A blast from the past

My Fitbit is going to die from lack of use! In the last three days, I've walked less than I would in ONE day. I know -- it's not a big deal, and it might be good to take a break. But I can see that being inactive isn't good for me. And it's not even the walking -- I NEED something to do, and I can only visit for so long before I feel like I'm going crazy. And I feel tired from lack of doing anything! 

Oh well -- it too shall pass, and before I know it, I'll be heading home. Which is good because I have a ton of things to do, and then I'm on the road again. Yikes! 

We are making significant progress on our estate planning journey. Not sure what else to call it, but all five people are on the same path, and we're one step closer from A to B, so all is good as I imagined some heated discussions about the options, and that isn't happening at all. More investigations and information gathering need to happen, but nothing that I can help with. Fingers crossed that all goes well. 

I spent the afternoon visiting with my Aunt Norma, who lives just down the street from my parents. I met up with a cousin whom I hadn't seen in years -- make that 30 years, so we had a great visit. 

But here are a couple of blasts from the past, and YES -- it involves cooking and sewing. 

For those of you who lived in larger centers, I don't know if the Eaton's Catalogue was important, but to us, that Eaton's Catalogue was GOLDEN. 

The LAST Eaton's Catalogue

I remember scouring the darn thing from cover to cover to see what was there. Dreams about how cool and stylish I would look in the clothes and all the "new" and "modern" furniture we didn't have in our house. Yep -- there's history about that catalog. By the way, that catalog above was the LAST one that Eaton's put out in 1976. And yes -- my Mom had TWO of the darn things, and I saw them listed on eBay for $76. Here's another take on the history of Eaton's Catalogue. 

And let's not forget the Wish Book with all the toys. That was the BEST catalog, and we scoured that thing from cover to cover MANY times. I believe Sears also had a toy catalog, and both were coveted at our house. Here's an article about toy catalogs. 

But as I was flipping through -- LOOK -- here's the fabric section. What? No colored pictures? 

The yard goods in the 1976 Eaton's Catalogue

Times have changed, and while people are still buying through mail orders, paper catalogs have been replaced by digital ones. Let's be thankful that Mom did NOT move to the digital world. We would never get through everything she could buy! I found piles and piles and piles of old catalogs from many mail-order companies, and she KEPT them all, including lists of what she purchased. She was a good customer! 

Here's another blast from the past: our old cookstove. I think I was about 10 when we got an electric stove, but before that, all our cooking and baking was done on this stove, which was also used to help heat the house. Yep -- I'm that old! 

Wood burning cookstove

My two brothers rescued it from the old, old house on the property, and one of them will restore it. It shouldn't take much more than a good cleaning. 

Guess where the stove was made? 

Wood stove made in Guelph, Ontario

The Guelph Stove Company in Guelph, Ontario. 

And where did they buy it? 

T. Eaton label

From the T. Eaton Co., of course! I have furniture at my house that was bought from the catalog. We live in a different world today, and having these memories is great. 

And what about this oven? Mom could and did bake MANY loaves of bread in that oven. I was never good at baking bread, but I got to punch it down after it rose (or proofed as I now know it to be called). 

The oven in the wood stove

Well, that's enough excitement for me. Today should be quiet, and that's good. It was extremely smokey outside yesterday and smelled of smoke, but there was rain in the afternoon, so hopefully, that clears it up. I see the sun is shining this morning. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!!

More community project quilts

 So much to say, so little time! 

I'm going gangbusters with these community project quilts, and I have a goal in mind as to what I want to accomplish with my downtime. That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but you know what I mean. Then once those quilts are done, it'll be time to get back to customer quilts -- there are a "few" waiting to be done. 

Here are the two quilts from yesterday. I know -- some of these look like the same quilt, but they are NOT. 

Community project quilt - DONE

Community project quilt - DONE

Anyway, both are trimmed and ready for the binding to be attached. 

Here's the stack of trimmed quilts waiting for binding! 

