Many hands make short work

WOW --- what great stories of coincidences!!!! And, amazingly, our brain makes these connections! It's an amazing tool, and we need to use it or listen to it a lot more than we do!!

Good progress was made at the retreat house. I moved another bag of finished projects to the car last night, leaving one bag of projects and my knitting bag! We are here until Sunday, so I should be able to touch most of the stuff I brought. Well, let's see, since some of them are small, but still -- despite my panic packing at the end, I think I did pretty well. ONE bag of projects to take to the car —even if I don't get to them all—that's all that remains!!!!

Let's start with those half-square triangles. I managed to finish this entire grouping. Yeah!!! There were two dark triangles left without a matching light, so I'll add them to my tray of triangles when I get home. One of the things I love is getting home, unpacking the bags, and prepping for the next retreat!! Lots of satisfaction in that task. 

Another grouping of HSTs done!

So it was time to unpack the next grouping of half-square triangles. I've started working on this group, which I didn't even realize was in the retreat bag. That leaves one bag that needs trimming; I might save it and do it at home, or I'll work on it here. And there is one large bag with HSTs in various states of completion. Once these three groups are done, I think I'll be caught up. What a relief that will be!! I'll keep the two bags of HSTs to sew in the retreat bag as they are good enders and leaders. 

The next batch of enders/leaders

Speaking of enders and leaders, I went to sew another quilt top together and realized when I opened the bag that I need to finish making the blocks! I had cut all the pieces needed, but I had forgotten that the blocks were not finished. So that will go back into the retreat bag, as it's a great ender-and-leader project for the retreat. 

Here are the partially completed blocks. 

Partially completed blocks

And here are the pieces that need to be assembled. This is one project I brought, but I won't be touching it, nor the other two bags of HSTs. I'll continue to bring them until they are done, as they are good to have at a retreat. Once those are done, I know I have a couple of other projects that will work for enders/leaders. 

The pieces to complete the blocks are ready to be sewn.

I'm happy to report that I finished the other quilt top, but what an ordeal!!! The fabrics in it are very busy, and even though I had it laid out on the design wall, I managed to join the same fabrics together, not once, not twice, but THREE times!!!! I decided to leave it that way. I was not ripping it out. Did I mention that I had four blocks left over? 

The scrappy quilt top

But when I hung it up on the wall to take a picture, I wasn't happy, not because of the fabrics touching, but the ratio. It was too narrow for its length, and that will drive me insane. So I took the bottom row off and added it to one of the sides. I needed a few extra blocks to make that happen. This was probably my original intention, but of course, I did NOT leave myself a note. That would be too easy!!!!

And this is what it looks like now. There is one block leftover, and I'm OK with that, as I have another bag of blue flannel scraps with me, and that block will go in that bag. It's a decent-sized quilt top and made of MANY scraps, but together, it looks just fine! 

The correct orientation of the quilt top

Now here's a wild coincidence. I had picked up this small package at some US quilt show eons ago. There was a sheet of sewing lines (Moda Recipe paper #2) and two 10" squares of fabric. You could try out the papers and make two smaller blocks. It has been in the retreat bag for MANY retreats. I decided last night that if I wasn't going to make the blocks, I should NOT bring that back. 

A kit to make two quilt blocks

So I decided to sew the two blocks together. Here was the "recipe" that came with the kit. The sewing and cutting lines are marked on the paper, and you have this diagram to show how to assemble the block. The idea is that you pin that paper to fabric from a layer cake (10" pieces of fabric). 

The block instructions AKA Cake Mix Recipe

And here are the two blocks. 

My two blocks

What will I do with them? They can go in my orphan block box, and I'll need to tackle them during our upcoming scrap class starting in the fall. 

So there was nothing unusual about that, except that I finally tackled that little project in my retreat bag. 

Well, imagine my surprise when one of the ladies had similar sheets. When I looked closer, she was making HSTs from the Mode Recipe sheet #2!!!!! What are the chances of that? 

Someone else is working on Moda Recipe #2

Would I use them again? Well, it was kind of nice to have everything preset, and in particular because I was using the two 10" layer cake pieces of fabric. But to just make HSTs? I don't think so. But it's done!!!

