Saturday, October 17, 2020

Same old, same old

 There's no difference in the internet situation. So I'll be calling again today. I wasn't on any Zoom calls yesterday, but I was on my computer and working away, and all of a sudden - POOF! No internet. We only know when it goes down if we're on the internet or DH is watching TV, so it probably happened more often than we actually noticed. It's just not the internet, but the TV as well and when the TV goes down, well, that's not a good thing in our house. Someone is already a little testy about the situation! And I won't elaborate on that. 


I LOVE Kat's comment about the technology woes. "Computer glitches always happen to me at this time of the year. Don't know if you have any sort of belief in horoscopes; I say horror scopes, but one day I learned that whenever Mars is in retrograde, computer glitches happen. So whenever there are problems, I check, and sure enough, retrograde. Do do do do."

I checked with M, who is extremely knowledgeable about astrology, and YES, there was a retrograde with Mercury. I have to confess that I don't know what that means, but something is not aligned right! Which may explain why the internet worked perfectly the week before. So when is this retrograde over? I need it to be over permanently!

Lynn and I had a good sewing day. We chatted about everything and everyone, solved the world's problems and well, it was a good day! However, it never fails that on the sew days, that it's like grand central station around here! People picking stuff up and dropping stuff off, or the phone going off or e-mails that NEED to be addressed. It never fails!!


This is the latest bag of stuff that got dropped off. Thanks to Rose and her husband for that. There are some quilts and placemats that Rose bound and a quilt top that she assembled. Yeah!!! Thanks, Rose!


A bag of finished quilts and placemats


Oh, Rose took a drive to the two barns for the Dutchman's Puzzle quilt. Shoot - I should have asked her to send me a picture of the REAL barn! So I can at least say that I saw it. 

And this is the stack of stuff that I've received from Diane since the pandemic started! Yikes!! I need to sort through all that - pull out the quilt tops and make backings and move them to the "to be quilted" pile. But that's for another day and no rush at the moment. I'm going to slow her down soon when I give her smaller pieces to sew into scrap quilts!


The stack of quilts sewn by Diane


Thanks so much to Diane and Rose for helping me deal with the piles of stuff in that room. It seems that we've made so many tops but don't appear to have decreased the piles of fabric. OK - that's a lie; I do see a dent, but not a big one! 


Speaking of moving things to the "to be quilted" pile, I got the top for my Celebration quilt done yesterday!! I'm so happy to get this done. The binding and the backing are made as well. I found a bolt of fabric that worked perfectly for the backing, and there was JUST enough. I couldn't have planned that any better. The only thing that remains is to write up a pattern for the last block, which I changed from the original pattern, and figure out some ideas for quilting to pass along to the group. One of the five ongoing projects this year is very close to being done. This has never happened before. 

OH -- of course, you'll get to see the top, but ONLY after the class has seen the top!



The binding and backing and the quilt top for Celebration

Now that I look at the fabrics I chose for the quilt top, you know that one with the starbursts looks like fireworks! Perfect for a Celebration quilt. 

That meant that I could at last move those portable design boards away from the permanent one. Now I have access to Aviatrix Medallion, so I can finish that quilt top as well. It just needs the final border put on, and the binding and the backing made. Could I finish another project today?? 


The portable design wall




Don't forget there's a virtual retreat today, but much later than usual because of my schedule today. Here are the Zoom links for the weekend. Ensure you get the right one as I won't be on the Saturday link when it's Sunday!

Saturday, October 17th, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83902261920?pwd=STUyMkhHR3Y2OVpYMm0yWU5VNlh3QT09 Meeting ID: 839 0226 1920 Passcode: 560511



Sunday, October 18th, 9:00 AM  - 8:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85430654164?pwd=ZUo1NXZlM3I1L2pQdHBOb2tmeVBFUT09 Meeting ID: 854 3065 4164 Passcode: 820143



In preparation for some quality sewing time, I've amassed this stuff on the work table. Wouldn't it be nice if ALL of this could be finished? A lot of it is very close to being finished, and I'd love to cross a few more things off the list.

Work to be completed this weekend, hopefully

The cutting table is looking pretty good. I have a couple of blocks to cut out, and then they will get moved to the work table.

The cutting table with two blocks to cut


Lynn got me excited about our upcoming real retreat in a couple of weeks. I haven't packed a thing, which is very unusual for me. But I got to thinking about what I'd like to take. So I dug out my NEW retreat basket. Much prettier than a laundry basket. There are now TWO projects in the basket. One is a string quilt, and one is a small quilt that just has to be assembled. That's probably 2 and a half days of work right there! I'm going to be careful how I pack - well, how much I pack!!


My empty retreat basket


And all through the year, I was diligent about keeping the ongoing projects in one area. At one point, they got too large to all fit in the laundry basket, so they sat on the floor right beside it, but I knew where everything was, and that was HUGE. It pays to be organized. I know if someone looked at Studio B right now, they would faint at the amount of stuff piled everywhere. But I know where everything is, and that's all that counts. I do hope tomorrow during the retreat to putter around and clean up some of the mess. 

We usually go out for dinner on Friday night, but the restaurants near me are temporarily closed. But then I got to thinking that we are on the edge of the region where they are closed. We shop in the other region so why can't we eat in the other region. It's literally ten minutes more driving. So we went out, and I didn't feel guilty in the least. How many people are getting COVID in a restaurant? And we're trying to keep the economy going. My bubble is so small, that well - it's small. We wore our masks; we were socially distanced from everyone. I did NOT walk home from the restaurant as I normally would when we dine out close to home. 

And I seemed to spend a good part of the evening getting prepped for our first class of Long Time Gone. Yep - it's today!! I got the homework sewn to show the group. I've got some great photos to share with them, the presentations are ready to go. The link is sent. The Facebook group is set up, and all the invitations and links are sent! There are almost 50 people in the group! Yikes!! How did that happen?? I swear that even if you don't make the quilt right now, this is the BEST deal going. 


The pattern for the Long Time Gone quilt



I'm pretty thorough in the written assignments I send out, and that alone is worth the cost of the class pass required to sign up. So if ever you wanted to make Long Time Gone but weren't sure - well, you have until the end of this weekend to sign up. You need to purchase the Class Pass from Thimbles and Things and then send me an e-mail. Do you really want to miss this opportunity? Remember, it's all on Zoom, so you can be anywhere!  

On that note, I'm out of here. It's a busy day and lots of exciting things happening. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!


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