Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!!

It's Christmas!!!! While we don't do a lot for Christmas these days because it's just the two of us, we still have traditions! They are just different. Like all of you, I have so many Christmas memories, but one in particular that I'm sure my parents will never forget. 

I was pretty young and was fast asleep in my bed when something woke me up. Likely, my mom was putting out the presents. I sprang from my bed and ran into the living room, shouting, "he's here, he's here!" Yep -- I thought Santa had arrived and I wanted to meet him. 

Sadly, I was told that Santa had not yet arrived, and somehow I managed to go back to bed and fall asleep! 

With M, our bedtime story on Christmas Eve was reading The Night Before Christmas. It's the same book we read as kids on the farm. The poor book is falling apart, but I still have it! I sent her a text last night as she celebrated with her adopted family! 

DH made onion soup (and croutons) from scratch last night, so we ate like kings and queens. Only once yesterday, and I don't even know what made me think of it, did I think of all the Christmas candy and cookies that I have eaten over the years. Did I miss it? For about 10 seconds, and then I was over that and thinking about something else. 

Christmas doesn't have to be all fuss or over-the-top. Christmas is about spending time together, chatting with loved ones, and doing something that you enjoy! It's about PRESENCE, not presents! And that's what happens in our house!

I decided to tackle the jigsaw puzzle in the morning, when I can open the blinds and let in some natural light without the sun glaring on the pieces. This is what it looked like after my morning session. Santa is starting to take form. 

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

Then after I walked to the grocery store (again!), I ate my snack and worked on the puzzle instead of reading. Oh my --- the natural light sure makes a difference, especially for this puzzle. It's still NOT an easy puzzle as each piece appears to be a completely different shape. And you can't just identify a shape and find a piece to match, because sometimes, that opening requires two shapes to fill it! But I"m making good progress and I think I'll tackle it again this morning after I walk the girls. 

Even more progress

Last night, we decided that we NEEDED to complete that EXIT Game that has been languishing on the table for weeks. We were basically stuck on a puzzle, so we decided to look at the clues. There are three clues for each puzzle, and we had figured out everything they mentioned in Clues One and Two. But when we got to Clue Three with the answer, we still had no clue how they got to that answer. NONE!!

The current EXIT Game

There is a guy in the UK (I think) who films all the puzzles while he and someone else solve them. So I looked up the episode. Hmmm --- Just a random thought got them to the answer. But I wonder how much of the film is edited out. How long did it really take for them to come up with that? These games have 10 puzzles, and we were totally stumped on TWO of them. But it's done and will get passed along. 

Now the big question is - will we start another one right away? 

Yesterday, we had a Virtual Retreat, and some of us stayed until 3 PM. What a great way to spend time with friends, even if they just popped in to say Hi. It's such a great way to stay connected, and it kept me motivated to do a mindless job. 

Oh shoot—I forgot to take a picture of the quilt I was working on. Well, you'll have to wait until I get more work done on it. But I had a lot of flying geese to make. I calculated the square sizes for the no-waste method and cut a bunch of squares. But only after I did a sample to make sure they would be the correct size. 

I hadn't really paid attention to how many squares I had cut, and so I was hoping that when I finished all these, I would have enough. I think this is where I ended last night. 

Making flying geese at the Virtual Retreat

And this is how many I was able to finish with what I had cut. I was short by ten units. 

96 flying geese units

Well, I'm sure slacking on taking photos this morning. I did get all 106 made! Yeah!!! But then I realized this quilt has FOUR borders! Well, the worst one is the flying geese one, and I've made tremendous progress on it! I can't work too fast - this is on the list of things to complete in 2026, and I can't possibly finish it BEFORE! 

I see my large spool of thread is almost finished! Time to dig out a new one. There are no worries: the bucket of neutral thread contains multiple spools of thread from various brands, so it's no big deal to get a new spool started. But I haven't run out yet!!

