Packing up!

I didn't take a picture of the laundry basket for the retreat, but I did assemble all the bits to finish the Canada tote bag. They are safely tucked into a large plastic bag and in the laundry basket. I wish I could say that the laundry basket was my idea, but it's not! That belongs to Tish. She would go to our retreats with ONE laundry basket. None of this messy and overflowing bags of stuff. It might take a while for me to learn, but I do get it eventually!

There are some very exciting things happening around here! I did open all my mail, and well - you can't see the fabric that came so I could finish my quilt. But it's gorgeous - it's flannel, which is hilarious considering that the temperature is in the 30s this week. Thankfully, Studio B is cool. I'm happy to report that the quilt is mostly cut out, and I have 7 blocks left to finish. The components are mostly made, so that won't take long at all. Then to sew it together.

I think the customer quilt has to come off the long-arm, and this one goes on. Then I'll reload the customer quilt. No choice - there's just not quite enough time to get them both done. Not to worry - let's move on.

Before I pop into the quilting stuff, here's a quick update on my virtual walking challenges. It is the end of June, so this is a good check-point. I set a goal of one year for the Route 66 challenge, so technically, I should be at the halfway point, and the Cross Canada virtual walk is a two-year goal, so I should be at the quarter mark. And where am I?

I'm well over the halfway point for the Route 66 Virtual Challenge, and I'm right on track for the Walking Across Canada challenge. Whew!!!!  It's not really that big of a deal to keep up. The Canada one is a stretch goal (just over 7 miles every day), and I'm able to keep up. Sometimes, I get behind, and sometimes I'm ahead, but I keep walking every day to make it happen.

Where I'm a wee bit behind is on my cycling goal. I should be at 50% of that one, and I'm only at 34%. I think I may have to adjust that one because of not attending the gym to get to cycle class and having a crappy spring. OR - I get my butt in gear and get out on the bike every day. I don't have any additional time to devote to exercise. It's either walking or biking, but not both. So I'll have to modify this one. No big deal. It is allowed because of the COVID thing.

I have to share this picture with you. This is from the Cross Canada tour - I'm on my way to Winnipeg. I'm just leaving Regina, so I've got a ways to go before I hit Winnipeg. And once I get to Ontario, well, I'll be in Ontario for a long, long time.

On the way to Winnipeg

And on the Route 66 challenge, I've now less than 1,000 miles to go. That's so exciting. I've walked almost 1,300 MILES since January. That was accomplished by walking 1 ½ to 2 hours every day. My legs are feeling super strong, and I can whip around my little track in no time flat. What's great is that what I thought was a fairly lengthy distance around that big block isn't that long any longer. Once you do it several times, it becomes routine.

Less than 1,000 miles to walk

I only had one silly driver last night. And I swear, she looked at me, like I was in the wrong when I clearly had the right of way. Then I realized what it is. Drivers don't think pedestrians have the right-of-way, and they certainly don't think it's the law to stop at a red light BEFORE they turn right. I must have missed that on the driver's ed test!  Sigh..................

OK -- so as if that isn't enough silliness about walking, guess what? My group (we're called the Quilt Posse), signed up for this.

I know - how crazy is that? So this Virtual Walk starts in St. John's and goes to Victoria. So at some point, guess what's going to happen? I'm going to meet myself!!!  Talk about a time warp moment that'll be.

It starts tomorrow. So if you get a team together - or you can do 800 KM and get the finishing medal yourself. We're four to walk 8.,000 km and we have one year to do it. That's very doable!

If you or someone you know is interested, here's the link to sign up. But sign up TODAY to save a ton of money on the registration fee.


And now onto the quilting stuff.


I participated in the Quilt Canada mini-swap. We were assigned a swap partner, and we were going to meet up at Quilt Canada, which was to be held earlier this month. We were both a bit late getting the mini-quilts done, but Dolores received hers last night, and I received mine last week. It was in one of those packages. So now we can share.


This is what Dolores made for me. Yep - I like words, and I love orange!