Quilts waiting to be bound

Here are those piles I mentioned yesterday. There are two (or, in one case, three) quilts in each pile. Diane very conveniently labeled the sizes on each quilt top which was super handy! Good thinking, Diane! I tell you, a label on anything will save enormous amounts of time!

Quilts waiting to be quilted

Here are the two quilts that are waiting for the next day. Usually, there is only one quilt there overnight as the second one has been loaded on the long arm. 

Quilts pressed and waiting to be quilted

And there's a pile of two quilts at the ironing board waiting to be pressed for the following day. I did NOT take a picture of that. 

To be fair to the computer software on the long arm, I decided to do stuff in Power Panto so I could get familiar with it so when I needed it, I would be good. I worked on a couple of circular patterns, and yep--- you get perfect circles using Power Panto. You cannot do that in Basic. You can get close, but you can't get perfect. 

Perfect circles in Power Panto

Doing these small quilts has been a super place to learn all the ins and outs of the software, and I had zero glitches yesterday. That makes the day go faster because you don't have to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. So it must have been an operator error those first two days. 

I will say that the software is much more accurate in measuring than before. There was always significant runoff on the sides or sometimes the bottom. I've not had any issues with the bottom, although I still fudge the numbers to compensate for the quilt rolling, and I'm bang on with my measurements! 

However, there's a new feature in the software that you can crop the pattern right at the bottom, but I don't need it! Yep -- this is not my first rodeo with that software! It gets a bit more complicated with larger quilts so that cropping feature will come in handy later. 

And you can see in this picture how skimpy I am with the batting --- it's almost the same size as the quilt. This is NOT what you want to do with customer quilts - a little bit of forgiveness on the sides is crucial to perfecting the edges. Again, I've been doing this for a long time, so I know where to skimp and where not to skimp!

I'm skimping on the batting

OH --- here are two more piles of community project quilts sitting out -- one is a basket of the eleven Quilts of Valour quilts I want to do, and the other is lap-sized flannel quilts. I have some goals, and well -- let's see how much I can get done in the allotted time! 

More community project quilts

I already took advantage of the fact that DH isn't home this morning, and one of the quilts for today is already done. It's still on the long arm, but it's quilted! Only one more to do today. 

I'm down to batting for two more quilts - maybe three since a couple of them are a bit smaller than the others and then I have to start on that bag of batting I found. Those battings are so compressed in the plastic bags that one must get them OUT of the bag and let it decompress. Getting it out of the bag was a challenge, and I'm guessing I can get seven quilts from this batt. 

Compressed batting

Letting it relax

Have you noticed the plethora of quilted jacket concepts these days??? It's on the cover of two recent magazines. 

Quilted jackets are big!

My cousin, the "expert" in genealogy, is amazing. She has been able to dig back to reveal BOTH sets of my great-great-great grandparents on my Mom's side. We even have headstone pictures of one set of them and still working out some details for the others. It's a challenge, to say the least, and I've been saving all the attachments she has sent into folders that are labeled by name! I have some information on some members, like when they emigrated to Canada, family members alive for several censuses, gravestones, etc. 

She suggested I take a trip to England and I might have to! In the meantime, I've contacted people in Owen Sound and Durham (Ontario), and well, I think a trip is in order. The library in Durham has digitized a bunch of stuff, and they have books on family histories. I'll call them today to find out if it's online or if I should make a trip. It's not that far, and what a hoot for a day trip!

My cousin is so modest about her ability, but she's amazing! Thank you, Shirley!!!

This is the dog situation at our house. This is Murphy, who loves to play ball and will fetch the ball and then sit outside the door and gently bark, "play ball with me.". "Play ball with me NOW!" She's so cute! 

"Waiting to play fetch here!" 

And then either I throw it in the pond, or she does, but she stands on the rocks and barks! "Help me -- the ball is in the pond, and I'm NOT allowed in! I'm such a good girl!"

"Mom, HELP!"

Meanwhile, the princess just lays on the deck and ignores everything. 

Princess Lexi

Since DH wasn't home and the TV wasn't on, I sat in the kitchen and read my book. Guess what? "MOM -- you have to play ball with me!" Yep, there was Murphy and me, playing ball, and it's pitch black outside. I would throw the ball into the bushes on the far side of the pond, and she had zero problems locating the smelly thing and bringing it back!

