What's the difference between curiosity and being nosey?

No naps yesterday! And I did not go to spin class this morning. I'm trying to ensure there are no relapses on this bug that I had. The prognosis is good. I had a slow-down week, but not a dead week! I can work around that, but this week will be super busy, and if I need to nap - well, I nap! 

What happens at Virtual Retreat stays at Virtual Retreat, but I will say one thing! We had a blast, and we had some conversations about some pretty serious subjects. It was an eye-opener for me, and with the diversity of people on the call, it's amazing what you can find out. You know me - I love to ask questions, and someone asked if that was because I'm nosey or curious. 

As I went for my walk, I thought about that question. Are they the same thing? Absolutely NOT!!! Being curious is wanting to expand my knowledge, and I'm asking questions to learn and broaden my scope of understanding because I am genuinely interested in many things. I want to know how the world works!

On the other hand, being nosey is to use the information in a gossipy way. I need to be careful how I word this because I hate talking about people, although I think it's human nature. But if ever that happens, trust me -- I try to find a shiny side to everything! 

But here's a case in point -- if someone makes a decision that seems totally out of character to them, don't you want to know why? I don't find that's a question of being nosey; it's a question of understanding why people make tough decisions, and that's going to help when I have to make decisions that seem totally out of character for myself. There's always an underlying reason; rarely is a decision totally random.

We may disagree with their decision, and it's none of our business why they chose what they chose, but understanding their rationale is important! 

I guess we need to keep that in mind -- are we being curious, or are we just being nosey? 

Despite being on the Zoom call when I never get much done, I managed to trim the chicken quilt I showed yesterday. Look at the back! That's a lot of piecing for the back of the quilt, and it's almost impossible to get it exactly centered. I'm happy with it, and it's ready to be delivered. 

The back of a customer quilt

We had a Zoom class in the morning, and one of the classes was our Many Blocks project. This is where people work on quilts with MANY blocks -- like the 365 Day Quilt, 150 Canadian Women, Dear Jane, etc. Well, I confess that I failed because I didn't get a thing done since our last session. The good news is that TWO people finished their tops or at least got all the blocks done and the flimsy (minus borders) together and will now work on the borders. That is AMAZING!!!!! And I'm so proud of both of the finishers!! There is hope for the rest of us. 

I will continue that one as the rest of the group is forging ahead and making progress. If you want to join, let me know. You MUST be partway through one of the quilts with many blocks, and there are loads of them out there! In our current group, people are working on the Town and Country Quilt (365 blocks), two versions of Farmer's Wife, a Harry Potter quilt, 150 Canadian Women, Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, Dear Jane, and the 365-Day quilt. 

I need to get myself in gear, and so that's what I did yesterday after trimming two quilts. I dug out the green bag of scrap fabric, and I sorted a bit until I had a shoe box filled with green scraps that I could use for the quilt. 

Then I started cutting. 

Cutting blocks for the 365-Day Quilt

And before I knew it, the retreat was over, but I also had TEN blocks cut. 

Ten blocks are cut

This is something that I can easily do while on the Zoom call, so if I focused on that cutting during Monday sewing and the monthly Virtual Retreat, I could actually get something done. I find it very distracting to sew while on Zoom. And if I continued to do the cutting, I could actually get my 365-Day quilt done. My blocks until March 10 are sewn together, and I have cut up to March 21 or whatever the days are. I hope to get all of March cut and take them to the upcoming sewing retreat. It would be fantastic if I could get that done, and then at the next retreat and Monday sewing, I'll work on April. Oh yes --- I need a plan as I want this quilt done! It would be so nice to have it finished and move onto the next MANY block project. I have a few! 

Look at this cutey! Oh no --- his time with us is drawing near, and how can we convince M to leave him with us? He loves it here! And we love having him here. Hey -- what is one more dog when you already have two? That Murphy is definitely jealous of him! 

Little Bear

OK -- so I said I would share my thrift store find with you. And here it is. 

Thrift store find!

Yes -- that is a sequin top! 

That's a lot of sequins

 

And why would I buy that? Well, the theme of our convention was "There's no business like Sew business," and they asked the staff to dress up on the opening night. I have a nice pair of black dress pants with an organza overskirt, but I had nothing nice for a top. For whatever reason, I wanted sparkly! I went to the mall and found one top that I liked, but it was $90, and I didn't really want to spend that kind of money for one evening. I know -- too practical. 

So, I've been cruising the thrift shop regularly to see if I could find a sparkly top. After several attempts to find something, I spotted this shirt. It fits perfectly, and it cost $10. I can't remember if I bought it Wednesday (30% off for seniors!) or if I paid full price. Either way -- it was inexpensive. I didn't care. 

