What's OLD is back in vogue! That's not new!

Pepper on cottage cheese? OK -- I must try that. I'm away this coming week (AGAIN!), but I'll try it when I get home. I still have two road trips before the end of the year and one and perhaps two plane trips. Wait -- and a weekend quilt retreat. It's going to be silly. 

PHEW -- both presentations are done for this morning. I swear it's amassing my photos for the darn things that can take so long. Thankfully, I have a very good filing system for my pictures - NOT perfect by any means, but not bad. But it still takes time to find some of them. 

Sometimes I need to take pictures of things, so I have to find the samples to do so. In an ideal world, ALL samples, including details, would already be photographed, tagged, and sorted, so it would be even easier. But hey -- Rome wasn't built in a day. 

I have a task this afternoon: find a particular quilt top that hasn't seen the light of day in years, and while I have my master list of unquilted quilt tops, I'm not sure exactly which quilt it is. Sometimes my description on my master list is vague. Brown/beige doesn't really cut it when looking for something specific. BUT in going over the list, I found a couple of other quilts that sound interesting, and I will dig them out and see if they are picture-worthy for an upcoming class. 

Since I am away this week, I'll have to work on my scrap class presentation while away. That means I have to find/sort/take some pictures this afternoon. But the majority of what I need is already filed, either on the shared drive or my portable drives. 

I have to share yesterday's homework with you. The first quilt is Forty Shades of Grey. Some very neat color combinations are emerging, and it seems almost everyone is using scraps with a few purchased fabrics thrown in. Is this a sign of the times? Or is it our age and the realization that we, in fact, can't take all that fabric with us to the grave? Or have we finally just become scrap happy? 

Whatever the reason, scrap quilts are big these days. I've had several chuckles from my scrap class groups, as many of them perceived scrap quilts as UGLY. But they don't have to be ugly. Be careful when you choose your fabric, and you can make beautiful crap quilts too. 

Here are the recent blocks I made for Forty Shades of Grey, and you can see where I'm missing that Jinny Beyer Dark purple eyelash fabric. I don't think I'll find it. I did another search online, and I can't find anything, not in that color. So unless someone has it in their stash, I'll find a close substitute and use it to finish that block and the remaining blocks. 

My homework for Forty Shades of Grey

These are my blocks from last month. Yep, this isn't really a scrap quilt for me, as I'm very focused on green and purple, and I did pull yardage. I'm OK with that. 

September homework

The second quilt we did yesterday was Show and Tell. And I have to say that when I finished the first complete block and hung it on the wall, it's so darn cute. Here is a deer holding its half-square triangle quilt. 

Block one of the Show and Tell quilt.

OMG --- is that not adorable or what? I can't wait to work on more blocks, but I ran out of time to finish all three deer blocks, which is this month's homework. 

In case you are wondering, YES -- I did twirl all the seams on the back of the half-square triangle block. How could I not? And it lies perfectly flat. 

Twirled seams on the half-square triangle blocks

I grabbed a few bits of paper from the junk box and quickly sorted them into recycling, keep, and so on. While sorting, I found a card of someone who makes hand-cranked socks. OH MY --- I remember chatting with this person. 

Bits of stuff from the junk box

So now her card is attached to the manual for my hand-crank sock knitter. This picture was taken BEFORE I found the card. I don't get why we can't deal with this mess as it happens, instead of waiting months/years to deal with it. I understand that you can buy a NEW hand-crank sock knitter that is 3-D printed. Seriously??? Here's a site I found this morning. Remember the telephone receiver from yesterday? NOTHING is new!!!

Instruction book for the hand-crank sock knitter

I am taking a wee bit of hand work with me in case we get some free time from packing up a house. I needed a crochet hook, and I went through my meager stash and attempted to clean it up. I found one hook in a package with NO number on it. I added a piece of tape and wrote the number on the tape. The quality of this crochet hook is questionable, so it may not stay in the collection. However, I've had it for years and never used it, so I may never use it. 

Marking the size on a crochet hook

I didn't find the size I needed, so I went to the mall and picked that up. I dug out a little bag that I bought years ago, and it still had the tag on it. The tag is gone, and the bag contains my crochet. I'm going to add a small hexie project as well - I just need to find the thread and a needle. It's all set out on the cutting table to finish packing today. 

