Much progress and a scholarship!

 OMG!!!!!!! When I read the first line of Daphne's comment, I was going to say - I used to work at the Main Office of BMO in Old Montreal. The number of days I had lunch in the park across the street, right in front of Notre-Dame Basilica. But seriously? There is a plaque in the BMO Museum about the Pauline Vanier Scholarship! I did not know that, and I hope Daphne got a picture. That was ME!!!!!! I should tell you that story someday. I have photos at home -- it was a really big to-do. And it was a very generous scholarship! That scholarship was one of those major life-changing events for me!

What a blast from the past that is!!!! WOW --- I'll have to digest that one today!!!

And even more bizarre, I had the front page of the Montreal Gazette framed in my house for the longest time. It was the date of my birth, even though I was not born in Montreal. And the Vaniers were mentioned on that front page!!!!! Coincidence? 

Well, yesterday was quite the busy day, and I'm plowing through everything I brought with me. No one will be able to yell at me for overpacking for the retreat. Overpacking in the past was bags and bags of stuff that never got touched. Not so now! I've learned!

I have been forgetting to post this picture for the last couple of days, but when one of the ladies and I were out, we snapped this picture of a barn quilt block. Technically, it could be called a church quilt block since it's on a local church. There were several quilt blocks that I spotted, but didn't get pictures of. I love seeing them on the buildings, and I have several books at home about the barn quilt trails in Ontario. 

Barn quilt block on the local church

Two of us went for a walk in the morning, and to avoid bugs, we didn't go all the way to the other concession, since there is a creek near there, and it was pretty buggy. That meant we headed towards the highway, and on our way back to the house, we spotted the activity shown in the photo below. First, the road past the house is typically quiet. A few cars and trucks in the morning, but on Friday? It was like being on a super highway! Many farm vehicles passed us. 

Anyway, a farmer was out in the field, and well, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl, so we stopped to watch. 

Planting - but what?

Hmmm—that is a pretty unique pattern in the field, and we were curious about the swath that didn't get planted. And then we spotted this massive piece of equipment coming down the road. It wasn't so much massive as it was wide, taking up the entire road. 

That's a big piece of equipment.

Thankfully, the tractor pulled into the driveway just in front of us. But see what I mean? It was huge. 

Wide load coming through.

Turns out this is a spud planter! Potatoes!!!!! So we stood there and watched it plant a couple of rows. Pretty fascinating, and it brought back memories of planting and hilling potatoes by hand!!!! I'm sure the farmer was laughing at us!

Then we were off to a quilt show in the afternoon. We only found out about it because we had been to Threads That Bind the day before, or was that two days ago? I'm not going to share photos because I want to share them with my Monday group, but if you have time today, you have to check it out. It's in Feversham, hosted by the Grey County Charmers Quilt Club. 

The theme of the quilt show

Now here is the interesting thing. This group has hosted a quilt show for each of the last four years. And each year, the theme has been very specific. Last year, it was all about log cabin quilts (I vaguely remember someone telling me about that show), and I wish I could have seen it. This year was quilting through the decades. Three ladies organize the show (I think it's three). Anyway, their theme idea is BRILLIANT. I thought the show was so amazing, and it was fun to see how the quilters interpreted the decade they chose. Sometimes it was the pattern, the fabric, the style, and some even modernized their quilts. 

It was truly fascinating, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We got stuck behind a combine (at this time of year?), and it took a bit longer to get home than planned. But what fun and what fun to see the quilts and discuss them with the group of five that went!!!

OK -- now let's check out what I've managed to get done in the last 24 hours. 

As I was digging through my project bag, I discovered another bag of HSTs that need to be sewn. Seriously?? This bag has been hanging around for quite some time because of the fabric it contains. These cutoffs were from a series of pineapple quilt blocks that I made eons ago. I made three quilts from this fabric collection, and they are all quilted, and I think one of them was donated at some point. 

And another bag of HSTs 

I pulled out my knitting and was prepared to get to work, only to discover that I didn't remember how to bind off and join the blocks. I searched online and found the technique—Three-needle bind-off—, but somehow that didn't seem right, since I only had one needle with live stitches, which wasn't going to work. I tried a few suggestions from the master knitters in the room, but nothing worked. 

HMMM - now what?

I had a small book that includes 54 different ways to cast on and cast off, but was the book in the knitting bag? Of course it was not, and it wasn't in my bookcase when I went through the books. It had better be in the cupboard where the knitting bag was, or I'll be buying a new one! Or maybe the library has it. I must check first when I get home. Since I couldn't work on that project, I took the bag to the car. Mind you, there were three other knitting projects in the bag that I could have worked on, but I really wanted to finish my afghan. Next time!!! Or that could be a great job for the gazebo. 

The knitting bag was moved to the car.