Going to need a new spool of thread

As I was working yesterday and this morning, I'm planning and prepping the next small project to write about. And I needed some buttons. Actually, during our Monday Sewing, someone asked if anyone had anything suitable for a snowman's nose. WAIT -- I have buttons. Well, when I dug out my extensive button collection (of course - it's extensive - I used to buy a lot of buttons), I found FOUR bags of snowman nose buttons. I sold one bag to the person who needed the noses, leaving three left. 

Part of the button collection

Well, imagine my surprise when I dug back through the button boxes this morning for different types of buttons and found ONE more package! Good grief - I'll never have to buy button noses again! 

FOUR packs of buttons, after selling one! 

So if you're ever looking for a random button, ask, because I might just have one I can spare~ I am NOT actively getting rid of the buttons, so don't ask if you don't need one! 

I picked up the mail yesterday and got my copy of A Needle Pulling Thread. I've been preparing a project for them for quite some time. This is the current issue - Number 71.

A Needle Pulling Thread

The theme for that issue was to remake one of our previous projects. Someone had suggested a quilt that I had made, and I was all excited, but for some reason, no inspiration came to mind. It just wasn't going to happen. So I rethought the project and picked this one instead. A fabric tub made from recycled wool that came from Eaton's!!!

My first idea from Issue 50

I kept with the recycled theme, but this time I used denim. And instead of making a fabric tub, I made a fabric BOX!!! 

My fabric box

The tub had machine applique on it, the box had machine embroidery - a technique called FRINGE Embroidery. I LOVE the box - it's so bright and cheery and perfect to put stuff in that sits on the sewing or cutting table. I hope to swap the tray with the half-square triangles and such for the box when it arrives back home. 

I love being able to create ANYTHING that I want. And this had some tricky spots, but I McGivered it to work, and I show you how in the magazine article. If you don't want to purchase the magazine (in Chapters/Indigo, or online), you can also just buy the pattern. And if you don't have an embroidery machine, why not embellish the box with hand embroidery, applique, or whatever you wish? But the box is very sturdy, and it's gorgeous!!!!

It's the time of year when every service you use is sending you a recap of the year. I got this from WeTransfer, which I use to transfer large files. I'm not done with all my transfers yet this year, and there's still a week, but here's what they sent in the recap. 

Of course, there's the total amount of GB, which is quite a bit, I suppose. 

Total amount of data moved

Which, I guess, it is, when you see it broken down like this! 

HMMM -- now that I can relate to!

But this is the one that gets me. I use the free version of WeTransfer and don't think I send many files. But they make me feel important by saying I'm in the top 5% of users. Hmmm --- is that for real, or is that a marketing gimmick to make me feel like I should buy a subscription to the service? 

Am I really in the top ten?

Oh well, I'll never know! 

OH -- the good news, I found a CANADIAN company that I can purchase the KAM snaps from! It's incredible how much I can learn by asking questions at the Virtual Retreats!! Someone out there knows the answer to everything! 

Remember, we have a Virtual Retreat on Saturday, December 27th, starting at 6 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82693702241?pwd=QpQkm8Ppppy1XwCPOqva1bcgJCWKdP.1

Meeting ID: 826 9370 2241
Passcode: 795071

And on Sunday, December 28th, starting at 3 PM. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81073536036?pwd=uxRqMnK1aSKrmrcSO78w8QQs5g44eA.1

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

And on that note - enjoy your Christmas Day, whether you are with family or friends, or choose to spend a quiet day at home. Eat cookies and chocolate today! I'm going to the movies, mainly for the popcorn! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!

The BEST friends ever!

I'm almost done with the writing, and I hope to have it wrapped up by tomorrow morning! That will be a relief, and I MUST NOT let the deadline creep up on me in the future. I say this every time, and every time it happens again, and that is NOT responsible of me as it affects other people. I'm always yakking about respect, and I need to follow my own guidelines!

OK -- can I just stop here a second and brag about my friends? I have the BEST friends in the world. They are smart, they are intelligent, they are creative, we have some very stimulating conversations, and dare I say -- I'm a bit passionate about some of those discussions! DH and I have a review at the end of the day -- who was more passionate in their work! Sometimes it's him, and sometimes it's me! We just remind each other to tone it down if necessary!

