Monday sewing

Hey - it's a great day! Yesterday was a great day - it was Monday sewing. I got loads done. I don't have to go anywhere for most of today and I'm making amazing progress on my stuff! I'm happy!!!!

I got to Monday sewing and Lynn and Diane were already set up and sewing. It's very hard to get there before the two of them. But with only three of us in the room, it's easy to work on big stuff. I took advantage of that opportunity.

Here's what I worked on. First - I should say that I had to make several trips to the car during the day to put stuff in and then to get more stuff to work on. Oh - and we had a visitor yesterday. Mary V came to see us. Mary used to sew with us and has now moved to the other side of the city. Mary brought me a present which I'll share with you tomorrow. Don't worry - I gave Mary a present back so it was more like a swap. It was great to see you, Mary!!!!!  We miss you! It's nice to be able to keep in touch with all the people that have moved away via Facebook, so I don't feel like we were out of touch!

This is a pile of stuff that I brought down to the studio. Everything is sorted and for the most part - it's put away.

A stack of stuff I worked on at Monday sewing

Not sure if anyone remembers the Kaleidoscope quilt that we worked on last year as a year-long project. Well, that quilt was on my list of quilts to get finished this year. At least so it could go in the "to be quilted" pile.

Here's a picture to refresh your memory. The quilt is called Kaleidoscope by Quilt Addicts Anonymous. It was our Block of the Month (or $10 quilt) last year at The Hobby Horse. As I was scrolling through my previous blog posts, I see that I worked on this quilt at a lot of different places.

Kaleidoscope

It's a very large quilt and I wasn't sure that I wanted another huge quilt. So this is what I did with it. We had discussed this option in the class as well but I'm not sure how many went for it.

I did the center medallion up to that big black border. Notice that I nixed the yellow in the last border as well. Then I called it quits on that part. Here's my center medallion - it's been done for a long time. Now the backing and the binding are finished.

Center medallion of the Kaleidoscope quilt

This medallion measures about 66" square - that's large enough for a nice wall hanging or a lap quilt.

Binding and backing for the center medallion of the Kaleidoscope quilt

Then I took the four corners, which have been assembled for a long time as well. Actually, I think I finished them at the retreat back in March or April. Those four pieces have been tossed around the studio and I believe there was a picture of Little Bear sleeping on the pieces.

Bear sleeping on the Kaleidoscope quilt top

Anyway, I took the four pieces and rotated them and sewed them together to get this quilt. I then added a 6" border of black. The darn thing measures 80" square!!!!  Big enough for a bed quilt or at least a good topper.

The second "half" of the Kaleidoscope quilt

And thanks to my efficiency yesterday, the backing and the binding are also done. I should mention that the binding was made at the retreat this past weekend.

Second Kaleidoscope quilt - backing, binding and top

 I was just warming up by then!!!!  I prepped the backing for the scrappy quilt that I finished at the retreat. And I joined enough of the scrappy binding pieces to get the binding. Another one ready for the "to be quilted" pile.

Scrappy quilt number 2 is ready to be quilted

Just in case you have forgotten what the quilt looked like, here's the picture from yesterday.

Scrappy quilt number two

While I was on a roll and had all that space, I made the backing and the binding for the scrappy quilt number three. It looks identical to the one above but will have a much scrappier border.

The backing and binding for scrappy leaf quilt number three

Phew - that was a lot of bindings and backings, but it felt good to get that out of the way. I crossed the Kaleidoscope quilt off my list of UFOs for the year. Yeah!!!!  And once I get this last border on the scrappy quilts - I can cross that off the UFO list as well. I'm making progress, but I know that I won't get them all done before the end of the year.

I did get the second to last border on that last scrap quilt. That leaves only the heavily pieced one to add. I made good progress assembling the bits. I'll work on it again next week and perhaps I can finish it????

The last border for the scrappy quilt

While all this progress is a good thing, can you think of what's happening behind the scenes???


Yep - there's a chair piled high with quilts to be added to the "to be quilted" pile. I need to find a container to put them in and they need to be logged on the list. I have a sit n sew next week so I'd better make them disappear before then.

Quilts to be added to the "to be quilted" pile

Let's not forget that there's another chair in the room piled with quilts that need the bindings sewn on!

Quilts that need the binding sewn on!