My new mini-quilt

Even the back and the label have words on them!!! It's adorable, and I'll have to find a place to hang that up!

The back of my mini quilt

And this is what I made for Dolores. She likes teal/purples and Minions. Since Minions are yellow - that was a challenge. So this is a Midnight caper with the Minions. Bob, Kevin, Carl, Stuart, Dave, Phil, Tim, and Jorge are all represented here. Oh yes - I learned a lot about the minions as I made this quilt.

Midnight Caper with the Minions

I threw it on the long arm and did a very dense background fill.

Dense quilting

And here's one of the eyes! They were paper pieced, and there was a LOT of pieces in each eye. I had "fun" making them. But the end result is so worth it.

A paper pieced Minion eye

I found the patterns for the Minions at Fandom in Stitches—lots of free designs there for characters of all kinds. I only used the eyes from the patterns, but the entire body of the Minions is also available.

And here's the back of the quilt. I thought it appropriate to use the Minions on the orange background so she could remember me!!!!  Shoot - I didn't get a picture of the label, I'll have to ask Dolores to send me that.

The back of the Minion quilt

So I saw the strangest thing last week at the retreat. A cradle for your phone to simulate walking. This is for a game - Pokemon. I shall not say whose phone this is. It just makes me think - what's the point? But I digress.

A cradle for your phone 

Let's just hope that the Fitbit doesn't get on that cradle!!!

Here are two more finishes from the retreat. This is one of Ronda's sports quilts. I think that one is a Raptor's quilt. There's a story about these quilts, which I'll share tomorrow.

One of Ronda's finishes on the weekend

And this one is Susan's. She had never made a quilt with sashing before, and she got it together with NO ripping.

Susan's finish for the weekend

Yikes - I thought I should clean my sewing machine before I started to sew yesterday. AH - I think there's a wee bit of lint stuck in the feed teeth. I pulled out the little "felt pads" that had grown in there.

Cleaning out the lint in the sewing machine

Now I'm really excited about these tubs. I inherited them from someone, and they were at the house when I arrived home. It was like Christmas when I got back!

So what's going to happen with these seven giant tubs?? 

Storage tubs

Well, I'm going to say good-bye to this mess. There's a lot of stuff in those bags and other fancy containers. The idea is to sort through them all and clear the clutter. All the new projects (not started) are going in one tub (s), and the UFOs will go in others. The items inside will be listed, and the containers will be labeled. 

The mess of UFOs and new projects to clear up

That is really the last area in Studio B that needs to be addressed. And it'll be inspiring to get that organized and sorted. Then when I need to "shop" for a new project, I can scan the lists and then pull out the appropriate item.

I'm going to put all the UFO items on my Task Master lists in one tub, so they are even easier to find. I just need ONE day to pull all that together. That's not going to happen this week, but you never know what can happen early one morning.

One more very exciting thing happened yesterday. I got a text telling me that I could schedule an appointment at my local library branch to pick up the books, well some of them, that I have on hold. Thankfully, I had gone in and put many of them on suspend. So I have an appointment for tonight. Just a few minutes before my scheduled Zoom class so I have to shift the class by 15 minutes because I don't know how to switch the library appointment. DUH!!! 

We had our four-hour Zoom session with the Monday sewing group. This is such a great way to stay in touch with everyone. I LOVE Zoom.

On that note, I'd better get the day started. It's going to be busy as I hope to get that quilt on the long arm tonight and ready to quilt tomorrow.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Timing is everything!

What an awesome day! 

It didn't exactly start out the way I would have liked. I'm merrily quilting away, and then I got a phone call. A phone call that I wasn't expecting to get. Remember all that physio and massage I had last year as a result of my car accident? I do have to say that it all worked as my neck is totally back to normal with a full range, so that part was excellent. However, the office that I was dealing with wasn't the swiftest with the paperwork.

There were two insurance companies involved and the physiotherapy office. They just couldn't seem to connect. Many times, I was asked for information which I supplied, then it wasn't right or whatever. I won't go into the boring details, but finally, in March or April (YES - this year), we seemed to get everything tidied away.

