That is a quilt block?

It's great to be home!!!! I managed to get a bit more sorting done before we left shortly after lunch. It was another amazing retreat with great company, a new house, and a return date for next year! You can't beat that! 

My hand was a bit sore this morning when I woke up, and I'm guessing that was from all the cutting I've done. I'm surprised it wasn't sore before, but then I wasn't making big swooping cuts -- most of what I did was piddly little trimming. 

Once I arrived home, I had TWO very excited girls on my hands. Typically, Miss Lexi comes to say hello and then leaves, but yesterday? She was like glue, and they both craved attention. I left the unpacking until later in the day. It was raining, so I wasn't going for a walk. They were NOT happy. 

MOM -- we MISSED YOU!!!!!!! 

We had cuddles, and Murphy just had to play ball. When she was a bit tired, Lexi and Murphy performed their play-fighting routine for me. Then they were somewhat content, and I was able to start unpacking the car. YES -- I took a few too many things that I never touched, but I'm OK with that. I think I'll take those to the next retreat, which is in May. That one is a bit longer, and I'll take the scraps that need to be cut, but I'll also take the sewing machine. I'll cut one day and sew the other. Or whatever I deem worthy of my time at that moment. But taking the cutting sure makes a difference in getting it done there. I do not regret leaving my machine at home. I accomplished a LOT! 

I may have gotten rid of TWO things while at the retreat. When talking to people, someone mentions they want something, and so you say, "I have that and don't want it." One of them was fabric I knew I had, so when I got home, I had to find it because, in the great reorganization of the stash room, it had been moved. However, because the boxes were well labeled, I found what I was looking for within a minute. 

Well-labeled boxes made a HUGE difference.

I pulled it out, took pictures, and sent them along. Now I wait to see if that person wants it. That would be amazing if she takes it. One less project on my shelf. I am extremely happy to get rid of stuff this way, meaning if someone is specifically looking for something and I happen to have it. I am NOT going to just get rid of things so someone can put them on their shelf. It might as well stay on mine! 

The other item is my Cricut, which I bought with good intentions, but I haven't used it since I have two other digital cutters. I need to dig out all the supplies I have for that - tools, presses, irons, mats, etc. Then all we need to do is decide on a price, and it will likely be gone! That will free up half a table since it sits out ready to use. I'm good with it being gone. 

Then last night, after everything was put away and I had some quiet time, I decided to make something with those itty-bitty bits I cut over the last couple of days. I am working on three quilts, and I picked ONE to try making a block. 

What do you think? 

A teeny tiny block

Yes, that is a nine-patch, and it's made with one-inch squares, so they finish at ½" in the quilt. I know --- totally insane!!!!

There's the block without the ruler.

It's cute and will look much better once it's sewn in, with all the squares the same size. The crazy thing is how many of these I need. Close to 500!!!! I know—it will be a long-term project, to say the least. I'm not sure how much more cutting to do. 

Oh shoot—I didn't send the picture, but when I went into the stash room to put away the box of white scraps left over from my cutting session, I found some more white!! One piece was in the wrong box, and another box had been started because the first one was exploding. Sigh............... 

Thankfully, it's not nearly as full as the one I just dealt with, so I don't think it'll take too long to go through. The cleaned-up box with the white scraps contains larger pieces, which I'm going to keep in case I need them later. 

But while I was doing that, I decided to pull out all my batik scraps. OH!!! There are several boxes of them, and I need to address that. However, I've decided to kill two birds with one stone and use the batik scraps for my upcoming 7- or 8-part session on scraps (starting September/October)!! It'll be perfect for dealing with what's there, and together we'll learn sorting, cutting, picking patterns, etc. 

Hence, I'm not going to share that process on the blog, but am taking and saving pictures for then. And if I play my cards right, I could have most of the work done before the classes even start! The bonus is that these scraps are sitting on the current project table!!! 

OH -- just for fun, I'll post the picture of all the boxes of batik scraps. They are not sorted like I sort my other fabrics because they are batiks!! Does that make sense? Anyway—I've got a plan, and I'm happy. 

Batik scraps to deal with

It's not as bad as it looks since I'll be dealing with three of those containers in the next couple of days, and they will be gone! But that still leaves a lot of other scraps. My techniques and patterns will work with any scraps, and your scraps might look different than mine --- it's going to be a fun class. 