Speaking of knitting, I spotted this little knitting instruction book for making World Cup players here at the house!!!! The players on the front of the book are generic, but all the team jerseys' instructions were in the book. Also, a pattern for a soccer ball! The figures were attached to a knitted glove, so you can make them move! Super cute, but it's still on the table for someone else to pick up!

Instructions for knitting World Cup players

I managed to get my eight poinsettia blocks done and sewn together!!! 

Poinsettia blocks - DONE

And I got all the appliques cut for the sledding block. WAIT -- I'm still missing the trees and a dog. I'll get those done when I'm home. 

Applique shapes - DONE

Then it was on to another small handwork project that had been sitting at home for months. Actually, this was started years ago, and I'm almost done. I have this pile of paper pieced Christmas ornaments. I needed to sew three bells on three of the Santa ornaments. And I had to use a Pigma pen to draw the eyes and mouth. Seriously?? Why has that sat for so long? 

Santa face - DONE

So now the six Santa mittens are complete!!!

The six Santa ornaments - DONE

I had four snowman mittens, and they needed a face. The pattern said to use seed beads. Seriously?? How much work is that? So I used the Pigma pen and drew eyes and a mouth. Those smiles are very wide, but that's OK - those snowmen are happy!

Happy snowman ornaments - DONE

And the last one to finish is the birdhouse, where I'm supposed to sew a bird button on its roof. However, I did not bring a bird button with me. Good grief!! 

The last one to finish

There is a whole bag of ornaments that are completely done. Now that I have one small thing to do to complete the entire pile, what the heck am I going to do with them? I need to find a Christmas bizarre!!

The other completed ornaments.

This coming week will be busy, but I'm going to leave all these almost finished projects out, and I WILL get them done. I need to get them out of Studio B. They just add clutter and are so close to being finished!!!!

I managed to get five more raindrops removed from the Cherrywood Challenge. Two of them were small, and with the narrower stitching, they are a challenge, but they are gone!!!

Progress on applique removal

This morning, I pulled out some new things to work on. It's mostly the stuff that I panic-packed, and I'm glad I brought them. There is one quilt top and three bags of scraps in the retreat bag that I likely will not touch this time, but that's OK. I should be able to make progress on everything else! 

I had some sewing and cutting to do this morning, and decided to leave that one bag of HSTs on the cutting table. These units are sewn and pressed, but need to be trimmed. So every time I went into the cutting room, I trimmed four. 

Trimming HSTs

I trimmed quite a few, but didn't take a picture of the total pile. I have no idea where these came from - some project that doesn't ring a bell. Perhaps someone gave them to me. But look at them -- there is a seam in the light. And these are trimmed to 1 1/4". I need my head examined! This is the LAST pile that I will ever work on that is smaller than 1 1/2"  

There are two seams in these!!!

Then it was onto the next project. I go to a few trade shows and events a year and have never made myself a name tag. So I'm using the By Annie Call Me pattern. It's actually a place to put cards, phone, name tag, etc. I had the supplies sitting out for a long time, and it's on my Visual To-do list. This seemed like a good time to make it with Quilt Canada coming up next month. 

Some parts were cut, and others were not. So I got it all cut and quilted, and then cut the quilted section into the proper sizes.  

Supplies for the Call Me pattern 

By Annie.com Shepatterns use all sorts of material types, and there is a vinyl pocket so you can see the name badge through it. When I put the binding on that pocket, I had to sew it onto tissue paper to prevent the vinyl from sticking to the sewing machine bed. 

The binding on the vinyl pocket

And a word of caution -- when cutting, make sure your instructions are not under the fabric. I nipped the corner off the written instructions. 

Oops -- the corner got nicked off.

However, when I went to put the zipper in, I realized that I had an invisible zipper. Seriously??? Why? And I didn't bring any fold-over elastic with me. So I have only the bias binding to finish right after this, and then I have to put it away until I get home. Good grief!!!! That's what happens when you don't check the list of supplies before you pack up a project to bring to a retreat. But I had the right thread colors! 

But I have several other bag projects with me, and I'll work on them until I run out of some critical component, and then I'll finish them at home this coming week. I also have a couple of things to complete for the June wedding, and I hope to work on that today as well. There are three new things to make and one to fix. All are small, but we know that no project is completed in the allotted time frame!!!

Remember the person who was making HSTs with the paper? She had to rip the paper from all of them, but it's done, and the HSTs got turned into a table runner.

Removing paper from the HSTs

And on that happy note, it's time to get back to work. We are going out for breakfast this morning, but there is NOTHING else on the agenda. Thank goodness. We seem to have done a lot of traveling around to various things, and we've had a couple of visitors. Someone came to pick up a couple of books yesterday! 

And then tomorrow is the last day. But I still have time to work on projects, and I'm going to get as much done as I can. 