And yes, I remembered to remove five more raindrops from the Cherrywood Challenge. Slow and steady. The five I removed yesterday were the big ones, which are easy! It's going to take me five days to remove all of them on the left side and a couple of weeks to remove them from the other side. It doesn't matter - it's just important to keep at this so I can get it finished!! I need to leave that beside the computer, and it would be a great thing to do at Virtual Retreat, Monday sewing, or watching a YouTube video. 

More raindrops are removed.

WAIT --- there's more!!! I woke up at my usual time when I'm home, and since I had had a great sleep, I was revved up and ready to sew. That's when I discovered that the black-and-white blocks weren't ready to be sewn together. 

But I grabbed the next bag of scraps to assemble into blocks and realized I only had a few blocks left to make. It's from the leftovers of making the eight dog quilts for the staff of our retired vet last year. 

Making scrappy dog fabric blocks

I had enough scraps to make ten blocks, and the rest was already made into blocks. The leftovers from this exercise are the two pieces at the top. Those got put into the other bag of dog fabric that is random colors. I will leave that for the next retreat. In addition to the ender/leaders, I like to bring a bag of scraps to make blocks. I still have a bag of Oh Canada fabric, the dog fabric, and some blue flannel bits. 

Blocks for another dog quilt

The plan with these particular blocks is to make a couple of borders around this dog-themed panel I couldn't resist last year. But I need to trim the panel, and I need a coping strip to go around it so I can add the 6" blocks. I just realized I could design it in EQ8 here, and when I get home, I can trim and add the coping strip. I might dig it out and do that. I  may or may not sew it at home. It would be good NOT to bring it back, so I might put it on the priority sewing list when I'm home. 

The dog panel to go with the blocks

And then, before I left the house, I threw in some scraps so I could work on the appliqué for the sledding block for the winter quilts. I got that all prepped last night and just need to fuse the shapes to the fabric, cut them out, and stick them down. I will get that done today. And now I'm working on the poinsettia pieced blocks. 

The appliqué is ready to fuse and cut.

And that was all I accomplished since yesterday's blog! OH WAIT --- one of the other ladies and I walked into town because I needed bananas, and while we were there, we went to our respective coffee shops because they were right there. No bug bites, which was good because I still have a lump on the back of my head, although it's much smaller now. 

And then one of the other attendees and I went back to Creekbank. Don't ask, but I picked up a couple of spools of thread! You'll see more of that when it's time. 

Remember that I talked about the low-tech of putting a jigsaw puzzle? I mean, no technology is required, so it should be easy for me to handle. Well, not so much. The puzzle I brought to the retreat was brand new, and I needed to open the seal. Well, that was a job and a half. 

I had trouble using a knife to slit open the tape and ended up sawing through the bottom of the box!!!! 

Oops - a bit too aggressive in opening the box

All I really needed to do was to pull that tape off!!!! Oh FARCE!!!!!!

It was as easy as pulling the tape off!

The good news is that the puzzle is done!!!!

The puzzle is done!

And the good news is that many hands make short work of any puzzle. Of the six of us here, four actively attacked the puzzle. I think we all did it at different times. One person would leave, and then someone would sit down! 

Many hands!

I have worked on jigsaw puzzles at other retreats and was never joined by anyone. They just left me in my corner, and I worked away. This time, it became a community puzzle even though the intention was for it to be a personal diversion, just like at previous retreats. But you know what? Who cares—if the others had fun putting it together, I'm happy to let them work on the puzzle. I have the setup, the puzzles, and the time to work on them at home by myself. And I'll do this one at home by myself at some point. I think the expectation is that I bring a puzzle to future retreats! 

One of the ladies has actually been to the location of this puzzle - Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. 

The puzzle!!!!

This is an older puzzle because it has a photograph on it. Many of the puzzles today are no longer photographs but are designed by graphic designers. And there is a BIG deal about them NOT being designed by AI. This is a lucrative business: designs created by people, for people. I would NEVER buy a puzzle generated by AI. OK - I said NEVER again, but seriously --- these designers need to be employed, and AI could not generate all the details required for a puzzle, without making a mistake. 

Besides, there are some amazing Canadian artists and some amazing Canadian-based puzzle companies. We need to support them!!!!!