Playing ball in the dark!

Oh, shoot --- that darn e-mail will NOT sync so I can add two more pictures, and I'm live streaming the Queen's funeral, so it's with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to her. What a dignified and lovely lady; whether you believe in the monarchy or not, you can't deny what a wonderful person she was. And some stories about her "wicked" humor just make me laugh! What a lady! RIP Queen Elizabeth. One of my middle names is Elizabeth, and I believe my mom used that name because of the queen. 

This is why you walk around the neighborhood. You get to see all kinds of cool things and how they change. It's all how you look at it. So many people opt for these black metal signs with the house number and the street on them. They look nice, and this one got installed several weeks ago, but I had not paid much attention to it until yesterday. 

What's wrong with this picture?

Do you see what I see???  OMG  --- the FONT of the letters is NOT the same as the numbers. Ooops!!!!  I'd be sending that one back. I wonder if anyone noticed, particularly the homeowners??? 

Well, that's it for me. It's Monday sewing, and I have the perfect project to work on so I can talk and work simultaneously!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!

A new learning curve

I have so many things I want to get done, and I'm motivated. I have no time to work! I mean teaching and stuff! It's exciting to get up in the morning, knowing there are things to do even though I have ZERO deadlines. I can't imagine how people can "live" without some form of motivation. Anyway, I could almost say that my days are like Groundhog Day. For the past week, I've been doing the SAME thing every day. And while I did that yesterday, there were a few differences. 

And I'm over the healing thing. My toenail is really the only issue, and I need to have a look at that this morning. Sometimes it hurts, and sometimes it doesn't. The toe is no longer painful, meaning the infection is likely gone. It's the area of the toenail that can be sensitive, so I'm trying to not bump it on anything. I need new shoes!

So remember that I upgraded my software for the long arm? How different could it be? HA! I didn't finish the two quilts until 3 PM. There were a few differences, and I decided to wing it rather than read any instructions. 

Most of the differences come into play in the pantograph area where I usually work. Now we have something called Power Panto. With the previous version of the software, you would create the panto for the entire quilt, and then it would stitch out row by row, starting at the left and working to the right. 

Notice that I have TWO rows on the screen here. 

Two rows on the screen instead of one

When the long arm got to the end, it started to stitch right to left! We had always been told NEVER to stitch right to left. Hmmm --- I guess things have changed, and speed is more important? I don't know. 

Stitching from right to left

And so, while this worked for me, it really is for those people with a LARGE throat space or doing a lot of small quilts, which I happen to be doing now. The total height of those two rows can't exceed the throat space, which in my case, is about 17 inches. But there are machines with 30 inches of throat space, so they could technically do more rows or bigger patterns within the same space. I am NOT buying a bigger machine. 

I have to say that it's very weird to see the machine stitching from right to left. 

Stitching right to left

And there was no need to read any instructions as there are popup messages along the way to guide you, which were very helpful. With my limited knowledge of the software program (I am FAR from an expert there), I was able to muddle my way through it. 

Step-by-step prompts

I did NOT like how the pantograph was set up, so I tried the "familiar" method using the Basic Panto Stacker. ACK!! Even that has been changed. 

Basic pantograph layout

Here's the entire quilt panto in the Basic Panto. But when it goes to stitch out, it's quite different. I can choose to stitch from left to right, right to left, and the marking process is totally different from what I'm used to. Sigh............... Well, thankfully, I have lots of quilts to practice on, and I have to say that I only made one goof, and no one will be able to see it. 

I must say that I wish there was a screen help that would identify what each function does -- like the Quick Help (the question mark in the top right corner) of the Husqvarna Viking and PFAFF sewing machines. However, I went to the Facebook Group page for the software and have started to look at the documentation to assist me so today's quilts will go faster. 

I'm not sure which method I prefer of those two panto styles. The end result is almost identical, and it's hard to explain. I'll take a better picture today, so you can see the difference between the two, basically, with one, we have more control over the pattern, and in the other, we do not.  