I received one last statement from one insurance company, and I dutifully scanned it and sent it to the physiotherapy office. I gave them my credit card to pay for the last of the services, and I thought that was it! However, I got a call yesterday asking what was going on as they hadn't heard from me. Good grief - so I had to stop and go back and figure out what had happened. Yep - in fact, I had the e-mail that I had sent, and I reforwarded it to them. It was sent almost one month ago.

I would say the office administrator has an issue with paperwork (just like me!) because I sent it to her. I even forwarded that e-mail just to prove that I had sent the paperwork as requested. It doesn't matter - everything is fine now. But good grief - they should have been following up way more than they did.  I'm just glad it was their issue, not mine.

I was planning to go to Costco with a friend later this week, so I could check it out and see if it was really worth becoming a member. I've resisted for a long time because I know how much I spend when I go there (I used to be a member) and all the extra stuff I used to buy. However, I decided it was time to check it out.

Then I received this flyer in the mail yesterday.

Costco flyer

They have a deal on memberships, so I decided to go myself TODAY and sign up. I'm going to buy a couple of things, and that's IT!  I'm going to be very diligent when I go as I don't want to end up storing a whole pile of HUGE things. And there are some deals in that flyer that I would like to get. The sale doesn't start until June 29, and I can wait. Anything to save some money!

And then I got a couple of good news about some quilting deadlines. The first one is the Cherrywood Challenge. The due date is July 1, and I had just started. I know!!!!  I got an e-mail yesterday saying that the deadline has been extended to December 31!!!!!  Seriously??? That is huge - that information is NOT on their website, but I received it because I'm on their mailing list with the Bob Ross Challenge. Well, that gives me a wee bit of breathing room. I'm going to keep working on the quilt, but it might just get pushed to the back burner for this month.

The weird thing about the Cherrywood challenge is that they extended the deadline TWO weeks before the current deadline. Some people had already submitted their challenges. Holy!!!  That would never happen at my house!

One more bit of good news - the last bits of fabric that is HOT off the press for a magazine quilt that's due on July 7 arrived at the warehouse in the US and is now winging its way to me. I might even get it today. That's going to become a major focus, so I can get it done next week.

So it was another good news day! But it was also a very productive day! I finished quilting the mini-quilt for my swap partner for the Quilt Canada mini-swap. The binding is on as well as the little hanger at the top. It's slightly longer than it's supposed to be, but I don't think anyone is going to freak out over that. The only thing left to do is the label, which is on the agenda for today.

The mini-swap quilt is DONE

My swap partner and I were very well matched because she was also late. I sent her a note yesterday that I was done. I haven't heard from her. I have no intention of putting this in the mail until I hear from her that mine is done. So technically, I'm ahead of schedule!!!

Then it was time to work on something else. I dug out this small Christmas wall hanging. Well - it was already out. It was in the quilting pile for this month. I'm trying to get a few of my quilt projects quilted between the customer and community project quilts.

The first thing to do is make a sample of the quilting stitch. I'm quilting this on the PFAFF creative icon and using a regular foot with a guide. Remember, the PFAFF has a built-in walking foot - the Integrated Dual Feed Technology. IDT!

Testing the decorative stitch

I like to experiment with the quilting just because I get bored doing the same old thing, and I get new samples from experimenting. On top of all that, I'm learning what I like and don't like, as well as what works and what doesn't.

I decided to quilt "straight" lines all over this small applique. I drew one chalk line on a 60-degree angle. Then I just literally stitched the lines across the surface of the quilt.

Using a regular presser foot with a guide

I actually like the effect. I used a bobbin weight blue thread. You can't see the stitches in the blue background, but they have an excellent effect on the green tree. This is what it looks like with the lines in one direction. Nice, but not enough quilting for me.

The lines of quilting in one direction

So I made another chalk line in the opposite direction (also on a 60-degree angle) and stitched another set of lines. While the piece is NOT big, it literally took about a half-hour to quilt this.

