Learn to use your time wisely!

What can I say -- but yesterday was an AMAZING day!! Yep -- I'm better, and I've got a plan, and I'm motivated, and well, what more could I ask for? 

I know - sleep. Seriously -- can you tell me why one is wide awake at 1:30 (a bit too early to get up, even for me!) and then can't go back to sleep for hours? But is it really worth getting up to do something? Then, when you finally wake up, you're exhausted? Thankfully, that doesn't happen often! And the dreams I had -- good grief -- lots of old stuff stirring around in my head, and I had quite a chuckle when I woke up!

But I've got a plan! So, I started the Many Blocks club last year. I have several of these block quilts that I want to finish, but I chose the 365-Challenge quilt. I believe it first ran in 2016, and I know several people who finished theirs. When I started, I made it to February 19 or something like that, and it got abandoned. I resurrected it, and throughout this year, I made it to March 10, which is NOT an impressive record. 

I "waste" a lot of time when I'm on Zoom during the Virtual Retreat or on Monday as I just can't sew, so I mostly sit and chat. But I'm determined to change that, and I found that I can easily cut fabric and visit, so that's what I did. I made good progress during the Virtual Retreat. This is so exciting -- I no longer feel guilty about hosting those events since I have found a great way to use my time wisely!

This is what my cutting table looked like. The fabrics were originally in a shoe box, but that is too small to rifle through, so I got a bigger container, which works like a charm. As usual, there is NO room on the cutting table for the fabric container, so it's on a stool beside me. Yep -- worked up such a storm that my sweatshirt is abandoned on the floor. 

My cutting area

I continued yesterday at the Monday sewing and got more blocks cut. I got to March 28 by the end of Monday sewing. 

Still cutting at Monday sewing

Then, when I was watching another episode of The Great Canadian Baking Show, I managed to get more cut. I do not have an electrical plug in that area, and I desperately need one as I have no place to plug in my laptop, and it died completely on me during the Virtual Retreat. 

The cutting station is a mess

Here's the basket of greens that I'm working with. It's mostly small pieces, but when the finished blocks are 3", it's easy to find pieces. I do not care if the greens within one block match. This quilt is so busy -- you will see GREEN, not worry if they match what's next to each other. It's time to get it done, not drive myself crazy with matching. I have way more fabric, and occasionally, I pop into the stash to get another small piece to add to this mix. 

My basket of green scraps

When I was done, the blocks from March 11 to March 31 were cut, bagged, labeled, and ready to sew!!!

The fruits of my cutting labor

OK -- I impressed myself. Yes - I realize they now have to be sewn together, but I hope to manage that on my own. 

So, on all future Monday sewing and Virtual Retreats, I had better be cutting more of those blocks, and that means -- I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and cutting at least ONE entire month during those events. I could probably cut two months! OH --- this is amazing!!!

I will no longer be wasting that time, and I'll be getting ahead on one of my projects. I'm pretty excited!

As I was sitting at the sewing table, I noticed some flickering, and it appeared one more light going to go soon. I really need to get an electrician in as I need a plug installed and a new light over the cutting table - the ballast died several years ago, and I'm sure there are a few other things that we need. Hopefully, the pandemic rush for electricians has died down by now. 

A light bulb ready to die

After I finished cutting March, I grabbed the half-square triangles from the leftovers of The Barn Star Sampler, and those were trimmed. There is still a huge stack of them to be sewn. 

Trimmed half-square triangles

And then, I pulled out some orange scraps to cut another project, which I want to start today. I can't finish it just yet, but I hope by the end of this week to have a special "tool" that is required for some of the stitching. And that's all I'll say about that!

Orange scraps

I haven't figured out how far behind I am on my Virtual Challenge, but I'm not that far behind. It was drizzly yesterday and damp, but I dressed and went out anyway. By that time, the drizzle had stopped, and it was actually a pleasant walk. I had loads of errands that need to be done - grocery store, the mall, the dry cleaner, getting my hair cut, and quilts to pick up, and all of it is within walking distance, so I had better myself in gear and get those things done. And let's not forget the thrift shop!

I must also get my bird feeders in order. I saw the birds hanging around yesterday, and I broke one of them, so I must get a new one. Yep -- I can walk to the store to get a new one. 

Birds are getting hungry!

Do you think this house is going to get a new roof? I can't imagine what happened to it that it needs new rafters!! But there are spots of blue plastic in various places, so perhaps it's had a lot of moisture on the inside and has rotted! 