They had a photo booth, and the three Canadian educators got a picture together. I cropped the others out - sorry, Margaret and Claire! I don't know what happened to my hair - it flipped out, not in, but that's OK, and don't you love my feather fascinator? 

Playing dress-up at convention

If you can't have fun in life, then what's left? 

There's computer work today, Monday sewing, long arming, and the embroidery machine, so it's going to be busy. But the fact that I'm feeling so much better makes it all doable! 

I'm going to enjoy this week because next week is the start of total craziness and travel - again!

BTW -- the next Virtual Retreat is November 25 and 26. Mark it in your calendar -- it's always loads of fun!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

That's one BIG embroidery hoop

 Wow -- my head is exploding with all the new stuff! 

Let's say that the hotel was kind to me yesterday, as there were no issues. My key works; I have figured out (thanks to Claire) how to turn up the "volume" on the desk light - it's still very dim. And I've been sleeping with zero issues. I think a train could go through the room and I wouldn't hear it as we are so tired at the end of the day! 

I spent the day in a room full of Designer EPIC 3s. I was a helper in case the class of dealers ran into trouble. Despite the interface being so new,  they all did very well. Except for one or two who were a bit snippy as they didn't want to be reminded they were doing something incorrect. I was pretty polite! But everyone warmed up by the end of the day, and all was good. 

A room of Designer EPIC 3s

So many exciting things, and I don't even get to see it all. I'm in a different room today, and from what I heard yesterday, this will be a fun class! And it's all about sergers! Who knew that a couple of years ago, I knew very little about sergers and today, I'm a helper!

It was fun catching up with the Canadian dealers, many of whom I have met through previous conventions or meetings in Canada or running an event at their store. We had a great dinner with some of them last evening. 

There are so many exciting new features on the Designer EPIC 3 that it's hard to even know where to start. I'll be doing some blog posts on QUILTsocial, so watch for that. Let me say that when I first saw the specs many months ago, I was totally blown away by the new FREE ARM embroidery unit. The new machine comes with FOUR hoops. Plus, there are some specialty hoops - one of them being the MEGA turnable hoop with the largest stitchable area in the market. 

This thing is enormous, as you can see in the picture below. I CANNOT wait to get my hands on it and start creating textured fabric with embroidery stitches! Oh yes --- I love doing that, and it will be loads of fun. 

The MEGA turnable hoop

The current turnable hoop actually fits INSIDE that hoop. Even better news is that all hoops have been reinforced for more stability during embroidery. More stability, less shifting of fabric. Oh yes --- this is a good thing. 

I tell DH he's fortunate I work with the company because I'd buy one now. I will buy one, but a bit later on. 

I popped out for a walk very early (6 AM). I walked into the gated community beside the golf course. The sky is beautiful at that time of the day. And YES -- you can see the stars. I can't remember the last time I saw stars in the sky. How sad is that?

The predawn sky

I have to say that I took that picture around 6:30 AM. So the sky was dark, and I used my cell phone. Yep -- the cell phone cameras today are amazing!!!!!

There is a sidewalk that goes along the main road into this community, which seems to be HUGE. 

This is where I walk

I started at the Marriott (on the right) and took this picture when I was at the blue dot. Shoot -- I almost made it to the other side but ran out of time! 

I'm heading out this morning. Even though it's dark, there are just enough light posts to keep it lit to walk on the sidewalk without tripping over anything. I've not encountered any issues (knock on wood), and I'll be out there shortly. 

After our dinner, I needed to make up a couple of km for the day, so I headed back out to the gated community, and this was the moon. 

The night sky

The light in the picture is from the CAMERA, NOT the lighting in the area. It was DARK. 

On that note, I'm out of here. Not much exciting happened during the day as we were in the classroom all day (out for snacks and lunch). But the engineers are here, and I have a list that I want to share with them. Some of these suggestions have already been made. Yeah!!! I discovered a new stitch that I wanted, and I spoke to the "Stitch Witch" (she's the one who designs all the new stitches), and she showed me exactly what I was looking for!! How cool is that! I'll be sharing that one with you!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

WOW - DESIGNER EPIC 3 is here!!!

It's been a long time since I have missed a day of blogging. Even when traveling on the Camino, I always managed. However, there is a very good reason I missed, and it's called -- lack of time. 

I was fast asleep in my bed (two nights ago) when I was awoken at 11:30 PM. What awoke me? It was the sound of SAWING. Yes --- it sounded like someone was sawing something. What could they be sawing, and where were they? I've no idea. But it sounded like they were right next door to me. So, sawing the bed apart? I thought of calling security, but I didn't. And after the sawing, I also heard voices in the distance and sounds of movement and moving things around, it stopped after 20 minutes, and I fell asleep. I know --- my patience level is way more than it should be. I SHOULD have called the front desk because whatever they were doing, they shouldn't have been doing it at 11:30 at night. 