I thought I'd share the puzzles I acquired over the last couple of days, and I need to stop buying now, as I am literally running out of room where I store them. 

These are the ones I bought at the thrift shop, and most of them were were $4.99. I did not have a discount coupon with me, nor was it seniors' day, so I paid full price. GASP!!! But still --- a good deal all around. 

A LOT of animals

And look at this one --- two puzzles for the price of one. I find the puzzles at that location are cheaper overall than at my location. 

Wild colors

A pretty winter scene. 

Winter scene

And then this is the one I bought at the quilt shop. I made that quilt and thought it would be fun to do the puzzle. Actually, this is different than the quilt I made, but lots of similar blocks. 

Farm puzzle

And lastly, after I had a salad for dinner, I went for a walk with the girls. One thing about this retreat was that there were too many temptations. I'll have to ask the organizer to tell them not to bring extra goodies. Actually, it was pretty good, and we ate healthy, but I'm sure I put on a pound or two. Sigh.....

Anyway, the girls were wild when I went out. I just needed a sleigh with wheels, and the extra weight might slow them down somewhat. The two of them were in their glory, and I don't like walking them together when they are wild like that, but I didn't want to walk them separately. The one who got left at home would be frantic!

MOM -- we are HAPPY girls!!!

They are so funny, and all they care about is that walk!!

I had a great sleep last night. We get sleep at the retreat, but it's never the same as at home, or as much. I was sleeping in a room with three people, and even though they were as quiet as mice, it was still distracting. 

But now I'm home, and I can get back to my normal sleep patterns and walking, and cooking oatmeal!!

I'm off to the gym this morning on my own. I'm not going to do anything much, but have a good stretch, and maybe do some weights. I'll see how it goes when I get there. 

Then I have the entire day to myself! I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but two surprise events popped up on my calendar while I was away, and I need to make a couple of samples, so I will probably work on those today. 

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!

Sorting scraps is my therapy

 For those not aware of the Magic Bags, they are bags of grain (not sure what kind) that you throw in the microwave to heat up - like a heating pad. However, Jill's comment is chilling!!! The smell was quite bad, and I can still smell it on my PJs because I held the bag to me for a bit. The smell is still very much in the bag, and I suspect that when I get home, I'll be shopping for another bag, because the moment it goes in the microwave, it will stink up the place. 

As for microwaves? I don't know what it is about this one, but it is POWERFUL!!! I tried oatmeal this morning for one minute at power 2. No problem. The second one minute was still at power 2, and I had a huge mess to clean up. What is it doing to the food? 

Anyway --- we are on our way home this afternoon, so I can cook my oatmeal safely tomorrow!!!

Do I have a lot to show for this retreat? I certainly don't have a quilt top, since I didn't bring a machine, but it's amazing how time-consuming these non-sewing-machine jobs are. I managed to get as much as I could done on the one jacket. Both shoulder/sleeve seams are hand-stitched in place, and that feels amazing. 

This is what the seams look like before. 

The seams after they were stitched by machine

And this is what they look like when the excess has been cut away and hand-stitched in place. 

The seam allowances are finished.

This is the Tamarack Jacket I'm working on. Now I have to resew the sides and sleeves together and finish those seams. The last thing will be to hem the sleeves. And this jacket will be done!!! Did you guess that I want it done for my jacket class, but it's also on my visual To-Do list!!!!

My Tamarack Jacket

Then I got out the second jacket I brought with me, and it also needed those shoulder sleeve seams cut down so I could finish the edge. That one is being stitched in place on the sewing machine, but I managed to get one completely pinned and ready to sew. I started on the other one and realized the two seam allowances aren't quite as well lined up as I would like, so I ripped that part out and will resew it when I get home. Then I'll finish prepping the sleeve seam. 

Here is the seam allowance on the other jacket before. 

The "before" on the second jacket

And now it's pinned and ready to be stitched. All is good. This one is also on the visual To-Do list, so there is a push to get these done. 

The seam is pinned and ready to stitch down on the machine.

