Makers gotta make!

Three nights into this trip and three different beds! 

After finishing the blog, I left M's house, got my stuff packed back into the car, and headed out to Tim's. OK -- so if you are from Toronto, there is a Tim's on every street corner. OK - perhaps not that bad, but there are three of them that I can walk to from our house. The maximum distance is probably 2 KM. Here? They are few and far between. There are loads of other options, but when you're in a hurry and not familiar with the terrain, you seek out what you know. 

At this location, they sold little buttons. It's Smile Cooke week, and if you want something permanent, you can get this. 

Smile Cookie buttons

It didn't take long to get to the airport because at 5 AM on a Sunday morning, there isn't much traffic. I returned the rental car, which was easy, but it takes time to get yourself organized. I had to get all my little bits out of the car and into my suitcase or my hand. I left the large bag at M's house as I don't need it for the next couple of days. 

A new art installation is happening in the main terminal. Several different totem pole sections - I'm not sure what it will look like, as there are large pieces still wrapped in plastic on the floor. 

A new art installation at the main airport

Once I got myself organized, ate the rest of my breakfast, and had my tea, it was time to get moving to the next destination. I had to take the shuttle bus to the seaplane dock. It's quite a distance from the main terminal, and I wasn't sure how often it ran, especially on Sunday morning. But the shuttle was sitting at the curb, and shortly after I got on, it departed. 

The airport shuttle bus

It is still dark at this time of the morning. I made it to the seaplane dock and checked in. My plane didn't leave for an hour. See how good I'm getting at not rushing things!!!  

As we walked down and along the dock, it was very windy, and this is a tiny little plane! But the skilled pilot had no issues dealing with the wind. It was a smooth take off and all the landings were smooth as well. 

The seaplane

 

There were only two passengers on the plane , and the other scooped the front seat, but I'm OK with that. I've sat up front, and it's no big deal. I'd rather sit in the back so I can take pictures without anyone thinking I'm a geek!!! 

It always amazes me where the main runways for the big planes are located. They are right along the edge of the land! A false landing and you're in the water! I wonder if that has ever happened here? Anyway, we were up and off to drop off the first passenger at Pender Island. I LOVE how they do a steep bank to get down into these waters in the Gulf Islands. After my open-door helicopter ride in Hawaii - that's no big deal! 

The main runways at Vancouver Airport

After dropping that passenger off, we were airborne again, heading to Salt Spring Island. Yep, my aunt still lives here, and I haven't been to the island in a couple of years. We used to be here every summer for many summers. And we had lots of family gatherings here as well. Loads and loads of memories about Salt Spring Island. 

It was easy to use Google Maps to see which island was which! You have to love that! Because we flew in from the back of the island, it required another steep bank to turn around to get into the Ganges Harbour. We were slightly ahead of schedule because with only two people, once we were on, we could go! 

Flying over the Gulf Islands

We taxied around the Vancouver harbor a bit before leaving to warm up the engine! You have to love seaplanes. It's not that expensive, and in thirty minutes, you'll be here! Of course, we've taken the ferry many times, but I only recently started taking the seaplanes. When you are traveling alone, with minimal luggage, it works! 

My aunt was there to pick me up, and it was very quiet in Ganges at 8 AM on a Sunday morning. I wasn't a fan of traveling that early, but the next option was 2:30 in the afternoon, and that would have wasted most of the day. At this time of year, there are only two flights a day, so I picked the early morning flight!!

It's so nice to settle in for long conversations, and while we don't see each other often or talk that much on the phone, it's just like nothing has changed. Well, we both may have a few more gray hairs, but who cares?! 

She has this fabulous collection of Dutch houses that KLM gave away to business-class passengers. They came with booze in them!! She had collected some, and some were given to her. They are adorable. I always admire them when I visit, as they sit in the kitchen. When we traveled business class this past summer, it was on Belgian Airlines, and we got a box of chocolates!!!! Hmmm -- a porcelain house or a box of chocolates? 