Then I was awakened again at 12:39. Same thing, but it didn't last as long. However, this time, I could NOT get to sleep. I tossed and turned, read for a bit, and sleep eluded me. I was planning to walk with Claire in the morning, and I was finally awakened by her texts when they made it through my deep sleep. Too late to walk with Claire as by this time (6:45), she was already in the gym. 

I grabbed my clothes, and I went out for a walk by myself. I managed to get in 6,000 steps before breakfast. But there was ZERO time to blog. Yes -- I chose walking over blogging because I didn't have time for both. 

I happened to meet the person in the room two rooms from me, and she heard the same thing from the room between us. The front desk denied any work was done in that room last night, but I heard that someone else had to move because of noise, so something went on, but no one is saying anything. Let's say that last night was total silence. 

So the previous day, we had our certification training on the Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER EPIC 3. 

The DESIGNER EPIC 3

I'm not even sure where to begin to tell you how amazing this sewing and embroidery machine is. There is a comparison list between the EPIC 2 and the EPIC 3. I had looked at it and thought to myself, yes -- there is plenty to make me want to switch. But we were one hour into an all-day class, and I had seen enough to make me switch! There is so much new that you will NOT recognize this machine. 

All I will say is WOW --  my mind was completely blown, and I sure hope I retain most of what we learned. Of course, sitting back in front of the machine will make me remember. It was an amazing day; we made a couple of samples - and, well --- I'm not going to go into details right now. 

But -- the presales are continuing until the end of this month. If you are thinking about it and it fits your budget, I'd go for it. This is a NEW machine with loads of bells and whistles. It is MORE than just an upgrade to the EPIC 3. 

After that day of training, we had a group dinner by the water. OK -- the pond. There are loads of ponds in this area. Are there alligators? Oh yes --- the place where we had dinner is called the American Gator Club. And we spotted this guy in the water. 

A gator

We never saw more than his head, and to think that Clair and I walked the grounds! But we weren't really near any ponds. 

After dinner, I needed to get out and walk, so I headed out to see if I could grab a geocache or two. I headed off to this garage. Of course, because of the ponds and some trees -- I was NOT cutting through trees in the dark, I had to walk a bit extra before I came to this parking garage. Yep -- only I would be happy to walk through a parking garage by myself in the evening. 

The location of a geocache

I did not find the cache at this location, but it was NOT for lack of trying. I was popping off these caps along the posts but found nothing. I did find a hole where I'm sure it was, but it was empty. So I moved onto the next cache, which was a bit further away. 

Searching for a geocache

Yep -- I got that cache, and I got my badge for Florida, as I had never found a cache in Florida before. Shoot -- I forgot to check if there was one at the Washington DC airport as there often is, and I missed that opportunity. I'll have to go back! I'm taking a different route to get home, so I will not be going through that airport. 

On my mad dash walk yesterday morning, I decided to walk along the road past the entrance to the gated community where the famous golf course is. There is a PGA golf course here. Actually, there are two golf courses. One is currently closed. I am not sure if this is the famous 17th hole or not, but it looks like it. This is NOT a course that I would play, as I would never get my ball to this green. OK -- I would never play golf! 

I had to cross the road to get that picture, and the grass was soaking wet. As I went into the bushes, I heard a noise. I did NOT linger! The dangers I take for you all!

A green on the golf course

Then, we were off to the convention area of this hotel to get set up. There are rooms and rooms of sewing machines that needed to be set up. Thankfully, they were all unboxed, as that would have been a very thankless job, and those machines are heavy. 

I was thrilled to hear that we were done shortly after lunch. I got my challenge pressed, and wait until you see what it was pressed on! I didn't get a picture, and the product is BRAND new, but I didn't want to post it today. Well, now that the dealers have arrived, everything sitting in that area will be all over social media, so I can probably share it later. 

Claire and I decided to go to the beach, while Margaret went for a tour of the golf course. Sadly, she only got a tour of the clubhouse, which is better than nothing. 

The first thing we saw on our way to the beach was this. Not a good start. 

At the beach

It's not that I don't like snakes -- well, I don't like snakes. Yep -- plain and simple. But we were able to bypass this guy, and we were good. 

The beach was amazing. That is the Atlantic Ocean. It was pretty calm yesterday, and the sand was so hard-packed that I was able to walk in my shoes. We got lucky that it was a clear and warm day. We had a beer at the clubhouse. OH -- we had to take a shuttle bus to get to the beach; while it's not far, it's far enough when you don't have a lot of time. 