I got a chuckle from two people here. This small piece is not a scrap -- this is the size of a finished piece that goes into a block from the Quilted Diamond Quilt by Linda Franz. She is hand-piecing this quilt, and, well, sewing this into a block could be a challenge!!!!

Now that's a small piece.

And this is someone else's shirt!!! What to do with threads when you don't have a spot? Put them on your shirt!!!! 

That's a lot of threads.

It's been a bit chilly here, and while I'm sitting in shorts at the moment, I might have to put pants on to go for a walk. 

But I'm fired up and ready to get some work done today!! Heck - if I get no more work done, I'll still be happy with what I've accomplished so far. Anything else is gravy!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Half-square triangles

OH MY --- there are so many stories of how people just "randomly" meet, and it's meant to be. The blog is going to be late, as I listened to another story of just such a situation. Life is so full of coincidences, or are they really coincidences? The next time a coincidence happens --- think about it --- that happened for a reason.  

I am not sure that I'll go for a walk this morning - at least not in the direction that we have been going - down the local road. The black flies are out, and, well, I had a little extra protein for breakfast, and I have more lumps and bumps on my head and a bite or two on my arm. I might walk to the grocery store to get some bananas!!! Hoping that along the road, there will be fewer bugs. Oh, silly me! 

I made great progress in the day and found several more bags of HSTs in my retreat bag. Good grief -- you would think that I would work on one bag at a time. Nope—I like working on multiple groupings. Can you tell me why?

I found this one with some black, white, red, and grey. I'm happy to report that all is sewn, trimmed, and ready to be put away when I get home. 

Working on the first group of HSTs

Here is proof that all is done! 

All is done in this grouping.

Then I found this bag of cream, pink, and orange. A good part of them are sewn and trimmed, and I'm using them as enders and leaders as I work on my quilt tops. 

The second bag of HSTs

Yes, I'm working in groups of four. And this is what I accomplished yesterday! 

What I accomplished yesterday from this grouping

There are three other bags of half-square triangles in the retreat bag. One bag contains units that just need to be trimmed - that was the one that I have been trying to find, and I was pretty sure I had tucked it in that bag. One is just the triangles waiting to be sewn together, and the third one I had forgotten about, and some of the units have been pressed and trimmed. Some need to be sewn. That will be for later. 

Then it was time to get back to work sewing the scrappy flannel squares together. And this is what happened. I was pulling one row off the wall to sew it together, and a whole section fell off. Thankfully, I had taken a picture, so it was easy to put them back! 

Ooopsy

And later in the day (much later), it was finally assembled. 

One quilt top done!

Yes -- it's pretty scrappy, and yes, there are four very bright spots. And you know what? I'm OK with that! 

Then I pulled out the next bags of scrappy blocks. I got those put on the wall last night and got part of it sewn. 

The next very scrappy quilt

This is a very scrappy quilt, but all of the squares have a wintery theme. I'm making good headway on getting it done. But so much for sewing three quilt tops together in one day! I should be able to sew this together today, and hopefully the last one as well? We'll just have to see. 

I also removed five more raindrops from the Cherrywood Challenge. The large ones are super easy to remove, the small ones with slightly narrower stitches are a bit more of a challenge! No Prince song this morning as I write this. 

Removing more raindrops

And then there was the puzzle. It's a challenge as well - the easy bits are done, and now we are onto the greenery. There are three of us working on the puzzle, and hopefully we'll get it done before we leave. 

Progress on the puzzle

Plus, two of us went to another quilt store in the area. And we spotted this barn quilt along the way. Oh shoot -- we saw one the day before as well, and I keep forgetting to post that picture! 

A barn quilt

How is this for organizing half-square triangles? These are not mine. Of course not! Mine are always in a jumble, while these are super neat and organized!!!!

Nicely organized HSTs

We have no plans to go out today, except to walk to the grocery store and hopefully avoid the bugs!!! My head is itchy!!!!

Will I get through everything that I brought? You know what? I'm doing pretty well, and I should be able to touch almost everything I brought.OKK -- that's a lie - there might be a couple of things, but it's good to have variety!!!

And that's it for today. I must get back to the sewing machine. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!