If quilters ruled the world! Kidding, but I swear my friends have bailed me out on more than one occasion, and yesterday was no exception. I was searching for a particular item, which I won't share with you just yet. I looked high and low on the internet. Well, can you believe one of my friends bought the same item? The minute she chimed into the conversation, I knew she had purchased the same thing, and sure enough, she showed us the box! 

Hmm --- of course, she bought it several weeks ago! Not the last minute like myself. I was tempted to pay her a visit and steal the item, but that wouldn't be nice. Then another friend managed to find the item in question in a store in Quebec. This store did NOT come up in my search, so I immediately purchased the item, and let's hope it comes by December 1. By the way - that's a clue!

We don't thank people enough for doing favors for us, and I try to acknowledge them because I appreciate them taking a bit of time to help. So THANK YOU (you know who you are) who rescued me yesterday! And NO -- I won't have to resort to stealing! 

So for those friends who love to watch Yellowstone (I've no idea what's it about -- something about cowboys and mafia? - mafia on horseback? - whatever), I spotted this at Indigo yesterday. Just saying if you need a stocking stuffer!

A Guide to Yellowstone

Although it was warm yesterday, it was pretty windy, so I decided to bring out my Patagonia jacket. The one that was repaired for FREE. I love this company and can't say enough about them and their repair policy. This is my main winter jacket, and I've worn it for many years. The zipper went last year, and I returned it to Patagonia, and they fixed it. Not only did they fix the zipper, but some of the fabric was wearing on the inside of the elbows, and the down was coming out. 

The sleeve of my winter jacket

To look at the sleeve, you have no idea how they fixed that. They attached a new bottom of the sleeve to my jacket! On both sleeves!

The repair

Seriously??? I had NO IDEA until I saw it hanging in the closet and noticed that the coloring was SLIGHTLY off. I looked closer and realized what they had done. Brilliant!!!! You can't tell, and like I said, this jacket has been worn for many years. It's like a brand-new jacket! And the next time something goes, I might buy a new one. THANK YOU, Patagonia, for all that you do for the planet and all the fantastic products you make!! How did they match that color so well? 

I didn't need the jacket -- I was sweating as I walked. The wind was blustery, but it was a gorgeous day!

I also noticed that if you are getting a new dog, Corgis seem to be popular. It even made the cover of a magazine. Do you think that's to honor the queen? One of our neighbors recently got a Corgi! 

Corgi on the cover!

Speaking of dogs, my two are always up to no good! Murphy has always moved the big dog bed; now she moves the small one as well and has no issue with them being in the middle of the floor.

Don't mind me -- just rearranging the furniture to my liking

 Look at her! What a goof! 

MOM -- this new toy is great

And why is her butt in the air? 

MOM -- a little busy here! 

She was NOT interested in watching soccer! But it looked like she had pulled her bed over to be closer to the TV. 

I swear I spend a lot of time watching the two goof around. Imagine if they were puppies  - I would get NOTHING done. 

I need two or possibly three black buttons. Can you imagine, in all that mess, that I have no large black buttons? Certainly not three that match! I might be off today to buy buttons. 

Buttons! 

I got an e-mail from my favorite book site owned by my favorite online store. For the record, I bought something from them recently, because I couldn't find it elsewhere! Don't judge me! I'm a hypocrite, and I'm OK with that! I never said not to shop there; just be mindful of what and how often you buy from them! 

The e-mail was about voting for the top books (on their site) for 2022. Naturally, I went to the mystery and thriller section and was dismayed that I had read only ONE of the twenty books listed. Seriously??? How can that be? Granted, some of them are in series, and I haven't got there yet; about half are on my "want to read" list, and I have one other sitting on the floor waiting for me to start it. 

I was not the only one who reviewed a few of these top lists. Another friend had gone through five different categories and had only read one or two from each, and she's also a voracious reader! 

Top twenty books (Thriller and Mystery) on Goodreads

How many have you read?? 

So I got to looking and found an easy way to add the unread ones to my "want to read" list. Then I realized they had their top 20 books for each year back to 2011, so I added all those I haven't read to my list. Why not? With over 300 books on that "want to read" list, I think I'm good for a long time! And that doesn't count many of the series I'm reading, and way behind! Since I read about 50 novels a year, I'm good!