We all know that what happens at retreat, stays at retreat. I can't thank my friends enough for making each of us feel comfortable sharing almost everything! That says so much about who your friends are and who you spend time with. We are a small group (6), but boy, oh boy—we work well together. No drama and a high level of security—that makes me feel very happy!!!! And I'm thrilled to know I'm not alone in so many areas!!! Thanks, everyone!!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

The Saskatoon Quilt Show

I love how some of you ALSO had to dust those knick-knacks! I can hardly wait for this morning to do my job! 

OH MY GOSH --- The Saskatoon Quilters Guild Show. What can I say—it was a fantastic show, and I am so glad I decided to come. It was the BEST (by far) of any guild show that I have ever been to, and I've been to a fair number. Why? Well, I'll tell you shortly. 

I stopped by the apartment for a little bit before I left, as I had some time to kill before I needed to go. I am ALMOST done binding the second side of that hexagon quilt, and I should get it done this morning as I'll be at the apartment for most of the day, although I have more visiting this afternoon. 

I had a few errands in the morning as well, and ran into another cousin. Actually, she recognized me and we had a quick chat as she was opening up the place where she works. What fun to catch up with everyone in person. 

The plan yesterday was to meet up with Brenda for lunch. Brenda found me online and has followed my blog for a bit, and is now in one of my online classes. We had a grand chat over lunch, and it always amazes me how easily perfect strangers can have a meaningful conversation about so many things. Yet, it's so hard sometimes to have meaningful conversations with people we've known for many years. 

Brenda and me

This is a picture of Brenda and me, and in the background you can see Cathy's quilt—the Tula Pink Butterfly. Cathy took that class online with me, but she custom quilted it on her long arm, and well, the quilting and the quilt are spectacular. She won first place in her category, and it is well deserved. Congratulations to Cathy, and it's so lovely to meet you, Brenda!!! 

What was so funny is that Brenda is from Calgary, and, like me, happened to be in town for the show. She was there by accident at the same time as the show, while mine was planned. I haven't met some of the people from my online classes who live closer to me! It's a small world. 

While we were at lunch at the Prairie Ink restaurant at McNally Booksotre (a must-stop for any trip to Saskatoon), we spotted two ladies wearing these pants and figured they were heading to the show or had already been there. 

Patchwork pants

Roomy pocket

They were super funky, stitched with a serger with exposed seams, and large, roomy pockets to store all your stuff. I LOVE them, but they didn't make them; they purchased them somewhere. I want to say Las Vegas? But I could be wrong. There was so much to take in yesterday that my brain was about to explode. 

If the wearer of the pants is reading this, thanks so much for letting me post the picture!!!! No way to put flashing lights around the pictures, but I love those pants!!!

Here is the guild banner that greeted us as we walked into the building. The show is at Prairieland, and the venue is massive. The entrance fee is $15, but for what we got in return, it was well worth the price. PLUS, they took cash or card. Now that's civilized, since I rarely carry cash, but I made specific arrangements to have some money on hand. 

The guild banner

But this is what you see when you walk in. The floor is carpeted, the lighting is pretty decent, and the hall is enormous, with WIDE aisles between rows of quilts hanging on black pipe and drape. It does NOT have the feel of a guild show. I was stunned and overwhelmed before I even saw one quilt. 

What you see when you walk in

 I noticed a few ladies grabbing the corner of a quilt and lifting it to see the back. WAIT -- is that allowed? Then I realized that every quilt had a clothespin attached to one corner, so you could grab it and flip the quilt over to see the back. Now, what a simple idea that completely eliminated the need for gloves. 

A clothespin to lift the corner of the quilt

 Not to brag or anything, but these prairie girls are SMART. Does that count for me since I grew up in this area? 

There were many categories of quilts, and there were a lot of ribbons. I don't know the details of how that worked, but I loved that they had a category especially for Machine Embroidery quilts. I took pictures of all of them to share with my machine embroidery club. I just thought that was a brilliant idea—a lot more work, but well worth it to display the items and add to the diversity of the show. 

I spotted a Boho Heart quilt—this was not made in my class, but I love seeing how others handled the same quilt. I see she added extra at the top of the heart, just like we did! 

And there was a Long Time Gone (previously known as Gypsy Wife) as well. An unusual color palette and very busy backgrounds. Again, this was not someone in my class, so it was interesting to see another colorway that was totally different from anything from my class participants. I love the wave of color. 

I took many other pictures —how does one choose which ones to post? The quilts were stunning, and the featured quilter's quilts were amazing. Debora Barlow is a very accomplished quilter. As mentioned, there was so much to see that it was overwhelming. 