PS --- YES -- the arm that doesn't move while walking is the arm I use to hold Murphy's leash. I try to keep a tight grip on her, and it shows!!!!

WAIT WAIT WAIT ---- I have something else to share. My artist friend (we've never met but have stayed in touch via social media for years) has been shortlisted for a jigsaw puzzle for Villager Puzzles (amazing company by the way - Canadian owned by a woman with women artists). 

Anyway, if you wish to vote for the puzzle, here is the link. It appears to be only on Instagram. Cynthia Frenette is one of the three. Vote for the best (which is hers!) OK -- so I'm biased. 

The poor quilter or what happened on Day Two of the retreat

I know—I said NEVER, and will likely be saddled with fleece and flannel forever!!! But more progress in that department in a minute. 

As I surveyed what I'm working on at this retreat, the title for the blog came to mind. By poor, I mean someone with not much of a budget. I finished cutting all the fleece into usable bits. A job that most people would have just said no to and tossed the fleece. I get enjoyment from it. 

Then this happened. 

I had to hand-stitch the facing around the collar of this jacket that I made last year. I decided to stitch that facing all the way down from the front left hem to the front right hem, and that got done. This job has been sitting at home for a long time, and I was "forced" to do it here. 

The facing is hand-stitched in place.

All that remains to finish this jacket is the closure, and I've decided to use snaps. To put the snaps on it, I've decided to buy a table press, which is those large machines that make it easy to add snaps, rivets, etc. When I'm back, or even today, I should take care of that order. 

Then I was looking through the Country Registry to see if anything was exciting in it. There are always some good nuggets in it, and of course, it gives you access to all the local quilt shops. If you wanted to do an "old-fashioned" road trip in your province, this would be a great thing to get your hands on. 

Anyway, I spotted this comic, and it sounds appropriate. I have a pair of shorts to fix for DH, and sadly, they've been sitting on the table for a while. I left them at home, but I'd better dig them out as soon as I get home. On one of my walks with the girls, I figured out how to fix them!

Does this sound familiar?

The elbow on DH's favorite dress shirt wore through, and he asked me to repair it. Well, I can, but you won't ever wear this in person. He could wear it on Zoom. Then, before I could actually investigate the repair job, he asked that I turn it into a short-sleeved shirt. So I ripped the cuffs off yesterday. 

Removing the cuffs from a dress shirt

That was quite the job because all the topstitching was tiny, but all I needed was one loose stitch, and I was away to the races. I am going to put a cuff on the sleeve, and I'll use the dark fabric on the inside of the cuffs to make that happen. So I had to harvest those dark blue pieces. 

There are multiple buttonholes in this shirt because it is designed for cufflinks, not buttons. 

The shirt cuffs are removed.

Then my next job was to remove a few more raindrops from the Prince-themed Cherrywood Challenge. By the way, the next theme will be announced on June 10th. I will see what it is, but then I'll say, "That's nice," and let it go. I will not buy it again -- it's just become too expensive. But I like a good challenge, so I'm going to follow my poor quilter rules and make a challenge, but likely something from scraps? 

My Prince-themed Cherrywood Challenge

It's a nasty job, but doable. I have a new plan for the raindrops, and I'm excited to see the new design. It's a bit tedious, so I've decided to remove at least five raindrops a day, and within a week or so, I should be done and ready to redo them. OK -- maybe two weeks! The umbrella and the heart will stay in place. Each raindrop is satin-stitched and then fused to the background, but as you can see in the bottom-right corner, I've removed all the fused pieces without damaging the background or the raindrops. They can be reused!

What has been removed so far!

I know -- many of you would let that one die in a corner, but I absolutely love rescuing things. WAIT—I do NOT need to rescue your stuff. As you can see, I have plenty of my own things to rescue. But thanks for the offer. 

So these seven raindrops were removed before I shut that project down last night. 

Seven more raindrops are removed.

And this is what it looks like this morning. When you have a nasty or boring job, make sure to do it with a good movie, good company, or break it up into bits so you don't get fed up and never touch it again! OH MY GOD --- can you believe what song is currently playing on the radio? Purple Rain -- I kid you not!!!!! What a coincidence, and if I were a spiritual person, I'd say that a sign from up above to keep on trucking with this project!!! What a strange coincidence!!!!