The quilting lines in two directions

Using that serpentine stitch is one of my favorite stitches for quilting. I think a lot of people use this stitch, but I don't think they do enough lines of quilting! That's my personal thing - I LOVE dense quilting - even on a lap or bed quilt. The drape is there and gets better with more washing!

Here are the two chalk lines. The rest of the lines were "marked" with the guide. That little guide is a priceless and time-saving tool. You should give it a try!!!!

Two chalk lines used to quilt the wall hanging

Here's what the back looks like. I could have used a slightly lighter color thread, but this is fine. I LOVE that look. The backing fabric was hideous and has an almost rubbery feel because of the thick layer of glitter or whatever. I thought it might cause some problems during the quilting process, like sticking to the base of the sewing machine. I had ZERO issues with it.

The backing

I didn't' stop there. The piece is trimmed and the binding is sewn onto the back, as well as the two corner hanger triangles are in place.

The binding and hangers are in place

Those straight lines are super easy to do for anyone! Try a funky stitch on the machine and do your own quilting!!! I'm working on my designs with the walking foot!


Then I started to trim some scrappy half-square triangles, and then I ran out of time!

Trimming half-square triangles

I still had time to enjoy the backyard. There are currently SIX lily blooms in the pond. It's so gorgeous. And the fish - well, they love the lily pads as well. Lots of places to hide from the sun, yet the moment I walk out there with fish food? They are like little pigs!!!

Blooms in the pond

I also have a rose bush that is sporting some lovely blooms at the moment.

The rose bush

And another shot of the peonies. Gorgeous, but they don't seem to be lasting very long this year. Not sure why. My Mom had loads of them in the garden and would cut the blooms and bring them in the house.

The peony

In addition to all that, I managed to walk over 10 miles. I had to walk to the grocery store to get some supplies, or I wouldn't have had oatmeal for breakfast. I went to a different store, and I can't believe that there are NO steel cut oats in the round containers. At least, they do have the packages even though they have flavor in them. It's better than the instant oatmeal, which is totally gross. Sorry if anyone eats that. If you do - you should give the steel cut oats a try—the ones for the microwave that's ready in three minutes. With a bit of cinnamon, a banana, and some hemp hearts and a few other things, it's the BEST.

I have a couple of interesting notes about our Virtual Challenge, so I'm adding them today.

In the cross Canada trek, I'm arriving in Davidson, Saskatchewan. That's one of the Cargill elevators on the right of the road in case you're wondering. So this is a picture of the main highway between Saskatoon and Regina. That green sign says, "Welcome to Davidson. Next THREE exits"  Exits? Where are the exits? Oh yes, this is Saskatchewan. You turn off on the right to go right, and there's an exit on the left if you need to go left. None of this expensive overpass business that we have in the city. Can you imagine the 401 without an overpass at the exits? Total chaos. WAIT - it's already total chaos!!!

Highway 11 in Saskatchewan

 On the Route 66 walk, I'm just about to cross over into New Mexico. Yep - I walked clear across Texas. OK - so I walked across the top part, which is pretty narrow. Look at the terrain. Pretty flat, but nothing but scrub brush - almost desert-like.

Just about the Texas/New Mexico border

 Here's the map so you can see how close I am to that state border.

The map at the Texas/New Mexico border

I'm not competitive. Oh no! So why did I walk so much yesterday? There were several reasons. It was a glorious evening, so how could you not go for a walk. Then I was watching those walking around me and well if they were going that way, so could I. And then my walking partners on the Virtual Challenge - well, they've been cranking it up this week. And I was in the THIRD spot on the leaderboard. Now I'm in first again! But I'm not competitive. Oh no - not me!!!!

I've got a lot of fiddly little things on the agenda for today. I want to finish up those small things that are hanging around, and I've got a couple of quilts to cut out. But there's going to be time to relax in the gazebo!