Thankfully, I had some diversions. I ran into Cathy and Jocelyn, who I know from my classes. And I've met Cathy many times now -- in the airport, at Quilt Canada. Cathy is everywhere! But I also got to meet more of her sisters, and we had a good chat. 

Then I ran into a longtime friend (you can't say "old" friend) and we sat down and had a good chat, since I hadn't seen her in a long time. Susan is the one I met because of the barn quilt they had on one of their outbuildings along the highway! That was so many years ago! So much fun catching up, and I knew she would be there —how to connect? She spotted me (orange flowers in the hair) and sent me a text, which I missed, so she called me. 

It is such a small world!!! I chatted to Debora for a bit as well and bought some raffle tickets—maybe I'll be lucky. If not, it supports the guild, which is terrific. I even considered joining the guild since they have a hybrid component to their meetings. 

There was only one thing that disappointed me, and it had nothing really to do with the guild. There was a demo area set up so professionally, with large TV screens and cameras. Very impressive. The topic was machine embroidery on quilts, so I thought I would see something spectacular or perhaps glean a new idea or two. The demo was given by one of the vendors, and well, all she did was show a couple of kits that she makes to sell. She didn't even have any of the quilts in the demo because they were hanging in their booth.

That was disappointing, BUT I ran into some of the ladies who have been in my classes at The Sewing Machine Store, so we had a good chat. And well, something bad came out of that conversation. NO ONE is allowed to yell at me, but I might take on another small job. It's just opening up another club, so that's one hour a month. There is a HUGE need for this kind of thing, and all that would be required of me is to book the monthly hour, load pictures into a presentation, and moderate it. I LOVE that kind of thing, and well, I think I'm going to do it. I even have an idea of where that extra hour will come from without adding to my schedule. I'm good! 

Thank goodness the show was open until 6:30. As a vendor, I would have been so exhausted, but it was nice to be on the other side of things for a change. I could sit down, leave, or do whatever I wanted. So I managed to check out some of the vendors. I actually have to thank Susan for saving me some money, because I had just stepped into the first booth when she called me, so I had less time to spend! 

A friend back home has been looking for bread fabric, and I knew it existed because I'm sure I have a small piece. Well, guess what I found? Yep --- that's bread fabric - it's sideways, but many kinds of bread. So, a quick text: I am bringing a meter of that home with me. 

Bread fabric

One booth had ALL of the Legit Kits for sale. Now, why would anyone want a giant pickle quilt? I guess you have to really like pickles. I suppose it would be suitable for your kitchen. It is kind of funky, but would I make it? Probably not. 

The giant pickle quilt

I did make a few purchases, but I didn't take pictures of anything yet. I'll likely do that when I unpack when I get home. I tried to be good and I was. 

I had a good, long chat with the staff at The Sewing Machine store, and that could bring me some more work—we'll see how it goes. Not that I'm looking for work, but I'm so passionate about what I do that I can't help but share what I know! That's just me!!! But nothing in the immediate future. 

I left the show at 6:30!!! Oh boy—it was a long day, it was exhausting, but I am so fired up. I wish I could be home right now so I could sew all day!!!! I did not join the guild, but I can always join when I get home. I need to think about that, and I might consider it for later. I'll see. I don't belong to any guild for specific reasons, and I know those reasons exist within this guild. Too much politics!!!

Whenever I'm at the bookstore, I always check out the quilts on the balcony. Here are a few —they are amazing. 

Not that I need to add another quilt to my list of quilts to make, I love this one. It's a pixelated double wedding ring. Can you imagine making this with scraps? I have the perfect box of scraps. Does anyone know what pattern this is? I tried a quick search this morning, but didn't find anything, and the way it's hanging, I can't get a better picture. 

Pixelated double wedding ring quilt

This is another great scrap quilt. I love it, and what a great way to use up scraps. It looks like plaid, but it's pieced!!! 

A "plaid" quilt

And this alphabet quilt was also cute. I think the pattern's name was on the label. I'll have to check that out more when I get home. 

Alphabet quilt

While I don't want to start a new scrap club because I don't have time for that, I was considering running a one-hour (or perhaps slightly longer) workshop with the "best of" scrap patterns and practices. Would anyone be interested in attending? OK -- we will make this happen, so watch for more details -- I just need to remember to book that when I get home. 

And on that note (don't yell at me), I'm out of here. It seems warmer this morning by 12 degrees, so it's practically balmy!!! 

I can't wait to dust those teapots!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

PS -- I think DH was in his glory watching another amazing game—the first in the World Series on the TV instead of his phone!!! So glad that saga is over. 

PSS -- One other observation. I don't recall seeing many quilted jackets. Hmmmmm, I wonder why? 

Use your ART

I jumped out of the frying pan (education week) into a weekend of teaching classes! The two classes went fine yesterday; I have two clubs this morning. Then I'll spend the rest of the day sending homework and Zoom links, and I should be good. 