More raindrops are gone.

Then I decided to work on assembling some quilt tops today. I took the bins of fleece to the car to free up some room, and I took an evaluation of what remains in my five bags, one of which is my knitting. I found not one, not two, but THREE bags of squares that are ready to assemble into quilt tops. That should be a no-brainer task for today. 

Before going to bed, I laid out the squares on the design wall. Yep -- I could spend hours rearranging the squares, but this arrangement looks good to me. 

My scrap quilt

These are bits of flannel scraps that I pieced into 6 1/2" blocks at another retreat. They are easy to sew together at a retreat, so they were placed in the retreat project bag. This morning I sewed the first two rows together and will work on the rest after my walk, and I hope to have it done by lunchtime. Then the next one (also flannel scraps) will be put on the wall. 

It seems there are a few jigsaw puzzlers amongst us, and I broke out the puzzle I brought. We set up a 7th table in the sewing room, and as people pass by, they drop in a piece or two. See how I'm sharing!!!! 

Project on the jigsaw puzzle

Remember the wrap we talked about yesterday? One of the ladies had to go to the dollar store, and she found this in four colors. 

Wrap in four colors

The only thing we thought of after she bought the colored ones was whether the color would migrate to the thread. So now you are warned, as are we!!! We don't know—we are just asking the question. 

We did take a trip out in the morning, and I needed some cash. Can you imagine where this ATM is located?

The conveniently located ATM

That would be in a QUILT STORE. Namely, Creekbank Sewing, which is located 30 minutes away from the retreat house. 

Getting some cash

This quilt shop (A Bernina dealer) is owned and operated by a Mennonite family, and several years ago, they moved the store from a trailer on their farm (actually, I think it was two trailers) to a location just off the main road. It was a wise choice as it was much easier to get to and has much more visibility. 

Well, the owners of this shop are SMART. There is no question about it -- they are smart. The staff are well-trained to upsell, have full product knowledge, know each sample, and are very attentive! Very attentive. I remember once, when we visited the previous location, all of us walked out of the store coveting a Bernina sewing machine. YES --- even me! It was hilarious!"

I can just imagine them getting intensive in-store training on how to do each of the things I mentioned above. If a customer says, "Oh, that won't work for me," I swear they have been trained to show a different side of that class or product. Whoever trains these ladies should be out there teaching other people to sell. They are masters!!!

We all know that if you pay by credit card, the fees the vendor incurs are ridiculous. And many small shops ask that you pay in cash or by debit. They do not have access to debit at this store, BUT they have provided a no-fee ATM, so you can more easily get the cash you need. Seriously??? 

If we can prevent giving any money to the big credit card companies, why not? It sure helps the little guy, and I think some places will charge that fee back to the purchaser. Anyway, I got cash from the machine. As I handed the cash to the lady, I said, "You will probably just put this money back into the machine for the next person!"

They have a wide variety of classes at the store, and there is always something going on. The number of owner classes they hold is obscene. I'm sure there are issues in some areas, but let's say that this store appears to be a well-oiled machine. 

I'll share what I bought at a later date! It's for one of my classes, and I'm not quite ready to share yet. I have one more decision to make, and then I need to figure out dates. I will give you this hint—there is more than one class!!! I miss teaching, and since I'm not teaching much elsewhere, I have total freedom. 

And then last night, I got some emails requesting dates on my calendar for SVP events!!! I must have been so disturbed that I had a dream that I was about to teach a class on Husqvarna Viking Designer Epic 3, and none of the machines had been unboxed, and we were about to start. Now that's a nightmare in my world!!!!

I went for a walk in the morning, and it was glorious. Slow and steady. I stopped to admire two hawks or vultures as they soared on a draft. Amazing to watch. Two of the other retreaters were already out, and we crossed paths at one point. They commented that when I walk, my right arm doesn't move, but my left arm does. NO WAY. But then I paid attention to it as we all continued in our separate ways, and OH MY --- they were right. My right arm does not move when I walk. Holy !!!!! Who knew? So I tried to be conscious about it, and when I stopped thinking about moving my arm, it stopped moving!

