Mad as a hatter

Torry asked a question about the size of the plastic containers. OH -- I'll get those sizes for you tomorrow. But I mainly use two different plastic containers. The flat ones are designed for scrapbooking, which are large enough to put a 12" piece of scrapbook paper (quilt block) in. They are about 3" high. I saw them for $6 each at Micheals the other day, and sometimes they go on sale. 

I like them because if my pattern is large or I'm using a book, it fits easily into those containers. I mostly buy clear ones, but you can also get them in colors. 

The other boxes I use are similar in size to a shoebox, which is about 12" long, 5" high, and 8" wide. I'll post more on them tomorrow as I don't have time to run downstairs to get measurements. Those ones can be found at Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, or other big box stores. They are much more economical to purchase as you can buy them in bundles of 5 or something like that for relatively inexpensive. 

Watch for more details tomorrow. 

So now that we've had that big tidy-up, what's the status of your cutting table, sewing table, and ironing board? I'm in pretty good shape -- I just can't seem to keep the cutting board cleared up, and I know that's simply because I'm trying to do too many things. So I need to focus a wee bit, and then I'll be good. Now that I have a bit more room on the current project table, I can actually clear the cutting table off, and I'll be good. 

The most important thing is that NOTHING on any of those surfaces is sitting there because it doesn't have a home. It's there because I need to do something with it. There's a significant difference between the two!

It was another glorious day outside, and I went for a long walk. I even had to take my hat off at one point because I was sweating! I had to make a stop at the post office to mail off a couple of things. One of them was the envelope that was returned for insufficient postage. Did I mention that? 

So I mailed a pattern to someone in the US. She had sent me an e-mail to say she had not received the package. Oh no! Then I got home from the retreat, and there was the envelope with insufficient postage. Seriously? I took it to the post office to find out the required postage!! I originally paid $1.90 for postage, which was short by $1.25. What irked me was that the lady said -- I hope they honor the previous amount I put on and she actually called someone to check. 

HEY -- you better honor the first amount -- it was NOT my mistake. And they did, but still. 

Anyway -- I ended up with over 15 KM yesterday. Good grief! I've walked almost 400 KM this month -- the coldest month of the year, and most of that is outside. I'm mad as a hatter!! If you don't know the history behind that, check out that link. But I love walking, and when the sidewalks are clear, and the weather is nice -- I'm out! Even when I took the girls out in the morning -- it was cold - well, only minus 16 or something like that, but if you are dressed for it, there's no problem. 

I did get some sewing done, and I worked on my scrappy hexagon quilt. Yep -- everything looks great when we look at this picture. 

The scrappy hexagon quilt

But I needed that end design board in a hurry one day, so I tossed all the blocks on the floor, and that's where they remain! 

Part of the quilt is on the floor

However, I'm happy to report that the top two rows are together. Oh god -- I'm mad because I twirled the seams on those first two rows, and that almost killed me. But now I have the pressing pattern, so it should be easy to do the rest. I hate pressing seams open, as we would typically do with this kind of quilt. 

And look at those points, and I'm not matching them but letting them fall where they fall. 

Nice intersections

In between that, I used my hourglass units as enders and leaders, and I'm trying to trim them up as I sew them. I start with pairs of half-square triangles. These are NOT a pair, but there's a pair of blue ones and a pair of brown ones. 

Two pairs of half-square triangles

These pairs of half-square triangles are sewn together and pressed, ready to be trimmed down to the appropriate hourglass unit size. 

Hourglass units ready to trim

And I got some of the units trimmed. Yep --- all in a day's work. 

Trimmed hourglass units

I could have done more, but it was just one of those days where I had some issues to deal with, and not as much sewing got done. Plus, it took forever to get those seams twirled, and that's OK. 

Don't forget that I', blogging on QUILTsocial this week. Lots of great tips for applique and quilting this week. Be sure to check it out. 

And it's Virtual Retreat weekend. I hope to get lots done -- OH -- I always say that! But here are the links. 

Saturday, January 29 starting at 6 PM 

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday, January 30, starting at 11:30 AM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81693717518?pwd=STNoVVQzbDd4ZnROQndNNlpvcC90QT09 Meeting ID: 816 9371 7518 Passcode: 579285

OK  -- I'd better a certain someone outside. I don't know why the rabbit insists on staying in our backyard. I did block the entrance that Murphy got into, but they just can't let this rabbit be. They pace the backyard - gazebo to the deck, to the shed, back to the gazebo. I've no idea where the rabbit is, but he's brave!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Quilt Canada - Day Two

I'm not a basketball fan, but I would be remiss if I didn't say "We ARE the Champions!". I saw the score this morning. Way to go Raptors!!