I think that's hilarious, but comforting to know that I won't ever run out of reading material. OH -- and I got a new book series recommended to me yesterday (by another good friend!), and there are seven books. Those are not added yet! This is from a kid (me) who said they would read every book in the world when I was about 6 or 7! Little did I know! 

Well, that's it for me! I've got a Zoom presentation this morning, and then back to the sewing machine and the computer! I want this done today! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Scraps and more scraps

We had an excellent Zoom sewing session yesterday. We got to see two people that we hadn't seen in quite a while, so that was good to catch up with them. I was ripping something out, and now it's ripped out completely. That was a bit of a nasty job, but it's done.

I did spend some time puttering to try and get a handle on the stuff in Studio B. I got everything from the retreat put away, except those baskets of work that need to be done. They are still sitting in the middle of the floor.

Rita sent me a picture of her Lilla quilt that we worked on last year. This was the class at Oh Look Fabric. I LOVE the colors! Rita made it totally random with her fabrics, and she used up her scraps to make some of the blocks, so I don't think she has anything left over. That was a brilliant idea as there were a lot of small scraps because of the curved seams and the way the quilt was constructed.

Rita's version of Lilla 

What I love is that she persevered even after the class finished getting her quilt top done!

Well, I could NOT find the project box for one of the quilts that I'm working on. I knew it was in the studio, but where? I checked several times. Nothing. Then I actually opened my eyes when I searched and look at what I found.

Do you see what I see?

Yep - if I fold back those blocks, guess what's hiding beneath them.

The project box

Phew -- so now I'm going to finish off that homework and get it out today and start working on the next blocks for the next project. It keeps me hopping to stay ahead with the five projects. It's not hard, I just can't let my guard down!

Then I decided it was time to get some pet mats done. I'll be meeting with the person I give them to on Friday, and well, I'd like to get more out of my house.

I managed to get 10 more mats made. Some of them just needed to be sewn shut. But they are now packed and ready to leave the house.

Pet mats ready to go

The best part of that? I was able to empty quite a few bags of scraps. I did find quite a bit of batting scraps, and those went into another bag as I have someone who'll take the smallish sizes cut off from quilts. That bag is almost full.

I still have seven bags, so I don't need to rush out and make more at the moment, but I'll have to make more for the next pet mat making session. 

Bags for pet mats

The bags of scraps that I used up yesterday, were sitting on the window seat in Studio U. Now, look at the window seat.

A few more scraps on the window seat

There is one big box of scraps that people gave to me. The tub is mostly larger pieces of fabric and will likely all go to community projects. The other small bags and basket are my own stuff, and there are all kinds of things in there that I need to sort through.


I'm not entirely out of the woods yet with scraps. There are still there four IKEA bags to deal with. But huge progress is being made. Compared to what I started with, this is nothing!

The last of the donated scraps

I've no idea what's in any of them. On top is more of the upholstery samples that I make the bags from. Depending on what's in the bags, I might be able to deal with one per session. That means I'm about 6 sessions away from being done with these darn scraps. And that exercise is NEVER to be repeated. Oh, the things we learn - the hard way!!!

I did pull some fabric from the bags I emptied yesterday. It's incredible what I received in the bags. Bit of baby clothes still with snaps and zippers that had been cut up for a memory quilt. Those went in the garbage. People obviously didn't appreciate what I was doing with the scraps and did not respect what I asked for. Which is why I would NEVER do this again.

But this is what I pulled. There were lots of other smaller pieces, but I let them go. These strips are all sorted and in the appropriate bag of strings waiting for the next round of sewing on the string quilts.

Strings from the scrap bags

I emptied my loot bag from the birthday party. Oh - a unicorn cookie. That'll make a tasty snack this morning.

Unicorn cookie

 And here's a great pack of buttons. Those would have been perfect for that Summer Quilt for my Mom. Oh well, they'll be suitable for another project.

A package of flower buttons

I got one more thing that I ordered, which was the Kimberbell mystery quilt. I got the embroidery version and the embellishment kit.

