When you can't sleep.......................

I had the best day ever! Well, that seems to be a theme around my house most days! But I hosted a mini-sewing day. Yep - most of us are totally cooped up in our homes with tiny social bubbles, and we have a group that we went to retreat with. So Claudette and Lynn came over to sew. Yes, Zoom keeps me sane and in touch with everyone, but it was so exciting to see and chat with actual people.

So you're not all panicking, here are my thoughts on this pandemic. We will ALL get COVID at some point. It's a variation of the flu - we've all had the flu. None of us want to get it, but we do. People die from COVID, people die from the flu. We have to learn to live with these viruses because guess what? There's more where these ones came from. Hopefully, this pandemic has taught us all that we should be practicing good hygiene ALWAYS, sneezing into our sleeves, staying home or isolated when we are sick, and washing our hands.

And staying healthy! Yes - I realize that some people have health issues, and that's OK. They just need to be a bit more cautious. Don't get me wrong, I'm careful, and I'm sticking to home for the most part, but I don't want to live in fear, and I don't want to live in isolation forever. Wash your hands and move on!

What did we work on yesterday? Claudette has had a jelly roll rug prepped since February and waiting until she could use my table set up to make it. Yesterday was that day!!

She hasn't lost her touch as that center is VERY flat. I was quite impressed since she's using one of my machines so not used to it.

The flat center of the jelly roll rug

There she is -- down to the last bit to sew on.

The tail end of the strips

And voila - a jelly roll rug.

The finished jelly roll rug

She made it with a Christmas jelly roll. But once it's all together, you don't really notice that it's Christmas fabric.

A closeup of the fabric in the rug

Just because this pattern is called the jelly roll rug, do NOT feel that you have to make it with a jelly roll. A jelly roll is just an EXPENSIVE pack of 2 ½" strips. Cut up some hideous coordinating fabrics that you have and use those. Cut up the remaining yardage from a project and make 2 ½" strips. All you need are 40 or 42 strips and the big pack of batting, and you're ready to go.

Lynn is working on the Border Creek Let's Be Friends Sew-Along quilt. All the blocks are the same, which always amazes me since most sew along have different blocks each week or month. This block is a LOT of work, and well, there were a few design challenges that needed to be dealt with. But it's together, and it looks fantastic.

Borer Creek Sew Along block

I got the two blocks for Vintage Christmas done! Only one week late. Good grief. I've been so good at keeping up and then - well, stuff just kept getting in the way. The best news - the homework has also been written and sent out.

Block from Vintage Christmas by Lori Holt

A second block from Vintage Christmas by Lori Holt

The Christmas Fig homework was due yesterday, so I worked on the two blocks for that. I made good progress and got all the cutting done and the components - flying geese, half-square triangles, and all that silly nonsense. It shouldn't take too long to finish off the blocks later today and get the assignment written and sent out.

I finished the article for the magazine. I LOVE Grammarly for writing. Yes - my skills are decent, but I find huge improvements since I paid to have the full version of Grammarly. I'm getting better with the passive voice and dangling participles and whatever other things I do. It's like a challenge to get the document to be totally error-free. But not only do I have to worry about the grammar, but I need to make sure that what I'm saying is clear and concise, especially in the homework assignments. The last thing I want is for people to misinterpret what I'm trying to say, and that's a HUGE challenge.

I did get a few things tidied up, but not much. But in the middle of the night, I was wide awake! I had received an exciting e-mail in the evening, and I needed to find something that I've been looking for for a couple of days.

I decided that I would get up and search since I knew I was close. I was looking for a book by Jen Kingwell. I started off by finding three patterns by Jen, none of them the one that I wanted. I found this basket of fabric that I think I was going to use as a starting point to make one of the quilts in the photo below. I shelved the patterns with my other patterns, the polka dot fabric went in the black basket, and the rest went in the modern section. I'll use the fabric at some point, but since the fabric isn't even all pulled, I'm not putting this into the box of new projects.

Jen Kingwell patterns and some fabric pulled for one of them

So I dug out the Gypsy Wife project. I still couldn't find the book.

Gypsy Wife by Jen Kingwell project

This one is already on a shelf, so it doesn't need to go in the UFO box. It's on the shelf that I said I should deal with once the mess on the floor is contained.

From the mess at the bottom of the stairs, I dug out a plastic box that had an assortment of stuff in it. AHA - I found the book for Gypsy Wife. Now the book is back with the project. One problem was solved. I still didn't find the book I was looking for.