On that note, have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

The Virtual Retreat - Day Two

Oh my gosh -- I don't remember when I had so much fun at home in isolation! We had another fantastic day with the Virtual Retreat via Zoom. People were coming and going all day, and I know I missed chatting with a couple of them. Sorry for that - it's just that at times, the conversation was super busy and others where I had to babysit the long arm! So I didn't get to visit with everyone.

Did I learn stuff? Oh, yes - you bet. The most exciting thing I learned was how to override the shut-off on my iron. This has been bothering me for years, almost to the point of hating that particular iron. Thanks to Paul, I now know how to override the shut-off. Thank you, Paul - you're the best.

There was so much other information flying around yesterday that my brain was in overload, but what fun! I still have questions to ask some of the people - what's going on in their area - what are they working on? And it was fun to see some return participants from the first Virtual Retreat, and we got to see their finished projects. Yeah!!!!

I got to see people that I haven't seen in a long time (hello Laura!), and my aunt logged in for a bit (hello Yvonne). We talked about African fabrics (with Jackie and Daphne) and quilts, had some great show and tell (thanks Daphne), and well - it was a very good day. I want to know why Daphne was able to put her hands on her African quilts within seconds!

Guess what?? We're going to schedule another Virtual Retreat in July! I know - that's so exciting. I'm looking forward to it. Don't worry - I'll give you plenty of advance notice - I'm thinking the weekend of July 17 and 18 or whatever the dates are for that weekend.

So what happened??

Let's start with Mary - she was making more masks, and she shared the packaging for the wire picks. They are Flexible Wire Picks, and her husband found them at Dollarama in the craft section. So there you go - if you're into making masks, these are perfect for the nose part.

Flexible Wire Picks

Heather sent me a photo and a note saying that with the motivation of the group, she finished the last of her snowflake quilts. They are stunning. I wonder what her neighbors thought of those quilts laid out on her front lawn? Knowing Heather, the neighbors probably just shake their heads and say - there's that crazy quilter again!

Snowflake quilts

Laura showed us some folded flowers that she was making. I didn't get a picture. I'll see if I can get a picture. They were beautiful roses!!

Carol is still working with her HUGE collection of license plates from Row by Row. Elaine S was making snowball blocks. Colleen was finishing up some huge quilts. Shelly was making tree blocks. Karen almost finished a GIANT quilt, and well - there was just a whole lot of sewing going on. I think everyone is settling into the routine of sewing and chatting at the same time.

While it's not the same as physically having the people in the same room, their presence is LARGER than life! The best part - we get to meet new friends from all over, no one has to pack up and carry their stuff, and we still get to visit as if we were all in the same room. The technology is brilliant!!

And just like in real life, after a day filled with laughter and chatter, when I ended the meeting last night, it was kind of sad. The room immediately went quiet. I was alone!

I accomplished a lot yesterday, but Studio B was a bit of a mess when I left it. Did that weigh on my mind all night, or was I just excited to get back to it this morning? Needless to say, I was up rather early, and everything is now tidied up.

I finished all my paper pieced blocks yesterday, and this morning, I cleaned up the scraps and swooped them into a pet mat bag.

The scraps from paper piecing

My scrap box on the cutting table was also getting a wee bit full, so that got emptied as well.

The overflowing scrap box

I did manage to get another quilt quilted on the long arm. This one is also for Quilts of Valour. I have one more to quilt this month. I'll be back to customer quilts later this week.

Quilts of Valour quilt - done

I randomly choose the bubble pattern, and then when I was in the middle of quilting it - I thought - X's and O's. My subconscious picked that pattern, I guess! 

However, I noticed a wee mishap with this quilt top. There's a cut in one of the blocks. I never saw it until it was on the frame. Oh well - a small applique patch will take care of that!!!

A wee mishap

It happens, and it's not the end of the world. I was winding a bobbin, and for the first time EVER, I noticed a thread join in my Aurifil thread. Where did that come from? Luckily it went in the bobbin, and I had no issues with it.