I feel like WE are the champions after surviving yesterday at Quilt Canada. I arrived bright and early so I could check out some of the quilts. Some great concurrent shows with loads of interesting ideas. I can't wait to get back home and have some planning sessions with myself. I have two deadlines when I get home - both July 1st, but both are very doable in that time frame. Unfortunately, one more item got added to that list yesterday. Yep - that deadline list ebbs and flows but stays pretty consistent.

I did take a few pictures and will try to post next week. Holy cow - yesterday had a wee bit of a slow start to it, but then BAM - that place was hopping. I'm not sure how many buses ended up coming, but that place was a beehive of activity until late in the day.

I demoed sewing machines, embroidery machines, quilting machines, embroidery software, and talked about quilting techniques. They are so many myths out there that people think is the "right" way to quilt. Holy cow!!!!  Ladies and gentlemen, we have to start thinking outside the box! The other thing I noticed is that people have taken MANY classes, but are still afraid. People, you have to STOP taking classes. No that's not right. You have to take a class, then go home and practice. Then you take the next class and practice some more. You just can't keep taking classes and hope to get better.

I try to convince them to try at least ONE new thing. Don't forget about my 86 year old father (his father lived to be 100). His motto is - I need to learn something new every day. He volunteers for a museum and spends his days tinkering with gas engines on old tractors. If they can't find a replacement part, my dad MAKES the parts. He learns something every day. I'm very proud of my dad and my mom and it's from them that I learned a good work ethic. I also learned a wee bit about hoarding!

So here's a wee homework assignment for you all. Take something - anything in your house and try to learn something new about it. Could be your phone. Could be a kitchen appliance. Could be your camera. Or get that sewing machine out. Take one of the stitches - what can you do with that one stitch. Gosh - it could even be something as simple as the zigzag. You can do a LOT of different things with the zigzag. Over and over again, I hear people say they have all these stitches, but don't know what to do with them. Well, try new things.

That's one of the reasons why I like to be nosy and see what other people are doing. How are they using things differently? That's also why I like to take classes, but at the same time, I think we use classes as a crutch. We think that if we take something like free motion quilting that we'll learn. Oh yes - we'll learn, but if we don't sit down at the machine and practice those techniques - we'll never learn.

I heard that over and over again yesterday. Oh yes - my other teacher told me to do that. Well?????  Why aren't you doing that? How do you think I learned? Or the other instructors learned? We made mistakes - lots of mistakes.

And the myths - oh - it's sad about the myths. People think they need to do things a certain way. Nope - not at all. It's your quilt and your skills. You do what you think works best for you! There's no halfway!

Perhaps I'll do a myth-busting blog post one day just cause I'm tired of hearing all these things. If you have a myth that you think would make a good topic - e-mail it to me.

Oh my goodness - I saw so many people yesterday. People that I knew from all over the place. People that I used to work for, people that I worked with, people who follow my blog and loads of others. It was super exciting. Two ladies stopped by to say HI. They are blog followers. One was from Sudbury and one from Ottawa. They did tell me their names, but my mind is totally blank at this point. Thanks so much for following the blog and thanks so much for stopping by to say HI!! 

I didn't get out of our booth to any of the vendors. I think today will be a quieter day? Not sure as yesterday was so crazy. I'll try to post some pictures on Facebook - I haven't even had time to do that.

Here are my pictures for today. They are from an English Paper Piecing class that I taught a while back at Oh Look Fabric. I missed getting pictures of one student's work.

We had a blast - as usual.

Loretta's hexies

Cathy's hexies

Heidi's hexies

I LOVE all those color combinations. I should be bringing my hexies with me, but there honestly isn't time to do anything here. I was out last night with Carol and we had a grand chat about stuff. I haven't had a chance to catch up with her in a while so that was awesome.

Wow  - so much excitement happening. Seems like something new everyday!!!  Yeah!   Bring it on!

On that note, I'd better find something to wear today. I was a wee bit skimpy on what I packed for the show, but that's easy to fix with a few scarves and other accessories! Don't forget that if you're in the Ottawa area and coming to Quilt Canada, stop by the Husqvarna Viking booth and say HI!!!!

Have a super day!!!!!!

Ciao!!!!!

