On Friday of last week (I only tell this because it pertains to the rest of the week) the thermostat was backlit in red and there was a message to call the contractor. We live in a small town in Nova Scotia - I love it here. But the town has a reputation for having contractors who say they'll be there sometime on Wednesday, and you wait around, and no one shows up. Our contractor said someone would be over in the afternoon AND he said the system was under warranty, and that it was likely a sensor.
It wasn't a sensor, but Ryan was here in the afternoon, figured out what was wrong and said that, although he was off on Monday, someone would be here. On Monday we got up before 8 am. (We tend to stay up late and sleep in - what the heck, we get lots of stuff done, just later in the day than everyone else!) So getting up before 8 am is a bit of a pain. Anyway, at 11 I called the contractor to see what time they thought they would be over. A hiccup. Ryan was off and someone had called in sick. BUT she would call me right back and let me know what was going on. And she did! Ryan had diagnosed the problem, they had the parts on hand and someone would come over on Tuesday to fix the system - and it would be all fixed by 5 pm. (I made one tactical error - I did not ask what time she thought Ryan would be back...)
Monday evening, I bit the bullet and finished the pattern I have been designing. I had been writing it for awhile, and I had plunked a zillion pictures in it - but it was 9 pages (NINE!) long without cutting directions, fabric requirements, cover page or directions for the pockets. So I took all the photos out, added directions for the zipper and printed it. Then I proofread it - fixed it up, and printed it again. Ta-dah! Here it is:
So Tuesday morning, we got up before 8 again. Beloved Dearly was in bed before midnight - but I had trouble going to sleep - and was still awake at 2 am. The alarm was not a welcome sound at 7:30!
On Tuesdays in the afternoon, my friend comes over and we quilt together. I try really, really hard to have some hand work to do - binding usually, but occasionally applique and sometimes knitting. Tuesday afternoon I didn't have anything to do though - so I did some cutting. I quilt by machine. My friend does a lot of applique and almost all of her quilting is by hand. One of my facebook friends had made a Ricky Tims Convergence. I have his book, which I love, and I had pulled 8 fat quarters - with the thought in mind that I would make 2 of them.
Here is the fabric for the first one: (By the time I took this picture I already had them cut into squares.)
Here is the fabric for the second one. Aren't they pretty?
At 3 pm on Tuesday, the phone rang, they would be here in a few minutes, was anyone going to be home? By 5 pm, our system was all fixed, I had reprogrammed the thermostat, and everything was wonderful. I had the BEST sleep Tuesday night - no worries! :-)
On Wednesday, I went over to my friend Freda's house and she drove us to New Glasgow where we went to Atlantic Fabrics - and she picked up the borders, sashing and binding for the quilt that she is making entirely by hand for her grandson! We went in to get green (this was her second trip there, she has anxiety about picking colours.), and came out with absolutely gorgeous blue!!
I love fabric stores. I try really hard not to get carried away! However, I found one piece I had to have!!! Here it is:
This picture does NOT do it justice. Sorry, I'll try to take another one. In the meantime, it is sort of green on this end, turns darker at the middle where it mixes with dark blue, which fades to light blue at the other end. It is absolutely gorgeous - and I had to have a little piece!!
Freda came over on Thursday evening, and I cut the fabric that we bought. She does traditional quilting - cuts with scissors, pieces by hand, quilts by hand!! She would like to have this quilt done by Christmas. I cut her sashing and borders (all 4 inches wide, all the same fabric) and then I cut her binding - which we sewed together with a mitred seam, and then we trimmed it, I pressed it, wrapped it around an empty toilet paper roll, and she was all set.
We had a discussion of hand quilting versus machine quilting. And I showed her some of the quilts I have ready for the Crestive Faft Market, and she asked me how I quilted those patterns on there. So I showed her. And I think the picture came out! I had a block ready for some class that I took or taught - who knows. So I stuck it in the machine, put on my white gloves and did this:
Fun anyway!! I think she is happy to do hers by hand!
I have the Hugs and Kisses quilt loaded on the frame - and we'll see how that goes on the weekend!
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