This jacket is stitched together differently from the other one, so once these two sleeve seams are done, I still have to hand-stitch the facing in place. I could have done that here, but forgot to bring the thread. And I need to put snaps on it. Before I do that, I want to buy one of those table presses for putting snaps on. I did a bit of research yesterday and found what I want - now I just need to find a place to buy it. I could buy it at my "favorite" online store, but seriously? I'm not buying from them unless it is the last place on earth to buy something. I won't get into how many people buy from them because of the convenience, and ignore the fact that their dollars support some unsavory things. But I won't go there. 

Then it was onto a couple of other projects. I finished this cushion cover a while back, but I was never happy with how I put the invisible zipper in. So it's now apart, and I'll redo it. That's why it takes me so long to make things—I must learn to do it right the first time! I'm getting there!

The cushion cover is apart.

Then I spent the rest of the day fondling my scraps. I have several containers of batik scraps leftover from making the 4th of July quilt. I mentioned that yesterday. Well, I was back at it. I know -- most of you would have tossed those scraps years ago, but I couldn't. 

The first box wasn't so bad to go through, but the second box? I think I just scooped up what was left on my mat after trimming, including loads of iddy-bitty bits. So I had to clean all that up!!!

Sorting a mess of scraps

When I dumped the second box, it looked like a cube. The scraps were not crammed in the space, but they had settled over time. 

A cube of scraps

OH MY --- I am not a fan of this touch pad on the computer. The right click to get PASTE is crap. WAIT ---- I can just hear my computer friends --- use the shortcut keys. Hmmmm --- I may have to resort to that. Now what the heck are they? 

And then when you fluff the scraps up a bit, they explode!!!! Scraps are like mushrooms!

The scrap cube exploded.

OH --- when I did manage to get the pop-up screen from the right-click -- it's CTL+C for copy and CTL+V for paste. I might try that. Those friends of mine may convert me yet!!!!

And then I sorted. 

Sorting scraps

And I trimmed, and I'm happy to say that I've almost completed the second box. 

More trimming

A lot of the scraps went into those two boxes, and I have another project in mind that I'll be working on later today. I hope to get stuff for my new project, and then the rest will be tossed!!!! I must not put those back on the shelf. 

The third and final box of those scraps contains much larger pieces, which is good because I need some squares about 2" or something like that. So after writing the blog, I'll be back downstairs to see what I come up with. 

So while it's a very time-consuming task, it's so therapeutic and calming. Not that I need that at the moment, but why are we in such a rush? Sewing and quilting are our hobbies, and we should be enjoying the PROCESS, not the results. There's no need to rush, and this is teaching me so much patience and focus. This is a good thing, and I'll feel a ton of satisfaction when it's done. 

Here are the other two mini-quilts that I donated to the My Quilt Retreat. The website isn't up yet, but when it is, I'll let you know. 

Mini quilt

Second mini-quilt

This is an amazing house, all set up nicely for sewing, with lots of places to sit, chill, or converse as a group. The layout of the house is weird, with loads of storage places around. The only caveat is that the sewing room is downstairs, but you can drive around to the back of the house and unload your car for your sewing stuff, and the kitchen is on the main floor. It's a bungalow with a walkout basement. So if stairs are not your thing, it may not be the house for you. Just wanted to let you know that in case you get excited.

I went out for a walk in the morning and found another geocache. I didn't do any searching in the afternoon, and I think I found everything within walking distance of the house. OH -- there are others I could go for, but I don't want to spend all my time out walking. I almost didn't find this one, as it had blown off that post and was lying in the ditch! 

Another geocache

I spotted these two giant nutcrackers in a yard nearby. 

Giant nutcrackers

And spring must be coming as the pussy willows are starting to bloom!!!!

Pussy willows in bloom

That's it for today! I want to get that third box under control, and I have one more box of other batiks that I'd like to sort. I did not get to cutting the fleece scraps, the binding on my mom's quilt, my knitting, or cutting some more blocks for the 365-day quilt. No worries - I can take the knitting and my mom's quilt when I go visit them next week. The other two projects can come to my May quilt retreat. 