The beach

The houses along that beach are HUGE!!! And there was hardly anyone on the beach. What you see above is pretty much how it looked the entire time we were there. EMPTY!

Back to the hotel and all dressed up for the GALA opening event. I wore my thrift store find for the event. Shoot -- I did not take a picture of my glitzy sequin top. I had a pair of fancy black pants with an organza skirt, and I was good to go! However, what does one wear for shoes? 

My shoes -- heels even!

Here are my feet after the evening. Not too bad, and I did NOT need to take my shoes off once. A heel and strapless, no less. We had a great dinner and met up with many dealers from Canada, so we had a great chat with all of them. We'll be seeing more of them today. Well, I guess it depends on which class we are helping with and which class they are in! But there are lunches, and I think we are free tonight to do what we want! 

I got back to my room, and before I went to bed, I had to clean the place. I don't get my room serviced every day. I hate having them come into the room. So, with the mad dash from the morning, there was stuff strewn everywhere! It looks much tidier now. 

OH -- I should mention that I'm not having the best time at this hotel. The night before, I arrived at my door, only to find the key didn't work. Turns out it wasn't the key card, but the battery was dead! And it's hilarious because my alarm system is giving me a low battery alert at home, which is just stupid since I changed the batteries before I left. I had to wait 20 minutes for someone to come and fix the battery. More steps as I had to go back to the lobby and then back to my room! I walked 15 KM yesterday!

On that note, I'm going for a walk this morning, and then we have an early breakfast, so we can get to the rooms to help out with the classes. 

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Day Five - Convention

It would appear that my iPad keyboard is toast for whatever reason. I was trying to use it last night and no go. Hmm - now that means another call to those Apple people. You just can't get ahead of fixing things. Thank goodness I had the laptop with me. I don't want to carry both in the future, but both have good things about them so I'll see.

Yesterday, which was also the last day of the convention, was a fabulous day. We started off with a class on Westalee rulers. Other than a brief stint with them the other day, I've never used those sets of rulers.  OH MY GOD - the class was so much fun and I learned a ton. I never thought I'd be happy using the rulers on a domestic machine, but honestly there's a place for them and I'm super excited to get back to my machine quilting class (table runner class that's all about free motion) and tell them what I learned. For I learned several very important things about these rulers.

We only used two rulers in the class - the straight ruler and one of the circles. Lots of cool stuff can be done. And even though there were things in the class that I didn't agree with, as a good student, I kept my mouth shut.

So that was a super fun and informative class. The other nice thing is that the Westalee people are here so we got all week to ask them questions and ask away I did. Hmm - got to rethink a couple of things when I get home.

Off to lunch - I don't think I'll eat for three days when I get home and I've been really good.

The last class was the most fun. It was a class with Kimberbell. That's the name of the company, the owner is Kim and she's super fun. I LOVE all the Kimberbell products and want to make them all. Can you believe that even though I have tons of her patterns, I've never made a Kimberbell project before. Shame on me!!!!  AND - I must get my Scan n Cut out and learn how to use it properly. I'm missing out on a huge opportunity (time saver) if I don't. One more thing to learn!  And I'm serious  - does anyone want to do her Hello Sunshine quilt??  Can be done sewing or machine embroidery. I was thinking of using it as a quilt along. We were going to have a class at the Hobby Horse, and people signed up and then backed out. These projects are so super cute - you can't not want to make it. There's a Christmas one and a Halloween one. One lady in our class had made all three. ACK!!!

We did two in-the-hoop projects yesterday and despite the fact that I'd never done embroidery on the PFAFF Creative Icon, I managed just fine. Had to change the hoop size, find the design and even had to restart one of the stitching sequences (I did get help for that one). That means that embroidery on the Creative Icon is super easy!!!

We made one of her Sweet Feet designs (we also have all the designs on the CD - back to the library to convert that to my USB stick) and then we made a journal cover. They are super sweet. And we have TEN different journal covers to play around with. I just hope I can find those sizes of journal covers back home or it's a trip to the US to find journals to fit them.

Kim is just the sweetest person around and she had some new stuff here (I got the official e-mail) just as we were starting her class - now how timely is that?  And there will be new stuff at Quilt Market.

We finished right on time. Yeah!!! 

As sad as I am to have convention over, I'm happy. It's been a long five days, lots to take in and I've lots to digest when I get home. On top of the stuff I already have to do, I've got a class to teach tomorrow morning! I'd better be making myself some lists and get down to business making samples. A good activity for the plane ride home.

After the class, I popped out to the used bookstore. I only went to one. One of the three was closed and I picked the one that was closest to the hotel. It was the weird little maze of a bookstore. I was looking for books on ghosts of New Orleans. Sadly, they didn't have any. The owner said that as soon as those books come in, they are gone. I'll have to search the internet and see. The urge to read about them will likely fade once I get home. But you never know - I've always had a soft spot for that kind of stuff. Even though it's creepy. I wonder if I could stay in one of those boutique hotels whose claim to fame is that it's haunted? I probably wouldn't sleep a wink.

