Sorting scraps is my therapy

 For those not aware of the Magic Bags, they are bags of grain (not sure what kind) that you throw in the microwave to heat up - like a heating pad. However, Jill's comment is chilling!!! The smell was quite bad, and I can still smell it on my PJs because I held the bag to me for a bit. The smell is still very much in the bag, and I suspect that when I get home, I'll be shopping for another bag, because the moment it goes in the microwave, it will stink up the place. 

As for microwaves? I don't know what it is about this one, but it is POWERFUL!!! I tried oatmeal this morning for one minute at power 2. No problem. The second one minute was still at power 2, and I had a huge mess to clean up. What is it doing to the food? 

Anyway --- we are on our way home this afternoon, so I can cook my oatmeal safely tomorrow!!!

Do I have a lot to show for this retreat? I certainly don't have a quilt top, since I didn't bring a machine, but it's amazing how time-consuming these non-sewing-machine jobs are. I managed to get as much as I could done on the one jacket. Both shoulder/sleeve seams are hand-stitched in place, and that feels amazing. 

This is what the seams look like before. 

The seams after they were stitched by machine

And this is what they look like when the excess has been cut away and hand-stitched in place. 

The seam allowances are finished.

This is the Tamarack Jacket I'm working on. Now I have to resew the sides and sleeves together and finish those seams. The last thing will be to hem the sleeves. And this jacket will be done!!! Did you guess that I want it done for my jacket class, but it's also on my visual To-Do list!!!!

My Tamarack Jacket

Then I got out the second jacket I brought with me, and it also needed those shoulder sleeve seams cut down so I could finish the edge. That one is being stitched in place on the sewing machine, but I managed to get one completely pinned and ready to sew. I started on the other one and realized the two seam allowances aren't quite as well lined up as I would like, so I ripped that part out and will resew it when I get home. Then I'll finish prepping the sleeve seam. 

Here is the seam allowance on the other jacket before. 

The "before" on the second jacket

And now it's pinned and ready to be stitched. All is good. This one is also on the visual To-Do list, so there is a push to get these done. 

The seam is pinned and ready to stitch down on the machine.

This jacket is stitched together differently from the other one, so once these two sleeve seams are done, I still have to hand-stitch the facing in place. I could have done that here, but forgot to bring the thread. And I need to put snaps on it. Before I do that, I want to buy one of those table presses for putting snaps on. I did a bit of research yesterday and found what I want - now I just need to find a place to buy it. I could buy it at my "favorite" online store, but seriously? I'm not buying from them unless it is the last place on earth to buy something. I won't get into how many people buy from them because of the convenience, and ignore the fact that their dollars support some unsavory things. But I won't go there. 

Then it was onto a couple of other projects. I finished this cushion cover a while back, but I was never happy with how I put the invisible zipper in. So it's now apart, and I'll redo it. That's why it takes me so long to make things—I must learn to do it right the first time! I'm getting there!

The cushion cover is apart.

Then I spent the rest of the day fondling my scraps. I have several containers of batik scraps leftover from making the 4th of July quilt. I mentioned that yesterday. Well, I was back at it. I know -- most of you would have tossed those scraps years ago, but I couldn't. 

The first box wasn't so bad to go through, but the second box? I think I just scooped up what was left on my mat after trimming, including loads of iddy-bitty bits. So I had to clean all that up!!!

Sorting a mess of scraps

When I dumped the second box, it looked like a cube. The scraps were not crammed in the space, but they had settled over time. 

A cube of scraps

OH MY --- I am not a fan of this touch pad on the computer. The right click to get PASTE is crap. WAIT ---- I can just hear my computer friends --- use the shortcut keys. Hmmmm --- I may have to resort to that. Now what the heck are they? 

And then when you fluff the scraps up a bit, they explode!!!! Scraps are like mushrooms!

The scrap cube exploded.

OH --- when I did manage to get the pop-up screen from the right-click -- it's CTL+C for copy and CTL+V for paste. I might try that. Those friends of mine may convert me yet!!!!

And then I sorted. 

Sorting scraps

And I trimmed, and I'm happy to say that I've almost completed the second box. 

More trimming

A lot of the scraps went into those two boxes, and I have another project in mind that I'll be working on later today. I hope to get stuff for my new project, and then the rest will be tossed!!!! I must not put those back on the shelf. 

The third and final box of those scraps contains much larger pieces, which is good because I need some squares about 2" or something like that. So after writing the blog, I'll be back downstairs to see what I come up with. 