English paper piecing

While I didn't get everything done yesterday that I had hoped (I was hoping to have another customer quilt quilted), I'm still on track. It's going to be heads-down for the next couple of weeks until that long arm goes in for servicing. Then I can have three to four weeks of doing nothing! As if!

I did get that huge customer quilt completed the day before.

Customer quilt - DONE

 I still need to trim it, but as I have three in total for the same customer, I'll wait and trim later this week.

I got one of my quilts quilted as well. It's for a magazine so I can't share it with you. But here's something that I learned. I have figured out why modern quilts do NOT have borders. As I was prepping to quilt this quilt (it has a border, but is modern), I was contemplating how to quilt the borders. And then it dawned on me - the modern quilter's didn't want to deal with the dilemma of quilting a border, so they didn't add one! Seriously?  Yep - I think those borderless quilts are as simple as that!!

Anyway, since the border was the same size as the blocks in the quilt, I decided to carry the pattern into the border and quilt the border as if it were a continuation of the blocks. While that's all good in theory, I had to do a fair bit of ripping until I could get the pattern established. Let's just say that I was having a serious spatial moment to get that thing quilted. But I tried something new and I LOVE it. As I was quilting that one - no I didn't have a chance to think about anything else as I quilted that one. It required too much concentration!

That leaves 11 quilts before the long arm goes in for servicing. Five need to have custom quilting so that will be a wee bit of a challenge and two - well four still have to be made. But we are NOT going to go there. Like I said - it's going to be heads-down for the next three weeks. Not all are due right away, but since I can't quilt them without the long arm - well I could quilt them on the domestic machine and I will if I have to. Not the customer ones but my own.

More patterns got finalized yesterday and I believe they are on the Northcott website. You have to check out this new collection which is coming soon. It's called Sleepy Sloth and is absolutely ADORABLE.   Here is the picture of the quilt I designed for it.

Hanging Out

You can check out the fabric collection at Northcott's webpage. The collection ships in March and once it ships, you can use the product finder to locate a shop near you that purchased the collection. The free pattern should be available for download now.

And for my American friends, there is another free download using Northcott's latest Stars and Stripes collection. Oh, shoot - I don't see the pattern on the website yet. I'll post that when I see the link.

Here are my blocks for the National Quilter's Circle Block Challenge. I took a picture yesterday morning and then realized that one block was still hanging on the wall. Of course, it was after I had packed everything up!!! So I had to lay the blocks out again. There isn't really a rhyme nor reason to the color scheme. I'm thinking some interesting quilting can be done in these large (16") blocks!!

Blocks for the National Quilter's Circle Block Challenge

Then it was on to finishing up some items. Well, one. I got the binding on this table runner.

Sewing the binding on a table runner

 This makes finish Number ELEVEN for the year.

Table runner

 That table runner is a free pattern designed by me. It's on the Northcott website and looks totally different from the original.

The table runner was delivered last night. I purchased the fabric at Oh Look Fabric (the new quilt store in Milton) and it will be a potential class in the upcoming future. So watch for that. If you're not on the mailing list, you should get yourself on the list. If you look at that link above, you'll see the latest fabrics she has in the store. They are distinctly Canadian and SUPER CUTE.  I should have bought some last night, but I didn't think. Now I want some!!!!  Help!!!

Last night, we had our first class at Oh Look Fabric. I was supposed to put it on my blog, but I was so wrapped up in quilting, that I forgot to post the information. The topic? English Paper Piecing and you can see the ladies hard at work making their hexagons.

Making hexagons

 And when the evening was over, we had a nice selection of flowers. They did amazingly well and those stitches are very invisible. Kudos to everyone for a great job!!!

Finished hexagon "flowers"

This is such a relaxing technique. It takes very little to carry around a pouch of hexagons, scissors, and thread. Technically there isn't really any prep work. I really need to work on these - I have an audio book I want to finish so I'm going to put them together by my chair and see what I can get done.


I did finish my Anne Perry novel. Boy - that was quite a story and that's all I'm going to say, but I'm anxious to read the next one. But I'm going to try a different author. At the moment, I'm reading about the movie Thelma and Louise. I never saw that movie, but now I want to. Got to find it somewhere - I'm sure it's on the internet.

Speaking of that - oh shoot - I have to find the pictures of M in her first TV show. I saw them this morning and now I can't find them. Perhaps she can send them to me via e-mail so I can post tomorrow.

And now I have to run. I'm teaching two classes today. I'm all prepped or as prepped as I'm going to be!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!

Mad about HEXAGONS...........................