The pattern for Love Notes

The embellishment kit

The mystery takes place over August, so I'm one week behind as it started last week. I did not buy the fabric kit, so I'll have to pull some fabric for that. I really don't have the coloring that they show in the pattern, so I'll get creative and come up with something else. That's a job for later today. OH -- I could do black and white and a touch of red????

I forgot to post all the links last week for my QUILTsocial blogs. So here they are.


Monday - Features of the Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER Brilliance 80 sewing and embroidery machine

Tuesday - Tips for working with terry cloth and monograms

Wednesday - Word Sculpt

Thursday - Yarn Couching and the Majestic hoop

Friday - Personalizing Christmas stockings with embroidery


There are loads of tips throughout the posts, and I created a Christmas Wish List as well, so check the posts out as I'm sure there's something among those tips and items that you'll want to add to your Christmas list or that you'll want to do. I love the Word Sculpt project.


If you've ever wondered about copyright, here's a video I found yesterday that is very good at explaining what you can and can't do with a pattern that you buy. I bet you didn't know some of this stuff.


Well, there's loads of stuff to get done today. A wee bit of paperwork, but thankfully there's not much. I do have a Zoom presentation tomorrow evening, and I have to get my film studio set up today. And make sure that I have all the samples, etc. in place. I don't think that'll take too long to do and then I can do whatever I want! Except that I have to pick up my library books at 5:12. All 13 of them.

On that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Shopping chez Elaine

We had another great Monday sewing session via Zoom. Honestly, I don't know what we would do without these Zoom session. The fact that we get to see each other and keep up to date with families, solving the world's problems, our projects, and anything else that comes up in the conversation is AMAZING. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have the Zoom sessions. I'd feel so isolated.

While Zooming is NOT the same as seeing each other in person, it's the next best thing, and quite frankly, I feel like we're in the same close contact that we always had. The best thing? No packing up of a project, no hauling the sewing machine around, and we get to see everyone's sewing spaces. I LOVE Zoom.

After that was over, I was back to the long arm. I had to take a customer quilt off last week to get the magazine quilt done. That quilt is back on the long arm, and I made great progress with it. It's a custom job, so that takes a whole lot more work than doing the edge to edge. I did a LOT of ruler work on the quilt, and this is what part of the border looks like.

The border on a customer quilt

Most of the ruler work is done. This part is the most intense, and I have one small part of the border to finish this morning. Then the rest should be relatively easy. To entertain myself once I've figured out how the quilting should go, I listen to an audiobook. That makes the time pass because once you know what you're doing, it's just time to get it done.

I'm listening to one of James Patterson's books. It's from the Women's Murder Club. I'm way behind in those books. The thing with these books and I'm going to say ALL audiobooks by James (and his co-authors) is they add sound effects and music. That has scared the crap out of me on more than one occasion. I'm thinking,  what is that noise?" And then I realize it's on the audiobook!! Definitely adds ambiance!

My goal is to get that quilt off the machine today. Well, I have to. I was hoping to get another customer quilt done by tonight, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. That would be really pushing it. And I still have to quilt this piece of fabric.

Cycling fabric to be quilted

So you remember at the last retreat (just a few days ago), that Ronda and I were working on our backpacks. We were both hyped up, and well, it just wasn't a good day to make backpacks. I was waiting for some fabric to arrive so I could quilt some shoulder straps. That fabric came while I was away. Thanks to Fabricland in Vernon, I got my fabric. I wasn't thrilled about the shipping costs. $15 to ship when the actual price was $3.19. Granted, they had to buy the bubble mailer at $3.00. Still - I got my fabric, and let's just move on!

Getting this piece of fabric quilted for the straps is my priority today. Well, after the customer quilt comes off the long arm.

Why the urgency? Well, it appears that we're going on retreat again! YES - we leave tomorrow. We booked this retreat last year. It was the one last week that got shifted around. I know that I should have quilted this fabric before so I wouldn't be rushing around on the day before we leave. I didn't, so I'll just live with the consequences. I may be working on the backpack at the next retreat!