Rafters for a new roof

OK -- so I wish I could share this with a video because it was HILARIOUS. DH and I were sitting at the table chatting last night, and Little Bear was in his bed, all snuggled up. The other two decided they needed to entertain everyone! And they proceeded to have a big "fight" with lots of noise so we couldn't miss them. 

The evening entertainment

Then, at one point, I don't know what got into Murphy, but she wasn't happy with where Bear's bed was, so she grabbed it and started to pull him! Later, she moved her bed to the middle of the floor. Let's say that I took MANY pictures of the entire situation. 

MOM -- let me move him. He's in my way!

Bear is looking a bit miffed as that big dog continues to bother him. 

GRANDMA -- help me!!!!! 

And then he finally jumped out while Murphy continued to snuffle about his bed. By this time, she had already moved her blanket to the far side of the family room. Lexi is just shaking her head. 

MOM -- Bear has been eating treats in his bed!!!!

Then Murphy dropped her ball into Bear's bed and grabbed the edge of it, causing the ball to wildly fling out. It's a good thing Bear had vacated it by then! Let's say that Murphy is a bit jealous, and how dare Little Bear get to sit beside me when that's her spot! 

MOM -- that little trouble is gone, and I have a new spot for my ball

Oh, Muprhy -- -you are such a goof. Actually, all three of them are hilarious to watch, and they definitely have their personalities. 

My reading challenge for the year was 50 books. After I logged a few books that I recently read, I'm at 49, so I should make that goal considering that I have two more on the go and will finish soon. One is an audiobook, and one is an ebook. Yep -- no more paper for me! I doubt that, but just how it worked out right now. 

Have you read Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus? Oh my --- it's not quite what I expected, and it has lows and highs. I see that it's also a TV Minidrama series. It's on Apple TV, so I doubt I'll ever see it, but it looks good. I'll just imagine it all as I listen to the book. But it's about women in the early 60s, and boy, oh boy --- we've come a long way since then. What we need to be careful about is that we NEVER return to that time when women were not valued for what they did. 

Well, I've jabbered on enough -- I said -- things are back to normal, and I'm excited to start the day! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

What's the difference between curiosity and being nosey?

No naps yesterday! And I did not go to spin class this morning. I'm trying to ensure there are no relapses on this bug that I had. The prognosis is good. I had a slow-down week, but not a dead week! I can work around that, but this week will be super busy, and if I need to nap - well, I nap! 

What happens at Virtual Retreat stays at Virtual Retreat, but I will say one thing! We had a blast, and we had some conversations about some pretty serious subjects. It was an eye-opener for me, and with the diversity of people on the call, it's amazing what you can find out. You know me - I love to ask questions, and someone asked if that was because I'm nosey or curious. 

As I went for my walk, I thought about that question. Are they the same thing? Absolutely NOT!!! Being curious is wanting to expand my knowledge, and I'm asking questions to learn and broaden my scope of understanding because I am genuinely interested in many things. I want to know how the world works!

On the other hand, being nosey is to use the information in a gossipy way. I need to be careful how I word this because I hate talking about people, although I think it's human nature. But if ever that happens, trust me -- I try to find a shiny side to everything! 

But here's a case in point -- if someone makes a decision that seems totally out of character to them, don't you want to know why? I don't find that's a question of being nosey; it's a question of understanding why people make tough decisions, and that's going to help when I have to make decisions that seem totally out of character for myself. There's always an underlying reason; rarely is a decision totally random.

We may disagree with their decision, and it's none of our business why they chose what they chose, but understanding their rationale is important! 

I guess we need to keep that in mind -- are we being curious, or are we just being nosey? 

Despite being on the Zoom call when I never get much done, I managed to trim the chicken quilt I showed yesterday. Look at the back! That's a lot of piecing for the back of the quilt, and it's almost impossible to get it exactly centered. I'm happy with it, and it's ready to be delivered. 

The back of a customer quilt

We had a Zoom class in the morning, and one of the classes was our Many Blocks project. This is where people work on quilts with MANY blocks -- like the 365 Day Quilt, 150 Canadian Women, Dear Jane, etc. Well, I confess that I failed because I didn't get a thing done since our last session. The good news is that TWO people finished their tops or at least got all the blocks done and the flimsy (minus borders) together and will now work on the borders. That is AMAZING!!!!! And I'm so proud of both of the finishers!! There is hope for the rest of us. 