I feel like I have accomplished so much, yet I don't have much to show for it, but the progress I made is huge. I would never have stuck to those projects at home. Sewing? I can sew like a fiend at home, but to stick to these fiddly cutting-and-sorting projects? They are best done at a retreat!!! No sewing machine required!!! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

A law-abiding citizen

Not that I get around much, but there is one thing when you go to someone's house, or in this case, a retreat house, that always throws me for a loop. One thing every time, and it's in the kitchen. Can anyone guess? Almost everyone has one, and while they all look similar from the outside, they are NOT!!!! I'm talking about the microwave. The difference is the wattage? Power? I'm not sure what you would call it, but oh my --- they are totally different. 

I know from cooking oatmeal in many microwaves. Yesterday I struggled, but I was watching, so I was able to stop it before it boiled over. Today, I set the time for 90 seconds at a power level of 3 out of 10. The oatmeal still boiled over. Sigh....... 

And last night, when I put my Magic Bag in the microwave before going to bed, I burnt the contents, and the house stinks like burnt popcorn. I had put it in for 3 minutes the night before, and always do three minutes at home, I never thought about the power, and VOILA -- burnt popcorn smell. Sigh.....

Perhaps I need to shy away from all things microwave!! Tomorrow, I shall try 90 seconds on power 2, but I'll watch it! And my Magic Bag might be toast because of the burnt contents. 

OH MY --- I'm a law-abiding citizen, and I can't cross the line! I decided to find a geocache on my morning walk. It wasn't that far from the house, and then the plan was to cut across the golf course from one road to another. The owner of the house said they do it all the time. 

I quickly found the geocache - it's amazing when you walk into a parking lot, and you know immediately what tree you are going to find the darn thing. 

The geocache container

By the way, that was find number 993, which is a small number. But I'm OK with that. I recently saw someone celebrate his 75,000 th find!!! Now that is a serious geocacher. I just do it from time to time and mostly on walks in new neighborhoods. Perhaps I can top 1000 while I'm here. 

Then I continued walking down the road to get to the golf course. As I was approaching the gate, a car was pulling out, but not before the guy had opened it, which had a very large NO TRESPASSING sign on it. Hmmm ---- I stopped and contemplated entering the driveway through the gate, then decided I didn't need the hassle of being in the wrong place when I had no right to be there. And while the fellow in the car was coming out of the gate, I could hear other people on the grounds. 

I'll go further down the road and see if I can find a spot to cross the ditch and walk along the edge. I spotted an opening in the trees. 

A perfect spot to cross the ditch and get into the trees

I walked about ten feet into the wooded area, only to find this. 

Hmmm - I'm not the first person to think this was a good idea.

Hmmm—someone is telling me something. So I turned around and had to walk all the way back around the road grid. And that was OK -- it was a nice morning, the sun was out and not too cold, and I got a good walk. 

Then it was back to the house, where I went back to dealing with all those little scraps of white fabric. 

I kept at it all day. How is that for focus? I was finally down to the last handful of white scraps. Most of them needed to be pressed before I could do anything because they were literally crammed tight into that box. 

The last handful of scraps

And I'm happy to say that I have a lot of 1" strips of white fabric. 

1" stripes of white fabric

I also cut some 2 1/2" squares to make some half-square triangles, and I'll need some 2-inch pieces, so I cut some of those, and I found some triangles that I can use for making half-square triangles. I brought my bag of bags, so each is now safely stowed in the appropriate bag. 

I decided to keep some of the larger pieces of white and nice full strips so that, if and when the time comes, and I might need some white scraps, I still have some, and they are organized. The piddly little scraps - they are gone! 

The scrap bin! 

As I sew the white strips with the colours, more scraps will be generated, since I won't use all of the strips, as some are not 1" for the entire length. For the moment, the white is done!! 

I finished after dinner, and it was dark outside. I cleaned up my cutting area, loaded all that stuff into a tote bag, and took it to the car  Then I grabbed the next bag of things to do  This time, it doesn't involve cutting but rather some handwork  I'm going to try to advance my two jackets as far along as I can  I've already been hard at work on that this morning, so you'll see it later. 

What precipitated all this cutting of the white strips is these boxes of batik scraps, which are the cutoffs from the very first QuiltWorx pattern that I ever did. It was called the 4th of July. I didn't know enough about these patterns, so I didn't realize how wasteful they are with fabric. I couldn't bear to throw this stuff out. 

