button collection (and it will be so much easier to grab them out for Rummoli).