The laundry basket is almost full. I hope to add the backpack and one other small project. Then that's it! I love the laundry basket idea. Thanks, Tish! It's working like a charm and NO panic packing.

Speaking of the laundry baskets, I just hope that one day SOON that I can clear all the projects that are on the work tables in Studio B. Why do I not seem to be getting ahead? I'm not getting behind, but seem to have trouble getting some small stuff finished up. Well, in August, when I have a totally blank schedule, I hope to get some of those projects done.

When I'm back next week, I'll be working on some great ideas for upcoming blog posts, and I can't wait to get started on that. I've got a list, and I've got some supplies stockpiled.

Here's one advantage of having a well-organized studio space. Well, not just the studio itself, but all the supplies. I needed some things to finish up my secret project. You'll get to see the project by the end of the month, so a wee bit more patience is required.

I needed some bells and ribbon. I found those within mere seconds because I knew exactly where they were, and ALL of both items were corraled entirely in their respective containers.

My "purchase" of ribbon and bells

Hmm - could this be a Christmas in July project? You never know..............

Then I needed some buttons. I pulled out the big jar of buttons and started the search. I didn't get through the buttons yet. That's for later today.

Looking for buttons

Here's a wee trip down memory lane. This button came off a couch that I had years ago. MANY years ago.

A button from my old sofa

And this button? It's practically an antique. Well, not really, it's a button I used when I made myself a jacket when I was learning to sew. Now that was MANY, MANY years ago.

A doggie button

OH MY GOD --- Thank god for shoes. I just ran in the house to hide from Murphy. I hit her toy box, full-on with my toes. If I didn't have shoes on, well, that would NOT have been good.

I still have some computer work to get done. More quilts to design - I have THREE quilts that need some work in EQ8. Then to try and track down fabric for some other quilts. Yes - the follow-up for all this takes a LOT of time. This is where an assistant would be excellent. Now that I've cleaned up my filing system, it's a lot easier to keep track of what's missing. But still takes time!

Here are the blocks for Summer Moon. This is one of the ongoing classes that would have been held at The Hobby Horse. There was a TON of flying geese in the homework this month.

Block One

Block Two

Block Three

 Each one of those blocks needs to be made in three different sizes. And then, a frame needs to be added to each of the blocks. We're now halfway through the blocks.

Here are all my large blocks with the framing on. The book says to put framing on four sides. Some of the strips were teeny tiny, so I made them larger and added to only two sides. Works for me.

My summer moon large blocks

These are the medium blocks. There's a white strip around each of those as well. The frame allows all the blocks to become the same size.

My medium blocks

These are the small blocks. They also have a frame around them, but part of the frame is pieced. There are four different framing types. We're working on the first one.

My small blocks

 I love the look of my blocks so far. I'm using scraps from a magazine quilt. I only hope that I have enough fabric. But it's still current, so I should be able to find some if I need some. I think I'll be OK. And I can always find a creative way to add more.

On that note, I'd better get the day going. I've got a lot of paperwork and quilting to do. Thankfully, except the backpack, everything is prepped and ready to go for the retreat.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

It's almost summer!

What's with this crazy weather? One day it's freezing cold, and the next day it's hot! We're fortunate that our house is cool. Even though it can be hot outside unless we've had several days of very hot temperature and humidity, it's cool in the house. I was in Studio B yesterday and almost made a hot chocolate I was so cold. I really must get those sweatpants made!

Part of our yard is shaded as well, and with all those trees, it stays pretty cool. Then I go out the front for a walk, and it's hot. Oh well - I'm not complaining - it's just weird. But let's get cracking on those sweatpants!

No sweatpants making yesterday, but I did make enormous progress on a project. We had our Zoom call yesterday with the Monday sewing group. Having the laptop sitting beside the sewing machine and sewing while chatting with the group is ALMOST as good as the real thing. It's weird, but I'm getting used to it! The bonus? We don't' have to set up the tables, and we don't have to pack up stuff or take time off to travel there, although it's not far away! Hey - this could be a new thing!

What did I get done? Have a look. My Mom would be proud! Or maybe she would say, "it's about time!"