Something really funny happened at the end of our Monday sewing day. Everyone was packing up at the end of the day. Everyone but Sheila and myself had left the room. Two of us, but three sewing machines on the floor. Hmm - that must have been Lynn who left her machine since she was the last one to leave before us. Nope - it was a Husqvarna, so that must be Jane's who left just seconds before Lynn. I ran outside to see Jane slowly driving out of the parking lot. I drop both machines (mine and the extra one - well - not really) and I start waving my arms. Jane didn't see me and drove away.

All the way home, I was thinking how I could get Jane's machine to her. When I got home, I brought the extra machine into the house. I thought I should have a peek to make sure it was Jane's Sapphire. Well, I got quite the chuckle when I realized that it was a Ruby. Now, who in our group has a Ruby? That would be Diane. The one who is running neck and neck with me to get projects done. She had to leave early and she packed up her machine and left it on the floor. She was so excited to get a glass of wine in her hand.  So now I have her machine. Hmm - how long can I keep it???

Anyway - we did get a good chuckle out of that.

This weekend is the craft sale at The Hobby Horse. There's going to be all kinds of awesome crafts for sale. Someone asked if they could have a preview of what I'm selling. I've dug out a bunch of stuff that I've made - there are pillows, bags, ornaments, journal covers and other stuff. It's going to be a great craft sale. Be sure to come out and pick up some Christmas gifts.

My stuff to prep for the craft sale

Ronda went to Salem, Massachesetts for Halloween. While she was there, she spotted this scarf for me.

An orange scarf with skulls

 Now I have an orange scarf with skulls and one with bicycles!!!  Thanks Ronda!


Tish, who is the rebel in our group, finished off this quilt yesterday. She had started it at the retreat. There's a pattern for the quilt. It's called Over and Down Under by Bonnie Sullivan. It takes a jelly roll of flannel - Woolies Flannel designed by Bonnie Sullivan for Maywood Studio. Our Tish worked it out on her own brain power!  Looks awesome. I still have this quilt to make and I'd better get my butt in gear, but Ronda and I want to make ours bigger! Of course!

Tish's flannel quilt

We share our Monday sewing room with a before and after school program. Their portion of the room seemed a wee bit tidier than usual and I was browsing the labels on some of the tubs. Oh boy - what the heck is this???

subitizing?????

Tish looked it up with Siri and Siri told us that it's the recognition of the number of something. There were flash cards in the box and our group passed!!!!  Here's a link to the official definition. Who knew there was a word for that!


On that note, I'd better get myself organized for the day. I'm quilting one of the magazine quilts and I should be done by lunch????  I pulled fabric this morning for another urgent quilt. More on that later - it's going to be equally neat.

Oh - I should mention that if you want the 12th issue of the "print" version of QUILTsocial magazine - it's now available. You can look at it online or you can download it (for free until November 30th) to your tablet. It's great and there's some super articles/projects in the magazine. A number of them are mine, including my flange binding instructions.

Now I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!

Retreat Day Five

It was so nice to wake up with the alarm at the retreat and not have to get up! However this morning when I woke up before the alarm, I did luxuriate in bed for fifteen minutes before the alarm went off, then I got up. Too much to do to just hang out in bed!

In the past, the last morning at the retreat was always a crazy morning with people getting ready to leave from the moment they got up. Now it's a very relaxed atmosphere.

I managed to get the final border on the second scrappy quilt. Yeah - two down and one to go.

Second scrappy quilt top - - DONE

This one has a piano key border. I took the picture at home, but it sure turned out dark. Not sure what happened there. Anyway - I'm happy with it. I pulled some fabric for a backing and that went into the Monday sewing bag.

I pulled out the scrappy binding tin. It's jammed with scraps. 

Scrappy binding tin

Normally, I don't dig to the bottom, but this time I did. Oh my - what memories. All those quilts that I've finished! There were a few fabrics that I didn't recognize. I even found some binding that matched some of the fabrics in the quilt! I got a chuckle out of that. So I dug to the bottom and I pulled a whole pile of binding scraps. I need to make two bindings so I pulled lots. I threw it all into a bag and it's all in the Monday sewing bag.

The bottom of the tin of binding bits

Despite what I took out, there's still lots left in the tin. This is what it looked like when I put it away last night. Of course, all those strips are now fluffed up so they take more room.

The binding tin when it got put away last night

Back to the retreat. When I pulled the third scrappy quilt from the sewing bag, I realized that it wasn't even completely together yet. Oh, shoot - so I finished putting the quilt top together and put the first border on. It was getting close to 11 at this point and I didn't really feel like working on the next two borders. So I quietly started to pack up. Next thing I knew, everyone was packed and gone. I was the last one in the house!  Now how did that happen?