Half of the Dutch house collection

I had to chuckle because I got home-made cookies, but one at a time in a small tin. Homemade cookies are the best, and of course, we had to compare them to the store-bought ones, but the homemade ones were much better!!! It sounds like I'm going to miss all the church bazaars and such, where all the good home baking comes out, and artisan works, but that's OK - I don't really need anything and certainly not a lot of cookies. 

My cookie ration!!! 

While I was prepping for this trip, I hadn't really given thought to bringing something to do. I have my ebook, but no hand work. It was only on the plane over that I thought I should have thrown my little bag of hexagons that was sitting on a table back home. I didn't, and there isn't really a place to buy craft supplies on the island. 

After chatting with my aunt, she mentioned there is a new yarn shop in town, with fancy yarn! Hmm, then she showed me these cowls that she had knit, and I saw the vest she was knitting with this beautiful yarn. It was my grandmother (my aunt's mother) who taught me how to knit many, many years ago. I don't even dare say how many! 

So we got out the pattern for the cowl, and there was some red knitted worsted yarn, and I'm knitting a cowl!!! The red yarn will be perfect because it can replace my red scarf!! 

The start of my cowl

It's going to be the perfect thing to keep warm. I could live without wearing a jacket, but I need something to keep my neck warm! This is going to be perfect. I just hope I'm not knitting it too tight! I made pretty good progress last night, but then I was tired and had to leave it. I even had a nap in the afternoon. All this moving around and being in a different bed, I guess it took a toll on me! 

I had a pretty good sleep last night, and well, I'm ready to get back to my knitting today! I should be able to finish it today. Knitting is like riding a bike - you never forget the basics! However, we had a chuckle because every second row on the vest my aunt is making has two increases, and they are done in a way I've never seen before. So we are NOT allowed to chat when she's knitting that row!!! I do not want to be blamed if she has to rip out! 

Thankfully, the cowl is the same row repeated over and over, so it should be easy! 

I'd love to come to the main island because there are people there I'd love to visit. There just isn't time. That is the problem when you take a vacation to visit family because you all live far apart. There isn't time to see other people or places. But I'll just have to take a long trip next time! There are so many people I know around here! 

However, I did manage to visit all my parents' siblings this year! Not that there are many, but I got to visit with them all. I have to do that at least once a year because - well, we are all getting older. All five of the kids on my mom's side and two on my dad's are still alive. That's incredible!!!

On that note, I'm out of here. My aunt lives in the country, and it's dark here! And not many cars on the road. Well, except when the ferry comes in or is about to leave - then you see the ferry traffic!!! But at least there was no rain yesterday, and while we only saw glimpses of the sun, it was not raining! 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Make my bed!

Oh my goodness — I love all the stories about typing class. I don't remember how many words per minute I ended up typing, but there are days when I wonder how I ever managed! That backspace key is so handy! And that IBM Selectric -- what a dream! 

As for retirement, someone mentioned that many retired people comment that they are so busy now that they don't know how they managed to work. Seriously? Do you want to jump from the frying pan into the fire? I guess if that is what you want to do, then it's your life. But as Elle mentioned (I swear we were separated at birth), I want to have free time to do what I want, when I want, and, most importantly, IF I want! 

I've had a bit of that freedom over the last couple of days, and that is incentive enough to not get involved in too many things. YES -- I know -- I've been there, and there are times when my schedule is crazy, but I'm getting really tired of all the running around. Not only physically, but also mentally. 

My volunteer work will involve quilting and binding all those community projects - on my own time. I still need some structure in my day, but I refuse to get involved in any committee (I've done my time), and I will help somewhere if it works for me!

I want to read, do crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles, travel, enjoy my girls and my backyard, and, well, sew and mess around with various things. So --- I am going to attempt to keep my calendar relatively clear. Of course, I'll still be going to work, but not in a crazy way, and eventually that will pass, and I'll be free!

I'm not yet ready to completely sever the ties with work. By doing less, I have more time. I have significantly reduced the number of classes I teach, and that has been amazing! 