I didn't get much done after the clubs as I was tired (I wonder why?), and I sat and read a book for a bit (after my walk, of course), and I was in bed early! But today is another day, and lots of exciting stuff to share. Today, it's all about machine embroidery and software. This is where we get to share what we are working on, and it's always inspiring! I love seeing what the others are up to. Even better, they aren't afraid to try new things. We are learning good habits from each other, and it's a worthwhile way to spend the morning! 

Lots of learning! 

This was the moon yesterday morning when I walked one of the girls. The sky is a lot lighter than when I was away!

The moon was still out

Then I needed something from my suitcase for one of the classes and guess who was trying to see if there was something for her. Sorry Murphy, there is nothing in the suitcase for you!

MOM -- I smell chocolate!

Sadly, most of the stuff is still sitting in the hallway. I take down a bit at a time, but there are already many things in Studio B that need to be sorted out, so I want to get that put away before I bring more down. Maybe today! 

I was walking in the afternoon and passed by a building where a grocery store used to be. Thank goodness this store moved as it's the same parking lot where my bank and dentist are, and the parking lot was a disaster. It needed to be bigger, and you could never get parking. OK -- so it didn't matter to me since I walked there. 

But I laughed when I spotted this. Four lonely jars of something (olives?) are perched on the windowsill. Do they think someone will want to eat those? Why weren't they thrown out when they cleared out the store? 

Four jars of something in an empty store

So when I got back, the sun was out, the chairs in the living room are completely clear, and DH offered me a book to read that he had just finished. I succumbed to the temptation. Why not? 

Of course, the girls were there as well. Lexi was on the floor grooming herself. Miss Particular! 

Lexi is grooming herself

Murphy was busy chewing a bone in her raised bed. She pulled that small blanket out of her bed. What's this here for? 

Murphy is chewing a bone

Then one of them got the idea to play, so they started entertaining us because we needed to pay attention to them! 

I'm NOT noticing you!

Notice how they pretend to not notice each other? Oh no -- they know exactly what the other is doing. They're watching out of the corner of their eyes to see who will make the first move! 

I'm always going on about if you have something beautiful and like it, you need to use it. So - this is sitting on my kitchen counter for fruit and veggies. 

My fruit and veggie bowl

And now, my beautiful glass bowl is taking over. Now I'll get to remember that fabulous workshop and week every day!! 

My new fruit and veggie bowl

Good grief -- I had the setting wrong on my camera all day and took LONG pictures instead of the regular size. Oops!

I was flipping through Facebook last night and saw a video of Gurdeep (the radio announcer for CHFI) chatting about his experience on Flair Airlines. He was on his way home from Cancun, and the plane had to make a sudden dive as the mechanism for cabin pressure so you can breathe malfunctioned. They had to use oxygen masks for 45 minutes until they got low enough. Check out the link from CBC. It's pretty scary; people were recording messages to their loved ones, thinking they wouldn't make it. Some people said they got an initial notification about what was happening but nothing further. HMMM -- maybe the crew had more important things to do? Like trying to save the lives of everyone on board? 

Most of one presentation is finished for this morning, and I need to take a couple of pictures for the other one. I swear I had already taken the pictures, but I guess not since I don't see them on my phone or my filing system. Oh well --- I'll go back and quickly get them. 

I also have a list of upcoming quilt shows that I'll try to put on the blog. For the moment, here's the first one you should have marked in your calendar. The dates are March 24 and 25. Be sure to mark it on your calendar to get out to see the show. Don't wait until the day before, as you'll likely be doing something. Make it a priority! 

Etobicoke Quilt Show

Going to a local quilt show is a good outing, a good way to see what's going on in our neighborhood, support the local guild, and take pictures of quilts you like (quilting that you like or dislike). There are LOTS of reasons to go!! I hope to get there, but I have classes smack in the middle of the day on both days, but I might be able to get there first thing on Friday morning. I won't have time to visit, but I'll have time to see the quilts. 

Well, it's time to get the day started!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Face to face

 If you follow the blog for photos -- there are none today! Not because I didn't take any, but because I can't decide which ones to use! And I can't believe some people love my girls more than me! I'm kidding -- they are much cuter than I am, and it's more entertaining when they jump up on the couch than if I do it! I get that! Those attention-stealers! 

I'm back on my laptop at the end of Ontario, and I'll deal with the photos tomorrow. Yes -- I'm in Windsor, Ontario, this morning. More on that in a minute. 

I picked Kathi up and headed off to the York Heritage Quilt Show. There is something about this guild that produces some amazing quilts. Don't get me wrong -- we've seen beautiful quilts at other shows, but let's just say there were some lovely quilts. 

