The Virtual Retreat

 OK -- I promise that tomorrow, I'll get started on all the homework photos. I have things to share with you from the Virtual Retreat. 

What fun we had! We got to meet Barb from Maryland!  Lots of familiar faces that stretched across the country and over to Germany. We discovered MANY things, including there's an imposter amongst us! That's all I'm going to say about it, except that we had a good laugh over it. 

We talked about everything and anything, including the FitBit and what it tracks and do they do anything with the data. Sheepherding dogs, quilting, tornados, and how to save the world! You had to be there! Because of the widespread heat (at least in our part of the world), it was a perfect day to be inside and sew. 

The next Virtual Retreat is scheduled for July 24 and 25, so be sure to mark that on your calendar. 

I'm happy to report that I didn't need the seam ripper, but that doesn't mean I didn't make mistakes. And the mistake happened for a reason! Well, besides the fact that I was yakking and NOT paying attention to what I was supposed to do. 

One of the tasks on The Task Master list for the week was finishing off these arrow blocks for the Urbanologie quilt. We need to make five of them. 

An arrow for the Urbanologie quilt

I had already made an error when trimming the units for the point, so they are not as pointy as they are supposed to be. I decided that I could live with that, so I sewed the points together. 

The points for the arrow blocks

Then I was making the feathers for the ends of the arrows. I sewed the squares on one set of components, trimmed and pressed them. Then I was onto the second set. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Ooops -- this is NOT right

A miscut!! OK -- so this calls for drastic measures. I've decided to redo the darn components for the ends of the arrows. It shouldn't be that big of a deal. I was avoiding doing that because I have limited fabric resources to finish the quilt. I think these mistakes call for cutting all the focus pieces for the rest of the blocks and see how much I have left or not. Then I found a shop that carries a lot of Tula Pink, not sure if they have Elizabeth or not, and if not, I have a friend who has some of the Elizabeth. I'll make this quilt happen!! As someone pointed out, probably ANY Tula Pink fabric can be substituted. And she's right! Get over it!

After that little fiasco, I decided that I needed to work on simple things, so I got the shaft part of the arrow done. That was easy - two straight seams!

The shaft of the arrows is done!

The backing for the redwork quilt (Winter Wonderland) is now done, and this quilt got moved to the "to be quilted" pile. 

Backing, binding, and quilt top - DONE

Then onto the next simple thing - the borders on the Kimberbell, Hello Sunshine. I do LIKE that yellow/green border fabric. So that top is done - well, not quite. I'll explain in a minute. OH - and because the cutting table is pretty clear, it was easy as pie to cut and pin those borders on. 

Hello Sunshine by Kimberbell

I went through my stash of backing fabrics and found something that was appropriate. It might not have been a perfect choice, but there was JUST enough fabric on this bolt, and now that bolt is gone off the shelf. That was perfect enough in my mind. 

An empty bolt

These flowers are for the All in a Row quilt. I'm making two different quilts from the rows. The instructions said to cut the background for those flowers' outer and inner parts, but that looks silly. So I cut brown squares, and this new version looks a whole lot better. I managed to get ONE flower done, and all the leaves are done. So that was good. 

Flower blocks for the All in a Row quilt

Wait -- I'm not done! It was a very productive retreat. I finished the applique on the owls. This is also a row for the All in a Row quilt. Yeah!!! All the stabilizer is off the back, and I LOVE the owls. They are adorable. 

The owl row is also done!

As I shut things down last night, this is how the cutting table looked. It doesn't look like I got anything done, but this is "new" stuff. 

The cutting table last night

But the sewing table and the ironing board are in good shape!!!

Look at those empty surfaces!

But I tidied up a bunch of stuff on the cutting table this morning, and this is all that's left. These are the items that are going on The Task Master list for this week. I know it doesn't look like I'm making progress, but I am. I am closer to finishing all the prepped stuff, and none of these tasks will take that long. Each one could easily be finished in a day. The largest thing is putting a border on a quilt, making a binding, and the backing. That's easily done in a couple of hours. That might be a good task for Monday sewing this morning. 