I will continue that one as the rest of the group is forging ahead and making progress. If you want to join, let me know. You MUST be partway through one of the quilts with many blocks, and there are loads of them out there! In our current group, people are working on the Town and Country Quilt (365 blocks), two versions of Farmer's Wife, a Harry Potter quilt, 150 Canadian Women, Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, Dear Jane, and the 365-Day quilt. 

I need to get myself in gear, and so that's what I did yesterday after trimming two quilts. I dug out the green bag of scrap fabric, and I sorted a bit until I had a shoe box filled with green scraps that I could use for the quilt. 

Then I started cutting. 

Cutting blocks for the 365-Day Quilt

And before I knew it, the retreat was over, but I also had TEN blocks cut. 

Ten blocks are cut

This is something that I can easily do while on the Zoom call, so if I focused on that cutting during Monday sewing and the monthly Virtual Retreat, I could actually get something done. I find it very distracting to sew while on Zoom. And if I continued to do the cutting, I could actually get my 365-Day quilt done. My blocks until March 10 are sewn together, and I have cut up to March 21 or whatever the days are. I hope to get all of March cut and take them to the upcoming sewing retreat. It would be fantastic if I could get that done, and then at the next retreat and Monday sewing, I'll work on April. Oh yes --- I need a plan as I want this quilt done! It would be so nice to have it finished and move onto the next MANY block project. I have a few! 

Look at this cutey! Oh no --- his time with us is drawing near, and how can we convince M to leave him with us? He loves it here! And we love having him here. Hey -- what is one more dog when you already have two? That Murphy is definitely jealous of him! 

Little Bear

OK -- so I said I would share my thrift store find with you. And here it is. 

Thrift store find!

Yes -- that is a sequin top! 

That's a lot of sequins

 

And why would I buy that? Well, the theme of our convention was "There's no business like Sew business," and they asked the staff to dress up on the opening night. I have a nice pair of black dress pants with an organza overskirt, but I had nothing nice for a top. For whatever reason, I wanted sparkly! I went to the mall and found one top that I liked, but it was $90, and I didn't really want to spend that kind of money for one evening. I know -- too practical. 

So, I've been cruising the thrift shop regularly to see if I could find a sparkly top. After several attempts to find something, I spotted this shirt. It fits perfectly, and it cost $10. I can't remember if I bought it Wednesday (30% off for seniors!) or if I paid full price. Either way -- it was inexpensive. I didn't care. 

They had a photo booth, and the three Canadian educators got a picture together. I cropped the others out - sorry, Margaret and Claire! I don't know what happened to my hair - it flipped out, not in, but that's OK, and don't you love my feather fascinator? 

Playing dress-up at convention

If you can't have fun in life, then what's left? 

There's computer work today, Monday sewing, long arming, and the embroidery machine, so it's going to be busy. But the fact that I'm feeling so much better makes it all doable! 

I'm going to enjoy this week because next week is the start of total craziness and travel - again!

BTW -- the next Virtual Retreat is November 25 and 26. Mark it in your calendar -- it's always loads of fun!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Big dog, little dog

I feel even better today! All is good! I think I had two naps yesterday, and I got through the Zooms in the morning with no problem. As a matter of fact, I wasn't watching the time and was ready to go on!

And while I was on Zoom, I had company. The big dog and the tiny dog. These are the clingy dogs. Lexi doesn't do stairs, so she's never in Studio B. 

The big dog and the tiny dog

But the sun was shining when we were done, and those dogs love the sun. Bear is absolutely adorable in Murphy's giant dog bed. And what a feisty little guy. There must have been loads of activity in the neighborhood because he was standing on the edge of the bed looking out the window and barking his head off. Thanks for keeping us safe! 

The MIGHTY Bear

DH loves to sit in the sun as well, and all three of the dogs and DH sat there for the rest of the day. When the sun went down, it was time to retire to the family room. This is the little guy's favorite spot. Yep - on the opposite side of the sofa from Lexi. 

Just the guys hanging out!

But for all that I do for him when I went to get him to take him to bed, he ran away from me!!!

You can't catch me! 

What a sassy little guy!!! But so darn cute! 