I took a ton of photos, including the labels! So when I post pictures, I can give credit to the maker. I soon lost Kathi when I couldn't move far because of spotting people I knew and chatting with them. Yes -- I met so many people I haven't seen in a long time. I've seen some of them on Zoom, some of whom I have had little or no contact with since the pandemic, and with others, our paths haven't crossed in several years.

There were others that I've seen recently as well. The show was well organized, and lots of people to help (or so it seemed). The quilts were hung beautifully, and there were vendors galore! I bought one thing which is still in the car, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow to share it with you. 

Lots of inspiration! I noticed that several of their members were going to give a lecture, and I happened upon the one when I was there. Her name was Chriss Coleman, and I saw many of her quilts throughout the show. Her technique is something that I LOVE. Lots of improv and little pieces. 

I decided to stay for the lecture, and I'm glad I did. Chriss is quite entertaining, but a crazy person -- just like me! I have to laugh as I thought to myself several times -- where do these ideas come from. And then realize that you have to let them escape your brain. And the only way to do that is to sit at a sewing machine with fabric, a rotary cutter, and a mat and sew!! The ideas will escape but ONLY if you let them! Chriss has no problems allowing those ideas to escape, which showed in her work. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. 

I have to say that we crossed the city in the morning in less than 40 minutes. OK -- so we weren't all the way across the city, but there was very little traffic, at least in our direction. It took a bit longer to come home. And we saw MANY lanes of traffic jam in the opposite direction, so it was a good day! 

I was back home by 2 PM, which was my plan, and I needed to finish packing and prepare myself for my drive. Packing was pretty easy once I set my mind to it. Just grab the most interesting samples and dump the rest - to be sorted and packed away later this coming week. 

I had a long nap as I had not slept well the night before, and then DH and I went out for an early dinner. 

The weather is still nice, although it is cooler this morning and will become much cooler as the week progresses. We had some rain yesterday, and I was a bit worried -- rain and driving in the dark is NOT my strong point. 

However, I had prepared well, and I was on the road by 6 PM, intending to get halfway to Windsor, which is a three-and-a-half-hour drive. By the time I got to my goal, I was still feeling great, so I continued and made it all the way to Windsor with one short pit stop. That is NOT like me at all! I was happy to get here last night, so I didn't have to drive this morning. 

The traffic was great, the roads were in excellent condition, and the rain stopped as I got closer to my destination. Actually, it wasn't raining, more of a mist. The other drivers behaved themselves, although I did realize that a cop passed me when he put on his flashing lights to stop a driver that had sped by. 

Why did I enjoy the drive? I'm deep into this gruesome book. OK -- so that says a lot about me, doesn't it! I'm not so keen on the narrator, but she's OK. But the book is another thriller, and I'm enjoying it, and I'm sure that's why I wasn't tired a bit. 

In case you want a gruesome read, the book is called Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo. 

The one thing I realized when I arrived was that I had forgotten my darn phone charger. Why is that? I will have to pack the darn thing in my backpack and leave it there or make a note. Thankfully, my phone was plugged into the car on the way down, so I should be good all day. But still --- I never used to do that, and now I'm messing up every trip!

This is a noisy hotel, so thankfully, I'm only here for one night. I must have slept well because I had dreams that I remember, and none of them were gory!

I got an e-mail this morning from The Quilt Show advertising their new Block of the Month for next year. I just shake my head and laugh. Guess whose fabrics are included in the quilt? Yep --- that would be Tula and Kaffe. I swear that no one is original anymore when picking fabrics. Add Tula or Kaffe, make a kit, and it will sell. There are so many beautiful collections, so why does everyone gravitate to those designers? I don't get it. We've become sheep! 

Well, I hope to get some geocaching in before I need to get to the store. There goes my battery!

OH -- Kathi and I chatted about the classes, and we came up with some scheduling ideas, so watch for that next week. It's all figured out!!!! Thanks, Kathi!

Don't forget that the York Heritage Quilt Show is this weekend. Today is the LAST day, and well worth your time!

I'll be at Thimble Quilts and Sewing Company in Windsor TODAY. I'll be demoing machines and techniques from 10 - 4 PM, so drop in if you live in that area. It should be a fun day. I've got samples to show, and I have a couple of fun projects I'll be working on during the day! 

November 15, I'll be at Pins & Needles in Listowel, where I'll be hosting two seminars on quilting, so if you live close by, be sure to get signed up for that!

And as if that isn't enough, I'm running a four-part ZOOM session on mySewnet (hosted by Stitch by Sitch in Kingston), which includes the software, Wi-FI connectivity in the embroidery/sewing world and explaining what it's all about as it can be very confusing. I had to have it explained to me at least three times before I totally grasped the concept. The first session is on Monday, November 14. Even if you are not in the market for embroidery or (GASP) own a different brand of machine, this is going to be loads of fun to discover how the industry has changed! 