I finished off the last three sections of paper piecing of the summer mini quilt. Then I got busy and chose some fabric for the sashing and the border. The paper was removed from the sections, and the top is DONE. Now that's worth a big cheer!!! I choose that border print because it made me think of the trees in our backyard.

The summer mini-quilt

This little paper piecing station has been hanging around in Studio B for a long time, waiting for me to finish those blocks. If you're into paper piecing, then you should make yourself a little station like this. It works like a charm. That's a purchased TV tray, with a folding Omnigrid cutting mat and pressing surface. Add a small travel iron and, of course, your tools for paper piecing. It doesn't get any easier than that!!!

The paper piecing station

I'm not ready to put the stuff away as I have TWO more paper piecing projects that are now urgent or will be very soon. I plan on getting to one of them later today.

Once the top was assembled, it was time to dig out some buttons. And well, as you can imagine, I have buttons. There are boxes and boxes of buttons. BUT - they are all together in one spot, so it's easy to go through them all.

A tin of buttons

I have no idea why I've bought so many over the years. I have tons of snowmen noses, snowflakes, colored buttons. It's totally crazy.

A large container of buttons

Wait - before you go crazy with the size of that container, it's filled with smaller containers, so there's a LOT of air in that box.

A smaller container for the buttons

I found all kinds of stuff in the box. A bag of Vintage Buttons. Why would I buy a bag of Vintage buttons when I have a glass jar filled with the darn things?

A bag of vintage buttons

And why would I buy a bag of these kinds of buttons??

A bag of ordinary buttons

I've no idea where my head was all those years ago. I found a bag of these giant buttons that I've used on tote bags for decoration. Why did I buy a bag of them? No idea.

A bag of big red buttons

However, in the very last container, I finally found some flower buttons. I guess I'm not into florals much. I LOVE the button on the right - the pink one. But I only have two, and they are very dimensional. I didn't want the sunflowers - they are more for fall. I also found this bag of smiley face flower buttons.

Flower head buttons

I like the scale of the pink button better than the smiley face flower buttons, BUT - there's NO need to go shopping to try and find slightly larger buttons. We're using what I have in the stash. That's it - end of discussion.  Use up the stash!!!

Smiley face flower head buttons

 What's even worse is that I found TWO packs of those buttons. Two? Oh - just shoot me now.

Two packs of smiley face flower buttons

The binding is made, the backing is cut, the small hanger is ready to sew on, and all the embellishments are with the top. All that remains is to quilt it. Technically, that won't take long at all as it's mostly going to be stitch in the ditch. So...................... get it done!!!

The mini-quilt ready to quilt!

All of the cutoff triangles from the Christmas Fig project are sewn and trimmed. I'm not sure how many there are and not sure how many more there will be, but these are done! Waiting for the next step. Yeah!!!!

Little half square triangles - ready to be made into something

I got a customer quilt done! It was a large one, but it quilted up beautifully. I now have a couple of quilts that need to be trimmed. Perhaps later today.

Customer quilt - DONE

It's always a bit of a crapshoot to get the pattern to fit exactly on the quilt. Yes - there's a computer to do the calculation, but a bit of shifting occurs as the quilt is rolled on the long arm. You wouldn't notice it, but it happens. It's hard to see in this photo, but there was only an extra ¼". That's very good! Yeah!!!

The quilting pattern just fits onto the quilt

So - it appears that our real retreat is a go. The restrictions have been lifted, although we still need to practice social distancing. There's room for us to spread out in the house - it's going to be hilarious as we do that, but I'm going! We're also fewer people than usual, so that helps with the distancing as well. I only have three projects prepped in my laundry basket, so I decided to get one more ready. I pulled out the tumbling blocks box that I shared with you a couple of weeks ago.

This is what's in the box.

The tumbling blocks project box

These pieces are already together. Unfortunately, I cut the edges off that one piece. But I can easily add to the other two. My goal is to make a quilt as large as I can make with the pieces in the box.

Pieces of tumbling blocks already together

I also found not one, but TWO little embroidered labels. I have TWO of those table runners, so I'm going to stitch these labels to the backs of those two pieces. Why throw them away when they make a good memory where they are supposed to be?