What a day!  It seems that I am having a bit of an issue with reintegrating into the real world.  It seems that I am supposed to be actually be doing stuff!  I'm tired and in particular, my back is tired. I think I need a massage.  OK - I have a gift certificate for one - I better book an appointment this morning.  Or maybe I just get on my bike and I can lean on those darn handlebars!

However I have to say that I did read a bit (OK - a LOT) yesterday.  The book I am reading is called Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

I find it very interesting that I started to read the book on the day that the movie was released. I had no idea they were making a movie. Mary B  had given me the book a couple of months ago.  It is an excellent book and I read most of it yesterday!  Coming from a fairly normal family life, it is mind boggling to understand what happened to Cheryl.  But I so understand her trials and tribulations of walking that trail.  OK - so my bike ride was nothing compared to her hike, but there are many similarities. And I seriously believe that events like that are life changing!  And for the better!  Moving out of our comfort zone is something we all should do!


Anyway - if you get a chance to read the book or watch the movie - I would recommend it!  I've already got  a waiting list for the book!




It was so much fun to reconnect with friends yesterday!    We had embroidery club which I just love. There was only one problem - I could not find my embroidery.  Later after everyone left, I dug a bit deeper and OH - there it is - it wasn't sitting on top, but was buried a couple of boxes down!!!!   No worries - I had something else to do - HEXAGONS!  And I wasn't the only one.

Diane started us off by producing this article on how Hexagons are the IN shape at the moment!!!!!   Of course - Diane was going to work on her hexagon project but seems she brought the circle project with her!!!!!!

Tish was busy making more hexagons and sewing them together.  Look at her neat pile of flowers!!!!   Notice how nice and evenly they are stacked!!!   I think she is going to need a bigger box!!!!

And I "cheated" and got this many hexagons prepared.  They said I was cheating because I was using the glue stick, NOT sewing them!!!!!

So yes - while we call it the embroidery club - we do anything that is hand work!   So nice to just chat up a storm about anything and everything!!!!   Yep - there is no complaining in this group and I just love that!!!!   First person to complain is out!


And look at the cool present that I got.  

Yep - a beer with a bike on it.  Red Racer!!!!   Who knew!  And just in time because I have already consumed the Iceberg beer that I managed to bring home with me!!!!    Love the quote on the coaster - yes - a coaster for my beer. 

Well - I think today is the day that I actually get my butt in gear and get some work done!  Well - I have to finish that book first!  

Check out the QUILTSocial link this morning to get some new ideas for the zippered pouches.  And seriously - I want to see what you have done!!!!!!

On that note - everyone is already gone their separate ways this morning. I have the house to myself and I intend to make good use of that quiet time!

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Updates!!!!!

Being home is awesome!!!   Trying to get things tidied up from the last two trips and getting ready for the next one and in between - trying to get some work done!  Oh yes - life is a circus!  and I LOVE IT!!!!!


I thought I would share some updates with you as I am making progress on stuff - hard to believe - but it does happen sometimes.

Let's start with my latest craze - the HEXAGONS....................

Here are some of my prepped hexagons. Got to get myself organized with the type of thread to use and well - I might just take some of those along with me????  I don't know about that - but this project  is small and that is a good thing.  I am trying to pack as light as possible. 

My mom got into the craze as well and made this card from PAPER.  See how close she copied my design

I think she did a pretty good job except her card wasn't big enough to add the black around the outside edge

And then she made this with the leftover bits - SEE - the apple does not fall far from the tree in my family!!!!!

This hexagon craze is NOT new for me.  I have a pizza box filled with goodies all related to English paper piecing which is the method used to make the  hexagons.  I have several other shapes and I knew that I had other papers.  However I had a HUGE shock when I opened the box and looked inside.  Oh boy - a bit obsessive I would think.

I found not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE packs of hexagon papers.  All of them 1/2" - I know - I have a thing for using small stuff and TWO of those packs contain 750 papers each and the other three have 125 in them.  OK - I think I have enough papers????

However - have a look at where I bought those hexagon papers.   Oh yes - this store has been closed for MANY MANY years - even it's successor has been closed for many years.  Oh boy - yep - this craze is NOT new - I just never did anything about it before. 

I guess my discovery of all those papers makes this tool pretty much useless.  I bought the 1/2" punch so I could punch my own papers.  Hmmmm - I am thinking I don't need this and should have bought one of the other sizes instead. Oh well - shouldn't have gotten so excited!!!!!!!   And since I opened up the package - I can't even return the darn thing. I am sure I will find a use for it and those papers do eventually wear out.  Eventually.........