Batik scraps

While there are some pieces I can use, I think most will be too small, and I still hate to throw them out  When I looked through it last night, all those colors were so exciting, and I think I'm going to try to make some kind of collage  Hmmmmmm --- thoughts are running through my head  And I could use those white castoffs as well  Hmmmmmmmmm, 

I took a break in the afternoon and went to the local quilt shop, which turned out to be a mistake  I found a few things I "needed"  I had visited the shop when it was in its original location in DocVille, which is a very interesting place  I first came across that place on my cycling trip across Canada back in 2013  Shoot -- I am struggling to copy the DocVille link without a mouse  I hate this touch pad!!! Just Google it if you want to see the western town!

Annie's Quilt Shop

What was funny was that I spotted a jigsaw puzzle on a top shelf and thought it would be neat to have, so I asked the owner to get it for me. Well, it happened to be holding up the line of pillow forms, and once the puzzle box was down, a domino effect set in as all the pillow forms plopped onto the floor!!!! 

We had a good laugh over it, and then I was back at the retreat house. 

I just want to say one thing about the retreat: we all know that what happens at retreat stays at retreat  I was invited by a friend of mine who organized the event  She has moved away from my area, but we still stay in touch, mostly through retweets  I met most of this group last year, and they are wonderful ladies  I also met new people this time, and you know what  We are all quilters - most of us have the same hopes, goals, but most importantly, we all speak the language of quilting, although a couple are somewhat new, so they are learning the language. 

Anyway, we all sat around the table last night and chatted for hours, until I excused myself because I wanted to finish cutting all that white. Guess what? We all get along!! What fun to spend time with mostly total strangers or people I don't know well, and still have a wonderful time!! Thank you, retreat ladies!!!

And for a point of reference, if you think I am a lunatic (that's OK) at cutting 1" strips of fabric, I am not crazy. Look at what one lady is making. That center square. It's cut at 3/4", way smaller than what I'm working with!!! I'm not so crazy after all!!!

This is teeny tiny!

And don't you love this sign!!! How true, and we are doing a great job of chatting without our phones, although my phone and only my phone was on the table last night. However, we did need it to fact-check something. You sure need to keep a phone handy these days for fact-checking!!!!

On that note, I'm out of here! My first seam that needs hand stitching to finish is ready to go. I hope to finish both sleeve/shoulder seams fairly quickly, then move on to the next set of shoulder/sleeve seams to prep. Still, those ones will be stitched by machine when I'm home  If that doesn't make sense, it will when I forward a picture to you  Then onto the next thing, and I'd like to try sorting those THREE containers of batiks  Do not worry if I can't find enough 1" strips in those three boxes of very small scraps, because I have another three boxes of larger scraps still in the car  Oh yes—I came prepared for four retreats. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

A new retreat house!!!!!

I love how we are all so supportive of each other!! And how we are all the same. We lose things, we go through recoveries, we screw up! It's so comforting to know that I'm not alone!!! 

I'm at a new retreat house this morning, getting myself organized in a new space. I realized, as I was setting up my computer, that I had NOT brought the mouse or the mouse pad. Sigh......  As I was packing up, I thought to myself to throw that in, but I did not. It sits under a shelf upon which my computer sits, so it's not super visible. Oh well, I have the built-in touchpad on the computer, which I'm not a fan of, but for a few days, I can make it work. 

I had packed some of my stuff over the weekend, and DH asked whether I was taking my entire sewing room. NOPE -- just stuff that needed to be cut. Well, have a look. 

The car is packed for the retreat.

OK -- perhaps that was a bit too ambitious for a four-day retreat. Oh well!!!! Better to have variety than not. And I left most of it in the car! 

I had some extra time to kill before arriving at the house, so I decided to stop at the thrift store in the town closest to my destination. Oh my—I found some interesting things—yes, a couple of puzzles came home with me. Don't say a word!! I am working on them, and then they are being donated, so they are not staying. 

I forgot to load the pictures and am too lazy to resend them to myself, but I got the next one all laid out and the border done, so when I get home, I can tackle it. 

Anyway, I love how the thrift stores are making the end caps look pretty neat. They created several displays, and it was very striking. 

Colorful displays at the thrift store

They even had an orange one, but I wasn't looking for this kind of stuff, so I skipped it. 

The orange display

I quickly checked the book section and found this book. Hmmm --- the answer to every problem? It sounds too good to be true!! I didn't even glance at it and certainly didn't buy it. I just make stuff up if I need help!!! 