The Gypsy Wife book

OK - if the Long Time Gone book is NOT with the Gypsy Wife book, then it has to be on the bookshelves. I had started to search the bookshelves but only searched one of four sections. I began in section two and VOILA - I found the book!!! This is what kept me up last night. I had a vision of where the book was, and while it wasn't quite enough for me to walk straight to the book, it was enough to jar the memory to search for it.

Long Time Gone by Jen Kingwell pattern

What's hilarious is that I bought the book on July 2, 2018. How do I know that? I was chatting with Ronda last night, and she has a note on her phone about this book. We saw the book at a quilt show in 2018. I was on the fence about whether to buy the book or not. I eventually decided to go back to that booth to buy it, and guess what? The book was gone. So I ordered through the store and went and picked it up from St. Catherines - Kindred Spirits. Ronda has had the note every since that she wanted to make the quilt.

So why did I want the book? Well, there's going to be some exciting news coming soon. This is going to be an online class. Sooner than you think!!! I'm giving you the heads up, and if you're interested, I'll point you in the right direction to get signed up. We're just working out all the details at the moment. If you have the book and weren't courageous enough to do it on your own, then start pulling fabrics and get ready. You'll be able to follow along from the comfort of your sewing room, so no matter where you live, you can work on the quilt with us.

That's all I'm going to say about that for the moment. But the Zoom classes have been loads of fun this past year. And trust me, when I do a Zoom class, you get a written homework assignment that is worthy of the book itself. However, you need the book - my notes are not enough. And YES - sometimes, they are late - that's just life!

I'm in the process of writing one more homework assignment and hope to get that out by 9 AM this morning. That leaves two more to write, and I really want those out of the house by tonight. I'm going on a wee road trip this morning, so the homework has to wait!

Oh yes - I have to tell you about my stack of quilt tops. I saw a picture of my god daughter's little boy. He was off to his first day of school in Quebec. Just the cutest little guy ever. He had a Spiderman backpack and lunchbox, which made me think of one of the quilts in my "to be quilted" pile. I grabbed my master list, and within seconds, I had located the quilt that I wanted, right on the bottom of Tub Number 6. It's going to be quilted tomorrow and then back to customer quilts next week. Just wait until you see this - he is going to freak out!!!

And on that note, I'm out of here!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

The Virtual Retreat - DayTwo

I know that some of you are missing in-person visits with family and friends - the sit and sew days, the laughter, the camaraderie, the sharing of stories. Well, I can't say that I'm missing that at all. While the Virtual Retreat isn't the same as seeing people in person, it comes pretty darn close.

To be honest, I kind of like the whole virtual thing. Why? Loads of reasons - where else would we be able to visit with people all the way from Germany to Vancouver Island and loads of places in between? Nowhere else. Where else would we be able to share our sewing spaces? Nowhere else. And where else would we be able to sew with friends and not have to bring our sewing machines and supplies? Nowhere else. No packing, no forgetting your cord to the sewing machine or some other important tool or supply, you get to have a nap or go shopping or make dinner for your family, and when you're done, you can come back to the group.

What about those that don't drive or would never come out for a day, but would pop in to say HI. Oh, yes - I love the Zoom thing. I think the others are as well because I got asked if I was hosting the Virtual Retreat in August? I hadn't even thought that far ahead. However, it's now booked - the weekend of August 22 and 23. Mark it in your calendar and come and join us - even if it's just to say hi. It's so much fun.

I don't know how many people in total stopped by - some stayed the entire day, and some just popped in to say HI. That's perfectly OK - whatever works with your schedule.

OH - and where else can you track the weather? Sure - you've got an app, but there's nothing like getting a visual from locations around our province, letting you know when the rain, wind, tornado warnings have hit. Yep- yesterday was a pretty stormy day. It was hot in Berlin and Vancouver Island as well - 30 degrees. So this crazy weather is everywhere.

This is a picture of the trees in my backyard. I didn't even know I took that picture. It's hard to see, but the wind was blowing like mad, the rain was driving down in torrents and well - it was dark and very stormy. Unfortunately, from our house, we can't really see the skyline, but some of the cloud pictures I saw afterward were pretty spectacular.

The wind and the rain

Besides all the crazy stories and laughter, loads of work got completed. Heather hand-stitched the binding on a QUEEN sized quilt. I wonder if she got that hand massage or just the ice packs? Jane was binding some quilts by machine, Shelly was making rope bowls.

Shelly's rope bowls

Morgan and Kathy were working on their Christmas Fig homework. And there was so much else being done!!!!

