Retreat - Day Two

Hmmm -- the landscape looks a wee bit different this morning.  We have SNOW! Not tons, but I see the owners of the property are out there shoveling the driveway and playing catch with their dog who is loving the snow! We knew it was going to snow as we heard weather advisories and warnings all day.  Remember the good old days when they didn't even forecast snow?  You could tell by the feel of the weather and the sky what was going to happen. Oh well!   Not only do we have snow, but the temperature has dropped significantly.  I do believe it's minus 13 C or something like that. Wind chill makes it a tad colder!

But I'm bundled up in the house and it's great.  I technically don't have to go anywhere today, but will likely venture out to Tim's.  Now, how Canadian is that? It's after 7 AM and it's still very quiet here.  Everyone must be hunkered down to keep warm! At least we have lots of quilts should we need them.

I decided that after my fiasco with the oatmeal yesterday that I would try the overnight soak.  Hmm - at least I have a lot of oatmeal to eat this morning. Cold but that's OK.  I have steel cut oatmeal and I put 1/2 cup with 1 cup of regular milk (1% - all that we have).  Left it overnight.  I don't have brown sugar or raisins or anything else that could have been added. The ratio was a tad off - I could have done with 3/4 milk to 1/2 cup of oatmeal as it's a bit watery or should I say milky?  And it could use a wee bit of flavor but it's chewy and it's actually not bad!  I might start taking that to work for breakfast!   I wonder if steel cut is better than rolled? 

I was very accomplished yesterday and very happy about that.  I started out with a quilt that I designed as a free download on the Northcott website. It had been sitting for a while with the panel cut out and some of the bits done, but really?  What would it take to finish?  So I whipped it up and was almost done by lunchtime.

Polar bear quilt

The collection (Polar Frost) has been archived as it's gone, but you may be able to find it in shops if you search on the product finder on this page on the Northcott site.   I don't see the pattern on the website either, it might have been removed once the collection was gone?  I'll get them to reload the pattern or I'll redo it in another collection.  It's cute and easy!

This collection is flannel so it will keep you nice and toasty!  The backing is made and so is the binding. If I had access to a long arm, I could be done before I go home!  But I digress!

Next up was another quilt that I had made using Northcott fabrics. Originally it was to go into a magazine.  While I was making it, I had a wee bit of a technical error.  OK - so plan B - I made "new" fabric to fix the cutting problem, but still not 100% happy with it. So I decided at the ninth hour to remake the quilt entirely. Thankfully it's not complicated.  I was working on a deadline on the weekend and didn't have enough fabric so I had to take some fabric from the original quilt to finish the good one.  Fixed my technical error and I was good to go. I have now finished the top of the original one. Still not happy with the fix, BUT as I was working on it, I figured out how to disguise the error. I don't have the fabric that I need with me. I went ahead and put the borders on and made the binding.  I'll just rip out the section I don't like and replace it when I get home.  It's different from the magazine one. I'll post pictures once the original one gets published.  And that was project number two!

I had brought three quilts and three labels that needed to be sewn on.  I got the labels all prepped and pinned on and put the quilts and my sewing supplies on my chair where we eat.  After dinner, while chatting, I managed to get TWO labels sewn on.  I should be able to finish the other quilt tonight and I want to hand stitch the binding corners (of the quilt I worked on the first night) because the quilt is supposed to be loved so I want those binding corners to be very secure.

My finished project bag is getting full and I can't wait to run it out to the car!  I kept one of the quilts that I put the label on for my bed just to keep me toasty even though there are tons of quilts here.

The third project also has borders.  In fact, it's a panel with JUST borders around it. A lot of borders. I've broken all my own retreat rules.  Have EVERYTHING CUT and PREPPED.  Nope - I've been cutting borders.  Do NOT put borders on as there is not a lot of room. Well, I just take over the cutting mat/table when no one is around and it's actually worked out just fine. None of these quilts are too huge and the first one (the Polar bear one) didn't really need to be measured.  I think there are about 10 borders on the quilt and I'm down to the last two.  One needs to be fussy cut and the last one is already cut.  I should make quick work of that once I finish the blog this morning.

I still have loads of work to do, but I didn't bring tons of bags - I guess the projects are smaller? 

On that note, I see my sewing buddy (Ronda - we're sewing together in the dining room) is up.  She has trimmed the wick of the candle that we have in our room so it smells wonderful in there. Not that the house smells, it's just nice to have a candle. The candle came from a discussion we had about how frequently she uses candles at home.  Who knew that people actually used candles??  I have tons of them at home and I don't think I've ever finished one!!   YES - we have carefully placed the candle away from all fabric - it's sitting on the mantle of the fireplace and YES - we made sure it was out when we weren't in the room.

Have a super day!!!!!  And if you ever get the opportunity to go to a sewing retreat - say YES!!!!  It's a ton of fun.

Ciao!!!!