A mystery for you to solve

That was a CRAZY weekend! One class on Friday, THREE on Saturday, plus the Virtual Retreat, one more class on Sunday, and then Virtual Retreat all day Sunday. That's about 20 hours of Zoom in one weekend! Let's say that I'm getting my money's worth from my annual fee. And I saw a lot of familiar faces throughout the entire weekend!

I need to look at several other things to which I have a subscription and see if I'm getting my money from those. 

I think we all agree that the Zoom thing is here to stay. We had Nina from Germany join us yesterday and our friends from the US and across Canada. What a fun way to meet new friends and keep in touch with them! And I troubleshot an embroidery issue that Ronda had. I'm sure what we said went right over the heads of the others. I'm surprised that she could verbalize the issue so that I could visualize it in my head, and then I was able to explain an answer to her so she could solve the problem. But we did it!!! Teamwork!

I'll be sharing some of the pictures from the weekend over this coming week. I have a LOT of follow up to do after our Monday sewing class today. Posting photos, doing writeups -- ACK!!

I got an invitation to a meeting this coming weekend. It's been held on Zoom for the last couple of years -- this year, the invitation is in person. Do I really want to go??? The answer is, "I want to attend, but not really in person -- I don't want to drive there!"

I need to finish cleaning up Studio B as well. This is how it looked after I finished prepping for the last class -- mere minutes before it started!

So much for a neat sewing area. 

A very messy sewing area

Boxes of pattern strewn on the floor -- but I found what I was looking for. 

Boxes of patterns

The ironing board was heaped with samples. But that all got put away before I started to sew yesterday. 

Samples on the ironing board

And more stuff on the cutting table. The one half got cleared off, but the other half still has things on it! 

The cutting table got hit as well

I did bring out several small projects that I could quickly finish off, but then I decided to work on this. 

These are the blocks from my Farmer's Wife Quilt. There are 111 of them, and I randomly threw them on the wall. Hmm -- the values are pretty jumbly. 

Blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt

So I rearranged them, so the lighter values were in the center and the darker ones on the outside. It's not perfect but looks much better than the original version. 

Blocks have been rearranged

Here's the label I made a while back. Note that I taught this as a class in 2012. I finished the blocks in 2018, and my plan was to finish the quilt in 2019 -- look, I even put that on the label. I want to make a different label since it definitely didn't get completed in 2019. 

The label for the quilt

This project is one of my UFOs for this month. And I was worried that I bit off more than I could actually do, but I think it's doable now. I had stitched the name of each block onto the sashing, and I had to find the appropriate sashing for each block. It would have been so much faster to just add a sashing piece, but I like to make things more complex! 

I had to alphabetize the sashing pieces to make that job more manageable. 

Sashing pieces sorted alphabetically

And here's what it looks like when the blocks are together. It's very subtle, but that's what I wanted. 

The name of each block on the sashing

I was making good progress, and it's looking great. 

Starting to sew the sashing on

I managed to get almost HALF of the sashing done in the one direction. 

My progress for the day

It's hard to see in that picture, but the bottom seven diagonal rows are each in one piece. There are only eight more diagonal rows to do. Then, I have to make the sashing and cornerstones for the long sashing rows. Then borders, backing, and binding! I CAN do this. 

Almost half the blocks are sewn in diagonal rows

This UFO had got placed into Pandora's Closet. So I have actually removed ONE box from the closet, and it will NOT go back there! There's a lot of stuff in that box, and I'll be happy to get it all organized and put away once the quilt is finished. 

What's still in the project box

I didn't get any half-square triangles trimmed, but I found these in the box to sew. Like seriously?? How small are these? 

Scraps to make half-square triangles? 

They now reside in the scrap box. I mean -- there's a limit! 

The scraps are now in the scrap box

Two photos of the neighborhood. The speed cameras in the school zone are now WORKING. The original signs stating the cameras were coming went up in July, and they only recently turned them on. We work slowly in this city -- slow and steady! 

Speed cameras are now in use!

30 KM per hour is SLOW, and I imagine loads of tickets will be issued before people realize what this is all about. 

And can you believe that the house with the missing shingles is still missing the shingles??? We're not talking one or two -- we're talking quite a significant area on that roof. I can only imagine the mold and water damage in the house. I've told them -- I did my job. 

Shingles still missing from the roof

We had a water issue in the garage, and it turned out that when the new drainpipes went in, they put nails through the shingles. Once those nails were gone, I think our problem has been solved! Imagine a whole area like that with no shingles. 

OK -- so does anyone know what this device is? Carol found it at a thrift shop, and after much discussion last night, we discovered what it was -- but I want to know if any of you know. If you want a hint - it's an item from the kitchen. 

A mystery object

Well, it's going to be another super busy day. Lots of sewing this morning and then computer work all afternoon! 

So do you remember that video clip I posted about the weather a while back? Here's the link again. I swear this is what really happens. I keep looking at the seven-day forecast, and while it's freezing cold this morning - it is forecast to get warmer. YES -- PLUS ONE. That slight glimmer of hope keeps me going! And then it never comes! Watch the video if you haven't -- it's pretty funny. And it's minus TEN right now and feels like minus 18. Seriously? Aren't we done with winter yet? 

I'm off to spin class -- the last time I have to show proof of vaccine, so things are opening up and well -- the future is looking brighter. Not only will it get warmer, but the amount of daylight per day is getting longer, and it feels fantastic to look out the window at 6 PM, and it's still light outside! We will make it through this winter!!!

OK -- I'm off. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!