Monday rant

While we did have a great time at the retreat, there were just a few issues that I needed to rant about. That's what these Monday sessions are all about. I had my rant and then I was fine - it was out of my system! Time to move on!

Just in case you think I was ranting about people, NOPE - I was mostly ranting about gadgets. How much money and time is spent on gadgets and less than informative YouTube videos? I get it that everyone wants a piece of the quilting industry pie, but we need to make sure that what we put out there is correct information. My bottom line is that everyone should learn to do things the traditional way - then there's no need to buy all the gadgets that are on the market. Everyone is looking for a quick fix and that doesn't exist.

Some of the instructional videos/tutorials are just plain silly. Have you heard of the one of pressing blocks by putting them under a large book? Seriously??? Learn to press seams properly with an IRON and they'll be flat every time. Or how about GLUEING fabric together instead of pinning? Why would you waste so much time when learning to hold the fabric properly is so much faster and if you feel the need to put in a pin or two, that's OK, but glue??? For piecing?

Let's have a rant together. Send me a picture of the most useless gadget or technique that you bought and why. I won't share your name on the blog - no need to admit that we paid good money for something useless. Once I get a few things, I'll put them together in a post. Don't worry - I've purchased my share of useless gadgets or ones that I thought I'd get more use out of.

I finished stitching the applique in place on the border I've been working on for a bit. Oh, shoot - forgot to take a picture. And I prepped some applique for next week and even managed to get a few hexagons paper pieces (English Paper Piecing). I left a bit early as I had lots to do at home.

Helen Anne finished another block in her Christmas applique quilt.

The V block

Here's the pattern - it's called Christmas A to Z by someone in Oakville. I can't read her name. There's a LOT of work in this quilt, but it's super cute and she's almost completed all the applique. I think there's some embroidery to do. That's the beauty of Monday sewing - a little bit every week and projects get finished.

Pattern Cover for Christmas A to Z

I'm prepping for my big trip to Timmins and Cochrane. I leave later today - thank goodness the storm happened yesterday or I'm not sure I'd be heading out. I got quite a bit of work done and I did get the cutting table pretty much tidied up.

I know why I didn't take pictures - I was so busy listening to my audiobook that I didn't think of pictures. Well, I'll get you those pictures later.

As I was tidying up the cutting table and some of the stuff off the floor, I took pictures of the zippered pouches that I made at the retreat. Here's one of them. This fabric was scooped from the Cotton + Steel booth at Quiltcon several years ago. They had a huge box with scraps and offcuts that we were allowed to take. I took these two pieces and made the zippered pouch. Better late than never.

Zippered pouch

These next two were made with the scraps from a quilt I made several years ago. I sewed the scraps together to get the center panel. Then I added the coordinating fabric around the panels. They've been prepped for quite a while and now they are done!

Two more zippered pouches

I have one more like this to make, but I need to find something before I finish it. I hunted for the Perle cotton that I used for the decorative stitching yesterday but do you think I could find it. Nope - it's somewhere in Studio U, but it's not on the table where it's supposed to be. Now, where could that darn stuff be hiding????

You see, one side of the zippered pouch has the decorative stitching and the other side does not. It would silly with just one side stitched.

There's a craft sale at The Hobby Horse and I might just put those zippered pouches in the sale, along with the rest of my laundry bags. I mean - I do NOT need 12 laundry bags. Two should be sufficient. Actually, I'll keep one of each color. So if you're looking for quilty items and don't have time to make them, the craft sale will be a good place to look for those gifts.

Time to get back to the long arm for the quilt of the day. I got this one completed. It just needs to be trimmed, but no rush.

Customer quilt - DONE

I see I'm going to have to do some shoveling this morning, but it's not that bad.

So far, my flight is on-time and let's hope it stays that way as I have a bit of a drive once I arrive later tonight. In the meantime, I'll be spending my day getting some more samples ready and I'm also prepping blog posts for QUILTsocial. Wait until you see what I have to show you!!!

Speaking of QUILTsocial, did you read Paul's blog post about sticky stuff yesterday??  Well, there's another day of sticky stuff today. Check it out. I've heard really, really good reviews about the Grippy product that he talks about today.

On that note, I'm out of here as I do some prep work today.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!