What a great class we had for Colour My World. I have always kept to my one-hour schedule, but I went over by 30 minutes. However, people had questions, and as a first-class, there was a lot to cover. Thankfully, there was nothing scheduled after that, so going over was easy peasy. And the entire group stayed on as well, so that means they all have relaxed schedules!!!

And even though preparing for the class took a long time, I love doing it and thoroughly enjoyed having the time to do so without compromising on what I included in the presentation. I can't wait for more time to do things the way I want, instead of having a time constraint. Going forward, the prep for this class will be much easier, but there will still be lots of things to discuss. 

Here is my first house. It is so cute, and I'm looking forward to working on the rest of this month's assignment. I have everything cut and ready to sew. WAIT -- that's a lie. I have half the blocks cut. 

Colour My World

I went back to my stash and chose more colors. Here is my palette for the quilt. My background is missing from that photo. 

And I must admit that when I attempted to use the folded freezer paper method for paper piecing earlier this year, I disliked it. It didn't work for me, and, well, I wasn't a fan. I tried again -- we must always try again! Guess what? I'm a convert!! I LOVE this method. 

Here's another thing I learned during my preparation for this class. Many people today do not have access to a computer. They rely entirely on an iPad, which is fine, except if you want to print templates for paper piecing. The iPad has no printer settings, so it prints as it wants, and the sizes are never correct. 

So how do you fix that? By downloading an app for your printer, of course. Now, why didn't I think of that? Let's say you have an HP printer. Download the HP Smart app and use its settings to determine the exact size you need. Super simple when you know how. Someone from our Dear Jen class was struggling with this issue, and I think she mentioned that she went to Apple and her printer company to resolve the problem. No one knew the answer. It was a 14-year-old granddaughter of a quilter who revealed the technique. 

I got a little bit cleaned up in Studio B. Not the cutting table -- there is absolutely no room to work at the moment, and I'll be working on that later today. It's mostly just things that need to be put away, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal. 

The cutting table is a mess

Last night at the Virtual Retreat, I decided that I needed to clean up this container of ribbon. 

A disastrous tin of ribbon

I also have a tray of loose ribbon. 

Another place for loose ribbon

It has been like this for years, and both items were sitting on one of the tables. I wasn't sure how to store those lengths of ribbon so they would be neat and organized. I went to Michaels yesterday and found this container on the right, which I think will work nicely. 

New container to store loose ribbon

The spools and new skeins were placed in the tin, and the loose lengths were wound up and stored in the plastic container. Both boxes were then put with the other ribbon in the stash room. I know I have more ribbon on spools in the stash room, but I didn't look at it last night. Why was that ribbon all over the place? I love to do ribbon embroidery with the embroidery machine, but I've never taken the time to tidy up after. The stuff was strewn all over the sewing table, and it was a nightmare. 

Well, that nightmare is dealt with. One down and many more to go! 

The work table that my Epic 3 sits on was now tidied up, and the machine is set up again so I can get some more embroidery done. Four half-completed projects are prepped and ready to go. That's nice to have that done as well. I guess I had better find the power cord first! 

The Epic 3 is ready to get back to work

One of the projects I want to finish is this witch. I had started this at the Buckhorn Quilt Show and was going to stitch it out during the show. However, I ran out of thread on the very first color for the face!!! See around he left eye. We thought of other alternatives - a bandaid, an eyepatch? I continued to move forward on the face, just to have something to stitch. 

Ran out of thread

However, when I was at Stitch by Stitch in Kingston, I found the missing thread. I bought all they had of that color and the next shade lighter. So I can continue. 

I found the missing thread

I put away all the cameras and tripods, and wound up all the cords and put them back in their container. The container just needs to be placed on the shelf. 

And then I emptied a tote bag that I had taken on my last trip. I took the project bags and such out of it, and that's on the ironing board. I'll go through these later today and put the items away or identify if any work needs to be done on them. It's a great way to putter, nothing significant to think about, and I can listen to my audiobook. I know I have mentioned this many times, but while I love zippered plastic bags, these larger zippered bags from linens are the best! They are large enough to accommodate an entire project. Carrying things in a solid plastic tote takes up way too much room. A massive shout-out to Diane (RIP), as I found these bags in her sewing room when I helped her husband clear it out. 

