It's 6 AM, and where are my retreat friends? Most people know that I go to bed early, but I've been known to stay up later -- I just don't always say that. But I'm pretty consistent on when I get up. Last night, I was working on something (you'll see it later today) that needed to be done, so I stayed up a bit later than usual. As a matter of fact, I was the one that closed the call last night.
And then I was up early this morning and have already got a lot of work done. I don't think those retreat ladies are up yet!
So my nose behaved yesterday but felt all stuffed up. I'm still stuffed up today, but it's probably no wonder with all the dust in Studio B. Let's see how the day goes, and I'm trying to keep myself hydrated!
Lexi was so cute yesterday morning. Halloween decorations are appearing, and those giant inflatables are interesting. As we were walking down the street, I spotted something that made me wonder how the girls would react. When Murphy and I passed, she stopped and barked. Of course, that is Murphy.
But when Lexi and I approached, this was her reaction.
 |
| MOM -- something scary! |
Oh my gosh --- I was killing myself laughing. It's like Lexi was trying to hide behind the tree. And she gave those little AARF barks that she does, not the big throaty ones we get from Murphy!
And what had them so worked up? A giant inflated cat whose head turned from side to side.
 |
| MEOW!!!! |
She warmed up to it and even got close enough to sniff it. That's my Lexi -- EVERYTHING must be sniffed.
 |
| WAIT -- it's a FAKE cat! |
Later in the afternoon, I walked to the mall, and there was good progress on the new Cineplex building. But no work has been done on the inside yet, so it'll still be a while before we can go. Wouldn't it be nice if it were done in time for our annual Christmas Day movie date? We could even WALK there! Well, I could walk; DH will take the car!
 |
| Progress on the movie theatre |
Let's get down to some talk about quilting. We had THREE very successful classes yesterday. The first one was on Pre-Cuts -- what are they? How to work with them? Why do we have a love/hate relationship with them? While the group does not have to make a quilt (yet!), they have homework, and it's tough. Some of them will find it very hard to do, so let's see how brave they are!
Then in the Scrap class, we had a blast as we checked out some areas of concern in sewing spaces. Oh boy --- some of them, well, they will be a challenge. So again, they don't have to make a quilt (yet), but almost all of them have massive amounts of homework ahead of them!
And the last class was the table runner class, where the focus was on choosing quilting designs. I should post those pictures at some point. I'm so happy with the work the students are doing. This is one of those classes (well, all classes are like this), but the more you do, the better you get. And they are ALL doing the most fantastic job. KUDOS to everyone!
It's all about taking the tools you have, learning to use them, and improving your skills. I have one more session this morning -- Out of the Box and NOPE -- the presentation isn't done. I haven't even started, but it's at 10 AM, so there's loads of time to get that prepped. Besides, I had other stuff to do this morning.
I sometimes sit in front of a Zoom meeting and have nothing to do, and I know many people do handwork. I have a small Sue Spargo kit that I thought would be fun to work on. So off to the project closet to find it. I'm not sure where that went, and it's small. I will find it, but in the meantime, I found this hand-quilting project. It's a panel about 12" by 18", with the quilting motif stamped on it. I could do this -- it would be perfect.
OK -- so where's the thread? There was no needle or thread with it. I dug out my hand quilting thread, and OH BOY -- none of them matched the weight of the thread I initially used.
 |
| Thread weight is NOT the same |
The original thread seems thicker -- it's the one on top. So I'm tempted to use one of the others and keep going. Or should I rip out what I've done and start over? I haven't done much, so catching up wouldn't take long. My thought is to do some with the different threads and see if there's a difference before I start to rip out the other part.
 |
| Only a small portion has been quilted |
Knowing me, I'll have to rip it out. I know -- I can't help myself!!!
So this is what has been waiting for me to work on for weeks, and I've ignored it until the last possible moment. It's a customer quilt, and I owe the owner a HUGE favor.
 |
| Customer quilt |
She is new to quilting and had issues with the piecing, where one of the rows was almost two inches shorter than the others. Yep, the seam allowance is the first thing one checks, and honestly, it appears equal across that row. This stumped me, so I did some finagling last night and strategically added two inches to the row. If I didn't tell you, you would never know.
But as I stood there looking at the quilt to ensure that I was adding the last two rows in the correct spot, I realized that FOUR blocks within the quilt were rotated. ACK!!!!!
Usually, I wouldn't be piecing or fixing a customer quilt, but as mentioned, I owe her a big favor, and all the turned blocks were in the same row, so this is what I did last night. I removed the part of the row that was incorrect.
 |
| Surgery on a quilt top |
Then I took the blocks apart and put them in the proper orientation. Like a busy beaver, I was up this morning and got the entire quilt back together, and it's lying over the ironing board as it needs to be pressed.
 |
| The quilt top is in one piece |
The backing is loaded on the long arm, and my goal is to get it quilted today, so I can put the binding on it tomorrow, and it will be gifted this coming weekend. Yikes!!!
So you all know I'm trying to get rid of most of my stuff. Yes -- even my quilting stuff. Well, in a strategic way, and indeed, I'm not just giving stuff away, but you never know when an opportunity will arise. And I will say that I would NEVER have considered doing this in the past.
During our Virtual Retreat last night, we got talking about GO! Cutters and the Qubes. Someone has several of the Qubes, and she uses them! I have a 6" set, which she did not have. Guess what? I gave it away! It was a mistake that I received the darn thing. Several years ago, GO! told me I was one of their ambassadors, and the next day, they realized that I was NOT an ambassador, so to compensate me for the mistake, they sent me the Qube set.
 |
| 6" Block GO Qube |
Not only did I get the Qube set for the 6" blocks, but I was also given the Companion set.
 |
| Companion Set |
Both boxes are now sitting in the staging area in my living room. The cellophane is still on both boxes -- they have never been opened.
 |
| A present for someone |
I would not feel right selling those as they were given to me. So they will now go to a good home where they will be used.
When I went to take a picture of the shelf this morning, I found this book. The book goes along with the Qubes!!
 |
| A pattern book for the GO! Qube |
And now I have some space on that shelf. I could tuck more stuff in there to get it out of the way. I play Tetris with my space and if I can put a labeled box in there to take something else off that current project table or to bring something from upstairs down here, then so be it!!
 |
| Room on the shelf! |
It was definitely a Win-Win for both of us!
Well, I see it's time to go. I'll post more information about my classes at Stitch by Stitch in Kingston tomorrow morning, but there are two for Husqvarna Viking -- Beyond the Basics with Quilting and a second one for embroidery. On day two, there's a beyond the basics with Quilting for PFAFF and then a discussion on mySewnet and all that it entails. So be sure to check out the calendar to get more details.
And today, starting at Noon, is Virtual Retreat. Be sure to stop by -- we met Debbie from Victoria last night, and she's working on many cool projects!!!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81693717518?pwd=STNoVVQzbDd4ZnROQndNNlpvcC90QT09
Meeting ID: 816 9371 7518
Passcode: 579285
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!!!!
Totally agree on the issue of gifting to one who will appreciate an item. I had an interesting give earlier this year. I had a big stack of high quality clothing materials including Pendleton wool and lining for 3 suits, Pendleton wovens for skirts as well as rayon for blouses and the patterns. I had a taker who said they would absolutely make the clothing for work and appreciate the savings since buying all that would approach $500+. Well, 5m later, I see it offered up on the FB Buy-Nothing group. I know that once I give something I need to let it go. That was a bit disappointing though.
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday! Can't wait to see and hear more about your precut and scrap student classes :-)