Tuesday, February 25, 2014

I can’t wait for Spring, and it isn’t just to get rid of this little bit of snow we’ve had the past few days. We have a Tassimo coffee system and I recycle the pods. The lids go into the foil recycle, the grounds go into the compost, and the plastic cup goes into the plastic recycle. I used to do these at the kitchen sink, but the last model of the machine we purchased leaves the pods too wet to easily separate. I find that doing them outside on the workbench, with the hose to run water through everything works well. Since last fall I’ve kept a big bin outside to hold the used pods. When I transfered the used pods from the kitchen today I noticed that the bin is almost full. I need a nice warm day so I can go out and play in the water without freezing my fingers to the bone. Surely this will be the last of the winter weather and I’ll get a day sometime in the next couple of weeks.

It was a busy day at the bee today. One of our members passed away just before Christmas and today the Executor of her estate offered her fabric and notions to the Guild at more than reasonable prices. I picked up several bundles of fabric. The bundles were all colour sorted so I have lots of blues, reds, yellows, oranges and greens for the Bingo quilt I want to make. I also picked up some brown fabric for the rugs Stacia, Deloise and I plan to make at our April sewing retreat. There were a few patterns that came home with me, a few magazines, some pens,  as well as a few other odds and ends. I’m not sure where I’m going to put it all; I guess I’ll have to do some rearranging.

With previewing the sale items, waiting for noon for the sale to start, and then shopping there wasn’t a lot of sewing time. I wanted to get the borders finished on my Lego quilt, and I wanted to do it at the Guild because I needed an extra lesson on mitring the corners. I managed to get three of the four corners done and I was pleased that some of the members were staying late so there shouldn’t have been any problem getting the fourth corner done.

I guess I was tired because on my first attempt at the last corner I cut one end too short so I had to take it back and add an extra piece. I was annoyed with myself but it isn’t the first mistake I’ve ever made. On the second attempt I did exactly the same thing, and the ladies within earshot got an earful! Fortunately they were surprised rather than shocked at my language. A third attempt couldn’t go wrong could it? Well yes, it could. After ripping the border back and adding an extra piece I realized I’d done all that work on the wrong end of the border. Clearly it was time to call it a day!

I’m looking forward to a relaxing evening that doesn’t involve mitred corners or piecing border strips!

Monday, February 24, 2014

I had trouble settling into a project today. In spite of the snow that continues to fall I had to make a trip out in it this morning. I stopped at a couple of shops on Marine, stopped at the Post Office, picked up a few groceries, picked up a prescription and then dropped my book off at the library. The streets were all clear, but this afternoon the snow seems to be building up on them. It is supposed to turn to rain tonight so I hope we’ll wake up to Spring (again) tomorrow.

I did a bit of prep work on some St. Patrick’s Day projects this afternoon but didn’t feel like doing any stitching on them. I want to use Ruby for them so I can’t take them to the bee tomorrow. I ended up sorting out a few details for a Bingo quilt pattern I want to make. I even tackled my scrap basket to see what I could find for 2.5″ squares in the right colours. I need to find something to do at the bee tomorrow before I quit for the day.

Last night I finished up the hat I was working on but I don’t like it so I’m going to rip it out and try something else. I managed to get the stitches cast on for another pair of socks. I find knitting so relaxing so I think that’s what I should switch to when my work is done.

Maybe I’m not meant to have four days off in a row!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

I know that no one will feel sorry for me, but we’ve had snow for the past two days. Yesterday there was snow in the morning, but it was all gone by the afternoon. Today the snow started this morning and, although a lot of it is melting as it hits the ground, it is still coming down. I’m so glad I’m on a stretch of four days where I don’t need to go anywhere.

I was looking forward to starting a new project today. Not exactly a new project, but a new one from my UFO pile. But first I needed to square up the blocks for the quilt I was working on yesterday. I generally have trouble getting blocks to square up to the proper size so I wasn’t surprised when I had to redo five of the blocks. Those five took me pretty much the rest of the day so nothing new was started.

I started knitting a toque and have it almost finished already. It isn’t fancy and doesn’t have a home but it uses up the last of my Craft yarn. I think there is enough left for a second one, and then I want to get back to work on another pair of socks.