The only book you need? 

But a few things did come home with me - well, they are sitting in the car. A couple of textile things that will be awesome for machine embroidery. I know -- how much machine embroidery does one need? LOTS!!!!

I had a ton of mini-quilts that I had made or won over the years, and when I heard that Kim was starting My Quilt Retreat (I hope I got that name correct), I asked if she wanted any mini quilts for the house. She went through the quilts and picked the ones she liked. The two on the right came from that stash. Oh shoot -- I need to take a closer picture of the one on the top --- it's a scrap quilt!!! The leftovers from a Thimbleberries quilt, I think. And the one below I won at a guild show - maybe someone will recognize it as their own. 

Mini-quilts on display

And this small one, which is very artsy. I guess I could have hung these around my house as Kim did, but I didn't. I'm OK with that. 

Another donation

And here's one more. I don't think I made this one - I made one that says "I Like to Teach". There are two more on the wall behind me, so I need to get a picture of those today when it's a bit brighter in the house. 

Another donation quilt

I did not bring a sewing machine with me - only some handwork and some cutting. So I got some table risers (I borrowed them from the house, but I have mine in the car) and started cutting. 

My workstation

WAIT A MINUTE -- let me tell you what happened on the way. While I packed somewhat carefully and didn't want to stack things, one bag sort of got tossed on top of the rest. At one point, a police car with flashing lights was coming towards us. The car in front of me pulled to the right and stopped in front of me. I had to put the brakes on a bit. I heard something fall with a thunk, but I didn't have the time to check what happened. Everything breakable or that could leak was safely stowed, so I didn't worry. 

When I stopped at the thrift store, I realized the bag with the box of white scraps had toppled over, and white scraps were all over the back. Yikes!!!! What a mess. 

Some of the mess with the white scraps

Now I will admit that this box was chock-a-block full, and the contents were "mildly" exploding out of it. But after this incident, the contents seemed to grow two sizes bigger than they were in the box. How did that happen? 

Good grief --- there were white sdraps everywhere, and I tried to keep them contained in the box, but they wouldn't fit. I worked on this yesterday and a bit this morning, and it barely looks like I've made a dent in the box. This box of white is long overdue for a trim. 

The white scraps

How long is it overdue? I don't remember ever using the white scraps for anything, except for the occasional piece for applique. Well, what do they say in the barber world? This box is getting a Number 2, or more likely a Number One, which means that everything, or most things, are being dealt with. 

But look at what I found. This fabric was for a project that I made in 1999. And the scraps are still in the box. 

OK—this scrap was generated in 1999!!!

I'm not going to share all the details on how I'm dealing with the box or what I'm cutting. I'm going to save that for my scrap class in the fall. But needless to say, it's an eye-opener. I will share the pieces I'm cutting later. I honestly don't think I can finish that box today, and I don't want to spend all my time on it. So I'll work until this afternoon, and then I'll switch to something else. I need to touch everything I brought with me - just to prove a point!!!!!

I went for a walk yesterday afternoon, and it was glorious. I realized that the main road, 1 km from the house, is Highway 2. Why is that significant? That is the road we cycled on when we passed through this area in 2013. We are near Newcastle!!! Oh my --- what memories, although the entrance to this road is not memorable because of anything on it! 

On my walk, I spotted this. Seriously? How is this even possible? There is still snow on the ground—OK, not much, but still. 

A caterpillar?

And look—there's a beautiful barn quilt on the garage. I knew I had arrived at the correct place. 

A barn quilt

And last - do you remember this quilt di that ended up at my house? Look what I found here!!! And that's all I'm going to say about it! I refuse to say more to protect the innocent!!! They know who they are. 

Hmmm -- is that a quilt di? 

Well, I'm off to continue cutting scraps!!! Oh, shoot —I just realized I didn't bring the charger for my FitBit, and I'm at 45%. I should be OK because, like my phone, I turn absolutely everything off. I don't get phone messages, I don't get any kind of notification. It doesn't even show the time unless I push the button. I like my solitude without a phone or Fitbit interfering in my day! When I need something, I check. 

I see there are some geocaches within walking distance, so I may do that this morning, although it's minus 6, which is nothing! Just get out there and walk!! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!