Monday 5 June 2023

Last Week

Last week saw the end of autumn and the official start to winter.  The crazy thing is that the first three days of June were the warmest we have had for quite a while, reaching 19 degrees C.  Whereas, May was way below average and even saw snow on the surrounding hills.

We actually stayed home last week.  That was a bit of a change.  Having said that, I went to my two stitching groups and we went to lawn bowls on two afternoons.  We have only been going to lessons and having a practice by ourselves one afternoon, but will probably start playing social bowls this week, as we gain some confidence.

My progress with my stitching was a bit all over the place.
I have worked on my little cross stitch book mark, both at home and at my stitching morning.  It is surprising how long the back stitch takes.  I should have it finished this week - I hope.
At my patchwork group I continued to work on the Dresden fans for one of the borders of my Blue Quilt.  I have the circle stitched down on half of the fans.  Only another 16 to go.  The bottom half of the circles will be cut off once they are appliquéd to the border.
I have cast on another knitting project.  It will be a beanie, using the remaining two and a bit balls of wool left from knitting the cowl.  Hopefully, this will be a fairly quick project.
Wednesday saw the release of the first of six instalments of the Laundry Basket Quilts Spring Mystery.  As a result of seeing it, I decided that I needed to add some greens to my fabric pull.
I had the eight blocks completed on Wednesday evening.  The fabrics used in the suggested colours in the blocks are determined primarily by the size of the scrap in my stash.  There is next to nothing left of the green on the smaller block,  That’s a great outcome.  Hopefully, this quilt will be made entirely from stash. I’m looking forward to next Wednesday, for the next reveal.
I managed to once again complete my 15 minutes of stitching each day, which I am really pleased with.

15 minutes day/week = 7
15 minutes day/May = 31/31
15 minutes day/June = 3/3
15 minutes day/2023 =  143/154
Success rate - 92.29%

I figured out that if I complete 15 minutes each day for 30 days, it comes to 450 minutes, which equates to 7 1/2 hours.  Not bad for very little effort.  Of course, on several of those days it ends up being a few hours, which is a nice bonus.
Other than that, there isn’t a lot to report.
I did make some fresh popcorn for the first time ever.  I can’t believe it is something that we’ve never tried.  Mind you, Mick doesn’t like cinema popcorn or the smell, so that probably has a lot to do with it.  We sprinkled it with a tiny bit of icing sugar and cinnamon and really liked the results.  Even Mick liked it. A nice  quick and easy snack to make occasionally.
Finally, we had a garage sale on Saturday.  Mick was tidying his shed and wanted to clear some stuff out.  We then went to our garage and unpacked some boxes of “stuff” that has been there for a long time.  I had lots of duplicates of my green depression glass and other bits and bobs.  It was very successful, giving us more room and removing excess from our lives.

After that, we were ready to have a nice lazy start to the new week.

11 comments:

Jeanette said...

The book mark looks great. Now i'm curious about the mystery quilt, i really didn't need another project. :). oh wish i lived closer as i would have loved some of that green depression glassware.

Ali Honey said...

I rather like the green glass. I do understand the need to get rid of things not being used.

dq said...

I love your fabric pull for your mystery. Mysteries are so much fun!
Your 15 minutes to stitch percentage is wonderful!

Maria said...

You’ve picked a great pile of fabrics for the Mystery. I’ve decided to give it a miss as I’d have to buy fabrics for it. Look forward to watching you.
That’s a lot of treasures in your garage sale.
Popcorn looks delicious.

cityquilter grace said...

ooh some lovely yard sale stuff...i avoid thrift stores as i am an easy mark to pick up pretties like those...i make my own popcorn as well..it is surprisingly quick...blue quilt coming along nicely!

Kate said...

You had a very productive week with a bit of all kinds of stitching stuff. The 15 minute sessions do add up if you are consistent. When I was working and had a kiddo at home, often that was all the stitching time I had each week. You've done really well at being consistent!

loulee said...

Glad the garage sale went well. It looks like you've been sewing up a storm. Go you.

Fiona said...

Lovely fabrics for your new quilt... it will look lovely.
Hugz

Michelle Ridgway said...

Love your bookmark....wish I lived closer for that garage sale lol!

ellen said...

You have some lovely projects going on Janice! Don't those colourful knitting needles feel great in the hands? ;)

jude's page said...

Some lovely fabrics for your mystery quilt. My mum used to grow the seeds for popcorn, was a lot of fun cooking it in the saucepan and listening to them pop on the lid