Two project bags to clear up later

This is one of the tote bags I had with me. Every time I leave the house with it, I am asked for the pattern and where I got the panel, because, yes, people touch the bag thinking I pieced all those squares. I did NOT. 

My Crafty Tote

The bag pattern is on AllPeopleQuilt. And the panel is one by Northcott. Here is the information if you'd like to try to find it online. It is a retired panel, so it is no longer available for order from Northcott. Scroll down on that linked page to retrieve the SKU, so you can perform a search. Perhaps they need to reprint this panel! 

I am trying a new snack cracker this week. Oh my --- it is not my favorite. While the taste is OK, it's like eating a rice cake with nothing inside. It feels like I'm swallowing air! It turned out a bit moist when I toasted it with cheese on top. Let's just say that I won't be repurchasing these, but HEY - I tried something new. 

A new snack bread

Speaking of new, DH came home with a tea for me yesterday, and look at the cup. They changed the cups AGAIN! These look like the original cups - at least, I think they are the old style. I suppose you need to keep making changes - just because you can! 

Retro Tim's cup

I love to support the Girl Guides by buying their cookies. However, I don't have anyone close to me who sells the cookies, or at least no one I'm aware of. So I was delighted to see that at the sewing day last week at Stitch by Stitch (my free day off), one of the ladies had brought in the cookies. I had to walk to the bank machine to get some cash, but now I have cookies. I don't need cookies, but it's all for a good cause. 

Girl Guide cookies

This has been a tough year for boxwoods with some moths getting in there. I have sprayed mine several times. It appears that I have saved one row of them, but I'm unsure about the other one. Perhaps it's time to reapply the spray. Dratted garden pests!!! 

My boxwoods

OK -- so you want to know the story of the bed. Everyone has a preference for a freshly made bed or not. There was a famous speech about making your bed in the morning, because it was a sign that you had accomplished something, and if nothing else went right, at least your bed was made when you got home. 

So, we have a princess in our house, and her name is Lexi. She was traumatized when she saw the couch leave the house sometime last year. Poor thing -- she was never supposed to be on the sofa in the first place, but DH has become soft with the girls, and they are learning some nasty habits. 

I bought the princess a new bed and tucked a couple of blankets into it, so it was a bit more comfy. When she is in one of her "I must save my snacks in a safe place" modes, she tries to dig in her blankets. And this is what I spotted this morning. 

MOM - My bed isn't made

Seriously? The bed is too messed up to sleep in. 

So I straightened out the blankets, and within five minutes, I spotted this. 

MOM - my bed needs to be made each morning!

Seriously? What a princess!!!! I laughed when I heard the bed squeak when she got in, and I had to run and get a picture. Murphy couldn't care less. Gosh -- those two girls are so different from each other. Never a dull moment with them around. 

Here is the link to the Virtual Retreat later today. I have one session this morning, and I'll put the pictures in the presentation after I walk the girls. Then I have a couple of hours to myself to do some work. There is a pile of mindless housework things to do during the retreat, so I look forward to that. 

September 28 (Sunday) Virtual Retreat - Starts at 3 PM EDT

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81073536036?pwd=uxRqMnK1aSKrmrcSO78w8QQs5g44eA.1

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

On that note, I'm out of here. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!

The end of the line

 Well, all I can say is Halluleuyah!!!  The red and white blocks are DONE! But not without a couple of glitches. 

Here they are—the four blocks of Block Five. And yes - that one block doesn't have the best contrast - I'm over it. I had done very well with the cutting, except that I had forgotten to cut the white for one of the blocks. Hmm - I could wait until I got home; I could have gone to the quilt store today or borrowed from a friend. Ronda happened to have some white, so I got white from her and made the block. 

Four blocks for the Winter Wonderland quilt

Then it was on to four of Block 6. Hmm - some of these pieces are already sewn together, so that should be easy. 