I walked to the end of the driveway last night, and somewhere along the line, I got bitten by a bug, and the lump at the back of my neck is gigantic. My body doesn't like bug bites, and I seem to get lumps from them. Dratted bugs!!!!

Hilarious!!!!

I had one of those nights. I tried sleeping in bed, but I got restless legs before I could fall asleep, and I was done. I slept on the couch and surfed the internet for hours before I dozed off. I think a nap is in order later today. Thankfully, that doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's darn right annoying. 

Well, on that happy note, I'm out of here. I have three quilt tops to assemble today and at least five raindrops to remove!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Day One at Retreat at the Farm

In case anyone thought I was too harsh yesterday about my comments about the planet, I want to clarify that slightly. Yes, people visit these places to learn about them, and then they can be protected, but there are two types of people. OK -- so I'm generalizing there -- there are many types of people, but to keep this train of thought somewhat simple. There are two types of tourists -- those who just want to conquer the place/event so they can check that item off their to-do list. Get to the end as quick as possible, get to the top as quick as possible, be the oldest, the youngest, the one with the most times doing the attraction. These people are there just for the "likes," and most couldn't tell you anything about the place when they are done. 

Then some will respect and admire the work, the trip, the spiritual reason, or whatever, for that place. There is so much history in the world, and many people are totally ignoring that. 

I don't have time to fully format my thoughts on this, but it's well known that, whether you are a careful tourist or not, the mere act of visiting damages those areas! Erosion (by the very walking of your feet) and hands, etc. At least if we are going to visit, we should be respectful, and I know many are! But just as many are not! The amount of toilet paper left on the Camino is disgusting. 

Everyone talks about how exciting it is to go on a safari. We did two different safaris in Africa, and thankfully, they were short - the first one was one day, the second was only a couple of hours. I felt awful as the jeep roared around the habitat of these wild animals, trying to find them. There were many other jeeps. It was intrusive, and what a waste of fuel and pollution to this beautiful environment. 

I would NOT do a safari in an animal reserve again! I shouldn't say never, but it was hard, even for me, to keep up the enthusiasm of aimlessly driving around so I could get a picture of a lion! Seriously? 

I thoroughly enjoyed the balloon ride over the park. It was still disruptive to the animals, but not nearly as much. 

Thanks so much for the comments, because 1000% this is "progress," but all progress has done is remove some beautiful countryside around the world. It's very sad and disruptive. So I'm not against progress because we need it, but our politicians and corporations all over the world are not in tune with our environment - they just think of money! 

As for being a tourist in your own country? I'm right in there! Some people have never been outside their province (our provinces are huge), but still. They have never been to the West or East Coast. Yet they have zero qualms about hopping in the car and heading south, or hopping on a plane. What about our beautiful country? I can happily report that I've been to all provinces and territories, EXCEPT for Nunavut. I need to get there. And there are many places where I would love to go back, and of course, many places that I haven't explored yet. 

As I drove up yesterday, I was thinking about what to do for the remainder of the summer. Instead of going anywhere big, I think I'll stay in my home province and take day or multi-day trips within it! I haven't explored many areas of Ontario, and there is loads to do. I could stay home, but seriously—it's fun to get out and just explore. I wonder how DH will cope. And I need to get Murphy to the lake! 

Enough about that! Let's talk about the retreat. 

My plan was to leave my house at 8:45, and I was right on the money. It is so easy to keep to a schedule when you travel alone. The girls were not happy because there were fewer opportunities to sniff, but I had a plan! The girls each got a fancy cookie for being good girls on their walks. 

Leaving right on time

I didn't take a picture of the car once it was packed, but it took a few trips to get everything from the car to the house! And there were still four bags of books in the car!!! 

What I brought to the retreat

Wait -- there's more. I brought a cutting mat, a lightbox for someone to use, and a box of fleece scraps. Don't worry -- I did NOT overpack. Wait, and you'll see what I mean. 

More stuff that I brought

Then I set up the sewing room for the six of us and got myself ready to cut. I raised the table so I could cut. The cutting table at this retreat is in a different room, and it's hard to chat when you are not in the same room, so I came prepared. 

