Home again!

WOW --- what an amazing two days I had at Stitch by Stitch in Kingston! Thanks to Heather, Natalie, and all the other staff, for hosting me, and thanks to all the people who attended. To those who didn't get a chance to attend, talk to Heather so we can reschedule! EVERYONE learned a TON of stuff about accessories for their embroidery/sewing/sergers, garment making, and machine embroidery. Better yet, they had questions, and we went down a few rabbit holes, but everyone learned some NEW things about their machines!

I love how Heather advertises events on her store window!

That's me!!

I'll be in Regina to chat about sergers and quilting this coming week at Peachtree, so check out their calendar. I'll be in Trenton (Groovy Threads) and Winnipeg (Carellen) in June, s well as Quilt Canada in Halifax, so if you're in one of those towns (I'll post dates and topis another day), be sure to come to see me. But call those stores and get on the guest list -- you will NOT want to miss these events. 

Not to brag, but I got rave reviews about the events, and you don't want to miss them! Even if you've been around for a while, there's always something to learn. I constantly learn from my students and store owners, so there's never a dull moment! 

And a shout out to the technicians, who did a fantastic job with my machines. I booked an appointment months ago, and they did everything while I was there! Two machines and two embroidery arms. Now if that isn't the BEST machine service in the world -- I don't know. I forgot to get the pictures of the inside of my machine -- I'll do that today. 

We had some geeky discussions about sewing machines and repairs and such. I'm totally fascinated by the entire thing, and if I didn't have to be presenting, I might have been looking over their shoulders to see what they were doing! 

Oh yes -- here's my hotel room from the night before. As I said -- it was HUGE. I bet all those rooms had cots, which is why they were so noisy. It was a ringette tournament, and when I left the room in the morning, the halls were swarming with young girls in fleece pants and Crocs! 

My gigantic room

I was fortunate to see this quilt that Jackie (the long warmer) took off the long arm. And this picture does NOT do justice to the quilt. I don't know the entire story, but it was made by the Grandmothers for Grandmothers group, and it passed from hand to hand as more people added elements to the quilts. It will be bound and displayed at the Stephen Lewis Foundation once the binding is on. My apologies if I got that information incorrect, and I'm not sure which address. I'll try to find out more information. 

A quilt made by the Grandmothers for Grandmothers organization

Some blocks are embellished with beads, 3-D beaded items, embroidery, and small little scenes. It's just gorgeous!!

During the day, I packed what I could in the car, so there would be minimal packing at the end of the day. By 5:30 PM, I was on my way. I LOVE doing what I do, but I was tired of talking. WHAT? Can that even happen? Yep! 

So I settled for silence in the car. I didn't have enough gas to get home, so I stopped at the service station about 1/3 of the way. I noticed that the NEXT rest stop did NOT have gas. How is that possible? And it won't be back up and running until July? What the heck? As I passed that rest stop, the ENTIRE gas station area was ripped up with major construction. Yep -- I can see why there is NO GAS there. 

Which wouldn't have been a problem, except that the payment system at the pumps was down at the station I was at. WHAT???? I still had gas for 200 KM, but that wasn't enough. I could have stopped at some station in a small town, but that takes time! I went and got something to eat and then went back to try the gas again. 

We could get gas at the pumps but had to go inside to pay. I'm OK with that. Some people were paying with cash -- I NEVER carry cash! Nothing -- not even a dime! 

I had no idea what the drive home would be like as it was Friday night of the long weekend. However, the roads were clear, and I made excellent time. Actually, I zipped across the city faster than I did on the highway. But it's amazing how bad people drive. Some of them are in the passing lane going at 105 Kmh. I'm sorry -- but you need to get out of the way. And if you are intentionally passing a transport, then speed up, pass, and move over. 

Then you have the tailgaters who expect you to move over so they can replace you behind the car in front of you. What's with those guys? They are the WORST of the lot. 

I ALWAYS use my cruise control on the car, and I have Adaptive Cruise Control, which keeps my car a certain distance from the car in front of me. I think I'm the ONLY person who uses that. I want to say the distance is 150 feet, but I'm guessing at that. 

The number of people who scoot to my right and zip in front of me to get in that 150-foot gap is incredible!!! I'm maintaining the speed of the traffic flow, but they have to go FASTER, only to be slowed down by the car in front of me. Sigh.......................

The lane safety thing, which steers my car back into the lane when I veer, is fantastic, and while it's NOT a self-driving car, we're not far away from that technology. I would trust the technology, but I wouldn't trust the idiots who would override the system in their cars!

Once I got home, I unpacked the car, and I'll deal with that later today. 

The car is unpacked

I can't even leave it because I need to pack for the next trip and I'm leaving on Monday! 

Plus, I have FIVE presentations this weekend. NONE of the slides were done last night, and I was too tired to even care. I'm happy to report that two of them are done. One more needs to be put together for today, and then later today, I'll get the other two done. 

I have some quilting, paperwork, writing, and other stuff, so today and tomorrow will be stupid busy! Then a couple more days, and I get a vacation break! Yeah!

On that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!