The girls are getting very good about taking home what belongs to them, but I still threw some food away. Nothing much - the last of the frozen dessert, some parsley. Thanks for the bread crackers and the package of nuts. I kept those! Oh, and whose slippers got left in the foyer????

I had a good chat with my Dad on the way home. I have to laugh though. So I'm going to come right out and admit it so none of you can accuse me of this. The apple didn't fall far from the tree at our house. My Mom would find a new craft and sink her teeth into it - BIG TIME. She did that for many crafts. Fortunately for me - it was only one. Anyway - she has a basement full of stuff for ceramics. Paints, kilns, molds, greenware, finished goods. You name it - my Mom bought it in spades. It's been a few years since she did ceramics. We've been trying to get rid of it. After much discussion, a price was settled on and now to find a buyer to take it all. Finally, a buyer surfaced and after much delay, she and a couple of her sons arrived to pick up the stuff last weekend. Let's just say that they were a tad overwhelmed when they saw what was in the basement. They took the big stuff - the two kilns and some of the smaller stuff. They'll be back in the spring with lots more people to get more, but I doubt they will even make a dent in what's there. It's too overwhelming. It would appear that the woman who bought all the stuff isn't that familiar with ceramics and Dad overheard one of the sons say that she had no idea what she was getting into!

That's the same way our sewing rooms are (at least mine). It's so overwhelming to the uninitiated. But to me - it's home!!!! 

I'm going to blame this purchase (since I do not need anything more) on the girls at the retreat. They were at Thimbles and Things and saw Halloween fabric that was on sale. OH - I need more Halloween (like I need a hole in my head!). Anyway, this followed me home.

Halloween yardage and bicycle fabric

 And if that wasn't enough, I bought two charm packs of Halloween. This collection is so darn cute, but I surely do not need another Halloween quilt!!!

Halloween charm packs

 Here's my bolt of Hobbit fabric. It's perfect for a backing. I have loads of fabric for backings, but the price was right. I'm going to need a lot of fabric for all the backings I have to make.

Hobbit fabric

I unloaded the car when I got home and brought it all downstairs. Then the fun task of unpacking the bags. There were only two that really needed to be unpacked. The third one contained three of my UFO projects and it's going to stay as it until the project in my Monday sewing bag is finished. Then I'll pull out another one to work on. The end of the year is fast approaching and I'm not going to get the UFOs done again this year. But no worries, I'm making progress and those projects are NOT being forgotten. I'm very happy with the system. Next year, I'm going to spend my Monday's focusing on those UFOs.

I have almost everything put back in its place. I've found a home for all of the new stuff and I repacked the Monday sewing bag. I think I'll be doing backings for most of the day. I'm OK with that. I haven't had a chance to touch the stuff that I brought back from Houston. That'll have to wait until I get a few of the urgent projects done that need to be done.

Here are my favorite snips for sewing. If you don't have a pair of these, you should get a pair. I found them years ago and I love them. They are sharp, they are sturdy and they are cheap. I gave each of the retreat girls a pair. I have the snips all over the studio, but I can never seem to find a pair when I want them. I need a pair attached to my arm!

Best snips in the world!!!!!

Ronda was on a roll to make key fobs and she used some of my Letterpress fabric (by Northcott) to make mine. It's so cute and nice and sturdy with the Decor-Bond inside. Thanks, Ronda!!!  Thimbles and Things have some of the fabrics if you want it.

Key fob

I got loads more pictures, but that's all you get for today. It's Monday sewing and I need to get the girls out for their walk.

Other than unpacking when I got home, I really didn't do much else. I slept and I read. Bad me - because I shouldn't have done that. But that's what I felt like doing on my Sunday afternoon. Today it's pedal to the metal to get some serious work done!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Retreat - Day Four

It's the last day of the sewing retreat. Times seems to fly past when we're here, but after the last couple of weeks, I'm looking forward to getting home and trying to get into my normal routine. Especially on the eating part. It seems that I have to send out a reminder before every retreat about the desserts. We've eaten a LOT of rich desserts and I'm feeling it.

When I'm home, I feel like I want to drink only water - lots of water and eat fruits and veggies. For days!!!  But I've done not so badly on the eating - but way too much.

I finished my magazine quilt top yesterday and it turned out amazing. It was a little bit of a touch and go situation when it came to the last design to stitch out. I didn't think I was going to have enough thread which would have meant another trip to the quilt store, but I managed to eek out the design and have only a few yards to spare. Phew!!! I love when that happens.