I've been to the mall two days in a row! It's a 20-minute walk from the house, so no big deal. The first day, I forgot my phone (camera) at home. There were a few things I wanted to take pictures of!! 

Look at this picture. The flowers are made with a commercial version of punch needle. 

Commercial version of punch needle

And did you know you can do some punch needle designs with your embroidery machine? This is one design that I made a couple of months ago. 

Punch needle by machine.

All the stitching was done with machine embroidery. I've done my share of hand punch needle, and I would be hard-pressed to see the difference between the two. I used to teach classes twice a year at the Creative Festival, and I hear it's making a comeback, too. WAIT --- punchneedle, NOT the Creative Festival!

Machine embroidery on a felt tablet case

A while back, I took a picture of some crochet flowers, and will I be able to find it? STOP!!!!!

OMG, I just checked the blog for the picture I was looking for, and I found a post dated January 20, 2020, about my meager crochet hook collection. LOL. 

OK -- here is the picture that I went back to the blog to find. This was from the end of March, 2026. Notice how full the buckets are. 

Spring crocheted flowers on display in a mall store window.l

The other day I passed by the same display, and this is what it looks like now. They are selling the flowers for $10 a piece. I was tempted, but what the heck will I do with it? I think there are more flowers on the inside as well. Hmmm -- maybe I should get the sunflower!!! 

All that remains of the floral display

And then I spotted these small crochet displays. Nothing came home with me, except slippers for DH, which is why I went to the mall the second day. Since I didn't have my phone the previous day, I couldn't ask his size. 

Little crocheted flowers

Oh, every time I go back to the blog to check out something, I get caught up reading or skimming through MULTIPLE posts. OK -- so I might be a bit biased, but so many interesting things have happened over the years, and it's always fun to go back and revisit some of those days!!!

Now I'm going to be late, so I have to close off. I still have a few more pictures to share for tomorrow! 

It is going to be a WONDERFUL day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Retreat Day Five -- The Long Way Home

ACK --- I feel like I'm missing out on something. The more I talk about the Bruce Trail, the more I hear stories of people who have hiked the trail or are currently hiking it. I need new friends -- ones that are hikers! And we need a support person to ferry us to and from sleeping accommodations each day! 

I may never walk the entire thing, but I will walk part of it. The trail goes close to where I live, so YES -- I have walked part of it already. But a short section. 

So this happened yesterday. I had gotten up early and was ready to sew, and I had a mission. I was a few seams away from finishing my bed runner, and I ran out of thread on the top, never mind the bobbin! I was sewing with the lid shut and knew that I was close to the end of the spool, but I didn't realize I was that close until BOOM - I ran out of thread. Luckily, I had a spare spool in the toolbox, and I was good to go. 

Ran out of top thread

Paula made a jelly roll rug while we were at the retreat. She made the rope on the second day and then decided to get the rug together yesterday. It looks fantastic, and it's pretty darn flat!

Paula's jelly roll quilt

Laura got one-third of her Postcards from Sweden quilt done. Yep -- I really think that thing could be randomly sewn together. The only thing, and I'm not sure if I've ever noticed this on pictures of the original one, but there are squares created by the values. Again -- that would be easy to achieve by randomly putting it together. 

Now I'm intrigued to see the difference between the original and a randomly positioned setting. I should dig out the squares I cut to make this quilt and get it together! Maybe the next retreat. 

Ronda was working on a Laura Heine collage quilt. She had some of the tracing done before the retreat but made excellent progress. It's a giant snowglobe, and there are bits around the edges to define it. 

Ronda's snow globe wall hanging

And here are three of the 24 kitchen towels that were made. They had a neat little handle that fits over the handle of the stove. Cute!  We got the link from Katheleen's sister on how to make them. I don't have the link handy, but I'll go back in my e-mails to find it. 

Three kitchen towels

And here's the gang of rowdy sewists just before we packed up to leave. It only took three tries to get a photo where I wasn't moving! 

The retreat group

And here it is!!! By 9 AM, the top was together in one piece!! I was so excited that I went for a walk, which I don't usually do on the last day. A shorter walk of almost 6 K. 

The completed bed runner

I binge-watched some baking shows and got some of the paper out when I got home. I've got about a quarter of the paper out. 