However, the two quilts got done, and they are trimmed. 

Community project quilt - DONE

Community project quilt - DONE

Besides, what would be a day at my house without learning something? 

Then I did a naughty thing. I pulled out ELEVEN quilts that can be quilted for Quilts of Valour. I know -- I should not have done that, but I did. I want to finish up the small quilts first or use up that polyester batting, whichever comes first, and by my count, there is still enough batting for nine or ten quilts. Then I'll dig out the " donated " batting specifically for Quilts of Valour. It's time to use that up. YES --- can you believe I had enough fabric from the Oh Canada lines to make these eleven quilts. Actually, there are more in the storage room. And some of these have backs, also from the Oh Canada lines. Let's not even go there! I did NOT make these quilts -- Diane did, but you know what I mean. 

Quilts for Quilts of Valour quilts

The batting is the biggest show-stopper in the process, and I'm trying to be as careful with it as possible. Measuring the quilts, doing the math to make the maximum number of quilts with the least amount of waste. And I have zero problems joining batting for these quilts. Please note that I NEVER join the batting for customer quilts where I charge them for the batting. 

I finally finished the top half of Section one for Green Tea and Sweet Beans. I have the hexagon block to work on for the bottom half and one block yet to be assigned. So my focus now is the hexagon block. Then I'll assemble what I can and move on to Section Three. Slow and steady is how this quilt is going to come together. There is an enormous amount of work, and I knew from day one that I would likely be behind, although I'm not nearly as behind as I thought I would be! 

The top half of Section One for Green Tea

It's going to be time to put long pants on! It was a tad chilly on the walk yesterday, and then it was hot in the afternoon and cooled off quickly in the evening. The girls were NOT happy when I closed the back door at dinner time. "MOM --- we NEED to be able to go in and out when we want and NOT have to ask! This is unfair -- where are animal services? We are being treated unfairly! HELP!!!!" Oh, those girls are so dramatic!

And I swear they are like children. They started playing on the floor on the quilt they pulled from the dog bed. This is about as close as they ever get, only when they play fight. 

Hey - I don't like you!

Then they got crazy, and both of them are the instigator! Do not feel sorry for either of them because they both do it! But notice how lazy they are? "MOM, We'd rather just lie beside each other and fight rather than get up and expend any effort! Mom -- dogs are smart!"

MOM -- I hate my sister!

Then when Lexi had had enough, she jumped up on the sofa even though there was stuff on it, and Murphy was right there, even though the vacuum was beside her. Seriously, those two girls are totally oblivious to things around them! 

Lexi -- you can run, but you can't hide!

So given all that, when I noticed this on the hall table in the morning, I took a double take. How did a paw print get on the hall table? Well, it just so happens to be droplets of water or dust that look like a paw print but is not! 

A phantom paw print

The city crews were out and planted a whole pile of trees in the empty soccer field near me. That will be awesome when they get bigger. Why didn't plant more when the part was made many years ago? It doesn't matter, we have more trees now!

Planting trees

After several years of testing all the teas languishing in the kitchen cupboard, I'm down to this. That tin is about half full of fruity tea and a few tea bags in the box. What did I learn? 

The last of my tea stash

I learned that herbal teas and green tea are not my favorites. There are a couple of fruity teas that are OK, but for the most part, I simply prefer regular tea! So no more experimenting with tea -- just a plain cup of tea (no sugar or milk), and I'm good to go. And do NOT boil that water - a temperature of 200 degrees F is just fine. 

Oh -- that reminds me of something funny that kept happening on the Camino. My guidebook was in KM, and everything is in KM in Europe. While Canadians and Europeans are familiar with KM, the Americans are used to miles. So then you get into a discussion about Imperial and Metric, and I'm a hybrid. Some things I do in Metric and others I do in Imperial, and I'm NOT consistent by any means, and for some things, I use both. I guess that makes me bilingual! 

I snapped a picture of my cutting table this morning. While it's not completely clear, it's in pretty good shape. Keeping up with the quilting doesn't leave much time for anything else. 

