Where do I start?

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

I’ve been away for so long I hardly know where to begin. But let’s start with my trip to Saskatoon.

I spent a day and a bit with Kathryn and crew – always fun to catch up with them even though I saw them just a short time ago. Kathryn and I made our usual trip to Michael’s – how is it that I came out with an armful and she didn’t purchase anything? From there we made our way to what is also becoming a “usual” for us – Sobey’s for groceries and Sobey’s for liquor (for the lake trip).

It is a very rare night when there are no activities on the Thomas’s calendar and I was lucky enough to hit one of them. We went out for dinner and Alex dressed up for the occasion in his new suit. Boy did he look good!

Next layover was at Deloise’s for her Guild’s quilt show. We attended the gala opening so had a chance for a sneak preview of all the beautiful quilts on display. Audrey and Jackie joined us so we were able to get in a lot of visiting. Between shopping and more quilt gazing the three of us worked a couple of shifts in the back office. On the last day of the show we attended Terry Rowland’s Trunk Show, did a bit of last-minute shopping and then headed out to Turtle Lake for a week of sewing.

As usual, Stacia took great care of us – wonderful meals and a great sewing set up. We worked on a couple of group projects before starting in on the piles of projects we had each packed. First up, for me, was my miniature quilt for the November meeting. As it turns out I’m going to miss that meeting but once it is quilted I’ll be way ahead for the February meeting.

Audrey mentioned to me that her microwave bowls were wearing out so since I was at the show I purchased everything I needed to make another set. And since I was making a set for her (that I sent home with Deloise) I made a set for myself. I’ll put them out for sale at the craft event Pat and I are attending; if they don’t sell I’ll have a set for Texada. I hadn’t packed my pattern for them but between the three of us we were able to wing it. I think they may be a bit small and if you find that too Audrey let me know and I’ll make you a set a bit larger.

I made starts on three different quilts. This was a project that I intended to make the last time we sewed together but I hadn’t read the pattern thoroughly and was missing some essential fabric. I’ve made a start (48 blocks done) but there is a long way to go (84 blocks when it is done). The printed fabric (called Farmer’s Daughter) and “Recipe Mix” were a gift from Deloise.

Next up were two projects I purchased at Quilt Canada 2018 in Vancouver (hard to believe we’ve already booked a hotel for Quilt Canada in Edmonton next year). I finished one row of That Fairy Tale Quilt – can you guess what fairy tale this represents?

After making the Farmer’s Wife Sampler and I’m a Farmer’s Daughter you’d think I was done with farming. But no, this is the top and bottom rows of a quilt called Farmhouse! There is a lot to go in the rows between but I really enjoyed putting this part together. The fabric here is also called Farmer’s Daughter.

I spent a couple more days at Kathryn’s before heading home. Kathryn and Dave were both out on the first night so the boys and I had tacos for supper (Kathryn had all the ingredients ready for us). On Sunday I was so happy to be able to catch one of Will’s hockey games. Will scored the first and final goals in a 5-5 tie. Did I mention that his first goal was a short-handed one?

It was a long travel day to get back home but it was nice to be home. I unpacked my suitcase and most of the contents shifted upstairs to my sewing room which was already a mess.

I’ll be back later …