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!!!