Fireside Retreat - Day Two

It was another very successful day at Fireside Retreat. I may not be getting loads done in terms of quantity, but it's the mindset that's important.

Actually, I didn't even turn my sewing machine on until AFTER lunch. Shocking! I went for a bike ride in the morning. I was going to wait because it was only 11 degrees Celcius in the morning. But then Ronda was out on her bike and well - if she can be out, then so can I!

It was a glorious ride. I decided to try out the rail trail (Uhthoff Trail) that runs very close to the house. Ronda had taken it into Orillia, and so I did as well, but I added a few KM to the other end. It's a beautiful trail.

There were a couple of new bridges over some gorgeous creeks and lots of different kinds of trees along the trail.

 A bridge on the rail trail

In all the time I've come to Orillia, I've never been to the waterfront. GASP!!!!  The trail leads right to the waterfront park. So I went all the way down. I thought this was an excellent opportunity for a photo. On the road to nowhere!

At the dock in downtown Orillia

A couple of kids were getting ready to fish when I was there.

Last time we were here, Claudette wanted to go down to the waterfront and just walk. That will be $50 to park!! Regardless of how long you stay. And there are signs EVERYWHERE - you need a RESIDENT permit to park, or you cough up the $50 IF you can find a non-resident parking spot.

Resident parking required

No BBQs are allowed, and there were signs everywhere about what you can and cannot do. I suggested to Claudette that she bring her bike next time and park somewhere along the bike path and then take her bike to the waterfront. She didn't bring her bike this time, but next time!!

I'll go out again this morning, but I might take the rail trail the other way. It's going to be boring, as I'll see nothing but trees, but it's kind of nice to not have to worry about the traffic.

Back at the retreat house and Lynn was working on an Everyday Market Bag. Look at how neat her work station is. Nothing else on there but her bag. Oh - how I wish!! I have stuff everywhere!

Lynn working on her tote bag

Here's a fancy stitch that she used on the top of the pocket. Hey - if you have decorative stitches, there are lots of places that you can use them.

Using decorative stitches on a pocket

Here's the finished bag. I love that fabric.

Lynn's tote bag

When I finally got back to the sewing machine (I was on lunch duty), I decided to continue working on my string pieced equilateral triangles. As I finished each one, I trimmed it as well using my 60-degree equilateral ruler.

Trimming the string pieced triangles

I hate to admit this, but I LOVE string piecing. I love getting down to the last few pieces and finding the right one for the ends of the points, whether you're working on triangles or squares or whatever shape. The idea is that as you trim off the ends of the strips you've sewn on, you keep these bits and use them for the shorter parts. This is the concept of string piecing that people don't get. But it's the best part! Ah - that's the pioneer spirit in me!

Using the bits for the points

 These are all the bits that were left over when I finished. Now that's efficient string piecing.

All the leftover small bits

 Did I save them? Of course, I did! I still have this many strings left. Honestly looks like I didn't touch the pile that I brought with me. I have a couple of string pieced green quilts that are in the community project bin. These strings will get added to those, and I'll work on the blocks at home or at a future retreat.

The bin of green strings left

 This is what I had leftover from the trimming. NONE of that got saved. But it did go into a pet mat.

The trimmings

 Then I had this huge stack of triangles that needed the paper removed. I started to sew them together with the paper still in the block. Oh no - that's a waste of time. It's way more efficient to remove the paper before they get sewn together. There are 180 triangles. I just have to be careful as those edges along two sides are on the bias.

180 finished triangles

I laid them out, trying to find a pattern that I liked. I know that many of those fabrics are totally hideous, but when you see the blocks laid out, I really like it. But I wasn't convinced that this is what I wanted it to look like.

The first iteration of the string quilt

So I switched the blocks around. Do you see what I did???

The new layout of the blocks

I LOVE it, and it's going to look amazing!! I sat and watched the hockey game on the big screen TV and ripped the paper out. I'm far from being finished. So I decided this would be an excellent job to do on a Zoom call. So I've put it away for the moment and going to work on something else today.

The hockey game on the big screen

The meals were a bit different for the first couple of days. We had takeout from Boston Pizza last night. It was great.

Take out from Boston Pizza

After dinner, I went for a walk and went to the Grants Conversation property. It was a bit late, but I decided it wasn't enough to just walk there, so I hiked the Trillium Trail, which is 1 KM in the woods. I was a bit worried about mosquitos, but there weren't any.

There are lots of little bridges in this area. But all beautifully maintained.

Bridge along my walk

And I noticed this twisted tree. I wonder what happened to it that caused it to grow like that.

A twisted tree in the forest

 Tish joined us yesterday, so we are now five. I still had a room to myself last night, and I'm happy to report that I slept like a log. Yeah!!!!

Today, someone is celebrating their birthday, and we all got invitations to their party. I can hardly wait to go!!! You have to wait for tomorrow to see what that's all about.

Invitation to a birthday party

And that's it for today. I've got to get myself ready and off for my bike ride. I can't have Ronda showing me up!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!