Katheleen made more masks. She is now up into the hundreds (600++) of masks that she's made for her local senior organizations. She now has strict instructions to take a break for a while. That's a lot of mask making. It can be draining and take the fun completely out of sewing. Great job, Katheleen!!! You've done a great job and deserve a break!

Katheleen's last set of 35 masks

There were three long arm quilters on the call, and we hung around after the others left at 8 PM. We had a great chat about the differences and similarities of our machines - yep - we each have a different machine (from three different companies). Sharing of good practices - it was awesome. Thanks, Carol and Karen!!!

We also got to chatting about jelly roll rugs. I promised that I'd post the pictures of the ones that I've made. This is the one that made headlines in the industry. I think everyone (OK - so I'm exaggerating) made one of these. It's the oval rug designed by RJ Designs. There is so much "noise" on the internet about these rugs that I can't find her original site.

The oval jelly roll rug

Then there was the rectangular rug. Made the same way with the batting filled tubes. But sewn in rows, not in an oval. Same pattern designer.

Rectangular rug

And then years ago, I made this rug which is made with the batting filled tubes, but you make blocks and then stitch the blocks together. This pattern is by Auntie's Two Patterns.

A block style rug made with batting tubes

Here's the pattern number from the Auntie's Two website.

All these rugs, of course, are reminiscent of the rag rugs that were made years ago. NOTHING is new. I have two more balls of batting stuffed tubes, all ready to sew into two oval rugs. But no time for that.

I also made a few promises for the next Virtual Retreat. OH NO - how did that happen?? Well, I plan to take most of August off. But seriously - what does that mean? OH - I have no blog posts for QUILTsocial to write, no magazine quilt due until September 8, a few customer quilts that can be delayed until September if they don't get done before the end of this month. NO - I'll still be sewing the entire month of August! Just different things. I'm such a dreamer.

Anyway - I did promise that I'd learn or figure out how to work my hand-cranked sock knitter. I really want to get this thing running. I will leave the book out so I can start to figure out if I even have all the pieces.

The sock knitter book

As for me at the Virtual Retreat - what did I get done? I finished the second quilt for Quilts of Valour. I finished the piecing and threw the top on the long arm, and while we Zoomed, I managed to get that quilt quilted as well. It came off the long arm, and I trimmed it this morning. The binding is ALMOST on. I should have it done in less than 10 minutes.

Putting the binding on the Quilts of Valour quilt

I love having the clock on my sewing machine. I glanced at it while sewing that binding on and realized that I was going to run out of time.

The clock on the Designer EPIC 2

The quilt is still in the machine, and once my morning chores are over, I'll get it finished. I need to put a sleeve on it, but that'll have to wait. I'll hang it up with my hook system and take a picture. That's all that's required for the moment. The second quilt made with a different fabric collection is draped over the long arm, and I hope to get that custom quilted this week.

Because we hung out so long on the Zoom call, I didn't get in a very long walk. But I did manage to hit the Manitoba border on my virtual walk across Canada. That's exciting - one more province gone.

Just crossed the border into Manitoba 

I need to start booking some Virtual Classes for the fall. I'll be doing that shortly and let you know all about them. I have actually booked events on my calendar starting in September. That's awesome and relatively easy to schedule because I don't have to allow travel time. I need to purchase a couple more pieces of equipment before I'm up and running to my standard.

And a HUGE thank you to everyone who stopped by the Virtual Retreat - I had a blast and hope you did as well. See you in August!!!   Welcome to Anita who got her video and audio working. It was great to see you this time!!!  I can't wait to see your tumbling block quilt FINISHED or at least progress made on it in August.

If you couldn't get the videos to work yesterday, you have to click the small arrow in the bottom left corner of each screen. Actually, I think you have to hit the big PLAY arrow in the middle and that brings up the small PLAY arrow in the bottom left corner. Have a look - Carol did a great job with those banners.

On that note, I'm out of here. I have a "few" things that need to be done this week. After this week, my schedule is almost completely empty. How does that happen that everything hits at the same time? Well, I'm lying - you all know that because the moment that something gets done, something else pops up!


Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

The Virtual Retreat - Day Five

NO - the Virtual Retreat is OVER!!!  Oh my gosh - it was an amazing five days of catching up with friends, meeting new friends, information gathering, and general frivolity! I had such a great time, and from the e-mails and messages that I received from everyone who participated, they also enjoyed it.