So while it's a very time-consuming task, it's so therapeutic and calming. Not that I need that at the moment, but why are we in such a rush? Sewing and quilting are our hobbies, and we should be enjoying the PROCESS, not the results. There's no need to rush, and this is teaching me so much patience and focus. This is a good thing, and I'll feel a ton of satisfaction when it's done. 

Here are the other two mini-quilts that I donated to the My Quilt Retreat. The website isn't up yet, but when it is, I'll let you know. 

Mini quilt

Second mini-quilt

This is an amazing house, all set up nicely for sewing, with lots of places to sit, chill, or converse as a group. The layout of the house is weird, with loads of storage places around. The only caveat is that the sewing room is downstairs, but you can drive around to the back of the house and unload your car for your sewing stuff, and the kitchen is on the main floor. It's a bungalow with a walkout basement. So if stairs are not your thing, it may not be the house for you. Just wanted to let you know that in case you get excited.

I went out for a walk in the morning and found another geocache. I didn't do any searching in the afternoon, and I think I found everything within walking distance of the house. OH -- there are others I could go for, but I don't want to spend all my time out walking. I almost didn't find this one, as it had blown off that post and was lying in the ditch! 

Another geocache

I spotted these two giant nutcrackers in a yard nearby. 

Giant nutcrackers

And spring must be coming as the pussy willows are starting to bloom!!!!

Pussy willows in bloom

That's it for today! I want to get that third box under control, and I have one more box of other batiks that I'd like to sort. I did not get to cutting the fleece scraps, the binding on my mom's quilt, my knitting, or cutting some more blocks for the 365-day quilt. No worries - I can take the knitting and my mom's quilt when I go visit them next week. The other two projects can come to my May quilt retreat. 

I feel like I have accomplished so much, yet I don't have much to show for it, but the progress I made is huge. I would never have stuck to those projects at home. Sewing? I can sew like a fiend at home, but to stick to these fiddly cutting-and-sorting projects? They are best done at a retreat!!! No sewing machine required!!! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

A law-abiding citizen

Not that I get around much, but there is one thing when you go to someone's house, or in this case, a retreat house, that always throws me for a loop. One thing every time, and it's in the kitchen. Can anyone guess? Almost everyone has one, and while they all look similar from the outside, they are NOT!!!! I'm talking about the microwave. The difference is the wattage? Power? I'm not sure what you would call it, but oh my --- they are totally different. 

I know from cooking oatmeal in many microwaves. Yesterday I struggled, but I was watching, so I was able to stop it before it boiled over. Today, I set the time for 90 seconds at a power level of 3 out of 10. The oatmeal still boiled over. Sigh....... 

And last night, when I put my Magic Bag in the microwave before going to bed, I burnt the contents, and the house stinks like burnt popcorn. I had put it in for 3 minutes the night before, and always do three minutes at home, I never thought about the power, and VOILA -- burnt popcorn smell. Sigh.....

Perhaps I need to shy away from all things microwave!! Tomorrow, I shall try 90 seconds on power 2, but I'll watch it! And my Magic Bag might be toast because of the burnt contents. 

OH MY --- I'm a law-abiding citizen, and I can't cross the line! I decided to find a geocache on my morning walk. It wasn't that far from the house, and then the plan was to cut across the golf course from one road to another. The owner of the house said they do it all the time. 

I quickly found the geocache - it's amazing when you walk into a parking lot, and you know immediately what tree you are going to find the darn thing. 

The geocache container

By the way, that was find number 993, which is a small number. But I'm OK with that. I recently saw someone celebrate his 75,000 th find!!! Now that is a serious geocacher. I just do it from time to time and mostly on walks in new neighborhoods. Perhaps I can top 1000 while I'm here. 

Then I continued walking down the road to get to the golf course. As I was approaching the gate, a car was pulling out, but not before the guy had opened it, which had a very large NO TRESPASSING sign on it. Hmmm ---- I stopped and contemplated entering the driveway through the gate, then decided I didn't need the hassle of being in the wrong place when I had no right to be there. And while the fellow in the car was coming out of the gate, I could hear other people on the grounds. 

I'll go further down the road and see if I can find a spot to cross the ditch and walk along the edge. I spotted an opening in the trees. 

A perfect spot to cross the ditch and get into the trees

I walked about ten feet into the wooded area, only to find this. 

Hmmm - I'm not the first person to think this was a good idea.