I've been taking pictures of what the others have been working on and will try to post when I'm home. I've so much to post - not enough time or enough days. There's always something crazy on my schedule and I'm not sure why.

After I packed up that other quilt top (the binding and the backing are also done), it was time to move onto something else. I pulled out Kaleidoscope. I did something different with mine and the tops (yes - there are two of them) are done. The bindings are done. I had brought something for the backing, but I didn't like it so I'll dig something else out when I get home.

Then it was time to move onto the next project and rather than pull something from the car (there's a big bag with four projects - all UFOs that I didn't bring into the house). But I have my Monday bag with me and I pulled a project from there. I'm working on one of my UFOs. Those three darn scrap quilts. One top is ready for quilting - that was done a couple of weeks ago. I'm working on the second top and I just have the top and bottom borders to put one - two seams and that top will be done. The scrappy binding is at home and I'll make that tomorrow and I have to find something for the back. The third one needs a border and that'll take a wee bit of time to get that done.

But both the scrappy quilts and the Kaleidoscope are on that UFO list so all is good.

We had snow here yesterday. A fair amount of snow to be exact. I had to go to the quilt store to return the hoop I had borrowed and the roads were a wee bit treacherous. No - I haven't had time to get my snow tires on yet, but when I get home, I'll be making an appointment.

And I've become very good at maintaining a nice steady fire! I've earned my fire starter badge well as I started the wood stove again this morning. All is good!

On that note, I'm out of here. Got a wee bit more sewing to do and then will have lunch and head home after lunch. I'm sure the girls will be excited to know that Mom is going to be home for a while. No more major travel until next year. Yeah!!!!!!

But it means that I'll be hitting that studio as I have a lot of stuff that needs to be done in a very short period of time. I"m good with that - it's what I love to do and it's what I'm good at.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Retreat - Day Three

Have technology - will travel. It's all about the technology. I remember one day a couple of years ago when a couple of very uneducated business people in the industry told me that quilters were not technical. I think their thought process was that we cut up fabric, sew it on our treadle machines and that's the extent of our technological knowledge. Well - they are so wrong. I think that each of us here has at least two devices. A smart phone and a tablet or a laptop or a fancy embroidery machine or one of each!

And we know how to use them. We listen to audio books, we watch videos on-line and get ourselves educated on-line or we make those videos. Behind the scenes, we use powerful design and graphic software to create files that we can quilt out, stitch out or cut out. While there are people who will never be tech savvy, I would say that quilters are moving up the food chain in that area and heck - we're not far from the top!

Don't let anyone put the quilters down as not being tech savvy!!!

Having said that - I've been downloading files, resizing files, stitching them out and I'm still not done my quilt!!!!  I did some stitching and then put it on the wall and the scale was wrong. Too small for my liking. Then I realized that I hadn't brought a bigger hoop so off to the quilt shop where I was able to acquire a larger hoop that fit the Designer EPIC. Yeah for that. I'm down to stitching out a maximum of four motifs. I may only need two, but I may need four. I'm so visual that I'm not going to know until I get them on the wall.

I'm currently stitching number two right now and so far, it's looking awesome. I will have to stop soon as I running out of thread, fabric and stabilizer. So what I get this time is what I get. No redoing! I'm sure the others will be quite happy when I shut this machine down! I woke Susan up this morning as her bed is right over where the machine is sitting. Oops!

The others have been madly cranking out projects. It's been a very productive retreat for everyone - including myself even though it's been a slow go.

I taught a class on rope bowls yesterday morning and you should see what they have created! All of them turned out amazing!  I had a couple of extra coils of rope and those got sold and I see this morning that another bowl was made last night. I'll try to post the picture on Instagram and Facebook this morning.

I popped over to Fabricland yesterday and picked up a couple of things that were on sale and also something for Ronda. Then I was off to the used book store. One of my favorite places in Orillia - well besides the quilt shop and the retreat house. Hmm - I could move here. Anyway - I turned in my books that I had read and got a credit for them and then turned around and bought a whole bunch more!  I do not need any more books. That's it for buying until next April.

We had snow yesterday and my new boots performed beautifully - keeping my feet toasty warm. I'm sure on a very cold day that that won't be the case but in this weather - they are perfect. There's still snow on the ground this morning, but not a lot - nothing to worry about - let's put it that way.

I think that's it for today and besides, I'd better go and check the wood stove. I'm on fire starter duty this morning since not many others are up. I had no problems starting the fire, but we miss Paula who is our resident fire starter, but she only comes up once a year.

Have a great day!!!!!