But more importantly - I got my glue refills and a brand new pen.  That should keep me busy for a while. 

So - if I were to prepare a bunch of fabric squares - take along glue pen, needle and thread - I could easily do this project on the road.

Let's move to the knitting.   While I was away - I managed to get THREE blocks done.   Yeah!!!!!!   That is all the wool that I took with me and while I lamented not taking more - I finished the last one on the last day - so not that big of a deal.

Three more blocks done

That makes 11

Here are the left over bits from each block

That leaves six skeins in the "to do" bag and three are in the mobile knitting bag. 

But I managed to get this much done at Monday (couldn't figure out what to take to sew - knitting just seemed so much easier to deal with)

And while I was on the phone last night - I got the block done.   

That means there are EIGHT skeins of wool left.  And the bits of which I am hoping to get another four blocks????? Which would give me 25 blocks and I could make my afghan 5 by 5.  Hmmmm - I could take some of that knitting with me, but it is bulky so I don't think so. But I am bound and determined to NOT start something new (knitting) until this is done. And so far so good.  But I still have to knit the blocks together when I am done making all the blocks.  Well - it really wouldn't take that long - OK - I am going to be just like Ruthi and carry that damn little knitting bag with me everywhere!!!!!!   Could I be done by Christmas?????


I know - everything I seem to latch onto becomes an obsession.  I can't help it - I just get so enthusiastic. My license plate collection is growing.  I now have 13 of them in my collection (out of 28).  If my calculations are correct - I have another ten that we are waiting to arrive by mail - the stores were out when myself or my cohorts were there or I haven't picked it up from my cohorts. Thanks to all of you - it has been fun hearing all the offers from you!!!!!

License plate collection to date

And that leaves 5 left to find a way to get.  I checked the route for my bike trip and while I will be able to stop at a couple of stores, none of them have a license plate.  It is just too far out of the way to make a detour.


Sew Crafty - Rideau Ferry,
Sew Creative - Mount Brydges,
Quilter's Line - Markdale,
Kalidoscope of Quilts - Exeter,
We R Quilts - Prescott (two),
Wilton Creek Fabrics - Harrowsmith,
Threads that Bind - Maxwell,
The Quilting Trunk - Dryden
Fabric Fusion - Dryden
Flair With Fabrics -  Chesterville,
Fun With Stitches - Belleville,
Cobwebs and Caviar - Shelburne
Appleseed Quiltworks  - Lindsay.


I think I did not too bad although I realize that I did not get to all the stores in person.  Well here is a plan for 2015.  My guess is that MORE stores will participate in the Row by Row next year and many stores that did NOT get a license plate this year - will get one next year.  Now what if I took a month and rode to the stores on my bike to get the license plates????   Cost effect if I tent - a great way to see the province and get to some new stores.  Something to thing about.   Anybody up to cycle with me?????? 


A number of years ago (2011) the town of Ailsa Craig brought in quilts from The Netherlands for their annual quilt show. One of the biggest quilt stores was here - Den Hann and Wagenmakers.  When M and I went to Amsterdam in 2012 - we visited this store.  Both times I loved their kits but felt they were too expensive and like I need another kit. When I heard that Susan was going to be in Amsterdam - I decided enough was enough and so I sent her to the store (she is a quilter - it was already on her list) and she bought me a kit. I met up with Susan when I was out west and I finally got my kit!!!!!

I know - I even had to bring the store bag home!!!!!

Look how pretty that box is!!!!

Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!

And here are the fabrics.  I have had the pattern for months as the store sent it to me via e-mail.  

This kit did NOT fit in my suitcase and I had to carry it in my backpack which was so heavy - I thought I was going to fall backwards.   Hmmmm - memories of M and London come to mind.  OK - so I should have learned from her!!!!!

Just when Susan and I thought that we were all straight with getting stuff to each other, another situation arose.  This time - I went to take a picture of Lego Laniac in her driveway.  Later I discovered that she lost her hair in the driveway.  I think it is now winging its way back to me.  Hey Susan - let's hope that we have everything sorted out now!!!!!!!!!!!

I was admiring some of the gorgeous Perle Cottons that Susan had and she managed to wing this ball in my bag before I left.  I just love the colour - very southwestern.   Hmmmmm - got to find something really creative to do with it.   Some bobbin work??????

A couple of months ago - I started writing for a blog called QUILTsocial.  My "job" (if you are doing something you love - I don't call it a job and it certainly isn't work!) is to review sewing machines for Husqvarna Viking.  The first week I had fun with the H|Class 100Q.