The "list" of projects to be completed this week

There's still some prepped stuff, and this will take a while, but I'm using it mostly as enders and leaders. 

The last of the prepped stuff

So back to the Kimberbell quilt. Once the quilt is quilted, there are some embellishments to be added. This is the project box that was filled with tools and supplies for the Hello Sunshine quilt. No wonder I couldn't find my chenille brush in the box of chenille supplies. It's now put away. 

The project box for Hello Sunshine

Finishing the embellishments is on the list of things to do this week. I have some embroidery to do and some other fiddly stuff. But good grief -- why didn't I finish it before?? 

This is all that's left after I put stuff away

No worries - it's getting done now, and that's all that counts. 

And once all this stuff is done, there's still plenty waiting on the current projects table to keep me busy for the rest of the year. Isn't that crazy? All that stuff, and it's going to take at least ONE year to clear it all. And there's plenty more where this came from. Now I must admit that a few things did get added to the lists, and they were NOT on this table, but they got finished and put away. That's important. I AM going to make this happen! 

More stuff on the current projects table

Thanks to the support team at The Virtual Mission, I changed my route through Eastern Canada. I'm still walking through Nova Scotia, and it only added 20 extra KM to the total. I'm now going to take the bridge to get to PEI and the ferry off the other side. I won't get to Halifax, but I'm OK with that. 

The last 25% of my virtual walk across Canada

Don't forget to join the Facebook Live event tomorrow for the Spectrum Quilt A Long. There are PRIZES!!!!!   You can check out the rest of the details in yesterday's post. But here's the time and the date. 

And that's it for today!!!!  It's Monday sewing, and I'm going to tackle some of those projects on The Task Master for this week. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!! 

What's the password?

 Yesterday was supposed to be a carefree day. One presentation with the rest of the day free. Well, it didn't go so well. 

I know that I need to be more relaxed about computers, but I was so frustrated that I was ready to toss my laptop in the pond! 

You see, I have a program that wouldn't open last week. I clicked, and nothing. Well, I got an error message that it couldn't open. OK - so let's try to delete and reinstall. That didn't work - I got a different error message telling me that I didn't have the authorization to delete those files. 

After trying several times, I realized it's time to call for help. I spent some time with the help team of the software and with Microsoft. Did you know that someone can access your computer using Zoom? Now you have to have everything set up to make that happen, but one of the help sessions was over Zoom. I had no idea. This is NOT a security thing to get worried about - you have to invite them to your computer, give them access, etc. They cannot just pop into your computer. 

Well, let's just say that after a couple of hours, and I learned a LOT about computer administration and admin powers, my problem is NOT fixed. I was told that I have the mouth of a trucker! (OH -- that was NOT part of the help sessions - that was me in the kitchen by myself - trying to make it work) Oh my! I finally went for a long, long walk and while I still have the problem, I felt better!

Just so you can appreciate my frustration - once I was finished with Microsoft, they set up a new admin account on my laptop. That meant everything had to be redone. Passwords had to be re-entered, etc. I ended up going back to the old admin account - it was way better. I did NOT like the support person I spoke to. Anyway, at one point, I was asked to enter my password. Hey - I've got this because they are written in a little book. Well, I was asked to REENTER the password, and it wouldn't take it. Seriously? I just entered the password, and you liked that - so why take it the second time? 

Then I tried to change the password, and of course, it doesn't like when you try to use the old ones. Needless to say, passwords and I do NOT get along. Yes - I get it that someone can get into your account, but with all these autosaves of passwords, what's the point? I know - I know - security, but I could do just fine without passwords. 

I will say that I had another issue with my desktop, and Microsoft fixed that, so it wasn't a complete bust. And the software? I also have it on my desktop, so it's not like I can't access it. I just need it on my laptop at some point. 

