Busy week!

 It was another busy week! We spent some time with our two grandchildren and I also found time to participate a few stitching related endeavors.

Monday was our St. Paul Needleworkers annual Potluck and Stash Reallocation. The members of our group donate things from their own stash and then we get together and buy those items from one another. All of the money goes directly into our chapter’s fund. It was a horribly hot day with temps flirting with 100 degrees and dewpoints in the 80s. Still, we had a nice group that showed up. Some just shopped while others stayed for the potluck.

There were many bargains to be had and we all left with some new “treasures” to add to our own stash. You can see my new additions below. I found a chart I had somehow managed to misplace (I may have donated it to the stash reallocation in a previous year), along with several other fun things. You can never have too much in your stash!

I have been making progress on the baby quilt. I am currently quilting on the final side of the border. It is one of the long sides but I hope to have it finished by the end of the week. Then I’ll be able to get the binding done and that usually works up quickly.

In the evenings when my fingers are too sore to stitch, I’ve been reading one of my Kindle books. I picked it up for 99 cents.  It is The Stumpwork Robe by Prue Batten. I must say that it isn’t my usual genre of fiction. It’s a fantasy about an embroiderer who creates a beautiful stumpwork robe. Within the various stitches/motifs on the robe she hides pieces of a miniature book. The reader must find each piece in succession, use a “spell” to open it, and then read the next part of the story. I found the descriptions of the various stitched pieces very realistic, but the story itself was just okay. Again, I’m not much of a fantasy person. Those who enjoy that type of fiction give it rave reviews on Amazon. There is a second part to the story, The Last Stitch. I purchased this for 99 cents at the same time I bought the first book. At some point I will read it because the story was clearly left unfinished, but I’ll go back to reading my usual fiction for the time being.

Last night I heard some very sad news. Another one of our local quilt shops is closing. Silver Lane in Forest Lake is currently having a closing sale. If you are in the area you may want to stop by. I don’t expect the sale will last but a couple of days.