And then there was one!

And I'm home! It felt good to sleep in my bed, but I'm also sad. Retreats are so much fun! I accomplished a lot, making me happy, and the girls were beside themselves when I arrived. 

I was up early and trimmed my flying geese units for the 365-day quilt. I also trimmed some more of the half-square triangles. 

Pressing and trimming

As the morning progressed, I was determined to finish trimming all the half-square triangles, sew the flying geese units together, and finish what I could on the current quilt top. I couldn't finish the quilt top because I hadn't cut enough fabric. Duh! 

The first person left around 11 a.m. Then, in what seemed to be half-hour increments, the other two left. I was NOT leaving until I had finished those things on my list, as I knew I wouldn't get to them when I got home. 

I was alone in the retreat house for over an hour, and it was fine. My audiobook kept me entertained. 

And then there was one! 

I flitted from one project to another. Every time I went to press a seam on the quilt top, I pressed and trimmed more of the square triangles. I sewed the flying geese as enders and leaders, and when I needed to press those seams, I pressed and trimmed more of the half-square triangles. The pile was dwindling. 

The dwindling pile of half-square triangles

When I did stop to press those half-square triangles, I did them in five groups of four! I'm unsure how many triangles were in that bag, but they seemed to go on forever! 

Methodically trimming half-square triangles

However, I think I have two bags left of half-square triangles that need to be trimmed, which is HUGE! There are tons more to sew together, but I'm now on a sew, press, trim routine! 

The flying geese units were sewn together and pressed. 

Flying geese units for the 365-day quilt

If you've made that quilt and wonder why I have four flying geese borders, I did not like the four different borders around the center square, so I made them all the same. My quilt—my way! 

Soon enough, the entire bag of half-square triangles was pressed and trimmed! The quilt top was as complete as possible, and it was time to pack up. 

The bag of trimmed half-square triangles

When I drove out of the driveway, it was 1 PM, which seems to be my usual departure time. Even though we have until 3 PM, no one stays that late. The last day of retreat is always weird. People get anxious to get home! I don't know why since most of the retreat attendees are retired. So you go home and do what? It's when you get to a certain point on a project, and starting another one doesn't make sense, so it's time to leave. 

Since I was there alone, there was no point in staying, but I only left once that work was complete! I think I stayed until check-out time only once, and I've been to many quilt retreats. 

So, we became aware of something while at this retreat. As we drove up the first day, we spotted signs that made it pretty clear a significant event was happening on the weekend. Signs for parking and shuttle buses and whatnot dotted the side of the road. There were four letters on the sign for the event, but none of us could remember them. I got all four letters, but not in the correct order!

We initially thought it was the RibFest in Orangeville, but it wasn't. So, someone in our group did some research, and we discovered the Toronto Study Centre, which belongs to the RSSB group. WOW—they purchased two farms to create this center and built two massive buildings on them. 

Toronto Study Centre

I took a detour on the way home to pass by the facility. It's HUGE, as you can see from the two buildings in the top photo. One is almost 100,000 square feet, and the second is 76,500 square feet. In addition to the 800 paved parking spots, several acres have been converted to event parking and roped off in sections. A small tent city was set up as well. I didn't get out of the car but snapped this photo out the passenger window, where you can see the roof of one of the buildings. 

A massive event space

Let's just say that traffic in that area on the weekend will be a nightmare!! With 23,000 people expected on both days, I can't imagine even going near the place. They encourage people to come by bus, as the bus people get priority for indoor seating and lunch! That's an incentive! This organization has been around for many years, and this facility was completed four years ago. I've never heard of it! 

I made it home and got my stuff into the car, but only after I had help. The minute the door was open, she was outside—and not to run away. Nope—she wanted to be in the car! 

Mom - I can help!

After sorting out all the bags, this needed to be brought upstairs. Don't worry—it's all gone, so no one tripped. And I ALWAYS hold the handrail. I never do stairs without it. 

Stuff to take back upstairs

Last night, I made the backing for the next community project quilt, which required some calculating. 

The backing for the next quilt

I still have some bags of flannel left, and I was going to have it made into quilt tops. Instead, I will use the larger pieces for quilt backings, but they'll have to be joined. I'll do that on a need-to-do basis. 

The quilt is loaded, the batting is pieced, and it's ready to quilt. However, I got home to a notice that we would NOT have electricity this morning, so I needed to come up with some non-electrical things to do. Hmmm—what? Let's hope they actually do the work this time. This is the third notice! 

I  measured the last of the fleece pieces, now stored in the storage room. 

Fleece and Minky storage 

It was easy to find a piece of Minky for backing that red and black quilt I pieced at the retreat! So now those two blue tubs are only half full each and can be repurposed soon. Well, not soon in time frame-wise, but they will be repurposed at some point in the fall. One of the clear tubs is filled with fleece pieces, and one has plush. Just that little bit of organization makes life so much easier!!! 

Now, I have the tub on the left to process. I can bring up a cutting mat upstairs on the kitchen island when we have no power. What will I do when the scraps are all in order? I'll be lost! But it's so nice to know that all the bits are being used up and are together. 

Fleece to cut into squares

All in all, things are going well!! 

So, another retreat has come to a close, and it's time to get back to serious work, but not until after today when I can do computer stuff. No paperwork for me today!!!

On that happy note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!