Here are the links if you want to have a peek at what this little machine is all about...................


Day One  - Summer Sewing
Day Two - Stitch Outs
Day Three - It's all about the Feet
Day Four - A Quilting we will go
Day Five - Summertime and the sewing is easy

Day Six - Why I love the Husqvarna Viking H|Class 100Q
Day Ten - Top ten reasons why I love the Husqvarna Viking H|Class 100Q


Well I had a good laugh when I went to Monday sewing.   TWO people had purchased the H|Class machine.

Lynn's machine

Joyce's machine

 I see that both of them have a mat under the machine.  Perhaps they can tell us why??   I will ask them.

Joyce with the borders that she put on her scrappy braid quilt

I think they are going to LOVE that little machine.  They seemed to be quite happy - and if you read Day 10 - you will understand why.   The features on this small machine are amazing. Check it out and you will see why this is such a cool little machine.


In case you are wondering what happened on Day 6, 7, and 8 - that was tutorials for making Fabric Journal Covers and if you want to check it out - here are the links. They are so easy to make. These examples are very simple and with no embellishments - you can have one made in less than an hour (provided you have all the supplies).   Have fun and let me know what you make!!!!!!


Day 7 - Fabric Journal cover tutorial
Day 8 - Fabric Journal cover collage
Day 9 - Crazy about Fabric Journal covers



I have the next week to prepare the next two segments.  Oh yes - I am busy taking pictures which is NOT an easy task.  I will show you my "studio" tomorrow.


I did manage to tidy up a bit.

The ironing board is clear

The cutting table - made progress - not quite there yet

Have you ever been invited to a wedding and you want to go just because of the invitation????   We received such an invitation yesterday.  

Very fancy and the weight of the card stock is very HEAVY

Separate invites to the ceremony and the reception

Information and RSVP cards

And even the envelopes were printed with the design - again - that was no ordinary paper for those envelopes!!!!

I won't be going - won't be home.  But I can imagine how fancy the wedding is going to be.   In all honesty - I have no desire for this kind of thing.  I hate SHOWY events - it should be about celebrating the couple and not the pomp and circumstance.  Ah yes - you can take the country girl and put her in the city, but you can't take the country out of the girl!!!!!!


On that note - it is time to ride to Tim's and get my tea and then get to WORK - I mean - back to taking pictures and sewing.  YEAH - a fun day!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scraps!!!

Back to town today.  I know - it is pretty bad, but I'll go for any excuse.  Actually my Dad had to run some errands and we were getting some pictures printed. Sounds good to me. Of course that gave me a chance to do some more knitting.

Now I have TWO more blocks done.   I have one more skein of yarn with me.  And there are nine more at home.  Drat - I wish I had brought more.  I have 21 skeins of yarn in total. There are leftovers from each skein so I am hoping to make 25 blocks for a 5 by 5 configuration???  That is probably realistic. Then I have to knit the sashing which Tish assures me is quick.  She better be right!!!!   I am NOT allowing myself to start anything new (knitting) until this is done.  Better knit faster!!!!!

I did buy some dish cloth yarn so I can make that before I leave if I run out of things to do.


I got a LOT of hexagons prepared.  I am almost done the initial 300 of the small ones.  Now to start sewing them together. That is for later. Since I am trying something complex (of course) - I have to think about what colours I am prepping. But last night - I got more fabric hexagons cut out. This time I used the striped fabric - what do you think????

I think this one will be the traditional "flower" shape with the black in between the striped flowers. 

My mom was showing me what she was working on in the scrap quilt world.  When I was here in February, she had dug out some of her quilts and I took four home to quilt. Then she got out her quilting to see what was there.  At some point - she had cut blades for dresden plate blocks.  Well she went wild!!!!  When she got them all sewn together - she had enough for TWO HUNDRED blocks.  Actually these blades had been cut YEARS ago.  She just sewed them together recently. I know - and you thought I was obsessive!!!!!!

The plates together - 200 blocks worth

The Dresden Plate ready to be appliqued to the background - a LOT of those scraps are leftovers from things that I made or my mom made.  Many (OK - all of them) are old. 50 years or so.  Anyone want a Dresden Plate quilt?????   There will be TEN of them - each one 4 by 5.  Oh boy!!!!!   That red plaid in the above picture was from a shirt I made myself when I was in high school and there were many other fabrics that belonged to me.  Great memories!!!!!

Well I'm off to check out some of my Dad's toys.  Catch you later.


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!