I walked down Bourbon street on my way back to the hotel. It was fairly calm but the drummer boys and Lulus were out in full force. Never a dull moment on that street.

We had our last dinner and then all the goodbyes. I chatted with a few people and then I was in the room trying to pack my suitcase. I picked up a few things along the way (including the four books I bought) so it was a wee bit of a challenge, but I got everything in! I'm an excellent packer. I'm also an excellent traveler. There is NOTHING extra in my suitcase. Oh I lie - I brought SIX shirts to wear thinking we were at convention for six days, but in fact, I only needed five! I listened to a colleague and brought an umbrella (which I would NEVER even think of) and of course, the event was all in the same hotel so why would I need an umbrella. In future, I listen to my gut when it comes to what to pack. NO checked luggage for me, although this suitcase is now going to be a wee bit heavier to heave into the overhead bins, but that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm certainly in the minority here at these kinds of conventions. At one class, we got a T-shirt. Not sure that I'll wear it, but maybe I will. There were 7 different piles of shirts. The 4XL, the 3XL, the 2XL, the XL, the L, M, and S. The S pile was the smallest and that's what I got. Yes, the clientele at these conventions/Quilt Markets are - well - I'm not going to say, but I think you all get the idea. I only have my mother to thank for what happened to me!

I'm on my own this morning for breakfast, but I had a chat with the concierge last night about getting to the airport - cabbing it as it's going to be way easier than the shuttle (and only slightly more expensive). Instead of breakfast in the hotel, he suggested a place across the street that serves a good breakfast for $5. I'm there!

Just have to pack my tech toys in my backpack and I'm all set to get to the airport. It's going to be a long day - travel days are always long, but I've downloaded all kinds of sewing machine reference books, user manuals, embroidery software manuals and other learning material to keep me entertained. Plus I have my paperback book to read. It's going to be just fine!

On that note, I'd better get dressed and get to breakfast.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Convention - Day Four

Hmm - ghosts and goblins and nightmares?

We had a free night last night and when I had popped out to pick up the geocache the previous night, I had picked up a couple of brochures on walking and bus tours in the city. I checked them out and decided that I could make the 5:30 PM walking ghost tour. There were bus tours of the cemeteries but they were much later and I didn't want to have to work my way back to the hotel by myself. Anyway, I popped down to the tourist office and got signed up for the ghost tour.

It was pretty cool to get some of the history of some of the buildings. Some of it was probably made up, some of it was not. Who knows? Anyway, it was fun. We ended the tour about 4 blocks from the hotel and on the way back, I found a restaurant and popped in for a beer and some dinner. I had had a large lunch so I wasn't too hungry, but had a salad and some chicken (or was that crocodile or alligator??)  Anyway then a wee bit closer to the hotel, I found a candy shop that made fudge, pralines (supposedly a specialty here) and chocolates. After tasting several samples, I ended up buying ONE praline. Even though I drank loads of water yesterday, my body is not happy with the diet. I could be better - I'll make it up when I get home. Although I am being pretty good.

Just so you know, the street I walked home on was much quieter and calmer and appeared a whole lot safer than Bourbon Street which was four blocks away. There are tons of boutique hotels (small hotels) and the rooms are tiny. We got to see a room where supposedly Elvis stayed and apparently Hilary Clinton stayed in this hotel (which is supposed to be haunted) as well.

So I get back to the hotel and I do a bit of computer work and chat with my roommate and then it's time to turn out the lights. On each of the previous nights, I fall asleep before the lights are turned out. Last night - not going to happen. I'm wide awake! Oh drat - now what? Why can't I sleep? Am I too keyed up??  Too many thoughts of ghost stories in my head? It wasn't a great night for sleep.

When the lights did go out and I'm tossing and turning  - at one point I see something and wonder what the heck it is.  Oh the wrist bands they gave us are glow in the dark! And they gave me two!

I thought I might have a nightmare as one of the stories (and places we stopped at) the story was very recent and the people were very well known.  If you want to read a gruesome murder/suicide story - check out Zack Bowen on the internet.

So did I have a nightmare? Well yes so to speak. My nightmare was that I ended up at the airport and after being there for about a half hour, I realized that I had forgotten to check out of the hotel (only because I didn't have my phone charger with me) and I had left everything else at the hotel. Nothing was packed although I'm a neat hotel person anyway. I had time to get back to the hotel, but what could I do? I asked someone if I could get the number of the hotel and I ended up getting an Maroon Five T-shirt with their phone number on it. Then I decided to go back to the hotel to get my stuff and a lady called a cab for me. It was an old decrepit thing with room in the front so I crawled in only to have the driver say - get in the back which meant crawling over what looked like car batteries in the space where one would put your feet. Then I arrived at the hotel and felt like I was having an asthma attack as I approached the elevators. Then I woke up!!!!