Some of the paper is removed

I still had some time before going home, so I had a hand project to work on. This is Lexi's favorite mat that usually resides in her kennel. However, someone chewed one corner, and I had ripped out the last couple of rows and rejoined the strips of fabric. Now it's back together again. The only thing that remains is to secure the final stitch with the sewing machine, so it doesn't unravel. 

Lexi's favorite mat

I made strips of fabric and folded them, so the cut edges were inside - pretty similar to what happens with the jelly roll rug, but no batting inside. Then I crocheted the rug. It's VERY HEAVY!! And if Murphy so much as sniffs at it -- well, she's going to be in the dog house if she touches it!

A corner of the crocheted mat

Speaking of the girls, they were happy to see me. But since DH had left for the airport couple of hours before I arrived home, I suspect they were more excited that someone would let them into the backyard. 

But they had to entertain me while I was ripping out the paper from my project. Murphy just looks like she's having a bad hair day!

Hey MOM --we are entertaining you!

And I swear, they are just crazy. I was lying on the couch to watch more of the baking show, and Lexi slept quietly in the big dog bed. Technically, we bought it for Murphy, and their quilt was hanging out of it, but Murphy wanted to sleep in the bed, so she ousted Lexi and climbed in herself, and Lexi had to sleep on the floor. 

Get out of my bed! This is MINE! Mom bought it for me!

Technically, it's big enough for both of them, but that would never do. 

So when I arrived home, I quickly emptied the car and took things upstairs or downstairs as needed. I didn't get everything unpacked, and I didn't touch any sewing last night or this morning. I didn't even go to spin class this morning. I was wiped from all the excitement of the weekend. I'm OK with that. 

I did clean out my purse, though, which had become a dumping ground for a lot of crap. Now it's all clean again. 

Cleaning out the purse

When we first started going to retreats, the number of sweets that came was obscene. After much "lecturing," the numbers decreased. Well, it's time to start nagging again. The number of sweets that came was obscene. I tried very hard to resist everything, although I did succumb to a few more pieces than I would eat if I were at home. But when you are only seven people and each person brings enough for 15 people, that's a lot of sweets. I didn't buy any sweets for the last meal, as there was already so much.

I'll be making a new rule. Bring enough for one meal -- one sweet per person (I know -- I'm mean!) and NO MORE. If people want more snacks, then bring your own! It's amazing how we use food as a comfort thing or a way to bring joy to others, or a feeling of sharing or comradery. But -- if you're not careful, those sweets quickly add up, and they are a killer to take off the waistline. I have no problem eating them, but MODERATION. 

I know they had a quick exchange of sweets when everyone was packing up. I brought NOTHING home. 

I now have a couple of pounds to get rid of because of it, and I walked every day!!! Anyway -- enough of that. 

It's Monday sewing, and I have a ton of stuff to do - mostly tidying up and regrouping, but I hope to get some sewing done as well. And I need to look at the inbox at some point and the long arm. 

I've only got five presentations this week - the last week for a while. One per day! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Crocheted rag rugs

 A couple of observations before I start. I was up early (as usual) and off to the gym. I wanted to go, then I didn't want to, and finally, I just said - get your butt in gear and go! There are very few people at the gym at 5 AM. I walked for 2 KM on the treadmill, and to keep myself entertained, I turned on the TV. Good grief! Who can watch this stuff? I had the local news channel on, which would be the equivalent of CNN?? 

Anyway, the type of station that has people talking (I couldn't hear them - no headphones), but also headlines flashing by, the weather, the traffic, and everything else, or so it seemed. There's so much information on this screen; it's overwhelming. You feel COMPELLED to watch it constantly because you might miss one of the headlines, even though they are in a loop. But what if they change? 

But when one reads the headlines, everything is depressing. Earthquakes, volcanoes, coupes, pandemics, murders, accidents -- I swear - if I watched that daily, I'd go mad. Who watches that stuff? I watched for less than 10 minutes, and I was done!

Then I popped off to the "famous" US news channel. Only because I'm reading a book called Hoax and well, I was curious. I've never watched that station. Without headphones, it wasn't too exciting, but what's with the five minutes of commercials. Oh yes -- I sure couldn't watch that either. 

