On your mark, get set, go.....................

Who turned up the heat? I don't mind the heat, and no, we still haven't turned on the air conditioning. We like the fresh air in the house, so some of the windows are wide open. A strategically placed fan or two, and we're good to go. We eat outside, and I was out in the gazebo in the afternoon for a well-deserved nap.

The key is to stay out of the sun. I walk with the dogs earlier in the day, and I went for my evening walk a bit later than usual. Everything was good.

Sometimes, I wish I had a spare week. That would allow me time to get caught up with the deadlines, and then moving forward, I would stay up to date. Oh, seriously - that would never happen!! If I don't have a deadline, I won't get anything done.

The binding got made for the magazine quilt, and it got boxed up. The UPS truck picked it up after dinner. I do feel a little bit apprehensive about leaving the package on the front step for the driver to pick up. I could keep the package in the house, but these guys are pushed to the limit with their pick-ups and drop-offs, and I figure we're in a pretty safe neighborhood.

Waiting to be picked up

OH -- I just realized that I didn't put a sleeve on the quilt. Not even one pinned on. And it only occurred to me RIGHT NOW that I forgot that. The editor is going to kill me! Hopefully, they have a sleeve they can pin on.

So when I went to generate the label, I tried what my friend had suggested. He said to ship it via Canpar. Now I didn't think they shipped to the US, so I never tried them. Apparently, they are cheaper. Who delivers the Canpar packages to the US since they do not? They use UPS. However, when I went to their website to use the calculator, it didn't like the US postal code. So I wasn't able to make the comparison.

Let's just say that it is cheaper to ship from home, rather than go to the UPS store. I print the label off and tape it to the box. The truck comes by at some point to pick the package up. Super easy! I'll be doing that going forward. One positive thing that came from our current pandemic.

I can't believe the quilt sleeve never even crossed my mind. It's not that I thought of it and then forgot it - it just never once occurred to me. Oh well. It could be worse!

Here's a couple of pictures from the retreat that I haven't shared yet. This is a quilt that Ronda made. Talk about borders. The entire quilt is made with borders. She used a jelly roll, but half of the strips had to be cut down, so the quilt didn't become a square. Let's just say that it took a LOT of time to measure, cut, and pin. But the end result is gorgeous.

Ronda's quilt

These fabrics are shibori, but NOT the real thing. The patterns were created using shibori and then printed on the fabric. Here's some information on Debbie's latest shibori collection.   And here's a wee article about Debbie Maddy who is the designer.   I didn't realize she had designed so many collections.

So the other thing that happened at the retreat and I didn't talk about yet was a race. Sigh............  Why? I just ask myself - I HATE races. Someone challenged me to a race once - a jelly roll race. No, thank you. Why would one put themselves through this kind of stress? However, Ronda and Shelly decided to faceoff with squares for a sports-themed quilt.

Ronda happened to have TWO identical kits cut and ready to sew. Shelly took one, and Ronda took the other. They were in two separate rooms. They each had a different strategy for sewing it together. I did the running commentary, and I timed them. HEY - if they want to get all stressed out, that's fine - I'll egg them on, but I won't participate! I'm not stupid.

If we would have put money on the race, I think we all would have lost money! Oh yes, the seams had to be pressed. No sloppy sewing just because it was a race.

And after much cheering, a winner was declared. The time to assemble this quilt was FIFTY -THREE minutes. Seriously???  Now that's impressive. The winner??? Ronda!!!!

The winner's quilt top - Ronda

Now it was a good thing that she was the winner since it was her turn to make dinner. Dinner was 16 minutes late that night, so all in all, she did a great job.

Shelly wasn't far behind. Her top was assembled in 57 minutes. From the look on her face, I don't think she was too worried.

Shelly's quilt top

We tried to make it as fair as possible. Whenever either one of them needed to press, the rest of us stood far away from the pressing surfaces. None of us wanted to get in the way! And that was the only difference. Ronda had an ironing board, and Shelly had a small pressing surface. If they had switched their strategies and kept the same pressing surfaces, I think the outcome could have been different!!!

Anyway, it was fun, we all had a hoot cheering them on. That's it for stories from the retreat.


After the magazine quilt got put in the box, it was time to get back to work. I got this customer quilt done. Need to trim it later today.

Customer quilt - DONE

Then it was onto getting the homework completed for the Zoom class last night. These blocks are from Summer Moon. In total, there are 24 different blocks, but you make them in three different sizes for a total of 72 blocks.

Each size (small, medium, and large) gets a different frame around the block. Here are my large blocks with framing on two sides. I changed that from adding framing on four sides.

Large blocks of Summer Moon

Here are the medium blocks, and yes - all the framing is on those blocks as well.

The medium blocks

Here are the small blocks. They have a pieced frame on them. This is as much as we've done with the small framing so far.

The small blocks

This quilt is a LOT of work. The good news? I'm up to date. Yes - hard to believe. We're halfway through the blocks, and I'm up to date! I've got a bit of cutting on the framing pieces so they'll be ready to sew on as I make the rest of the blocks. Hopefully, I'll get that done later today.

But time marches on, and I'm now prepping the homework for the two online classes that are due today. NO - I'm not done either of the projects, but I'm working on it, and everything should go out before the end of the day.

I have one more presentation tonight that I postponed from last week. Then I should be caught up until the end of this month! The five projects are keeping me hopping, but so far, I've managed to keep up with all of them. It was easy - I just made them a priority!!

Plus, the commute to class is great, and I'm gaining a TON of time by not having to drive anywhere!

Here's a little cleaning tip for you. If you get all kinds of odd bits of dust, lint, and fabric on your cutting mat, it's a pain to remove. I use a kitchen scrub brush to take it off. Someone suggested last night that they use an old shower scrubber. Great idea!!!! But your cutting mat will be clear of debris, which isn't good to be running over with your cutter!!!

Scrub brush to clean the cutting mat

Well, that's it for today. Another totally crazy day and then - well, tomorrow is another day. I only concern myself with what I need to do today!

Have a super day!!!! Stay cool.

Ciao!!!