How silly is that?  Anyway, we still have one more day and will be making our way to the airport tomorrow. I think the phone charger was on my mind because I unplug it everyday and put it in my backpack. I had unplugged it before going to bed because my phone was charged and the charger cord dropped on the floor when I unplugged my phone in the dark. Amazing how our brains work.

So yesterday morning we had all the speeches and product introductions for the PFAFF side of the business. Some of it was repetition but that's OK - just another opportunity to solidify all that information in my head. Then we had another motivational speaker. At first I didn't think I was going to like this guy. He was a bit of a weird duck, but he thoroughly entertained us and then had some serious messages about attitude, customer service, NO complaining and stuff like that. I really enjoyed it and was glad that I stayed for that part. I know some of the others did not stay. Humor seems to be a big part of motivational speaking these days.

I had a class in the afternoon and I have to say that it was the first one that I was disappointed in. It was all based on software at the machine - learning the StitchCreator on the PFAFF side. It's a difficult class to teach and there were many in the room that didn't understand all the functions on the screen. I have to confess that I was one of those, but caught on quickly. The first half of the class where we were making (modifying existing stitches) was a lot of fun and I caught onto that pretty quickly. The second part was bringing in those stitches to create shapes to put on the screen so we could embroider them out. If you missed one of the numbers (and it was on a handout but only shown on the overhead screen) you were toast. There was one person besides the teacher to help. If we would have had the handout, we could have gone back and fixed the problem, but we didn't have the handout. It will be e-mailed to us.

I feel badly about walking out, but I wasn't the only one. Yes - I could have asked for help, but there were too many asking for help. I'm trying to think how the class could be handled differently so that wouldn't have happened. It could be done, but it was a tough class to teach and to follow. I'll do the exercise when I get home and then create the stitch-out when I can follow all the steps. I learned things in the class so it wasn't a total waste.

And then I went to my ghost tour! I went by myself which I'm OK with. Oh yes - I should mention that while I was in the restaurant, I was checking Facebook and Instagram and someone had mentioned that I should get my fortune told while I was here. I've never wanted to do that, but I thought - why not? There seems to be so much Voodoo and other weird things here. I asked the two young girls who were standing outside the restaurant (they belonged there as they were encouraging people to come into their restaurant). I asked them where I could get my fortune told. The one girl said - can I give you a recommendation? I said YES. She said - don't get your fortune told!  I laughed, said thank you and found the candy shop!

I'm becoming very friendly with the engineer guys from Sweden. Gave them two more suggestions based on my class - this time it was all about the software. Talked to a vendor about those cool sewing chairs with the storage in the seats and did you know that those chairs with the storage and the lumbar support are modeled after the old sewing stools/square benches that had a storage space in them? That is so cool.

Met more dealers in Canada yesterday - sitting with new people at lunch is a great way to learn stuff and to met some of the SVP people including Jamie. Everyone loves Jamie. He's a Scot who lives in Britain and helps design all those beautiful extension tables and other add on products that I love. Way to go Jamie! And he's a sewist/quilter so he knows his stuff. He has been for years. I also learned that they have people with textile degrees who are helping them design stuff by using the products. That's so exciting that we have people who use the products in a very heavy way that are helping to make the products better. I LIKE THAT and I have to say that it shows in the new products.

I'm thinking that if I had my wits about me, I could have bought a history book (ghost story book) about New Orleans when I visited the book stores earlier in the week. I could still pop out to one bookstore at lunch. All three of the stores are very close to the hotel and now I'm intrigued.

On that note, it's time to get ready for breakfast for which I am somewhat hungry, but I had better eat - I'm grumpy when I'm hungry.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!

Convention - Day Three

Yesterday was a better day. Why? I drank three bottles of water and I didn't eat ANY bread or potatoes all day. I felt much better. Yeah!

Actually at lunch (and I felt a wee bit guilty), I took two sandwiches and then proceeded to set the HUGE pieces of bread (white) aside as I ate the meager fillings. But I felt so much better, I soon lost all guilt!

My first class of the day was to make a small zippered pouch. Shouldn't be that big of a problem? Well - it was with a brand new machine - the new PFAFF Ambition 620.  Except that I have no accessories for the PFAFF machines. Fortunately, I had a wonderful lady beside me who shared her circular attachment and I was able to borrow the remainder of the feet from the instructor. That's a nice sewing machine but when you're used to one that raises the presser feet automatically, the biggest challenge of the class was remembering to raise the presser foot. Which the machine reminded us repeatedly. We got a good chuckle out of that.