I have some work that needs to be done today, but no presentations—lots of sewing and prepping for the weekend homework classes. 

I didn't get a lot of sewing done yesterday, but I do have some show and tell. 

I managed to get one more Snail's Trail blocks done. Oh yes - slow progress, but it's all progress. Soon, I'll have 48 of them, and I can move onto something else for the enders and leaders. I'm a wee bit behind on the sewing for these ongoing projects, but that's OK. I'm not that far behind, and everything is cut, and that's better than I've accomplished before. 

A Snail's Trail block

The inner border got put on this project, and the second side border is together. I have to sew those on and then add the two side borders. The top and bottom borders need to be pieced together, but that shouldn't take too long. I see another finish in sight! I now have a new incentive to get those UFOs from the Dirty Dozen lists done - at least as many as possible, and I have two months to do it. Sorry - I can't share with you my motivation, but it's HUGE. When I can share - I will.  You should know by now that it has something to do with a publication - Nuff said!

The inner border on a quilt

And I've been stalling on the barn block for the sew-along at Thimbles and Things. The deadline is TODAY - this morning! There are many pieces in this block, and I was balking at the thought of cutting and sewing them all. I'm also shrinking the blocks from the original size of 18" to 9", so I had to redraft the block. That part is easy - I use EQ8, and within five minutes, I had the block done. 

My partially completed block for the barn quilt sew along

Reconstructing blocks that you see is a great way to learn how to draw in EQ8. I think I might have the club recreate this one. Well, I made great headway on the block - it's almost together. I just need about 20 minutes more, and it will be done! One more thing off the plate for this month!!!

I tell you, the walk yesterday (and I talked to my Dad for a long, long time while I walked) was very therapeutic. I can't imagine not walking. I see I'm going to need new running shoes soon, but I'll wait until the lock-down is over. 

I'm logging my miles and checking my distances every day, and I love seeing my progress on the maps. I see several other people I know are doing the virtual challenges as well and it's inspiring. Here I am on my solo virtual walk across Canada. I'm in my old stomping grounds - Montreal!!

Progress on the virtual walk across Canada

Wow -- that's so exciting and hard to believe that I've walked the equivalent of that distance from Victoria to Montreal. Now I started in January of 2020, but still. I'm on track and will be in St. John's, Newfoundland, by the end of the year!!!

So did you take pictures and put your item up for sale?? I did get the pictures taken, and I ran out of time to put them online. That's a job for today. 

I sat in the gazebo for a bit, and YES - I took a small pile of paper with me. I also took the recycling bin. Gish -- bookmarks from quilt shows in 2014. More to-do lists and just junk. I think ONE piece of paper got saved. I'm going to try and do a bit more today. Every little bit that I clean up now is stuff that won't have to be cleaned up later. But the same way that I'm focusing downstairs - I need to do that here. I have piles that I'm sure I can finish in a day, and then months later, that half-sorted pile is still sitting there. Just pick one and FINISH it. 

I have another small pile to work on today, and then there's just one small pile left, and that container that I emptied is completely dealt with, so I'm trying!!!

I'm super focused on The Quilt Show. I'm addicted to the darn thing. See why I don't watch television? It's not that I don't like it - it's that I get addicted so easily. At least I'm learning something here, and it's on my laptop so I can keep sewing and rewinding. I now hate watching anything live because I can't rewind!! Remember Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero that I mentioned was in the audience? Well, I see she's the guest on one of the shows in the 500 series!!! I guess she was famous back then as well!

Today - let's go back to the kitchen table. Is your table clear? I do have a few things on the table that I need to clear - so that's going to be an easy task today!!

I've got an appointment at 9:30 at the sports medicine clinic (chiro), so I'd better get going - I don't want to be late for that. I have to say that my knee feels so much better because of relieving the pressure in my low back. Who knew? I need to keep at those stretches - they are definitely working, and I'm not limping around as I do my walk! It's amazing!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!