A thread join in my cone of thread

I have the best news ever!!!  My mini-quilt top for my swap partner is DONE!!!! This is just a sneak peek, as I think it's only fair that the recipient is the first one to see it. I made up the design, and I think it's adorable. She's going to love it. Just wait for the story!!  There was some paper piecing involved, and there was some improv piecing. It went together just as I planned. As much as one can plan when doing improv.

A sneak peek at my mini-quilt

The task for today is to get rid of the paper from the paper pieced blocks and hopefully get it quilted. I've started to remove the paper: one block down, thirteen to go.

Removing the paper from the paper pieced blocks

I have another quilt loaded on the long arm, so while I babysit that, I can rip the paper out and then get this one on the long arm. It can be done!!!

I trimmed the quilt that I quilted yesterday, and it's now been added to the stack of quilts to bind! I don't think I can go much higher before it wants to tip over. I should try to get one quilt bound each day, or I'll never get through that stack. My priority is the ones for Quilts of Valour, but I have other things that are even higher on the priority list at the moment!

The stack of quilts to be bound

The other bit of good news is that I got the binding on the mini quilt for my Mom.

The binding on the mini-quilt

The two corner hangers are also sewn in place.

The hanger triangles are on the mini-quilt

All that's left is to put the buttons on and make a label. That's also a job for today.


I do have two urgent quilts that need to be cut out and started. One is the Cherrywood Challenge that is due on July 1st. Two weeks - LOADS of time to get that done! And the other one, I'm still waiting for some fabric before I can move ahead. So all is good - I've got a schedule, and I've got a plan. The other thing? I've got the time. I'm not going anywhere or doing anything except sewing! However, I do hope to make it out to the gazebo for a wee bit later today. I might need a nap!!!

So if you're thinking about the Virtual Retreat and wondering if you should come and check it out? The answer is YES. I've received many texts and e-mails with pictures or comments about how much fun people had! I set up the Virtual Retreat for ME, but I'm so happy to share it with all of you! Of course, without you, it would be just me, and what's the point of that? I think we should get used to this kind of thing - it's going to be the new norm. The best part was getting to know people that we would never meet otherwise!!!!

Thank you to EVERYONE who stopped in. We had Saskatchewan (Hi Susan), BC, Ontario, and Alabama represented yesterday!!! So much fun to see you all!!!

Oh yes - I promised to share the link for the quilt that Susan shared. Here's the link to Edith Choiniere's website. And here's the link to the house quilt that Susan was working on.   Scroll down to see the houses. She offers her patterns FREE (one block per month), and then if you miss the monthly download, you can buy the patterns. They are gorgeous. Get on her mailing list!!!!

I think that covers everything I was going to share. If I missed something, let me know.

On that note - have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Making new friends

Can you believe? I didn't take a single picture yesterday. Well - just pictures of the ice on the sidewalks which I still need to write a letter about. There's just not enough time in the day. No - I spent most of yesterday fiddling with technology. Shooting videos to be precise!

You see, I wanted some videos to go along with the Vintage Christmas and Christmas Fig Sew Alongs that start today!! I'm super excited and I'll be sending out e-mails to the two groups later today. I was hoping to have all the videos done as well. However, I ran into trouble.

In case you're thinking that I waited until the last minute - I did not! I started the videos a couple of days ago. Plenty of time to shoot them and edit them. But first, the microphone didn't work. I watched a YouTube video and realized that I might need a new cable. It was New Year's Day when I discovered that so I couldn't check with anyone. Well, after a trip to the mall where I couldn't find a cable, I called the store where I bought the microphone and OH MY - I have all the cables - I just didn't attach them properly.

Back home to shoot the videos. Got them all shot and went to edit - darn the camera wasn't in the right spot! Oh, it was in the right spot, just that the top of my head got cut off. I had already shot some of the videos without the microphone and I needed the microphone. It's all a learning experience!

I'm happy to report that ONE video is done and three more to go. The more you do, the easier it becomes. Once I get this technology nailed down, I should be good to go in the future. What I need is a tripod stand for my iPad Pro. They don't make one for the big iPads so I'm going to have to find something else. In the meantime - I found a solution.