Hmmm—someone is telling me something. So I turned around and had to walk all the way back around the road grid. And that was OK -- it was a nice morning, the sun was out and not too cold, and I got a good walk. 

Then it was back to the house, where I went back to dealing with all those little scraps of white fabric. 

I kept at it all day. How is that for focus? I was finally down to the last handful of white scraps. Most of them needed to be pressed before I could do anything because they were literally crammed tight into that box. 

The last handful of scraps

And I'm happy to say that I have a lot of 1" strips of white fabric. 

1" stripes of white fabric

I also cut some 2 1/2" squares to make some half-square triangles, and I'll need some 2-inch pieces, so I cut some of those, and I found some triangles that I can use for making half-square triangles. I brought my bag of bags, so each is now safely stowed in the appropriate bag. 

I decided to keep some of the larger pieces of white and nice full strips so that, if and when the time comes, and I might need some white scraps, I still have some, and they are organized. The piddly little scraps - they are gone! 

The scrap bin! 

As I sew the white strips with the colours, more scraps will be generated, since I won't use all of the strips, as some are not 1" for the entire length. For the moment, the white is done!! 

I finished after dinner, and it was dark outside. I cleaned up my cutting area, loaded all that stuff into a tote bag, and took it to the car  Then I grabbed the next bag of things to do  This time, it doesn't involve cutting but rather some handwork  I'm going to try to advance my two jackets as far along as I can  I've already been hard at work on that this morning, so you'll see it later. 

What precipitated all this cutting of the white strips is these boxes of batik scraps, which are the cutoffs from the very first QuiltWorx pattern that I ever did. It was called the 4th of July. I didn't know enough about these patterns, so I didn't realize how wasteful they are with fabric. I couldn't bear to throw this stuff out. 

Batik scraps

While there are some pieces I can use, I think most will be too small, and I still hate to throw them out  When I looked through it last night, all those colors were so exciting, and I think I'm going to try to make some kind of collage  Hmmmmmm --- thoughts are running through my head  And I could use those white castoffs as well  Hmmmmmmmmm, 

I took a break in the afternoon and went to the local quilt shop, which turned out to be a mistake  I found a few things I "needed"  I had visited the shop when it was in its original location in DocVille, which is a very interesting place  I first came across that place on my cycling trip across Canada back in 2013  Shoot -- I am struggling to copy the DocVille link without a mouse  I hate this touch pad!!! Just Google it if you want to see the western town!

Annie's Quilt Shop

What was funny was that I spotted a jigsaw puzzle on a top shelf and thought it would be neat to have, so I asked the owner to get it for me. Well, it happened to be holding up the line of pillow forms, and once the puzzle box was down, a domino effect set in as all the pillow forms plopped onto the floor!!!! 

We had a good laugh over it, and then I was back at the retreat house. 

I just want to say one thing about the retreat: we all know that what happens at retreat stays at retreat  I was invited by a friend of mine who organized the event  She has moved away from my area, but we still stay in touch, mostly through retweets  I met most of this group last year, and they are wonderful ladies  I also met new people this time, and you know what  We are all quilters - most of us have the same hopes, goals, but most importantly, we all speak the language of quilting, although a couple are somewhat new, so they are learning the language. 

Anyway, we all sat around the table last night and chatted for hours, until I excused myself because I wanted to finish cutting all that white. Guess what? We all get along!! What fun to spend time with mostly total strangers or people I don't know well, and still have a wonderful time!! Thank you, retreat ladies!!!

And for a point of reference, if you think I am a lunatic (that's OK) at cutting 1" strips of fabric, I am not crazy. Look at what one lady is making. That center square. It's cut at 3/4", way smaller than what I'm working with!!! I'm not so crazy after all!!!

This is teeny tiny!

And don't you love this sign!!! How true, and we are doing a great job of chatting without our phones, although my phone and only my phone was on the table last night. However, we did need it to fact-check something. You sure need to keep a phone handy these days for fact-checking!!!!

On that note, I'm out of here! My first seam that needs hand stitching to finish is ready to go. I hope to finish both sleeve/shoulder seams fairly quickly, then move on to the next set of shoulder/sleeve seams to prep. Still, those ones will be stitched by machine when I'm home  If that doesn't make sense, it will when I forward a picture to you  Then onto the next thing, and I'd like to try sorting those THREE containers of batiks  Do not worry if I can't find enough 1" strips in those three boxes of very small scraps, because I have another three boxes of larger scraps still in the car  Oh yes—I came prepared for four retreats. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!