Next time, I'll take my audiobook, or I'll watch HGTV. At least that's somewhat entertaining. Not realistic, but entertaining. 

Shoot -- I thought there was one other observation to share with you, but POOF - that is gone! 

Another SUPER day yesterday!  I swear that this past weekend was the PERFECT weekend. I got lots done - well, not lots, but enough to make me happy. 

We had UFO club in the morning, and I promised three things to people, and before I had lunch, the three things were done and sent, and the list of homework assignments was typed and sent. Who has kidnapped me?? 

I will say that it felt good to get those tasks off my back immediately. No need to feel guilty about not getting them done!!!

I was out geocaching in the afternoon. It was a puzzle, so my mission was to gather the information needed, and then I'll figure it out at home and go find it later today or tomorrow. What's amazing about geocaching is that you find things that you've driven past for years and never knew were there. I was looking for a plaque on a building. I knew the building but had no idea that the plaque was there. I love geocaching for that.

OH -- I got a little gift in the mail last week. I swear I took a picture of it but can only find the tag. It's adorable. I'll try to remember to take a picture today. Thank you, Cathie -- I LOVE it, and we're going to use it. There'll be no saving of items for that special day at our house! We use stuff and enjoy it!!! 

The tag for my new tea towel

After reviewing the list of UFOs for the last couple of years, I decided I need to get my butt in gear and get some of those done or STOP adding new ones each year! This one was on the list for 2019. It was a disappearing 4-patch made with 5" squares, so there was a LOT of sewing involved. And it's quite large at 69" by 80". 

The quilt top was sitting on the table of current projects waiting for backing and binding. I quickly surveyed the pile of backings and found something that was perfect. It's not only about the color but the quantity. So that backing got made. 

The backing for the UFO

And then, not to be deterred, I got the binding done, and this got moved to the "to be quilted" pile. And I've crossed it off the UFO list. 

The backing, binding, and the quilt top

For my UFO homework this coming month, I'm working on TWO different UFOs, one from the 2018 list and one from the 2019 list. The 2018 project is the LAST one on that list. I WANT that one to be done this year. There are six left on the 2019 list, and I CAN get those done if I really focus. 

I was going to quilt a customer quilt but decided to do one of the community projects instead. I'll get it trimmed this afternoon and then goes in the pile for my MIL to bind. 

Community projects quilt - DONE

This is the quilt I quilted on Saturday. YES -- the double wedding ring quilt is quilted!!!! I'm thrilled with the way it quilted out. Actually, considering that two different people sewed it and with all those curved seams, not all the blocks were square, but you wouldn't know it!! Lesson learned here -- you don't need to be super precise to have something turn out excellent. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Here's another lesson. I quilted that with an overall pattern. GASP!!!!  Yep, and I have no guilt over doing that either. The quilt pattern is strong enough to stand on its own. And choosing the correct thread color makes all the difference. The thread does NOT overpower the quilt. 

Edge-to-edge quilting pattern

So the next time you have a quilt, and you think it needs to be custom quilted, think - do you really need to custom quilt it? How much negative space is in the quilt? How much extra will it cost? Can you find someone to custom quilt it (or do it yourself)? What is the end game for the quilt? Going in a show? Being given to a kid? Does it have a special meaning? How special? 

I have decided that I will NO LONGER do custom quilting for anyone other than myself. For some reason, I don't enjoy custom quilting other people's quilts. I love doing it on my own, but it takes so long that it bogs the rest of my schedule down. I can't afford the time it takes to do custom quilting. 

So the other thing I did yesterday was to sort some scraps. I had several bags of flannel scraps that needed to be sorted. These were the leftovers from the 30 quilts that Diane made. My MIL had done somewhat of a sort, but the final process was to put them in containers by color. 

OH GOSH -- Murphy -- DO NOT put your ball in the basket of scraps. "But MOM - play ball with me!!!!!"

Murphy and the ball are everywhere!

So now I have seven (I think) baskets of flannel scraps sorted by color. There are still a few more scraps to come, but not many. I will chop these into lengths of about 6" and sew them together in rail-fence-like blocks. Then I'll sort the blocks into quilts, and someone can sew those blocks together. 