Next week, watch for the list of clubs I will host in 2023. I know what they are; I just need to schedule dates in my calendar, and I hope to do that this weekend! You can refer to this blog post if you can't remember what they are. Scroll down to the end --- in reality, there are only four new ones --- EQ8, Digital Cutters, the Jen Kingwell remedial class, and the Many Blocks project. Others, like the UFO Club, embroidery club, and Out of the Box, will continue, and at this point, there are NO or minimal spots open for 2023. You'll get the info next week. 

And that's a wrap for today! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

The eleventh quilt is done!

Oh my gosh!!! I'm so excited!!!! The eleventh quilt for Quilts of Valour came off the long arm last night, trimmed and ready to be bound!

The last of the grouping of eleven quilts for Quilts of Valour

I feel like I've just run a marathon and beat my personal best! I'm excited about accomplishing so much in a relatively short time. Yes --- there was a reason the Camino sent me home early. Perhaps I didn't need to walk the entire thing to learn about myself! 

I now have a binding marathon ahead of me, but that's OK. Binding (by machine) is somewhat relaxing, and it doesn't take long to get a finished quilt, which is always a sense of accomplishment. 

I got one more of the quilts bound this morning. 

Quilt number 7 is now bound -- four to go

And that leaves four of the eleven to bind. And then all eleven can be delivered!! I will forge ahead and try to complete these this weekend. Wouldn't that be nice to get these out of my house and into the hands of a veteran? I think so! I have to say that I will need a break from these -- getting everything prepped, quilted, trimmed, and bound has been intense, so it will be nice to quilt something (customer quilts) and not have such before and after prep. 

Four more quilts to bind

And I THANK Diane profusely for prepping the binding in my figure eight, so it's easy to sew on. No twisting and no further prep on my part. That is so easy to do but makes the sewing on of the binding so easy. If you want to do the same with your binding, there's a video in this blog post to show you how. Check it out --- it's so easy! 

And have you noticed how far away from the edge of the table my sewing machine is? Good grief -- there's practically a foot in front. Now, why is that? 

Figure eight for binding

I still have the RCMP quilt to bind, but I now have fabric. When I unearthed that partially completed QofV quilt -- the one I designed, I found a yard of binding fabric, half for that quilt and half for the RCMP quilt. And after that -- I will have bits of Canadian fabric left to make one quilt backing and the bag of scraps, which is going to Cathy to make improv blocks. Yes --- the light at the end of this tunnel is BLINDINGLY bright! 

The RCMP quilt needs binding

I still haven't finished the binding on my sweatshirt, so I hope to accomplish that this weekend. 

The sweatshirt needs binding

And I pulled one more small quilt to make a round number of ten, and I want to finish the binding on the first group. I aim to get all 41 or 43 bound and out of the house SOON. That task will have to fit in here and there as I need to start prepping homework, more samples, etc., for October and November, which will be busy months. Not crazy busy (I hope), just busy!

Ten small quilts to be bound

Lorraine asked if I couldn't speed up the quilting process by doubling up those small quilts' backing (on the long arm). And YES --- that would help, but the problem is that most of the backings in this first round were pieced individually. For the next batch, I'm going to hold back the backings (I have HUGE yardage for the next round), and I'll have Diane piece the tops so I can use the yardage and hopefully quilt two or three at the same time -- either sideways or lengthwise -- depending). 

But the larger ones must be done separately or depending on the backing; I could do two, one after the other, as I did with two Oh Canada quilts. Thanks for that, Lorraine --- it just didn't work out this time, but when I saw all that flannel yardage I pulled, the light bulb went on. We didn't have that luxury in the first round! Well, the luxury or the smarts!

So yesterday, Kathi and I zipped off to the Brant Heritage Quilt Show, which was in a hotel convention center. And we ran into Katheleen, Ruth, Helen Anne, and Lynn. It's so nice to see people in PERSON again! 

And at a quilt show. I found the perfect quilt for me!

A very orange quilt

Here's the label, which has an interesting story. It was her first sampler quilt that she started years ago with traditional blocks, as you can see above. Then she completed it with some modern blocks. I should have asked the white glove ladies to open it up so we could see the entire quilt. Shoot --- if anyone goes today --- can they get a FULL picture of this quilt and send it to me? 

The label for the orange quilt

Gwen?? Can you help out? 

I hate to show pictures of people's quilts when I don't have their information to give them credit --- I am bad sometimes, but I spotted some attractive quilting. And yes, there was the usual suspect -- the local longarm quilter who quilted numerous quilts we saw. Although some of this work was done by the quiltmaker or other long-arm quilters. 

This first one must have been done on a computerized long arm -- the lines are too perfect. But I thought it was interesting to have that motif in a different color, so it really stands out. I CAN do that with my long arm -- I'm just not good at it yet. 