It's about time to toss these shoes. These are the ones that 1 full size larger than I usually wear. You know what? They do NOT feel sloppy at all. Perhaps my shoes are too small? Anyway, they have served me well, and from the condition of the soles, they are way past being swapped out. I'm not sure about the mileage on them, but it's well over 1,000 KM. And that is too long for one pair of shoes. I will miss them. However, I noticed that the mesh on the toes did not break open. Not even close. Thank you to HOKA for a well-made pair of trail shoes. These will definitely be back on my list of shoes to buy. HOKA SPEEDGOAT 5. 

The toes are intact on my HOKAs

Speaking of walking, I was on my afternoon walk and had no destination. However, I remembered after that I have a bunch of quilts to pick up at Diane's house. OK -- that's for this coming week. But I like to stop in at the thrift store. It's fun having one so close that I can pop in every day! I only have money with me sometimes, and I could always return. But it's fun to see how quickly certain things turn over. 

I had spotted two nice wine racks that I might use for stabilizers. They had cobwebs on them, and I even measured them to see if they would work. When I went back - they were gone! OH -- I need to take a picture of something I bought at the thrift store -- let me get that for tomorrow. 

I spotted this yesterday. What the heck would one do with that? It's webbing of some kind. 

Webbing matches my sewing machine!

The plaza where my bank and dentist are used to be insane because of a small grocery store. It was next to impossible to find parking, which didn't bother me since I always walked there. The grocery store has moved, and the location has been empty for quite some time. There's been work going on, and it was revealed the other day what's going on. 

A new store opens

So I guess if you're nervous about the dentist, you can get a fix first and then go - totally relaxed! It was interesting to talk with some of the dental staff as they thought people would be going in to buy joints and then smoking them outside. I've never seen that at a cannabis store. They are a bit more upscale than that. These stores have been banned from our city until recently. I imagine they are popping up everywhere like they are in other towns and cities. 

I managed to get a customer quilt done yesterday. It had a medallion-style pieced back, which is OK, but a devil to center the quilt on. Let's just say that I was happy to see extra backing for this quilt when I neared the end. It had an "incident" the first time I quilted it, and YES - I had to remove all the quilting and redo it. It's taken me some time to get the "courage" to quilt it again. Let's just say that math was never my strong suit and leave it at that. 

There's enough backing! 

But there it is, and it's super cute! I'll be trimming some quilts later today. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Quilt Market is happening right now, and from what I've seen, everything is LIVE on Facebook, or so many pictures are posted; there's no need to go there and see the stuff in person! All the new fabric collections are on the websites, and I don't feel the least bit like I'm missing something by not being there! 

I've got two presentations this morning, and everything is already organized. I'm a bit behind in the Many Block project, and I hope to get back to work on that. Again - it's about setting priorities, and well, sometimes one has too many priorities. I still need to do some serious searching for next year. Let's say that nothing new will be added to the schedule - it's a question of how much "old" will continue! 

It's a virtual retreat this afternoon. We have so much fun keeping up with each other and learning new things, and it's all very friendly and drama-free! 

If you get a chance to stop in and say HI -- we'd love to see you. 

Sunday, October 29 - starts at noon EST. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86119598156?pwd=ZDFxcElxS0NmeTRjczdSR2FXd3N2Zz09

Meeting ID: 861 1959 8156
Passcode: 053861

Well, I've got to get the dogs out for their walks! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Too many quilts!

There is good news today! I feel better! Now, before we go and have a party - I'm slightly better. I actually woke up at the "right" time for me, and that makes me feel better. But I had two long naps yesterday. I swear, when I need a nap, I'm not kidding. I need to lie down IMMEDIATELY, or I'll fall asleep on my feet. And I know I'll have at least one nap today -- I just hope I can make it through the two Zooms. I may shorten the walks with the girls this morning to get a nap in before. 

But I feel better! And that's all that counts. And we did have some quiet time in the backyard as well. I should say that Bear and I had quiet time while Murphy barked her head off at something. She is the most vocal dog I've ever had. 

What a difference two days can make. This first photo was taken two days ago. While some of the leaves have fallen, there's still a fair number on the trees. I LOVE the rich red colors of these trees. 

Fall colors

This is what those same trees looked like yesterday. Hardly a leaf left on them! I guess we had some wind, but I didn't think it was that strong. Well, it is fall, after all!

The same trees - two days later

There are still leaves in the forest, but the green is gone. Or mostly gone!

The leaves in the forest are changed as well

It's so pretty and relaxing to walk there. When I take Bear for a walk in the forest, he's slow as molasses, as he must sniff EVERY leaf we see. The other two? They charge through the forest, stopping only if something significant strikes their fancy! 

