February 29, 2016

Does it feel like a bonus day to you?

The Crooked Brothers were a delight to have and they put on a great concert last night. The group is based out of Winnipeg and, of course, Pat and the group have lots of mutual friends. I never look for any connection between myself and our performers, but when I was chatting to one of them I mentioned that I grew up in Saskatchewan. He asked where and I said southwest of Saskatoon. I could see he was struggling a bit to place where that might be and he mentioned Beechy; from there we got to Elrose and Wartime. I know someone (Audrey I think) had a boyfriend from Beechy but there were no names that came to mind. He spent time at Clearwater Lake and, although I’m older (much older), he seemed to remember dances in the round hall.

We were up early this morning. A friend of the band came over from Comox with them so she was catching the 8:00 AM ferry back across. The band were headed the other way; they caught the ferry to go to Vancouver and from there up to Prince George. Since there were four guests and we could only accommodate three, a friend provided the extra bed. Everyone came to the house for breakfast but they were all gone by 8:30.

I got a good start on my sewing. I did up three blocks for my Temecula quilt along; they needed an extra block of the pattern I made last week, plus two more for this week.

I decided to do my Splendid Sampler blocks today as well. I often leave them for Tuesday bees, but didn’t feel in the mood to pull out and start anything larger. While I’ve been clearing and de-cluttering I came across a tutorial for an appliqué technique (Back-Basting Needle-Turning) that Deloise told me about. Since Block 4 required appliqué I decided to give it a try. It isn’t as easy as Steam-a-Seam but it is easier than the method I used on the large appliqué quilt I’ve already made. Except for one side, the appliqué is pretty much where it is supposed to be, and the little bit it is out doesn’t matter.

Again, on another trip a couple of years ago, Deloise convinced me to purchase a product called Perfect Circles. This block required appliqué circles so, since I was on a roll learning new techniques, I gave them a try. I distinctly remember not being convinced this product was something I would use but I totally get it now. Thank heavens I knew enough then to know that Deloise knew way more than I did! The circles were easy to do and ended up practically perfect! They still need to be hand stitched in place but that is an evening’s work.

For my final embellishment on the block I used one of my decorative stitches to add the stems and leaves.