The cutting table 

Well, I'm going to say that my cousin is a superstar regarding Ancestry. She has been tracking down family members and going back a couple more generations than I had information for. This is NOT her side of the family that I'm asking her to track down. She's a cousin on my Dad's side. The big question is, when did my great grandfather emigrate to Canada? It's not when I thought he did. And then once I get a lead on someone, I check Findagrave.com, and we've found gravestones in Canada and England for family members. It's very cool. 

I had to laugh because I was madly searching for a family member on that website and was about to send a link to my cousin when she sent me an e-mail with a link to another family member on the same website! She likes to do research like I like to quilt! Anyway, now there is quite a bit of information for me to put on paper. 

And we can only hope that the people we are finding are the right people. There were fewer names back then, and everyone was Frank or George or Frederick, or so it seems, so you have to check siblings, spouse, and children to ensure you are on the right track. It's all fascinating, to say the least, and I thank her so much for all the effort she has put in so far. 

As Anne suggested, one page per person, and I think that's a great idea -- the question is how to represent the family tree? It's so unwieldy, but I think I'll make small ones and put only that section on a page? I will have to start with different formats and see what works best. 

There's only one problem with this "quiet" life. I have no idea what day of the week it is and certainly not paying attention to dates. I got excited after lunch and decided to go to the used book sale, only to find that yesterday was the FIRST day, and it didn't open until 5 PM. I did NOT want to go on the first day as it would be a mad house. I'm going today! Let's just say that a TON of books were laid out, ready to be perused! 

I'll bet that there will be MANY James Patterson books. That's one of the reasons why I don't like to buy books, especially novels. What the heck do you do with them? If they are a popular author, there's a good chance that many other people bought it, and then who wants it? It just gets trashed. That's what libraries are for, and if one has to wait a bit, that's OK. I know, it's all about money, but good grief, what about the environment? 

On that note, I'm out of here! It's going to be an exciting day as there are lots of things to learn and I'm going to the used book sale for REAL this time. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Like a dog with a bone!

Thanks again for all your comments -- I'll get to answering them/commenting back, hopefully later today! While I write the blog for my sanity, I also enjoy sharing it, and if it inspires, motivates, or amuses others, that's a bonus. 

This story I'm about to tell you is disturbing, and I know that some of you will say, "I told you so!" Don't yell at me, and don't tell me NOT to shop there. Yes -- this is a story about Bulk Barn. The last time, I caught some teen girls helping themselves to candies or chocolate, but this time? Well, it's even worse. 

So I'm browsing around, looking for hemp hearts which I couldn't find, so I had made the rounds a couple of times. Of course, store staff is rare or so new that they don't know everything. No problem and I did find someone to help me, and NO, they are currently out of hemp hearts. 

As I was scouting around, I spotted a woman wearing a bright blue pair of pants and a bright blue purse. It was hard not to notice her because of the intensity of that color. The pants almost looked like athletic wear? But a NICE quality of athletic wear. She was nicely groomed and on her own; without the bright pants and purse, you wouldn't even notice her. 

So she walks into Bulk Barn with TWO kids -- a girl about 3 and a boy who was about 5. The girl IMMEDIATELY starts shouting CANDY! I saw them go down an aisle, and then I didn't notice them. A few minutes later, I spotted the woman (again -- very hard to miss) standing outside the store with NO kids. I glanced down the aisle (I'm at the cash now), and the girl was trying to put the scoop into the container to get something. 

That wasn't working, as she was about as tall as the container. Then she slips her hand into the container. I glance at the Mom, who doesn't move. At least she wasn't on her cell phone. My unfiltered mouth couldn't stop! I asked her, "did you see your daughter has her hand in the container?" She looks at me -- like a deer in headlights. Seriously??? Then I said, "that's pretty unsanitary!" She says, "oh, you're right," and enters the store to get the kids. 

I was fuming, and I don't think the cashier heard what I said because they are usually pretty good about going after people, especially kids. Then I followed them out of the mall -- that was NOT intentional. I overheard the little boy say, "you took that, and you didn't pay for that - why did you do that?"  The Mom just kept walking. 

