Unpacking from quilt retreat

OH ---- I learn so darn much from all of you that it blows my mind! I just read the comment because we were discussing ways to use up those partially wound bobbins. Well, why can't you use the partially wound bobbins (from the long arm) to piece with, but on TOP, not in the bobbin? DUH!!! I knew that!!! LOL

Perfect because there are some rogue colors in those bobbins that have been there for eons, and well, I don't need them. Here's the thing, because I'm sure many of you are gasping at the thought of using all these rogue colors to piece with. If the tension of your machine is good, NO ONE will see what color of thread you pieced with. 

Speaking of bobbins, I'll get to my story in a minute. 

We got the cars packed, the retreat house tidied, and the dishwasher turned on. I usually remember that about halfway home. I restarted my phone, and guess what? There were no issues with Android Auto timing out with the car. I should know that. Of course, DH asked me when I told him the story how often I restart my phone. HEY --- I restart my phone often enough, but it just never occurred to me to do it with the car. 

Like a computer, one should restart anything "smart" fairly often because updates are constantly happening - not that frequently, but often enough. The memory can become bogged down, or something else happens, but regularly rebooting is a good practice. 

It was nice to get home - poor Murphy is getting beside herself with all the coming and going in our house. She has another 11 days of it to deal with, and then everything will be back to normal. At least for those eleven days, I should only be out of the house for about six of them and not home for three nights spread out over the eleven days. 

And NO ONE believes me when I say October, November, and December will be quiet. NO ONE!!! Here's the thing -- my events have to be scheduled months in advance or at least four weeks, and there is NOTHING in the works. December is always a quiet month, so at this point, it all looks quiet. What could possibly get scheduled to cause issues? 

I will have a lot of work I want to do, but it shouldn't be overwhelming with events and classes. 

OK, here is the progress report on what I did yesterday morning before we left. I emptied a whole lot more bobbins - well, this was since Friday. What is left in that bobbin case is not a lot. I kept six bobbins because they were the new style. And there are four partially wound bobbins to deal with. One had Perle cotton on it, and I took it off when I got home. YES -- I put it with the rest of my Perle cotton threads. 

The bobbin situation when I left the retreat

I have one more of those bobbin holders, and it's also filled with this type of bobbin, all of which are partially wound. We will NOT go there and ask why I have so many. HEY ---I already gave away a huge pile of this size bobbin to someone else. They were all the multi-colored ones - I hope they were the new ones. In this bobbin holder, there is a different style bobbin as well, so I need to move those to a new place, as I sometimes get other machines that require that other size. I should do a post about bobbins one day!

My smaller-sized bobbin collection

I put three empty bobbins in my retreat supply box because it's good to have them handy for upcoming retreats, as I won't have these holders with me once they're empty. Then both of these holders went into the retreat bag for the next retreat, which is in December. OK -- so I'm away in December, but there is nothing else where I have to be away. Well, that's a lie since there is a guild talk in November. But that's it!!!

I feel pretty good about clearing up those bobbins -- don't worry, I have two more bobbin holders for the EPIC and icon series of machines, and let's not forget those long arm bobbins. It's kind of good to clear them up and start over! 

It will take a LOT of piecing to make that happen. 

I also got some more enders and leaders sewn together. When I got home, the bag was set beside the computer, and I hope to tackle that at the Virtual Retreat because I can set the laptop up by the ironing board or cutting table and press and trim to my heart's content without focusing on what I'm doing. I'm such a big talker, I don't get much done during those events. 

My ender/leader project

And here's my Halloween quilt. I got all the squares sewn together, and the first border is on! If I had gotten up early like I had planned to, I could have put the second and final border on. 

The tenth retreat quilt top is only missing one border

Here's what the second border looks like. I will not put this in the retreat bag for the next retreat. I should be able to get that border on in October. 

The border for the Halloween quilt

And of course, I had to put one last piece in the puzzle before I left. We left it up, and the house owner says it is fine to stay for the next retreaters!!! So imagine their surprise when they get there and there's a half-finished puzzle. I would be thrilled to death!!!! 

The puzzle progress

Can you believe I dug out a puzzle last night and put it on the stairs so I can take it up to Studio U? Yes --- I am going to delve into that pile of puzzles. I need to do that before I buy any more, and there are always good ones at the thrift shop!!!!

These were the only four project bags I took to the retreat, and they mostly carried the dog fabric quilts and fabrics. One by one, they were dumped on the cutting table, and I dealt with all the stuff. 

My project bags for this retreat

First up was to put the dog fabric away. I retrieved the basket from the stash room, and these were two pieces I had not taken with me. They are canvas/tapestry dog-themed, and I'll have to make something out of them or sell them. 

Canvas/tapestry dog fabric

I had purchased this piece of fabric years ago. OK -- let's face it -- that is NOT a dog print. It's more like a wild animal with big claws. It is now in my backing fabric pile for the community projects. 

Wild animal track print

There are many fabrics that I pull out of any basket and question why I purchased them. This is a draft stopper. You sew the two bits together (front and back), and why did I buy that? If anyone wants this, let me know (elainetheriault@gmail.com). It's yours for the taking. I do not want or need it. Or you could use it as a cushion! 

Dog-themed draft stopper! 

Here is the stack of quilt tops and fabrics that I pulled for the backs of these quilts. 

The pile of dog quilts and fabrics for the backing

Can you believe there is still this much dog fabric that went back on the shelf? See what I mean? Why the heck did I buy so much? I spotted a couple more panels in the basket, but they are more juvenile in style, so that's why they didn't go to the retreat with me. But wouldn't it be nice to say that in November, I'll pull this basket and deal with it? That would be amazing if I could tackle that. Let's wait and see. 

What remains for the dog theme

I pulled out the black and white scrap box, so there are loads of scraps in here that can be cut for that ender/leader project. I also set this beside the computer so that during a Virtual Retreat, I can go through the box and cut those 1½" by 2½" rectangles. 

The black and white scrap box

And now I'm all packed for the next retreat. The bag on the left has another ender/leader project in it (half-square triangles), a set of placemats, and my supply box. The bag on the right is the one I took and mostly brought back intact. It's filled with enough projects for a week. I'm ready!

I'm ready for the next retreat!

And there's the cutting table this morning. I have a few small things to deal with later today, and there are still those two projects that I must tackle, but that's after this next crazy spell is done!

The cutting table looks in good shape

I did take a wee break yesterday afternoon, and while I have a LOT of work to do, I spent a couple of hours just relaxing and finished my book. I needed to, and then I was able to sleep well. All is good, and I'm now going to walk the girls and head out to my meeting on the other side of the city. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!