Vitual Retreat

It was another successful Virtual Retreat! So many people stopped in to say hello. We had people from Germany, the US, Western Canada, and all over Ontario! So nice to see a few new faces join us and to see the regulars! I left at 9 PM both nights, and they were still sewing and chatting! 

I didn't end up taking a nap yesterday, but I did take a long walk, and I slept like a log last night. I'm feeling good this morning, and all fired up to get to spin class. 

Well, I don't have a super clean cutting table to show off this morning. Nor can I say that I worked on that magazine quilt, and I can't say that I did anything of mine! I trimmed and bound quilts for customers all day! Of course, I'm slow at it, but that's OK. 

OH -- this is what I did the day before. See - I totally cleaned up my workspace and shifted all the current paperwork to the table. Now I can only bring out the couple of bits I need to work on, and I have space. In an ideal world, I'd have room on BOTH sides of the keyboard to work, but I manage. I should show you a picture of that keyboard, as many popular keys no longer have writing on them! Not so good for someone not familiar with the keyboard!

My clean workspace

Here's a couple of nature shots to start the day. I spotted these colorful flowers in a neighbors' front yard. We haven't had a frost yet - advisories, but no frost. 

Flowers in the neighborhood

And the forest is so pretty. None of the leaves have really turned red -- it's still all yellow and green. But so peaceful and quiet. 

The forest

For those with a long arm, there's always the question: Do you float or pin? I've been a pinner since I started quilting, and I will confess that I love it! But my leaders are pretty much done in. They've worn out in certain spots, and it's time to get new ones. I'll be ordering some goodies for the long arm this week. 

I had no choice to float this project since it's a bit difficult to pin a circle in place. This is a large tree skirt. 

Setting up to quilt a large circle

See how the quilt is floating off the top. Usually, I have it pinned securely in place. It was challenging to ensure it lay flat, and I started with the opening at the top. Next time, I think I'd do it with the opening at the bottom. Oh well -- it's all one big learning curve. 

Floating the top

And I was able to start the pattern partway in, so I didn't have to quilt the excess batting. 

No need to start right at the left edge

I also stopped it once it had cleared the edge. Oh - clever me! Not really, the computer did most of the work. Well, that's not true - we worked together. 

Stop the computer once it clears the project

And there's the bottom of it as I quilted the end. Yep -- it worked like a charm!

The last row of the tree skirt

There's the quilted tree skirt. Plenty of time to get that quilted before Christmas. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Speaking of getting the project bound for Christmas, let's not forget Halloween. This quilt got quilted yesterday, the customer picked it up last night, and the binding is on, and she is busy hand stitching it in place. Just in time for Halloween this coming weekend. 

Customer quilt - DONE

This is the back of the quilt! A great way to use a panel that otherwise may never get used!

The back of the customer quilt

So, in addition to quilting that quilt, I trimmed seven quilts. Yikes -- that scrap box is overflowing yet again! I better get another pet mat filled. 

The aftermath of a quilt trimming session

I fixed the hole on that one that had the issue. This is the hole before it was fixed. 

The back of a quilt with a wee hole

I realized that I had not taken a picture after it was fixed, and it took me FIVE minutes to find the repair on the back of the quilt. That's excellent news since I know it's there, and it still took me that long to find it. I will let the owner know what happened as they will have to put a tiny patch on the front. It looks pretty good, but there are broken fiber ends, and it should have a patch. 

The top of the quilt after the repair

Here's the back - can you spot the repair?? Nope -- I couldn't either. 

The back of the quilt

But here it is -- one tiny patch on the back of the quilt. 

The repair on the quilt

In case you missed this episode, the hole occurred because of an OPEN seam on the front, and the foot of the long arm got caught. That would have happened whether I was operating the computer or doing it manually. So be sure to close ALL seams when piecing your quilts!

And now the quilt staging area for quilts to be trimmed is empty. It won't be for long - I still have a push on as there are 10 quilts in that pile to be quilted before the end of this month. I'll get as many done as I can - my goal is one a day! I was aiming for the end of this month to get them all completed, but I don't think that will happen with the prep work I need to do for next week.

This is where the quilts waiting to be trimmed sit, and it's empty!

After all the trimming, I needed to get binding on some of the customer quilts. I have one customer who just loves when I put the binding on! So quilt number one got trimmed and bound. 

A quilt that got bound

And quilt number two got trimmed and bound as well. 

The second binding

And now she has her daughter quilting and has shown her how easy it is to sew the binding on by cash. So this was the third quilt -- all trimmed and bound. 

The third quilt I bound

As I was sewing yesterday and looking at my room in the camera on Zoom, I noticed this behind me. I had two partial quilt tops draped over the current project table. Gosh -- it looks like a quilt on a casket! 

Quilts draped on the current project table

And of course, I had help. Murphy loves to sit under the table so she can lick my feet. And then it becomes a challenge to sew. She rested her head on the foot pedal, and the sewing machine was slowly sewing. I should have put some fabric under the needle so Miss Murphy could start making a quilt for herself! Silly girl!!!

The helper

And this is her new post in the backyard. The backdoor is closed because of the weather, and the squirrels know the girls are not outside all the time. As a result, the squirrels seem to be staging an invasion. I've seen as many as four in that bush on the right. So Murphy feels she must spend at much time outside as possible. And where she's sitting, she has a full view of the entire space, and she can ward them off! OK -- she doesn't want to ward them off; she wants to get her teeth on them! 

The sentinel

So while I didn't get done what I had hoped to yesterday, I still did things that needed to be done, and I'm perfectly OK with that. Today is Monday sewing, and I'll be working on my magazine quilt. Cleaning off the cutting table may just have to wait a bit, and that's the story of my life! 

A HUGE thank you to everyone who attended the Virtual Retreat. It was loads of fun and always so sad to shut the computer off. The room just feels so empty! In case you missed it, the next one is scheduled for November 27 and 28. See you then!!

Well, I'm off to spin class. Yipppeee!!! Not really, but it makes me feel good to get my heart rate up there!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!