It so happened that their direction in the parking lot was the same as mine. I had to walk through the parking lot to get to the sidewalk -- NO -- I did not drive my car there! As Mom loaded them into her BIG SUV, she or the boy -- it was hard to tell, said, "you took that, and you didn't pay for it!"  I wanted to go over and shout at the Mom both times. What is her problem, and what lessons is she teaching those kids? 

This is where you want to know where she lives and put a big sign on her lawn saying, "I let my kids steal from Bulk Barn, and I'm OK with that."   Seriously -- the world is in bad shape when she has ZERO clue that putting your hands in those containers is wrong, stealing is bad, and not disciplining your kids is terrible. And intentionally taking them into the store with zero intention of buying -- that's a serious offense in my book. 

I thought of other things I could have said - like, "I hope you kid gets sick from germs in that container," or when we were in the mall -- "go and pay for what she stole." But I didn't. Do I regret saying what I did? No, but I wish I had said it louder so more people would have heard! But she's so UNSELFAWARE that she probably wouldn't have been embarrassed. But the employee could have done something. 

Now I know you're going to ask why I was buying there when I see what happens. I'm buying the most boring stuff in the world- the kids don't even go down the aisles where the ground chia seeds and ground flax are located. I feel safe!

Good things happened at my house yesterday! First, I got a customer quilt done. And not just any customer quilt, but a Boho Heart! 

Customer quilt - DONE

I used a heart and loop pattern on it, which looks stunning. 

The back of the quilt

It was so much fun to quilt this one because she made it for her granddaughter and the fabrics she used were kid prints. Many pieces were fussy cut, and it was fun to look at all the cute images. 

I'll be posting more details on all the quilts next week so stay tuned for that. I also love the BUSY prints she used for the black-on-white background. It's really well done, and I will say that it quilted up beautifully!

I'll get it trimmed today, and she can pick it up. More quilts got picked up yesterday, so it was good to get them out of the house. 

Speaking of Boho Herat, let me tell you what happened in my class the other day. 

So you all know that I have an APQS (American Professional Quilting System) long arm with the software (QuiltPath licensed from The Grace Company). It's incredible how all these companies are competitors, yet they are not. 

The event I attended was hosted by The Sewing Cafe in Georgetown and put on by Handi-Quilter. There's the Handi-Quilter bus outside the store. 

The Handi-Quilter van

I believe the event was three days, but I only wanted the part on the software called Pro-Stitcher. After having the class on my own brand a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to see what this software was all about. You know what they say -- you need to know EVERYTHING about your tools, and it doesn't hurt to check out the other brands. And when have you not learned something from a class? I learned a lot, so attending was worth the time and money. 

Not only that, but I got to wish Anna a Happy Retirement. Anna and I used to ride bikes together. I made a new contact which may be a good thing. Let's see - Oh yes -- I met the granddaughter of one of the members of the Monday sewing group. She works at the store; I also chatted with one of my students from Boho Heart, who also works in the store. I ran into Susan (from some of my other classes) as she has a shop beside The Sewing Cafe. And I met several other people I haven't seen in a while -- Donna and Susan, who have also been in several of my classes. And touched base with Gail, the teacher whom I had just seen in Vancouver. 

Yep -- the quilting world is SMALL. 

OK --- so this is what I found in the store. I have been trying to decide what to use for the backing of my Boho Heart, and nothing was making me happy. I spotted this wide backing, and POOF -- there's my backing. 

The backing for my Boho Heart

My Boho Heart quilt

I bought one other thing -- I'll share it later, but this backing makes me happy. And it's sateen, so I purchased all that was on the bolt. It'll make a good lining for a jacket! My two purchases when into this lovely tote bag. I can't carry that bag -- it's not my brand!

So while it was a good day, and technically this next story is good -- I may have put my foot in my mouth. We had a family reunion 10 years ago, and my cousin put together a history book. While the book contains loads of information, I wanted to do something a bit more professional, especially for our family, and I wanted to do it digitally. You know me -- so competitive -- it has to be done and done my way. 