My cutting table

I had brought two lidded tubs of fleece scraps. One of them contained squares of fleece that had been cut to 6 1/2". The second tub was filled with odds and ends of fleece scraps that had accumulated over the years. One of the pieces of fleece was from a pea pod costume I made for M when she was two!! There was a round laundry basket and a small open tub (on the table) filled with scraps. Good grief!!! I was determined to deal with this once and for all. 

Prepping to cut fleece scraps

I emptied the laundry basket onto the table and then started sorting. I cut 6 1/2" squares where I could. Then I cut pieces that were 6 1/2" wide, but not long enough to make a square. Those pieces will be joined and then cut to size. That's the bits on the right, and the bits on the left are smaller squares that I'll join to make very scrappy squares. Don't worry -- it's my time, and it makes me happy to do this, so I don't mind one bit. 

The pieces that will be joined to become squares

Some larger pieces will be perfect for sewing together to make quilt backings. Yeah --- more backings! I probably have enough to make two backings. 

Larger pieces to make backings

OH MY _- look at the cutting mat. I knew this was going to happen, so that's why I brought my own. I didn't bring my mat cleaner, but I don't plan on cutting anything else on it, so I'll take it home like this and then clean it. 

A wee bit of a mess on the cutting mat

There's the box of cut squares. My plan was to sew them together and make some fleece blankets (quilts). Then I thought I would donate them to a group that makes fidget quilts for a texture block. Once I see how many I have, I might do a bit of both. 

The cut squares

A couple more pieces got added to the yardage bucket this morning. 

The larger pieces

Here's the bucket of scraps, which I will probably stuff a couple of pet mats with. Nothing goes to waste! Just a reminder that texture waste is one of the biggest fillers in the landfills! Fast fashion and all!!

Very small scraps of fleece

And this is the basket with the bits that need to be sewn together! Yikes!!!! But I would rather focus on this and get it out of my house. Those bins have been taking up a ton of space, and I was tired of moving them. Once I'm finished cutting this morning, I will put this back in the car, and then I can work on other stuff. This basket can come back to the next retreat, or I'll schedule a couple of "at-home" retreat days and work on it. 

The bits to make blogs

This is all that remains to be cut once I finish writing the blog!!! Yep—I'm pretty excited about that, and then I can move FOUR bins back to the car. Then I'll set up the sewing machine, lower the table to the regular height, and pick something to sew, although I have some hand sewing and knitting with me as well. Since there are very experienced knitters in this group, I had better use my time wisely, as I have a small issue, and I bet one of them can help me. 

All that remains to be cut.

Once this fleece and the flannel are used up, I vow never to buy either material again!!! That is my goal - use up the flannel and use up the fleece. I brought a flannel quilt (squares) with me to sew together. It's one of MY community project quilts. The blocks are made from cut-offs left over after trimming quilts. 

I love the sewing room at this retreat house because three sides of the room are windows, and the sun pours in. It's so bright, you don't need to turn on the lights until later in the day. While there are blinds on the windows, the top part isn't covered, so at some point in the day, it's a challenge for one of the sewing spots because of the sun. 

However, the person who picked that spot happened to have sunglasses AND a hat. It worked perfectly, so she was able to keep sewing. But she looked so much like those cowboys back in the day with their heads bowed. She wasn't sleeping -- she was sewing!!! 

Who is that masked sewist?

Some people absolutely LOVE those clips! This person is making napkins and has everything clipped and ready to sew!!!!

That's a lot of clips.

And what a clever idea to wrap spools of thread in!!! That is an elastic bandage. NO -- it's not an elastic bandage, but one of those with a sticky surface so it sticks to itself. What a brilliant idea for taming threads!!!!!

WAIT -- I just Googled it and found it. It's just called a wrap (made by 3M - at least the brand I spotted) and is used to secure splints, ice packs, dressings, etc. Did you know that you can buy a 1" by 5-yard roll for $3.25? That's way cheaper than buying a roll of the clear plastic tape made for quilters. WOW!!!!! 

I went for a short walk to the end of the driveway, but I still got loads of steps with all the loading and unloading of the car. 

WAIT -- for anyone who has a Fitbit and uses the app, it changed to Google Health last night!!! Oh dear—the information looks different, but it's the same information. I'll have to investigate that later today. 

Well, let's see what today brings, and it's time to finish cutting and get to work on something else!!!!! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!