Of course, when I went to upload the video, I had issues with a password. So the video isn't uploaded yet, but I'm hoping to have that resolved later today. See - technology tries every which way to get me!

It's not too late to join the Sew Alongs if you want to join in the fun. Next Friday is the cutoff to sign up. There are two separate Sew Alongs and they are $25 each to join. Check out this link to see the two Sew Alongs.

The other way that I spent my day was messing around with my Virtual Challenges. Oh boy - this is quite the thing to get set up, but I think we have it done now. If I were doing it alone, that would be OK, but NO all four members of the Quilt Posse are doing it and we wanted to see each other's progress on the map. Well, that took a wee bit of effort, but thanks to Ronda, we're good.

The total distance of Route 66 that we're walking in 2020

It's actually pretty cool how they can take your mileage from your FitBit and map it onto Google Maps. I love it. We've just started, but I'm outside Chicago now. The others are hot on my tail!

The progress of the Quilt Posse members

To reach LA by the end of the year, I have to walk 6 miles more or less each day. Yikes - that's a big commitment. I did walk to the mall so I was good yesterday and I'm .7 mile ahead of schedule. I'm crazy about tracking numbers like this so I know I'll do it. Even if I have to go for a walk at the end of the day to make up the numbers which I guess is the point of the whole exercise!

There are going to be some days which present a challenge - such as being in meetings or teaching, but I'll find a way to make it happen. There's lunch hour to take a walk and before and after class. I'm in meetings/training all next week - so I'll have a good time to practice making up those steps.

I swear it helps so much (with my steps and my weight and my health in general) to do my errands or the majority of them without using the car. The bank, the dentist, the hardware store, the library, the mall, and even the grocery store. It's all within walking distance of my house so why would I take my car? Walking is so much healthier and you get to checkout what's going on in the neighborhood and no idiot drivers to deal with, no parking to find. I love it! And at the end of this year, if things go well, we're supposed to have a huge movie complex at the mall. With Virtual Reality - oh yes - I want to try that.

Well, here's a quilting thing for you today. And I swear I read in the paperwork that the sign-ups started today, but NO - registration started yesterday. It doesn't matter - you can still sign-up. This is called the Quilt Canada Mini Swap. You do not need to be a member of the Canadian Quilters Association to sign up. The deadline to sign-up is January 23. Then you'll get assigned a "friend" who has similar tastes in fabric and quilting styles as yourself. You will make each other a mini quilt based on those likes and dislikes. The idea is that you'll swap at Quilt Canada in Edmonton in June of this year. WAIT - even if you're not going to Quilt Canada, you can still participate. It just means that you'll mail your mini quilts.

This is going to be so much fun. I've already signed up. A mini quilt (maximum size is 24" square") doesn't take that long to make. DO NOT worry if you're a beginner - they'll assign you to someone else who is a beginner and so your skill levels should be similar.

I participated in this kind of a swap last year for QuiltCon in Nashville. It was a riot as Katherine and I e-mailed back and forth to get to know each other better. Then we met at QuiltCon and exchanged our quilts. You can see us in the blog post and the quilts that we made for each other.  It even transpired into a road trip to North Carolina last year to see Katherine and her quilt shop.

Get yourself together and SIGN UP!!!!  Apparently, a lot of people signed up yesterday - I don't know if they have a cut off for the number of people, but you'd better get signed up BEFORE January 23. Come on - this is the year you are going to branch out and do something new! And seriously - if you need help coming up with an idea - ask me! Everyone else does!! I don't mind a quick brainstorming session to help out.

Here's something else to ponder this morning. We need more of this to get the younger generation sewing. Way to go!!!!  How can we do more of this in the schools?? The problem for us quilters is that we're a bunch of old ladies - we don't have the same wow factor as athletes!!

On that note, I've got a couple of e-mails to get out before Ronda comes over so we can finish our backpacks. Hopefully, we finish them today! I need to get back to sample making!!! And finishing those other videos.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!