I had gathered some information from my Mom, and there it has sat, in the office (but all in one drawer), and nothing had happened. Everyone is 10 years older, and if I don't get myself to do this book - it'll be too late. I asked my parents for stories about the various family members -- their parents and grandparents. The next thing I knew, my Mom had pulled out photos, dates, and all kinds of stuff. I think I already have some, but I didn't have the heart to tell her. Did she forget? 

If my Mom had a day job, she would have been incredible as a librarian or a historian. Anyway to my SURPRISE, she called me yesterday. I think that is the FIRST or SECOND time that she has called me in the decades that I haven't lived at home. My first thought was someone had died! Anyway, we had a discussion about the family history books. And she will now be like a dog with a bone and won't let this go. After all, I did PROMISE her to get it done. Oh boy!

But that may be what I need to finally get this done -- I keep saying I'll do it, and nothing happens. So I "stole" a book that I found at their old house, and this morning I dug out these books from my personal library. 

Books on creating family history books

So, in addition to my therapy weeding, I'm reading about creating heritage books. I'm going to do it digitally and have to make some sort of outline or whatever before I get started. I have to check the digital book publishers to see what they offer. I've done several books before, and I imagine they all have similar offerings. 

Has anyone put one of these together? Any tips? I've decided to make several books. One will contain all the information about my Mom's family from the earliest we know to her parents with the five siblings. I am NOT going into further details about the sibling's families. If they want to do that -- that's their choice. But the grandparent book will cover all our history, so others could purchase that book. Then I'll do one for my Dad's side of the family. Then I'll take our family and work on photos and stories. If my brothers want to do something on their own -- they can, but it's really for me and to have something to pass along to M. 

It'll be a pleasant diversion from quilting; I have some time right now to start the project, and sending regular updates to my Mom will keep me on my toes. I don't want to start getting nasty phone calls from her which she will do, now that she has called once! 

On that note, I'm out of here! More quilts to quilt, our Mixed Media group with great show and tell, and more reading on the history books! And NO -- I am not borrowing books from the library on this subject as the ones I have are enough. Once I'm done with them, I'm donating them, or if anyone wants them, they are yours! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

That's a LOT of blocks

I was off to the gym yesterday! And it was so much fun to be back! Masks are required inside, of course, but once you get to the cycling studio, you can take the mask off. Joseph is the BEST spin teacher I've ever come across. He's tough, but he's good. Even though he doesn't check, he motivates you to slog through the hard cycling. I cranked out 32 KM on the bike without a thought. OH, that's a lie - I thought about lowering the tension on the bike, but I didn't. I feel fine today. All that walking has helped to strengthen my legs.

Things have changed, but not a whole lot at the gym. I love their thermometer, and I'll try to get a picture of it tomorrow. Did I feel exposed? Nope - we need to get over the fear-mongering that is gripping our society. We need to be careful, but we CANNOT let this virus dictate what we do in our lives.

And just to put it in perspective, if you are horrified by the fact that over 1,000 people are dying from the virus each day in the US, look at this.


Every day, nearly 1,000 people in the U.S. die on average from a condition for which high blood pressure was the leading or contributing cause. This includes killers like stroke, heart attack, congestive heart failure, and end-stage kidney disease.


So while we wash our hands, wear a mask, and keep ourselves socially distanced from others to prevent getting a virus that could make us sick, are we doing the same thing to maintain healthy blood pressure? Eating healthier, getting some exercise, reducing stress, and salt, and I'm sure there are other factors. I get it that some people have hereditary heart issues, but many do not. Where's the pandemic for this killer that we have an excellent chance of changing. 

And how many other diseases do we have the opportunity to reverse, but we're not doing anything about it? 

OK -- that's my soapbox for today. But definitely food for thought!


The presentation went fine last night. So many product names to remember! I'm sure I goofed up some of them. But hopefully, the attendees learned a few things as well. There are so many neat things that you can do with a sewing machine that I wish I was sitting there now! I could sew all day and probably not make a dent in all the samples and experimenting that I want to do. 