I love the zippered pouch. It's very cute and I learned a couple of new ways to use various feet and accessories.  I have so MUCH to do when I get home. So many samples to make and experiments to try out. I can't wait to get home! Well, I can, but you know what I mean.

I'm on my laptop this morning and I have to say that there's nothing that beats the keyboard on a laptop. NOTHING.  It's got the best touch and so easy to type. I wish we could buy a similar type keyboard for my home computer.

I've been filling my notebook with lists of product that I would like to get my hands on and stuff (supplies) that I would like to buy. Oh the list is long and I'm lucky that some of it I get to "borrow" so I can learn it. I wonder if I could get one of the super cute new chairs "on loan" or the super cool lighting systems. Somehow I don't think so as there really isn't a learning curve to putting your butt on a cool chair.

I'm not sure where the picture of the chair is, but I've seen the style before and I never thought I would like it. Actually never parked my butt on one before even though I've seen it around. Well I tried it this time and it's actually quite comfy. And there's storage in the seat. I like that.

And the lighting system would be so good for our retreats. Hmm.........

After lunch which is fun as every time I end up sitting with someone new and it's great to chat with the people from all over the country - this country. And fun to learn how people got into the business. Many people have been passionate about sewing for YEARS and started off with the #1 Plus sewing machine. That was before my time. Things have certainly changed since then.

In the afternoon, I was totally over my head. The class was on the multi-needle embroidery machine. Ten needles. Yikes - looks like a great big monster, but once we got through the instruction, it's relatively easy to use. Not having to change the thread would be a great option, but I don't think that I want to get into this kind of a machine for me personally. But lots of people are!  And if you're in the business of machine embroidery, you have no choice if you want to make money. We learned how to hoop a hat which was pretty cool and if you were in the embroidering hat business, you'd want this machine. While one hat is stitching, you hoop the second hat. Crazy!

Then we had some time to kill before dinner so I took a wee walk down to the river. I searched for a geocache (I know - WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?).   It's a small container that you find by following a map (now on an app on your phone). I managed to find it right by the water front after a wee bit of searching. That part of town is fairly nice but still security people always driving around on their ATVs.  Anyway, I found the thing and logged it - that makes 390 finds for me. I guess I'll aim to find one in each state or country I hit. I've missed a few over the past years so will have to travel back to get them. It's a fun activity to do in a new town or with kids to keep them entertained. Ronda - we have to look in Orillia!! Oh - we did already.

Back to the hotel to change back into pants (you do not WANT to walk outside in pants - although it wasn't too bad last night). I got my mask and I was ready to hit the masquerade dinner. It was fun - the room was decorated in yellow, green and purple. Masks and feather boas and beads were everywhere. They had a mask contest with a pretty substantial prize and there were over 70 people who lined up to have their masks judged. Mine was a simple mask (I wouldn't qualify anyway) and nowhere near being in the judging quality. I'm not sure who won as it was announced late. It took them forever to judge and there were some pretty amazing masks.  A load of fun and we got to try some more NOLA dishes for dinner.

Do you know what NOLA means?  Took me a couple of days to figure it out. New Orleans, LA (for Louisiana!!)

So far so good at the convention. Like I said, I've learned tons and millions of ideas swirling in my head and things to get, things to buy, things to learn, things to make - it just doesn't stop. I'm going to be a lean mean creating machine when I get home. OH yes - I've got ideas. I just need the time.

There are sort of two conventions here. The first couple of days were for Husqvarna Viking and the next days are for PFAFF. But there is crossover between the two of them. I've got three more classes and this morning is all the speeches for the PFAFF people which I think I'll go to just to hear the word from the other side although a lot of the product (especially the after market stuff) is pretty much the same).

On that note, I'm out of here and better get some clothes on!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Convention - Day One

Well that was weird. I tried to use the iPad to blog this morning and the darn keyboard didn't seem to want to work. Thankfully, I have a backup - a laptop! There's just one problem - one is a touch screen and the other is not so it's a bit weird. But with all this technology around me - I have no problem and I was able to easily connect to the internet! You have to love the fact that we all have free access to the internet. I mean, all our devices need to be hooked up, the sewing machines needs to be hooked up to Wi-Fi so it makes sense to have it free everywhere.

I'll start off by saying that the food here is AMAZING. Considering there are hundreds of us to feed, the hotel (Marriott) has done an amazing job with the food. I didn't get a whole lot of steps in yesterday - I think of Helen Anne who has gone for close to 700 consecutive days at 10,000 steps. I would have failed dismally yesterday. Today - a walk is in order whether at lunch or after the day is complete.