The purple flannel scraps

I did a bit more sorting in the storage room where all that community project stuff is stored. I have ONE large container of cotton scraps as well to deal with. It seems such a shame to throw those scraps away, as I bet I'll get about 10 more small flannel quilts from the scrap!!! 

Done right - they can make attractive quilts. 

OK -- so we have the weirdest dogs in the world. Last night, while eating on the deck, DH swatted a wasp away from his beer and knocked the glass over. The glass did not break, and thankfully the glass was almost empty, but it spilled on the deck and the table. Murphy ran to lick the deck, while Lexi decided to lick the underside of the table to get what seeped through the edge of the table. Sigh............

Lexi licking the underside of the table to get some beer

I finished the crocheted rag rug!!!  Now that took about 1 hour in total, and it sat on that shelf for a few years. It doesn't matter - it's done now!!!

Finished crocheted rag rug

I dug out the next hand project from that shelf. This is Lexi's rug that used to adorn her kennel in the house. Miss Murphy decided to chew the corner of it. Since it's crochet, it's relatively easy to fix. I had to undo two rounds of crochet - I'll rejoin the strips when they were chewed and then crochet it. Easy fix, and I might get it done tonight. 

Crocheted rag rug to fix

As soon as I brought it out, Lexi was right there. "That's MINE!!!!! Where has it been??? MOM!!!!" 

Lexi and her crocheted rag rug

And I have to confess that about 7:30 PM - I was chilled sitting on the deck, so I came in the house! Good grief!!! 

It's only 14 C this morning, and it's lovely!!!! But I think we are getting some heat this week. 

I wanted to share this photo with you - this is from our cross Canada walk. There are four of us, and we're taking the northern route so walking right up the west coast of Canada, from Victoria to Whitehouse, and then we take the northern highway across Canada, ending up in Labrador. We're getting closer (not close), but closer to the BC/Yukon border. The scenery is amazing!!!!

The scenery in Northern BC

On that note - it's Monday sewing, and I have to walk the girls first!!!

OH yes -- don't forget the Virtual Retreat this weekend coming. Saturday, August 21  (6 PM - 9 PM) and Sunday, August 22 (10 AM - 8 PM).  I'll be working on UFOs!!!!

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!

Play BALL!

 I told you yesterday was a great day! And today is going to be just as great!! The temperature has dropped significantly, and the humidity is gone. One little trick that doesn't make the heat so unbearable is that since we don't use the AC, we are more acclimatized to the high temperatures. That way, the backdoor is open for the girls to come and go, we don't suffer as we go inside and outside, and we can enjoy our backyard as if it's part of our house, which we do!

Having said that, if the temperature would stay like this all year - I'd be happy! I spent a fair amount of time in the backyard, which gives Murphy an invitation to play ball. That's all that dog ever wants to do - play ball! She's a dog gone mad! Don't worry -- she tries to play ball in the house as well!

She's a very SMART dog. She knows she is not allowed in the pond, but she has no issues dropping her ball into the pond and then asking me to get it for her. Sometimes, she gently dips her paws in so she can bob for the ball. However, if the ball gets pulled into the skimmer, she goes and sits right there. 

"MOM- my ball is in the skimmer - help me!" 

Or then she intentionally drops it in a small opening at the side of the deck. It's too narrow for her to get her nose in there.

 "MOM - my ball is stuck in the deck - help me!" 

Does she do this on purpose? Oh yes, she does!!! You see, I've told her that I'm not playing fetch if I have to pry the ball out of her mouth, so she's good at dropping it at my feet. I suppose she thinks I'm getting lazy, so I have to get out of my chair when she drops the ball in the pond or in the deck! What a dog!!!!

It's like she's a trained dog - like those cadaver dogs -- when they think they've found something, they are often trained to sit and wait! They don't go crazy and bark! Neither does she! She knows I'll spot her! What a big goof!!!! And she NEVER gives up!

Oh, before I get to the other stuff, here's one more picture from the Celebrity Quilts. This is another one that I did - a Tribute to Kalen Porter. 

A Tribute to Kalan Porter

Here's the information in the booklet: 

A Tribute to Kalan Porter

An 18-years-old college student from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Kalan Porter, won the Canadian Idol competition in September 2004 and immediately signed a recording contract with Sony/BMG Music Canada. Classically trained on violin, viola, piano, and guitar, his first single, "Awake in a Dream," is the biggest-selling single debut ever for a Canadian artist. His debut album, "219 Days", has reached amazing triple platinum status. He has toured right across the country to sold-out venues and was voted "Favorite Canadian Artist of the Year" at the 2005 Much Music Video Awards. 