Two hand-embroidered labels

Now here's a lesson for us all. This is why you should NEVER use cheap pins. Can you see that the one label has FOUR pins in it? I removed the pins to find rust. And there are big holes in the fabric. So - if you use pins, make sure they are good quality pins and try to NOT leave the pins in for any length of time. You have to remember that those pins have sat in that fabric for over 20 years.

Rust left by pins

This is what else I found in the box. There are almost 20 tumbling block units stitched together. And there are a bunch of diamonds already cut. There are way more of the dark blue than the medium blue and the white. And there is NO more white fabric in the box. I'm guessing that's why it got put on hold. So I'll dig through my stash to find some solid white. I'm NOT counting how many pieces I'm missing of the medium blue and the white. I'll sew together what I can and then start cutting in small batches and sew them together. Once these units are sewn up, then I'll evaluate how big the quilt would be and decide what's the next step.

The cut bits

I know that I won't get a HUGE anything from the few pieces that are cut. Let's just start and make it up as I go. That's how I work.

The pioneer spirit in my just cannot let those pieces go to waste. I know - I just can't help it. But rescuing these pieces just makes my heart sing, and that makes me happy. I could putter with bits of nothing for hours, and well - it'll be easy to keep me amused when I'm in the nursing home! Just give me some fabric squares to fondle! I'll be okay.

I also found a couple of half-square triangles. Those will get trimmed and put in the appropriate place. There sure isn't a lot of value contrast between the ones on the right. I may take those apart and mix them with something different, so they show up better. Nothing much goes to waste in my house.

Half square triangles

I also found some large triangles. These are leftovers from making the Ocean Waves quilt. Those will go in the box with the rest of the large triangles, and they will get sewn into hourglass units. I check through that box every once in a while, and when I can match up fabrics, then I make more of the hourglass units. I don't think there's quite enough to do that at the moment. I was through the box not that long ago and OH - I forgot, there's a bunch that had step one completed, but I need to do step two.

Large half square triangles

This is the yardage that's left. The dark blue was for the border of the small table runners I made. It went in the blue scrap box. The white looks like interfacing, and it's now sitting with the rest of the interfacings. But there's a LOT of that medium blue left. Yikes - what was I thinking???? I'm sure there's more of that fabric in the blue fabric bin. I'll dig it out and add it to this mess later today.

The yardage left in the tumbling block box

This will all get bagged and labeled later today and put into the retreat laundry basket. I may throw in one or two SMALL projects into the retreat basket, and I'll be ready to go. It's all about keeping it all in the laundry basket - ONE laundry basket.

There's nothing like a small bit of panic when you get an e-mail from the magazine editor to say that a package that I shipped hasn't arrived yet. NO - don't say that out loud. After a mad search for the tracking number, I got a notification that the package arrived yesterday. And then I got another notification that something is being shipped to me. I like getting stuff in the mail!!!! I know of others who are waiting on packages to be shipped or delivered. It appears that EVERYTHING is slow. I've got some very tight deadlines coming up - a quilt has to be in the US by July 7. As of yesterday, some, but not all of the fabric has been received at a US warehouse! It has to get to me, I have to make the quilt and then get it back! Oh, yes - fun and games!!!!

On my Walking across Canada Virtual Challenge, I'm now heading south to Regina. So you're spared pictures unless something interesting pops up on the screen. BUT on my Route 66 challenge - guess what?? I'm just west of Amarillo, Texas, and look at this!!!!!

While I'm not quite at 50% technically (I'll be making that distance later today), I'm halfway to Los Angeles!!! That's pretty darn exciting!!!

Don't forget the Virtual Retreat on Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14. It will take place on Zoom, and I'll be posting the links on Thursday.  The time runs from 9 AM EST to 8 PM EST on both days. Get yourself organized - it's going to be a load of fun. What I love is that I can still get lots done, but enjoy the company of people from all over the world. If you want, just stop in to say HI. No need to stay all day - come and go as you wish. There is NO CHARGE for you to attend the Virtual Retreat.

On that note, I'm out of here!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!!