Ciao!!

Retreat - Day Two

I'm on time this morning. I "sleep in" here until 6 AM. I'm usually awake at 5, but you know there's a certain luxury to lying in bed and realizing that technically you don't have to get up. That's a very nice feeling.

I made great progress on my project yesterday. The embroidery was mostly done and had been finished early in the morning except for a few missed bits that I had to do throughout the day. It's mostly sewn together - I'm finishing it up as we speak. And there's a bit more embroidery to do but I hope to be completely done by lunch. Well - maybe slightly after lunch since we have some plans for a couple of hours at 9 AM.

Oops - had to move to a new location as my battery on the laptop was almost done.

Anyway - let's say that I'm super excited about my quilt. It's EXACTLY as I envisioned it and I love that. Designing and making my own quilts has been a great exercise. One of my biggest problems is envisioning something in my head and then translating it to something real. I'm getting much better at it and I'm super excited about that.

Yep - we were out running around again yesterday. I think I've been to the quilt store three times in two days. Now how could that be possible? If you have never been to Thimbles and Things in Orillia, then you better get yourself to that store. It's a small store but packed with goodies. We all feel that same way and last night we were having a discussion about it. Here's what we concluded. Everything in the shop is current and desirable. Sue's amazing at picking the latest and greatest products. Her samples are up to date and showcase beautiful fabrics. She gets rid of "dead" stuff - hence the bolt of fabric that's in my car - but we won't talk about that. Bottom line - if you've never been - you should take a drive. Sue is super friendly and remembers everyone's name. She's accommodating as much as you would expect from a shop owner. We love her!

A couple of things to mention to you. Quilts at the Creek. Mark those dates on your calendar (July 27 and 28) and get signed up for the two workshops!  They sound super exciting and I signed up last night. I'm only going to take one and I can't wait! Well - a lot has to happen before then, but I'm signed up. Now I just need to remember that I signed up. Not like two years ago when I signed up twice for the same class. Not happening this time!  To get the description of the first workshop - click on the register box and you'll get the information. You can come out and see some amazing quilts, you can volunteer and take workshops.  It's going to be loads of fun. Mark those dates!!!!

Retreats are sew much fun!!! The weather has been pretty crappy - rain and cool but that's way better than snow and cold. It just means that we haven't been able to get out for a walk. I did wear my new rain boots yesterday and I'm loving that neoprene top. They are super comfortable and they were very warm as I wore them with no socks.

It's great to sit around at meal time and chat and catch up. There are some amazing projects being worked on here as well. I hope to get some pictures of some of them.

I'm sleeping like a log here. To bed a wee bit later than normal, but then as I said, I can laze around for a bit before I'm guilted (by myself) to get up and start sewing. This current project will be done today. I don't care if I don't go to bed, but it will be done!  A few more seams and the main part is done. Then adding a couple of borders - it's very doable for today.

Well, I'm a dolt. I moved to a new location so I could plug in the laptop which I did. But I forgot to connect the two parts of the cord so the laptop just went blank. Thank goodness for auto-save!

It's going to be short and sweet today - I'm teaching the group a class this morning on rope bowls so that's going to be super fun!!!  I wonder how much trouble I'm going to have with them? They are known trouble makers to be sure!

Before I go, check out the latest Cherrywood Challenge. Eight colors!!!  It's going to be an interesting one. Sign me up - where do I get the fabric??? I guess I'm going to have to go to Cotton Harvest Quilt Shop in Seaforth to get my challenge fabric. She has the challenge announced on her Facebook page so I'm guessing she will be selling the challenge bundle. This time - I'm starting early!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Quilt Retreat - Day One

Here we are at our favorite quilt retreat house. Fireside Retreat in Orillia.

After we got Bear safely off to the airport (he arrived safe and sound in case you're wondering), it was time to get home and pack the car for the retreat. I had packed the bags, but they needed to be loaded into the car. Then I was off.

The trip up was uneventful - just the way I like it. Everyone was very anxious to get started and when I arrived, most of the group had just arrived as well. I love their enthusiasm. Unpacked everything and set up the embroidery machine. I have a lot of embroidery to do and it was going to take some time. That silly machine ran for most of the day and I still wasn't able to finish. I was hoping I could, but that didn't happen. Of course, it didn't help that I had to make two trips to various places.