Beautiful colors

The little guy and I had to make a car trip to get more food for him. He's on a special diet (urinary tract issues), and we needed to find a vet that had the food when he first came here. Thankfully, we could get the prescription sent to this vet, and we now have enough food to last for his time here. At some point, the little guy will go home, but not before we attempt to dognap him! He's just too darn cute! 

Going for a ride

So, I've got two presentations today, and both are prepped and ready to go! I had to dig a lot of quilts out of the cupboards to take pictures. 

Taking pictures

More quilts that need pictures

They all got unfolded, and I snapped a photo, and then they all got folded up again and back in the cupboard. One day, I need to go through those quilts and take a picture of each one and any details that I might like to have. The pictures should be filed in appropriate folders and tagged. Then I would NEVER have to do that again. 

I also need to GIVE those quilts away or sell what I can. There are so many, and I'll never use them. It's just so hard to sell quilts and get anything for them. Hmmm --- I've got to do something. I'm tired of seeing them all here!

I was exhausted when I was done. I had a quick bite and went to bed for over an hour! That's not normal for me, but this week -- that's very normal. 

I'm not pushing myself in the least, even though I have a lot of work to get done in the next week. I got a quilt loaded on the long arm, but then knew I would be pushing it to get it quilted, so I'll tackle that later today. I have a few samples to make for upcoming events, and I'll do what I can!

I'll post a list of where I'll be in November, but I have some events introducing the Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER EPIC 3, so if you're in Ontario or Winnipeg, I might be near you! Watch for those!

Remember, the virtual retreat is this weekend. I have a bag of scraps to sort, so that'll be an easy sit-down task while chatting. But I may not be chatting much since I have two Zooms, and I need to spare my throat. Not that it's sore, but two Zooms is a lot on top of recovering from whatever I had. 

Saturday, October 28, Starts at 6 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday, October 29, Starts at NOON EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86119598156?pwd=ZDFxcElxS0NmeTRjczdSR2FXd3N2Zz09

Meeting ID: 861 1959 8156
Passcode: 053861

Stop in to say HI!!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Around the neighborhood

So these are interesting times. I'm not a good patient, and I have lots of medication to combat the symptoms. And for the most part, I'm doing OK. But I'm tired! And that scares me because I can cope with all the other symptoms, but how does one cope with fatigue? Lots of rest. 

At one point, I decided to take a nap. It was a long nap, and the three dogs were on the couch with me. Can you spot them? 

Napping with the dogs

Then, the impatient BIG dog decided to get off. Can you spot her in this picture? What a goof. 

MOM -- enough napping -- get up!!!!!

I still went for my walks and did my daily quota. I'm sick, but I'm not that sick. The colors on the trees are spectacular. 

Spectacular fall colors

So the neighbors are strange. We think it's a young man and his girlfriend who live there. The parents went away during the pandemic and come back once a year. While the parents did a lot of yard work when they were here in the spring, this was the first time anything else was done since then. The front yard was overgrown with thistles, and the backyard was even worse. 

Several of the neighbors took a few minutes occasionally to pull weeds. This area below was filled with thistle. 

Imagine my surprise several days ago when I heard someone in the backyard. I don't know who is responsible for this, but the backyard and the front are CLEAN. But did we really need to put up with the mess all summer long? And all that seed! Either way -- I'm happy. Or did they clean it up in anticipation of the parents returning? 

The front yard is clear of weeds

Little Bear LOVES the gazebo. He's my kind of guy! Every time I go to sit in the chair, he's right there. He loves to snuggle -- what a silly boy! The weather is amazing right now -- it's warm enough to wear shorts, and I'm walking in my T-shirt! Today is supposed to be even warmer than before, so I'll be outside. 

Little Bear hanging out in the gazebo

I did some machine embroidery, but I would have liked to get more done. I hate when I want to make something and waffle on how to make it. Just decide and do it!!!! 

And I got a customer quilt done. I swear my brain wasn't there. It took me three tries to get the first mark for the pattern. I placed the tape on the quilt (for the mark), then forgot to make a needle hole, which is the pattern mark. So I attempted it again and got the needle hole, but removed the tape before I marked the quilt. Finally, on the third try, everything went as planned, and the quilt got done! 

