No Sew Sunday

It's been a good weekend! (Even though I didn't do any sewing.)


Hubby's brother and family came up for a visit on Friday evening, and took us out for dinner to a local place new to all of us called "Einstein's Cafe" to celebrate Hubby's Half-Century birthday.


Yesterday, we went out for breakfast, and had a little walk around the neighbourhood. In the afternoon, we took a drive in the country and visited Fergus and Orangeville.  Downtown Orangeville is very pretty. Lots of tea rooms, bakeries, book shops, thrift stores.  I'm surprised I'd never been there before!  Couldn't find a quilt store though (sigh).


Today we were just bums - - puttering around the apartment, doing this and that.  I've got a big week at work ahead of me - I don't think I have a single empty slot in my appointment book!  Tomorrow morning I'm doing a presentation for 40 people, and in the afternoon seeing two clients, and then two meetings to talk about the newest discussion paper from the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario. 


Now that I think about it - - I sort of DID do some sewing this weekend .  I did MENDING!!!  Itty Bitty needed a pocket on a hoodie fixed, and Hubby needed a pocket inside a jacket stitched back up.  EW!  MENDING!!!


Funny...doing nothing is so tiring!  I'd like to go to bed, but have to stay up to watch one of our favourite shows: Downton Abbey on PBS. We adore Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess Grantham!

Sunday Sewing

I've gotten the first of six strips for Shirt Stripe Boxes!


It's been a quiet weekend around here.  The snow has been almost constantly falling for two days, though nothing is sticking (thankfully!)  But the roads are slippery, and the blowing snow is annoying, so we've pretty much been shut-ins all weekend.

Guild Night!

I nearly forgot it was Guild Night! 



Virginia Ingleby was our guest speaker at tonight's meeting.  Virginia opened her own quilting store "Undercover Quilts and More” five years ago.  The store is located in a historic building in downtown Fergus.  I made sure to check with Virgnina directly about where in Fergus she was located, because I have tried looking for it before.  Should be pretty easy to find -- when there is a Tim Horton's reference in any directions, I'm there.


I took a few minutes at break time to check out the library -- LO AND BEHOLD!!!  I found the two books I've been desperate to find.


First up:





There is a quilt in this book that I have been admiring for months. I turn green with envy every time I open JulieKQuilts blog, and see this quilt in her header.


And next:





FINALLY!  The directions to finish the Shirt Stripes Boxes quilt.


My version will be twice as wide as the one in the book, and will be perfectly sized for our queen-sized bed (I hope)!

Quilting with my buddy

 Something about a sewing machine that has Gibson right up and in the thick of things.  I like to pretend he believes he's being helpful, but I know darn well he does it to be a pain in the ass --- much the same reasons as he does everything else,e.g. meow in my face at 4 a.m., leap at my legs as I walk by any piece of furniture he's hiding behind, stick his paw in my glass of milk, stand on the edge of the tub and watch me bathe, sit on the newspaper when I'm trying to read it, lick the antiperspirant off my armpit when I'm having a nap, etc.  But look at that face!  Awwwwwwwww


So I still haven't been able to get the Kaffe Fassett book from the library so I can finish my Shirt Stripes Boxes quilt. No matter -- not like I don't have anything else to work on.

A UFO came out of the cupboard

Hubby went back to work today, and Itty Bitty went back to University.  I had the whole day, and the whole place to myself (unless you count Gibby, and we probably should!).  I puttered around, ran the dust cloth around, and did some tidying.  And just as I planned...I finished the last 24 blocks for Shirt Stripe Boxes.  Now I have to borrow the book from the library again so I can figure out how to put it together!  

I had barely put a dent in the day, so I decided to pull out an old project to work away on.  I found a kit for a table runner that I bought a couple of years ago at a quilt show.  I had barely started it, because I had made a cutting mistake, and had to replace one of the fabrics.  Well, I found the fabric I needed, and got to work on the table runner pictured on the back cover of "Cottage Charms" Art To Heart - Nancy Halvorsen.

It's been awhile since I've done much appliqué, and I love all of the Art To Heart designs.

Thrifting in Guelph

I thought I was finally finished all of the blocks for my Shirt Stripe Boxes.  I pressed and squared up the last of my blocks last night and discovered that I'm 24 3.5" blocks short.  Just one more shirt!

So Hubby and I headed out bright and early this morning and hit a couple of thrift stores.  There's five thrift stores that I enjoy visiting when I'm in the neighbourhood. 

Bibles for Missions is almosty hyper-compulsively organized - big, bright, and spacious.  They price their items intelligently.  However, I haven't found anything really spectacular there myself.  Hubby on the other hand, bought a beautiful London Fog leather coat for $18 there a few weeks back.  Nothing today -- it was closed!

St. Vincent de Paul's is also well organized, although space becomes a little crowded in the back room.  Prices are good too.  I have been able to find a couple of things -- a gorgeous pair of grey and black plaid slacks (name brand) perfect for the office, and today I found a pair of jeans, and a couple of vintage aprons that I am going to cut up for quilts.  No shirts, so off to our next stop.

Goodwill is a big store out near the junction of 6 and 7.  Aisles are nice and wide, but the racks are too crowded to have a good look.  My arms are aching after a few minutes of pushing hangers apart.  The prices are very high (in my humble opinion).  I did find two really good quality cutter shirts, and a couple of books.  Hubby found a shirt for himself.

Value Village - I could spend hours here.  A little pricey, but the variety of items is very good, and the stock always seems fresh. I didn't see anything I couldn't live without today, but then I didn't really spend enough time to have a good look -- and I wasn't looking for anything either, so there was no challenge of a hunt.

We didn't make it to Salvation Army this morning.  It's a very well stocked store compared to other Sally Ann's I've shopped.  I've had good experiences with the staff.  Once, I was buying a piece of glass, which was marked $2.99, which I thought was fair, but when the clerk saw the price, she wondered aloud what the person was thinking when he/she priced it, and only charged me $.99.  Another time I was buying some cutter shirts, and the clerk gave me a sale price -- even though I didn't see any signage about sales anywhere.

No big plans for New Year's Eve for me and Hubby.  Itty Bitty is playing a gig in Brantford tonight - so we're on our own.  The neighbours have invited us down for a party, to which we should make a brief appearance.  Maybe I'll ring in the New Year by finishing those last 24 blocks!

Happy New Year!

I have been wishing away this holiday season - anxious to get back to work.  In fact, although the office has been closed this week, I actually went in for a couple of hours on Wednesday, and another few hours yesterday.  I took Itty Bitty with me, and put him to work doing some clerical jobs for me, and grunt work in general.  I can hardly wait to get back to work on Tuesday!



January will mean more time out of the office, and more time in the community.  I'm very excited about this opportunity!  I'll be spending Tuesday mornings at a local community centre which provides services and meals for people experiencing poverty, homelessness, and other inter-related issues.  People will be able to see me on a "drop-in" basis, and I will be able to connect them with the appropriate services, particularly legal services.