After breakfast we all went to the ballroom to hear all the speeches from the head office. Lots of inspiration and great plans for many exciting future opportunities. That's encouraging. I've been a user of Husqvarna Viking products for over 20 years and I love them. Even having access to a PFAFF machine, doesn't convince me to convert over.

We had a keynote speaker who was funny, but I'm not sure that his message really got through or that he was as inspirational as I would like. Anyway, I won't even mention his name. Then it was off to lunch and then at last the first class.

The educators in the US developed some classes so we could learn new things or new ways of doing things with the sewing machines, the software and other fun stuff.

The class I was in yesterday was a project made on the EPIC 980Q. This is a high end (GORGEOUS) sewing machine that I've had the opportunity to review on QUILTsocial. If you get a chance to sew on this machine, you should. Since I knew the machine and I had brought all the right feet, except for the ruffler foot, I was good to go. I was OK for the first half of the class and was up to speed on what the instructor was saying. The lady in front of me was struggling a little bit so I helped her. There were 27 machines in the class - that's a bit overwhelming when you walk in considering how much each of these machines cost. But after the break, I couldn't get my head around what we were doing so the lady in front helped me, but after a half hour, I was good to go.

Since I'm typing on the laptop, I shouldn't have any issues with the buffer in the blog. As it just went past the first screen, I'm thinking that the iPad can't deal with the scroll bar that comes up. That must be it. I'm going to call again when I get back home.

We tried all kinds of techniques on the pillow project. Ruffler foot, yarn foot, braiding, decorative pop up stitches. I knew how to do most of the techniques, but I did learn a few and that was very exciting. I also learned a few shortcuts with the EPIC 980Q and some of its features/stitches so that was helpful.

They also have some vendors/partners here and they have booths set up so we get a chance to chat with them. Oh my - that's not a good thing because I have plans. I've spoken to the software vendors (think embroidery) and I have some ideas. Already sent off some e-mails and we'll see what happens. Could be a sew along brewing in the back of my mind.

I'll be making a list of what I'd like to get my hands on and then see what's the best way to actually get it into my hot little hands. The only problem is that there are so many ideas generating in my head and I've got to find the time to make or do them. That's OK - I'd rather have my head swimming with ideas than to have nothing up there! I can't wait to get home!

The other thing that was very exciting was that there's a dismantled sewing machine on display. I should get a picture of it. I can't remember what model it is - I think it's one of the new machines that was released. I'm going to be blogging about one of them coming up in a couple of months and I can't decide if it's better to have the embroidery model or just the sewing model. Any thoughts on that? Not sure how many of you have access to an embroidery machine. It's on QUILTsocial anyway so not that you have to follow along if you don't want to.

I might as well plug the new machines. There's the Husqvarna Viking Brilliance 80 - This looks like the baby sister to the DESIGNER EPIC. It's in a different price range, but has a LOT of the fun functionality of the higher end machine including access to the internet. And that's exciting. And there's the Husqvarna Viking Brilliance 75Q.    There's something else new, but I'll wait until I get my hands on it (here) before I tell you about it.

My iPad has auto-correct and the laptop doesn't. It's very weird. But this laptop is small and I love it! Great for typing in bed when your roommate is still asleep. Thankfully it also has a quiet keyboard.

OH - so back to the disassembled sewing machine. Two of the ENGINEERS are here. These are the guys that design the sewing machines. OH MY - I had a fabulous chat with them and they are taking suggestions. ACK!!!!  I know I have a couple, but I can't for the life of me think of them at the moment.  I did leave them with two small issues that I've been having and hopefully they can figure it out when they get back to their drawing boards. I told them to tell whichever team was responsible for the extension table - that's my absolute favorite accessory. I've got to study the sewing machines and see what I can come up with for a suggestion. I know - the case!  The darn case needs a place to put the extension cord and the foot pedal!  OK - I'm good to go with that. I'm sure I'll be thinking of a few other things as the week goes on.

After dinner, a couple of the Canadians (obviously the French Canadians) and a couple of others were headed off to Bourbon Street for a drink. Hmm - I was there in the daytime and that was sufficient for me. No need to be among an even crazier group of people - the French Canadians on Bourbon Street. I sat in the hotel room and sent out e-mails based on what I had seen in the day.

I'm having a blast here and it's well worth my time to be here. Learning tons and trying to network all the connections in Canada to make my being here even more worthwhile.

Having a roommate at an event is not as bad as you would think. Shirley - there's hope for us! We're only in the room for a short period of time so it makes perfect sense. I do like some down time though - I have a talker! But that's OK, I'm learning lots.

On that note, I have nothing else to say!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!