Customer quilt - DONE

Did I mention that I'm watching Season 7 of The Great Canadian Baking Show? One of the contestants is a quilter! The intricacies of what they are baking and decorating are way beyond me!!! But it's entertaining. 

Let's hope that I need fewer naps today. The day didn't start well, as I got up relatively late compared to my usual time. But I'll do what has to be done! If I need a nap -- I'll nap. I can't fight it. 

I have to prep for two classes tomorrow. There is so much to share with the one group -- I do not know where to start!!! Actually, both groups!!!

Remember, this weekend is the virtual retreat, and I can't wait to chat with everyone. I've got scraps to sort while we chat, and I look forward to that. 

Saturday, October 28  --- starts at 6 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday, October 29 - Starts at NOON EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86119598156?pwd=ZDFxcElxS0NmeTRjczdSR2FXd3N2Zz09

Meeting ID: 861 1959 8156
Passcode: 053861

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!

Barn Star Sampler

Sometimes, I think I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached to my body! 

YES -- there is a Virtual Retreat this weekend. I'll post the links at the end of this post and tomorrow. Some scraps need to be sorted, and this will be the perfect thing to do during the retreat. I hate having the bags around on the floor, and I need to work on the project I'm using the scraps for, so this is good timing! 

Sick? Yep, I can no longer deny that I'm sick, but not too ill. No fever, a scratchy throat, and a bit tired. All can be dealt with with a nap when necessary and throat lozenges. I'll make short work of this as I don't have time to be sick. And I'll pray a lot that my immune system can handle it. OH - and lots of water. I still managed to walk over 13 KM, so I can't be too sick. 

I have many things to do, and I'm slowly working through them. I don't quite have the usual energy level, so bear with me if you're waiting for me on something. The quilts are trimmed, and I'm sending out e-mails today if anyone is looking for them. I have to prepare a couple of presentations for the weekend (in the morning), and then we can play at the retreat. 

I don't think I ever showed you the progress on my Barn Star Sampler quilt. We started this project in January, and the plan is to have finished quilt tops by December. So, the end is near, and most class members have kept up. 

Here are some of the blocks. 

Every month, we need to make at least two of every block. My colors are citrus colors. 

And a lot of other blocks are HUGE. These first two are 16" square. 

One block 

The designer used the same colors for both blocks, but I didn't want to do that, so I switched them out. 

Same block - different colors

This block is also 16" square. 

Another block for October

And here's the second colorway for this block. 

The second colorway for this block

Then we had to make a number of smaller blocks - I believe these are 6". I only have a picture of one of the blocks, but I have all of them made. 

A six-inch block

And then we had to make a few of these, which are also 6". 

Crossroads block

Let's just say that the quilt is HUGE!!!! I think it's 80" by 100" or thereabouts. But here is the top section of mine. That section is 80" wide by 24" high. And it is all sewn together! 

The top section of the Barn Star Sampler

And here's the bottom section. We still have blocks that I'll assign in November, and then we can continue with the final assembly. 

The bottom section of the Barn Star Sampler quilt

So, barring any disaster, I should have no problem getting my quilt top together for December! Although November will be a busy month, I should be able to complete it. If not, it's very close. 

There is lots of exciting stuff happening in the Husqvarna Viking world and mySewnet. They have released a VAULT that you can store your embroidery designs in. There are so many changes, and we are supposed to be on top of it so we can explain them to others. I started moving all my embroidery files from the Cloud (old) to the Vault (new). I've transferred quite a few designs over, but there is more to follow today. I still have some questions, but OH MY GOSH -- this new system is miles ahead of the old one.  

I need to delete some of the files stored in the old Cloud. It's incredible how much you forget things you created and just take up space. That is one of my problems, and it needs to be cleaned up occasionally. 

Now that we have 2 GB of storage space, it'll hold up to 40,000 embroidery designs! WOWSER!!!! Each design can be tagged so you can cross-reference them. If you are into machine embroidery and do NOT have a mySewnet account (free), you should check it out. This is amazing!!!!!

Well, that's it for me for today. 

Virtual Retreat Links:

Saturday, October 28 -- starts at 6:00 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday, October 29 -- starts at NOON EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86119598156?pwd=ZDFxcElxS0NmeTRjczdSR2FXd3N2Zz09

Meeting ID: 861 1959 8156
Passcode: 053861

I'm off to work in slow motion. Do some work - have a nap. Do some more work - have a nap. I'm good with that!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!