Size: 65" by 73"

Let's say that I suffered a lot with this quilt. You see, there were two women -- two GROWN women who were friends with the person who founded The Quilt project. They were interested in Kalan Porter -that's an understatement - they were infatuated with the guy. Anyway, they gave me one of his concert T-shirts and were quite pushy in how I made the quilt. They enquired from time to time - I know that they wanted to buy the quilt. When I finally sent them a picture, I got back the MOST SCATHING e-mail I have ever received. The insults went on and on -- How could I call myself an artist? - I had ruined everything - blah, blah, blah. 

I was totally taken aback, and I was in shock. Should I tell Carol, the founder? These were her friends. I was NOT making the quilt for these two women (and I use that term generously!) I ended up not saying anything publicly until now! I'm over it, but it cut right to the bone when I read it. These were PROFESSIONAL women. I wish I had spoken out and embarrassed them for the unprofessional, infatuated people they were, but I did not. 

What helped the situation is that the quilt sold for $2,800 at the auction, which was the highest price paid for any of the Celebrity Quilts, and they did NOT buy it. They couldn't afford it. Just goes to show - there are all kinds of people in this world, and while I was totally stricken at that time, I got over it - years ago! 

But people --- unless you are PAYING for a commission, you have NO RIGHT to criticize someone else's work!!!

When I was sorting through some paper the other day, I also found this document. It was the WRITTEN conference catalog for Quilt Canada 2000. This was my first CQA conference, and it was a big deal to me. I went through that catalog like it was GOLD. Lots of good memories  - I haven't parted with this yet -- there is a bit of information I want to look at, and then it will go. 

CQA Conference Catalog from 2000

It was such a nice day that I decided to zip out for a walk - well, I do that every day regardless of the temperature. However, I went geocaching. The cache title was called Stuffed Pork - now, how could that relate to a walk in the woods? 

I get it that this looks gross, but there is a pig in there!! A toy that was made very dirty, so it blends in perfectly. It was all the empty shells that caught my eye. 

A geocache

It's hard to believe that this narrow little path .........

Leads to this major street in the city!!!! 

There are LOADS of little pockets of green space in this city. The trick is to get out there and look for them!!!

I got some quilting done, but this is all I can share with you at the moment. I'll share the quilt tomorrow. All I can say is that I emptied another spool of thread! 

Another empty spool of thread

And Miss Lexi has her moments - she's not a slacker in the entertainment department. She has her issues as well. It was such a nice evening, and I remembered that I have a bunch of handwork things that I shoved into a cupboard in Studio U., so I grabbed the first thing I saw - a crocheted rug that is ALMOST done. There are two balls of "string". I used up the first one and need to join the second one. I'll do that today, so I can finish the rug this evening. 

My crocheted rug

But I think someone was trying to tell me something. Like, "MOM - I love this, can I have it?"

Mmmm--- this is so soft!

"Mom, I REALLY love this - I NEED it." 

"Ok, Lexi, you can have it."

 I do have to repair the one that was in her kennel from before. And then she can have two!!! 

And as if that wasn't enough evidence that she wanted it, she got herself all twisted in the string when she and Murphy tried to play RIGHT BESIDE ME. There is an entire backyard to play in, but NO, we have to be as close to Mom as we can!!!!

I'm showing Mom that I REALLY NEED this

Well, it's UFO Club today. I have to say that it's exciting to NOT be rushing this morning to get my commitment done. Yeah!!!!  That's my new goal -- try to get things done BEFORE they are actually due! 

I also had a look at my Task Master list of UFOs from previous years. OH BOY -- it's time to get back on track with those. I am plugging away, so it's not like I'm not getting anything done. Turtle pace -- that's all that counts!!!

Even though it's going to be a nice day, I want to get some sewing done as well. Thank goodness, I'm not a gardener or have family commitments. I can literally do whatever I want all day, almost every day! Am I selfish? You bet - and I LOVE IT!!!!  There will be few regrets for me!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!