As a matter of fact, we all had so much fun that we all want to do it again!!! I'm going to schedule more dates, and they are going to be sooner than you think! So watch for those. I won't do five days again - I did find that a wee bit long for me. But here's the weirdest thing - even though I was at my house, I barely interacted with anything in my house, so I truly felt like I was away!

One of the ladies who joined yesterday said, "I'm not sure why I didn't call in on the other days, but I'm so glad that I did today!"  So if you were sitting on the fence, link in next time. Some people sewed, some people chatted (that was me for a good part of yesterday, but I was ripping something out), and I had to laugh when one person signed in for a while and then confessed that all she did was fidget with a zipper the entire time.

This is a picture she posted, and she was playing with the zipper on the left-most pouch.

Pouches made to match a purchased bag

Hey - this Virtual Retreat wasn't about SEWING. It was about reconnecting, it was about being there to listen to what people had to say, it was about making new friends, and it was about sharing and caring. Our mental health is critical, and I feel so much better after connecting to these great ladies. Oh, and Paul stopped in briefly to get birthday wishes for his 60th birthday yesterday. Some people connected to the link, then muted their microphone and just sewed while they listened. That was OK. There was ZERO pressure to produce anything!!!

We learned so much yesterday, AGAIN! We got the inside scoop on the insurance industry as it relates to our cars and the current crisis. We had a car expert in our midst who gave us advice about our vehicles - again what to do during the current crisis. We got to meet Jackie from Surrey, who gave us an update of what's going on in BC, and we learned how different guilds are coping or going to deal with the current situation. And loads more.

I don't even know how many people in total called in, but there were quite a few. I don't think we were ever more than 13 or 14 at a time, and that was great as we got to really chat with each other. I asked for them to send me pictures, and this is what I have to share with you today.

If you or someone in your family has one of these shelving units, it makes an EXCELLENT storage facility for fabric!!!!  I know - every family needed one of these. Karen snagged this from a thrift shop near her, and it's now her fabric storage unit. Most of the fabric is behind glass doors! Two parts of my storage unit like that is currently sitting in my office. The other one is downstairs with the thread for the long arm.

A super fabric storage unit

And Karen also has this sturdy little table on wheels. It tucks under her cutting table. It actually looks like a desk for a typewriter. Or something like that. Anyway, she also found it at a thrift shop, and it's an excellent extra table to pull up to your sewing machine!!

An extra table on wheels

I love it when people share their sewing rooms and storage ideas. Everyone has different tools and space available to them, and everyone has such creative ideas! It's great fun. Thanks for sharing Karen!!

We also got a view of Jackie's sewing room, with storage cupboards from IKEA!

Some of us sew in the dark basements - well basements with little windows like me, and then some of us sew in this fantastic space. Carol lives at the lake, and her basement is a walk-out. This was her view while she sewed. OK -- totally jealous, but then they have BLACK flies, and we do not!

Carol's view

This is my water view, and I think I'll stick with it!!!! This was feeding time at the pond. Those fish are hungry these days. The second I drop the food on the water, they make a mad dash to get it. One fish was so excited the other day that he flipped himself onto a lily pad. That's not good, but he flapped around once or twice, and he was back in the water. I kind of freaked out, but he knew what to do.

Feeding frenzy

And I had to laugh as Nina joined us again yesterday. The time difference between Germany and my location is 6 hours. So while we're having lunch, there she is sitting with a  glass of wine because it was dinner!!!

I got one more binding project done! This is my rectangular jelly roll rug. I used up some scrappy fabrics, but do you notice that I took care to create somewhat of a pattern with the darn strips? At least, it's symmetrical!

Binding is on the jelly roll rug

The corners are not the best - do I care? Nope. I'm over it. It's a rug for the floor.

The corners are a bit wonky

I also got the binding on my North Star quilt. I decided that I'll hand stitch that one down! I know - me? Hand stitching? I have two full days of Zoom presentation to listen too over the next couple of days. I figured it would be a good exercise and very therapeutic.
I got a few more things done, and I'll share those tomorrow.

Carol was madly working on her Row by Row license plates. Remember those?? Well, we all went crazy and ended up with loads of them. Carol was showing me one of the ones she worked on. The shop's name was Elaine's Attic, and in my honor, she framed it in orange. !!!

The Zoom quilt gang!

 Carol is putting a border around each of the plates. She has loads of license plates, but went through and picked out the ones with the best sayings. When she gets done what she wants to do, I know she's going to share the photo with me!!