The LAST four blocks for the border

As I started to sew the last four blocks together, I realized that some of the components were backward. AHA - that's probably why I stopped sewing them before. No worries - with a few slight twists, they are together. And yes - two are going counterclockwise, and two are not. I'm not worried. In the entire quilt, will anyone notice? And will anyone care? I think NOT!!!!

And so with a great ceremony last night, I gathered everything up and put it in the bag of finished things, which at this point is pretty empty!

The blocks for Winter Wonderland border - DONE

I had to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things for lunch. I passed by the paper towel aisle. Hmm - a rush on paper towel. What is wrong with people????? 

The paper towel aisle

Even the wipes section was a little bit worked over. We don't even have wipes in our house. We need to take care, but we do not need to go crazy. I'm not the best of cleaners at any time, and I've certainly not ramped up my cleaning duties now. But if you're cautious and limit your exposure, you shouldn't have issues. I understand that everyone has different levels of risk aversion, and you must do what you must to feel safe, but the over-cleaning - well, not going to happen at our house. 

We did end up at Value Village to scour the shelves for neat stuff to make other stuff from. I did pick up a few small things that will have to wait until December when my classes are over so I can play. But Katheleen is so darn lucky! She was talking about a book by Edith Holden that we should buy it if we ever see that book. There is one about Edith by her niece and, while not as good as the ones written by Edith herself, still has good stuff in it. Can you believe that she found that book at the store???

Katheleen's find at the thrift store

If anyone is collecting books about quilts in museums, there was one about the quilts in the Henry Ford Museum. I didn't buy it as I already have it. Also - I saw the 100 Block by Tula Pink at Thimbles and Things. That's the book we need for our Tula Pink class. So if you want to sign up for that class and do not have a book yet, there's one at the Indigo near me and one at Thimbles and Things. Get yourself organized!!!!

Speaking of classes, if anyone wants to sign up for the Urbanologie class at Oh Look Fabric, you need to call the store NOW. They've run out of the books they had in stock, and she needs to place another order. She needs to know how many books and rulers to buy. Here's the link to Oh Look. This is an ongoing class for next year - one hour lecture once a month—lots of curved piecing, but easy cures with loads of wiggle room for trimming. You also need a ruler. Get yourself organized so she has time to order the books. Sorry - the internet is very slow this morning, so no links. You'll have to search them out yourself. 

Urbanologie book

As part of the barn quilt project that I'm participating in, I had to bake cookies! Well, if I wanted an extra point, and while I'm not competitive (LOL!), and I certainly paid a few dollars to make the cookies, they were well worth it. 

I had to start by unwrapping the Hershey kisses. Of course, I had to test them to make sure they were good. 

Unwrapping the Hershey kisses

Then the cookie dough got made, and the kisses and the peanuts were laid. My bears only have three toes - not enough room for four. 

Prepping the cookies

And this is what they looked like when they came out of the over. You use a brownie mix, so they are chewy and delicious!!!

Yummy cookies

Here are my cookies and my barn block for this month1. I wonder what we'll have to do next month?

My quilt block and my cookies

I also got the four quilts bound! Yeah! It was a good news day all around. Plus, the fact that I walked almost 14 km. Good grief - I love walking, and these days, I seem to do my phone talking while walking, so the time passes fast. 

Four quilts - DONE

While I was out walking yesterday morning on the conservation property, I saw this sign. I love the idea of a "sharing circle," and that's what our quilt groups are as well. I think it's essential for people every day and especially at this time. You NEED to have a sharing circle. 

Well, I had a great sleep last night and woke up late, so the blog will be late this morning. Oh well. I see the sun is now out, and my feet are starting to tap. They want to get out for that morning walk. It's Saturday, so the traffic will be less. But there's nothing like coming back in the house and having a goodie knowing that you've earned it! And that's why I actually lost weight over the pandemic. I would not try to snack unless I earned it! I know - Miss Goodie Two Shoes!!! You can throw spitballs at your computer!

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!