Interesting quilting

This was the perfect quilt to practice quilting. I LOVE going to shows and taking pictures of the quilting, NOT the quilts. This quilting is very SIMPLE, yet highly effective and extremely well done! I suspect it was done freehand. 

Each row has a different quilt motif

I love how each of the backgrounds of each block of this next quilt was quilted with a different pattern. So neat, and I love the pattern in the bottom right-hand corner. VERY easy to do.

Different quilting patterns in each block

And here's a great example of refrigerator coil quilting, but look how wide that border is! A great effect!!! Miter those corners by drawing a single reference line before you start to quilt, and it will be perfect every time! 

Refrigerator coil quilting

I LOVED the welcome banners that greeted you as you walked down the hall to the show. The welcome signs were made in different languages, and this one is Ukrainian. They were beautiful and made me feel very welcome. I forgot to take a picture of the entire grouping! 

Welcome banner in Ukrainian

This quilt was inside the display room, and it's in honor of the indigenous people, but I do NOT believe that word means welcome. But I'm unable to find a translation. Perhaps someone can help? 

All lives matter panel quilt

I looked at the vendors and the quilter's boutique, and there was lots of eye candy, but honestly, I didn't buy one thing! How can I justify buying something when I'm trying desperately to get rid of what I have? I am NOT against buying but will only buy to help use up something I have, like a border or a background. 

I did support their tombola (the draws for finished items or kits). I bought a couple of dollars worth of tickets, and should I win something, I picked things I could find a home for! They did have some very NICE prizes! 

OH --- the other thing they had was a president's challenge, and they had to use all of these items (see below) in their piece, which was small. I LOVE this challenge, and if you get a chance to participate in one --- you MUST. Oh my gosh --- that would be so fun to organize one. I could prep small kits so they wouldn't cost much to mail, and anyone who wanted one -- I could send it to you! Thoughts??

The rules of the challenge

And here's what each of them had to work with. I'm NOT going to share the photos --- you must go and check it out yourself, but the quilts were extremely creative, and since they were small --- it wasn't a big deal to get them done!!! What a fun project. 

Items that had to be used in the challenge pieces

Then Kathi and I went to lunch, and I snapped this photo in the restaurant in case we forgot where we were. That was a lighted sign, in case you can't pick that up in the picture!

OK -- so it's time for a foot update. I have no idea what is happening to my feet, but I will say that the toenail is gone. How did that happen? Well, it was such a nice day that I decided to take Murphy for a walk in the afternoon. Lexi was in the backyard, and she wouldn't know that we were gone; otherwise, she would also beg for a walk. 

I was going down a small incline in the forest, and we happened to be passing another dog that Murphy desperately wanted to get close to. I dug in my toes (on the incline) to control that lunatic dog, and I could feel that SPOT on my toes hitting the top of my shoe, just like the day it happened. I thought that the toenail was a goner at that point. Sure enough, when I got home, I took off my shoes and socks, and it was literally hanging by nothing. So it's gone. I'll spare you the gory details, but the new one is there -- ugly as sin, but there. 

But here's the deal about my toes --- they are all peeling on the bottom. I propped my foot on the bathroom counter to see the bottoms in the mirror, and almost all of the underside of the toes is peeling skin. Even where I didn't have blisters. So they must have had some damage as well? Calluses that are falling off? I've no idea, but I feel like I need a good foot spa --- just soaking the darn things for days, slathering them in cream, and wearing socks for days to make them soft and smooth again. They don't hurt, so I'm not concerned. 

But Miss Murphy thinks she must help them by licking them when I take my socks off. She's insistent, so I try to keep my socks ON! 

However, when I got home with her, I got caught. DH had let Lexi in, and she was waiting at the door with this expectant look on her face -- where's MY walk? And so I had to take her for a walk. Now the thing with dogs -- they can't tell time or, I should say, the duration of time, so I was able to do a short walk through the forest, and she was happy! 

Lexi, on her afternoon walk

I have a customer quilt waiting to be loaded on the long arm today, and then I'll tackle that stack of bindings. It feels good to switch gears today and work on something different! I did NOT finish my physical book last night -- I was too tired, but it's called The Cemetary Keeper's Wife by Maryann McFadden. We haven't been able to find it electronically, but it's a good book if you can find it. I'm giving my copy to someone when I'm done. 

The audiobook I'm currently reading is called The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan  --- it's got a very twisted plot, and I feel for the main character who is systematically destroying her life as she tries to save her mother. It will keep me entertained while I bind quilts today!

OH -- and don't forget to check out the last day for QUILTsocial!!!  There are some tips for quilting your quilts!!!!

On that note, I've got e-mails to write, phone calls to make, and quilts to bind! I'd better get myself organized and get to work! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!