I was making chili for dinner and I didn't think that I had brought enough meat so off to the store for more meat and more tomatoes. The chili turned out amazing! Not too spicy but I brought the spices along in the event that someone wanted to put more in. Then once I had the embroidery machine set up, I thought I could get the other sewing machine set up so I could sew. I opened the lid to discover that there was no thread on the thing. Now how did that happen? I must have been using a decorative thread on that machine and took it off and did not replace it with piecing thread. So I was off to the quilt store to get thread.

I literally spent the entire day embroidering and piecing some blocks. It was after 10 PM when I shut everything down for the night and I was the last person (well, Ronda called it a night about the same time). That doesn't happen too often.

It would appear that in my rush to leave the house that I had forgotten to pack some pjs. Oh well - I managed.

Some of the group doesn't get to see each other very often as they have moved away so coming to the retreat is a great way to catch up. Now that I'm not chained to the embroidery machine (which makes a lot of noise), it'll be easier to keep track of what is going on in the house. I bet the girls in the other room were having conversations about Ronda and myself and we couldn't hear a thing they said!

The weather was icky yesterday. Rainy and wet. I had wanted to go for a walk, but there was no way I was going out in that weather. I did however find an amazing pair of rubber boots. One of the problems with rubber boots is that the top part is too narrow for my calves. The pair I found has soft neoprene from the ankle up. Now how convenient is that?  I love them and they were $50 at Joe Fresh. I wore them around this morning and they are perfect. They're supposed to be good for the cold weather which is exactly what I need. So far so good and I needed to replace my other ones as the back of one had split open.

I'm late with the blog this morning as it's now almost lunch! I wanted to get the rest of that embroidery out of the way and it is done!!!! 

On that note, I'd better get myself in gear and get that embroidery trimmed and sewn together!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!

My day off

Yesterday was supposed to be a day of getting things embroidered and sewn. However, I didn't even touch a sewing machine. Well other than to pack it up. I'm on my way to a sewing retreat this morning. I know - bad timing.

After the missed attempt at sending Bear home yesterday, I had to get to the vet so we could obtain a new health certificate so he could fly. Poor little guy - he was very out of sorts about the whole thing. I'm happy to report that he received a clean bill of health and as I write this, he's on his way from the cargo depot to the big plane that will take him home to Vancouver. His flight leaves at 7:15 AM. I think he's going to go crazy when he gets home. So will M. I kind of miss the little guy already. He was so darn cute and so fun and it was great entertainment to see what he would come up with next. Bye, bye Bear - we miss you already!

Bear and I spent a lot of time yesterday just hanging out and catching up on some sleep. Good grief - I was tired. Not only from getting up at a ridiculous time to get him to the airport which didn't work out but the travel day the day before as well. Not only did we go back to bed when we got back from the airport, but we had a long, long nap on the couch after lunch.

Then I had to get up because I was teaching a class. It was the second session of teaching the nine-year-old and her dad how to sew a dress. They had done their homework and it was well done. When the class was over, they just had to attach the skirt to the bodice and the ruffle to the skirt. So they still have a fair amount of homework to do. They didn't choose the easiest pattern for a total beginner. But they were making out just fine. Super excited to see the young ones take up sewing and this girl is going to go gangbusters. Now only on her own accord, but she has great parents (at least a great dad) to support her.

So that class was at Oh Look Fabric. If you have kids or know of kids who want to learn to sew, give the store a call and we can set something up. Even adults for that matter.

I'm making dinner tonight for the group at the retreat. My plan was to make the chili at home and take it with me. However, I sauteed the veggies and that was the extent of my cooking. I'll do the rest at the retreat right after lunch.

Thank goodness, I'm going by myself. I packed half of the car this morning and well, I still have the sewing machines (yes - taking two - one for embroidery and one for sewing). So I must get the rest of the car packed.

The winners of the International Quilter's Association quilt show were announced last night and here's a link to the winning quilts.  There are a couple of Canadians amongst the winners. I have to say that the pictures on the web do NOT do justice to the detail in these quilts. I did see most of the winners and I was certain that I had seen them all, but there are a couple that I don't recognize. And it's funny - there are some that I know I saw in person, but boy - they look different seeing them in a photograph. The level of detail and the workmanship are truly outstanding in all of these quilts.

As an FYI - I'll have some stuff to sell in an upcoming craft sale.  It takes place at The Hobby Horse on Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17. Be sure to mark those dates down. I'll be there for part of the day on Friday. There will be quilts, bags, runners, ornaments, and many other items. If you're in a panic about Christmas gifts, this is the place to be!!!

On that note, I'd better get the girls (no boy anymore) for their walk, finish loading the car and get myself off to the sewing retreat. I can't wait!!!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!