This is why we have a design wall (and why things go missing)

Yesterday was a fun day!   It was time for the classes (Quilter's Garden Patch and Kaleidoscope) to check in.  I think there's going to be some pretty amazing show n tell in November.  I can hardly wait for that!  I will attempt to post some of the pictures later this week.

Then machine quilting.  It's one of my favorite classes to teach. It's such a great feeling when you see the students have that AHA moment, especially with free motion quilting. They all think it's something unattainable, but then they see how easy it is and well - it's great.  But it's a busy class and no downtime at all.

I got home around five and the real meat of the day began. I was cutting and trimming and sewing and cutting and trimming and sewing. I did that for 5 hours!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any of the trimming done during the day so it all had to be done last night.  That would be 576 little trims and let's not forget the pressing. Yikes!!!  Let's sew the first piece on, which was a partial seam - that's a pain to be sure when you're in a hurry! Only 36 of those.  In total, I managed to get all the centers together - 36 of them.  Round two also involved a partial seam. Twelve of 36 blocks are done and on the design wall.  The remaining 24 blocks are in various stages of completion.

I'm thinking I might have to make a couple more of the trimmed components as I have a few pieces left over. I haven't counted yet and will wait to see how many completed blocks I have.  It won't take to make the two missing components and sew those last two blocks together if, in fact, that's what I'm missing.

Now here's the thing. Last night I put two completed blocks on the design wall with a wee bit of white space between them so the sashing could be added later.  Hmmm - I'm liking it with the white sashing, but alas that is NOT what I submitted.  I had brought home two fabrics - the original choice and another one which I thought blended better. I put both of them up last night, took pictures. When I went down this morning, I'm NOT liking the new one that I thought would work and it took me forever to choose that one!   So I'm back to the original one that was submitted on the design.  Do I like the white better?  I'm not sure, but this sashing sure livens up the quilt!  

Here's the thing - it's Sunday. No access to any different fabric, can't use my stash and I have enough of the original one so let's stick with Plan A!   I think it will look just fine.  But without a design wall, it would be very hard to see exactly what is happening.  This quilt makes me happy!   So after we're back from the dog park, I'm hoping one more hour?  will be enough to finish the remaining block even with that nasty partial seam. Then cut the sashing and load on the long arm!  This one is getting an overall design so I hope to be done this afternoon so I can move onto the next one!   Yikes!  No pressure!

Always trying to think ahead, as I came home yesterday from class and sort of unpacked, I decided that I need to sort of pack for the retreat as I will not have any time (or much time) to do so when I get back.  I grabbed my laundry basket and what do you think?  Is this allowed???

Laundry basket of retreat projects

I literally grabbed stuff that was hanging around!   Some of it needs to be prepped. I don't think any of it is on the UFO list for this year!  But I think I'm going to be wanting to work on mindless projects. Stuff that doesn't matter especially after the run that I've had lately!

I'll probably throw some other stuff in as well, but at least I'll have something to sew while I'm away!  Or at the very least, it'll get prepped while I'm at the retreat for the next retreat!

Now, this is how things go missing in your house.  I went to put the girls outside this morning and noticed this at the back door.

AHA - a camera randomly placed

It would appear that I was taking photos yesterday and now I remember why which Lexi will explain in the next day or so.  But apparently, I randomly set the camera on the leaf blower - yes - there is a brand new leaf blower sitting in my kitchen and has been for - well a while!  Who has time to blow the leaves away?  And besides, the girls don't leave any leaves unturned so not really much to blow away!   The idea was to blow the leaves off the deck and since that hasn't happened in a while, I can't imagine that I'm going to get it done this season either.   But I could move the leaf blower to the shed at least!

Now for those of you who know the story about me and the tractor quilts, here's something for a good laugh. And if you don't know about the tractor quilts, you can check out the tractor tag on the right-hand side of the blog - you have to scroll down - it's in alphabetical order.  Believe it or not, there are 17 posts about the tractor quilts!!!   You can take the girl off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the girl!

So thanks to Marilyn and Lois who thought of me on their trip out west and brought home this lovely souvenir for me!!!   It's a tray for dip and chips (or veggies), but I'm thinking it could be used for chocolate and other goodies!      Thanks for the dish.  I love it!!!   And who would imagine that such a thing exists???  when is the next potluck???   Guess what I'm taking?   This tray will be the talk of the table and no one will dispute which dish is mine!

John Deere chip and dip platter

On that note, I''m out of here.  The whining and crying is getting very annoying. I think the girls are trying to tell me something!They are so impatient!!!

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!