When the prepping was under control, I took a long nap. I had gotten up extra early to get to the gym, so I needed that nap. 

Then I went back to binding those quilts. I got one more done for Quilts of Valour. 

Binding on Quilts of Valour quilt

And I got the binding on the last of the four Quilts of Valour quilts. Yeah - now I can get in touch with my contact and arrange a drop-off. 

Another quilt finished for Quilts of Valour

I still had a bit of time, so I got one more Project Linus quilt done. That leaves one quilt to bind, and then everything quilted will be bound! 

Project Linus quilt - DONE

I hope to make the delivery sometime today or tomorrow. Then it'll be tine to start that process all over again!

I thought that I'd do some work on one of the FIVE projects on my UFO list for this month. Two of the five are already done, so I'm in good shape. This one is going to take a while to sew together. It's also on my UFO list for 2020, so there's a second reason to get it done. 

It's a disappearing 9-patch. The nine-patches were made eons ago, and they were cut, but then the blocks sat. 

The blocks for a disappearing 9-patch quilt

You have to keep in mind that those squares are TINY. They measure 3 ¼" square. The pattern called for the quilt to be made with 2 ½" strips, so their blocks ended up at 2 ¾". Yikes. Totally crazy. So a total of 238 blocks will make a SMALL quilt according to the pattern.

I laid out my blocks according to the pattern. Yikes - this is a slow process. 

Starting to lay out the blocks

OK - even with the slighter larger blocks, that's still a small quilt. I think the pattern says 39" by 51". Too small to be useful. 

The quilt blocks are laid out

BUT look - I still have this many blocks leftover. 

Leftover blocks

Obviously, I decided to make the quilt larger, but by how much? No idea. There are NO NOTES in the pattern as to my plans. I HATE when I do that. 

And this is how it looks now. That's going to be a LOT of sewing to get that in one piece! And I still have to cut the setting triangles as the quilt is on point. 

The blocks laid out

I still have some leftover blocks, but not enough to add an extra row. I've probably goofed up on the layout somewhere, or I just made extra, which is entirely possible. 

Leftover blocks

I even have a couple of bundles of FQ of this same collection - Frolic by Sandy Gervais. Now, why do I have the extra fabric? Was I going to make the quilt even larger? I think I'll use it for binding and call it a day. I may use the extra to add a border if there's enough. My goal is to try and use it all up. No leftovers!

Extra yardage

So, Katheleen, has me wanting to do more journaling or art journaling. She is a whiz at it and can turn anything into a gorgeous creation. All it takes is the time to start. 

Here's the cover of a journal that she just "whipped together" with bits of leftovers and items she purchased at Value Village (the Dresden block). 

The cover of Katheleen's book

It's so darn creative. I love it, and I've wanted to do this forever!!!!

I have a couple of ideas in mind and was chatting to my Mom on the way home from the retreat last week. I wanted samples of handwriting from various family members. Well, I got way more than that. 

This package arrived in the mail yesterday. 

A package

In the package were scads of pictures (sorted by family members, of course) and loads of samples of handwriting, all labeled as to whose writing it was. 

Samples of handwriting

Yep - my Mom is trying to show me that it's a good thing to save stuff cause you never know when your kids are going to want something!!!

Now I need to get my butt in gear and sit down and actually do some of this stuff. It's all about setting priorities and well - I seem to have too many priorities. I love to read (yep - almost halfway through another book), I like to sew and so many things to finish up or try new stuff, walking in the neighborhood. Well, I'll see what I can do to squeeze out a bit more time to do some journaling. My Mom would LOVE to see the book. I know she would, and well, so would I!!

On that note, I'm out of here for today.

Don't forget the Virtual Retreat on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend. Here's the link for the Saturday post.

Saturday, August 22, Starts at 9 AM EST.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86077887280?pwd=V2FoTkJvT3NpTDYrZHVqaWhFR1FEdz09 Meeting ID: 860 7788 7280 Passcode: 721457


Have a super day!!!!


 Ciao!!!!!