Saturday, January 6, 2024

I decided I would devote most of the weekend to quilting. I started quilting this Community Quilt before we went to Texada. I left everything set up on my machine so I wouldn’t move on to anything else before it was done. I didn’t put the top together but I brought it home to quilt because I could see an easy quilting pattern to use on it. I’m about half-way done, although there are still some ends to bury and threads to trim off. I pulled out some binding from my stash but I’ll check in the Community Quilt bins first to see if they have something I could use and that might match one of the fabrics in the blocks.

I was hoping I might be done with my tablecloth but when I did the measurement last night I still have a couple more rows of squares to add. I’m still not sure how I’ll add in the squares that I have left from the original tablecloth that Mum started but I won’t worry about that until I have the base done.

I can’t stop thinking about the Stash Buster Challenge I’m doing this year. The photos show the blocks done in a variety of colours; I wanted to use my green scraps but thought it might look odd in one colour. This morning someone posted a few blocks done in green in the Facebook group and I really liked it. So that’s how I’ll be doing mine. I haven’t done any work on it yet other than pull a few green and neutral fabrics. I think this is what I’ll work on during our at-home retreat weekend at the end of the month.

Canucks are playing tonight and it is an early game. I’ll be able to stop quilting before I tire of the whole thing and I just might get another row done for the tablecloth.

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Look what happened while we were away!

The bulbs are up in two more of the containers, not counting the new garlic planting.

January 1, 2024

I made no resolutions last year and it turned out okay, and there was nothing to feel guilty about at the end of the year. I spent some time in the last days of 2023 to inventory most, not all, of the projects that I really would like to get done. Some have been started and I’d like to get them finished but some are just wishful thinking.

I’ll take part again in the monthly UFO quilting challenge. My chart last year showed three sections – piecing, quilting, and scrappy. As I look at the list from last year there were only 12 items that either disappeared from the list entirely (because they were finished) or moved forward to another list. I think this year I will stick to only one list but hope that each month I can accomplish a little more than the one item.

I have plenty of items to choose from but these are the ones that will go on my UFO chart. I look forward every month to see what my project will be.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

I didn’t make any resolutions for this year so there was no way I would miss my marks. Smart move on my part! I’m glad to see that I wasn’t entirely idle all year.

Books

35 books read. That surpasses the goal I set out in Goodreads.

Needlework/Knit/Crochet

8 projects finished but I’m not telling how many others were started!

Quilting

I finished 10 projects thanks, in the most part, to the monthly sewing sessions with Stacia and Deloise.

Cards

I cut down a lot on my birthday cards this year but I still managed to send off 52 cards. Many of those were Christmas cards that I sent, particularly to those whose birthdays I missed.

Postage

Someone once asked me how much I spend on postage because I’m ALWAYS at the post office. This year’s total is over $2,500, but I consider it money well-spent as it is the cost of living so far away from family. That is still less than the amount I spent on travel.