Feb 26, 2017
Whew, it’s been a busy week or so and it’s going to be busy for the next three weeks so I will have to try to slip a blog post in whenever I can. I have now started a second part-time job as well as the job at the Cloth Castle not to mention having more quilts to quilt as well. It’s all good though and things should slow down again by the end of the month so in the meantime it’s going to be a test of my time-management skills.
I just recently decided to purchase a new camera. Now, one might wonder why since I have a camera I use on my phone as well as a very good DSLR camera. I love my DSLR camera but it is big and bulky and it works well for video and tripod shots but not so much for just a quick photo. The phone camera is OK for that type of thing but has it’s drawbacks so my partner Kevin and I discussed it and decided to bite the bullet and get a really good point and shoot camera that takes great pictures in low light, takes good video and has a super zoom. It’s nice and compact so I can take it on holidays with me (the countdown is on). It’s small enough to just slip in my bag but not so small I will lose it. This is all a good thing as I won’t be taking my phone with me on this trip. Now I just have to find the time to figure out how to use it before Mom and I head out on the high seas.
One thing that seems to have been coming up recently while working at The Cloth Castle is about ripping vs cutting cotton fabric and the straight of grain. At the Cloth Castle we cut the fabric as opposed to ripping it. Now this is fine except that if you take the fabric home and wash it, sometimes that fabric will go off-grain. I had two customers come into the store last week with pieces of fabric that they wanted to complain about as it was all askew and if they cut it like that they would loose too much fabric. I took a look at it and quickly assessed that there was nothing actually wrong with the piece it simply went off-grain when they washed it and a simple pull corner to corner put everything right.
This got me to thinking, (I know dangerous at the best of times), working with fabric straight of grain was a very basic sewing lesson in first year home EC, however this doesn’t seem to be taught anymore and both woman I talked to last week didn’t even know what I was talking about when I said that the fabric was simply off grain and I showed them how to fix it. So, how many quilters or other sewists out there these days know about fabric straight of grain and how to fix it?
I think this is important and will follow this post up with another this week (when I have a little more time) explaining how to get fabric back on grain.
So look for that post soon. Meanwhile I had two client quilt finishes this week.
You can’t really see the quilting in this quilt as the fabrics were very busy and I used Superior Threads Sew Fine 50 in both top and bottom. I did a different design in each of the borders and used a new circle template for one of the borders. It turned out really nice but as mentioned the quilting didn’t show up in the pictures.
This was another client quilt about a queen size and she just wanted a simple design on it so I chose a simple loop de loop and star all over design done in Aurfil 50 thread in both the top and bobbin. Nothing fancy but it totally works for this particular style of quilt.
Our lives are like quilts – bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love.
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Feb 16, 2017
Ugh this time more than a week has gone by and I am finally getting the chance to sit down and write. In my defense I ended up really sick with the current flu/cold virus that has been circulating around the area. I decided to share and now my partner Kevin has been really sick as well. I can’t say he is particularly happy with me about that either. Oh well at least we are both on the mend now.
It’s a good thing I am on the mend too as life is getting busy and Mom informed me we only have 6 more weeks before the two of us take off for a cruise through the Panama Canal. Say what? How did that happen? We booked it back in September and it seemed so far away and now it’s only 6 weeks until we go! Oh no!! Better get at that too do list.
Last week with all of the snow and ice I ended up getting snowed in, not that it mattered much I was too sick to go anywhere anyway. I did manage to take the dog for a walk while it was still snowing so we could enjoy the fresh fallen snow. In Victoria we don’t actually get that opportunity too often as it rarely snows here.
The long arm business is picking up these days (yeah) with the help of the good people at The Cloth Castle. I am really enjoying working there. It is a much busier store than Satin Moon quilt shop was. I usually just have short shifts to cover lunch hours and the busy time so it works out very well. Luckily I didn’t have too many shifts last week as I wouldn’t have been able to make it so it all worked out well.
If you live in the Victoria area don’t forget to drop by the store and say hi and check out the bargain tower upstairs, there is some really beautiful quilting cottons upstairs at great prices (considering the price of fabric these days).
Monday was a holiday this week here in BC (Family Day) so I was able to finish quilting a client quilt. I am really happy with the way it turned out.
Here is a photo of the quilt before I quilted it.
This was a fun quilt to work on. I used Superior Threads So Fine 50 No 401 on both the top and in the bobbin for this one.
So now to finish up a little more computer work and then onto the next quilt on the frame.
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Feb 5, 2017
Well another week has gone by and again I am finally sitting down to do a blog post. I don’t know how these people who blog every day do it. Oh well.
It’s been a busy week for me as I had several deadlines to meet this week and then I heard from my sister that my nephew’s wife had gone into labour even though she was at least 1 month early. Well, that put plans into a tailspin. In a good way though.
My new great niece was born on Tuesday, January 31, 2017. My nephew and his wife named her Georgia Evelyn MacDonald. She weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and is a beauty (in my humble opinion).
This is my Mom’s first Great Grandchild and so she really wanted to go and be with the family. Mom and I live in Victoria BC which is located on Vancouver Island. My sister and her family live on the Mainland spread out to three areas, Port Moody, New Westminster and Mission BC. So anyway Mom and I made the trek over to the Mainland on Thursday to see the new arrival. I came back Friday morning because of the threat of snow and Mom stayed on to visit for a few more days.
It was so worth it. Georgia is simply beautiful. On Wednesday morning my sister woke to the alarm clock radio and the song that was playing was Georgia on my mind. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Proud parents Amanda and Grant MacDonald holding baby Georgia.
My nephew Grant holding baby Georgia. By the look on his face she already has him wrapped around her finger.
This picture is a little blurry sorry about that. It’s my Mom holding Georgia her first great grandchild with my sister Joyce looking on.
Finally me holding my great niece. She made my heart melt and I am so looking forward to getting to know her better.
I finished Georgia’s quilt Wednesday night so I could take it with me.
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