The art of packing a car

It was the final day of Quilt Canada, which was exciting. It was still a busy day, but definitely not as crowded. There are pros and cons to attending the show on which day. The first day is always insane—and this time, there was so much pent-up excitement that it was doubly insane. Day two is always much calmer, and day three is nice. The final day was still quite busy, but you were no longer the salmon swimming upstream in mud - you were the otter who lazily swims along in a river! 

I noticed a comment on Facebook that one lady would never return—it was too crowded and there were no bargains. First, nobody said anyone had to provide bargains at these shows. Each vendor pays a lot of money to have a booth, and they don't want to fill it with bargains, as they need to cover many costs and make a profit. So never expect bargains at a show. 

Crowded? Then go on a different day. That's just silly to say you won't go back. We don't need negative Nellies at the show - they just ruin it for everyone else. 

I will confess that I go to these shows, besides being hired to work at them, because of the networking! I have met so many people in person that I only knew from Zoom. HELLO to everyone who stopped by. I know there were more, but I was either busy talking to someone else or perhaps they didn't see me. A huge thank you to everyone who stopped or attempted to stop! 

I had fascinating conversations with many people, and you know me—how could I live with a wide open calendar? There is stuff happening, and that's all I will say now. 

I arrived at the venue early in the morning and took a video of my concurrent show, Celebrating 25 Years of Teaching Quilt Making. I have two videos, which I will splice together and then post on YouTube. Oh boy—my voice sounds very gravelly! Hopefully, the audio will be OK. I hope to accomplish that later today or tomorrow. 

Actually, I need to do that today because of the Wi-Fi! I'm going to a retreat and don't want to upload a video on someone else's Wi-Fi.  

I have loads to tell you about the Trendtex Challenge and other things, but there isn't enough time this morning. Oh yes, I'm already up and at work and making significant progress. 

I also want to thank all the volunteers who helped at my show. I know I made a couple of mistakes in the schedule, but it was chaotic at the end, and something I should have done a bit earlier. Anyway, it is what it is. 

I want to thank the volunteers who took down my show yesterday. They got themselves organized, and with six of them, taking down quilts, folding them, and putting them back in the bags, it took them 30 minutes, which is what I predicted! 

There were two big suitcases, a ladder, a step stool, a wagon heaped with quilts, and a bag of supplies. With the help of Rose and John, we made one trip to the car! That was a godsend, as I was apprehensive about getting it all to the car. The next step was fitting it all into the car. I had already put some smaller stuff in the car earlier. 

I thanked Rose and John and then loaded the car. Oh my—it all fit! That's awesome. 

The car is full

I locked up the car and proceeded to finish packing up a classroom of sewing machines. It was only when I was back at our booth helping them dismantle everything that I realized I still had a suitcase with samples, an embroidery unit, and a sewing machine in a box to add to what was already in the car. Oh, I totally forgot about those things. 

So I took the suitcase and the embroidery unit out to the car, and I had to literally unload almost everything and start all over. Thankfully, all the quilts were in plastic bags, so they were OK to sit on the ground. 

Repacking the car

The first time I loaded it, the car wasn't even close to full. But now? The car was full! 

Now that's a FULL car

This was the view from the front seat looking back! 

No looking out the back window

I had left room on the front seat for the sewing machine—thankfully, it was a midsize one, not a huge one. 

The passenger seat

I had loads of room to drive, but was a bit iffy about looking out the mirror. I managed OK, and thankfully, there wasn't a lot of traffic when I left. 

When I arrived home, it took almost 20 minutes to unpack the car, and I left it all in the hall. I sat down with DH and a beer and watched whatever he was watching, which I NEVER do. I'm trying to psych myself up for that vacation!

Everything made it into the house

The wagon was left in the garage, and all the quilts are around the corner! 

There is no time to waste, as I'm off for a four-day quilt retreat. My bags are packed, and I had to refresh my memory this morning about what I packed. Oh yes—all is good. 

I fired up the embroidery machine this morning and already have the first hooping of a project complete. While that was stitching, I loaded a quilt on the long arm. Then, it was time to tackle that cutting table. 

Cleaning up the cutting table

The projects on the right-hand side are lined up and ready to be embroidered today. All the bags on the floor are in their proper slots, and some of the stuff from the show came down and is sitting on the floor to deal with later today. 

All of Diane's fabric has been sorted, and most of it is gone! I'm so happy about that. It all went to a good home, and I pulled out some larger pieces for quilt backs. I started measuring and labelling this morning. There is also a tub of scraps, which I'll use to make some quilt tops. 

Labelling quilt backs

When I looked at the shelf in the storage area with the fabric for quilt backs, I noticed that these were not very well labelled. So they are out, and I'll deal with them in the morning as my two machines run on their own! 

More backing to label

The quilt on the long arm isn't huge, but I intend to run that embroidery machine all day - I have a lot to do. 

Well, on that note, I'm off! I have lots to do, and I am so fired up that I am ready for anything today!! I'm having a whole day to myself, no talking, no noise—just the machine noise. Hey, I loved talking to all of you, but I'm glad for a day of silence!!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!!