Carol's license plates

Nina was working on an English Paper Piecing project. This is one of the millefiori quilts. Not the famous one she said, but one of them. It's a great take-along project when you don't have a lot of room. She made significant progress over the five days! This is one of the corners of the quilt. I LOVE it and can't wait to see the rest of the quilt.

Nina's millefiori quilt block

This is the third in a series of milkweed themed projects that Helen Anne is working on. She took a class with Jane Sassaman. I know the picture doesn't do justice to this. It's gorgeous, and I can't wait to see it in real life. We helped picked the background fabric and watched as she did all the applique and decorative stitching. Great job, Helen Anne!!!! It's stunning!

Helen Anne's milkweed project

Heather joined for a bit yesterday and was working on a project by Missouri Star. She had two blocks completed and made significant progress on the sections for the other blocks! This is going to be amazing. I love quilts with black backgrounds!!!!

Heather's quilt blocks

As we spent a lot of time chatting about Row by Row, Karen, showed us one of the kits that she had purchased from the quilt store in Whitehorse several years ago. HER kit is DONE.

Karen's Row by Row quilt kit  - DONE

Loads of other stuff that happened, and well, you just had to be there!! To everyone who signed in - THANK YOU!!!!  You made the Virtual Retreat a huge success. It was loads of fun, and I can't wait to do it all again!!!

Now it's time to get to work! I need to find some fabric for my Celebration quilt. I dug out the color swatch charts for Toscana (Northcott). There's nothing in there that matches that light blue, so I'm going to search the internet for the Patrick Lose fabric. Yep - something else might be better, but there's no time for that!

No suitable matches for this fabric

BUT I did find a pretty good match on one of the other missing fabrics. I'm going to do a bit more digging today.

A good match in the purples

So I was a slug yesterday. I was freezing all day, and then I realized it's because I barely moved. Our Zoom session went really LATE, and by the time I stopped the call, it was too late for a walk. I did 3.2 miles yesterday. A total SLUG!!!!  That's OK - I'll make it up up this week.


Here's my picture of the day. Yes - more sky, more scraggly trees.

Highway 16 east of the Battlefords

My position on the map for my Cross Canada walk

 Oh - I have so much more to share, but there is no more time today!!! I've got to get moving. We're having a Zoom sewing day (4 hours only) with our Monday seeing group today! I can't wait!!!! And then I have a TON of work to do after that session.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Bill Gates is my hero!!!

I solved my computer mouse problem by putting a book under the mouse. For some reason, it no longer wants to run on my desktop. No worries - I'm good with that. An easy and inexpensive fix! I would hope that in our current environment that we're all going to be finding ways to fix things rather than buy a new product.

I can't say that I'm surprised, but I'm a bit taken aback at how the BUY NOW e-mails keep coming through every day. Store owners - I know you're hurting. We're all hurting and the last thing I need is to rack up a credit card debt just because I wanted something to arrive at my door. Having said that, I do want to buy one thing online which I'll share with you shortly. But this is something that I need, not something that an e-mail persuaded me to buy.

I think that we need to dig deep because I don't think this is going to end quickly. Even if we're allowed "out" next month, it's going to be on a very limited basis. Did you hear that of the 44 cases in Newfoundland that ALL of them were linked back to ONE person!!! Please take this seriously! And try something new. I saw a guy who ran a marathon on his 22-foot long balcony. Anything is possible.

My schedule just keeps getting emptier and emptier. At this point, I doubt that I'll see anything back on the calendar until the summer. At least big events. Smaller events may go forward, but I'm not holding my breath.

That means that I actually have a chance to CATCH up on some stuff. Could that be possible? Yes - it's just going to require a lot of focus. The weather is getting nicer and calling my name to be outside!

So this is what's been happening at my house. OH  - here's something else. If you have something "fancy" at your house that you can't bear to use every day - get it out NOW. Life is short and why shouldn't we enjoy what we buy? I purchased these two very expensive tea mugs in 2015. They were in the cupboard for years and several months ago, I dug them out. I now alternate using them EACH DAY to enjoy my cup of tea. They are beautiful mugs and then I put them in the dishwasher. Should the paint fade or wear off, I don't care. I'm enjoying them now instead of having M find them in the back of the cupboard when I'm no longer around. Get something PRECIOUS out today. Who cares how much it costs or how fancy it is - use it every day NOW!!!

My two tea mugs

I got the entire "to be quilted" list updated. All the pages were reprinted and put into the red folder. I didn't do a final count, but there is a lot of quilts. The tubs are labeled, the area is neat and clean and doesn't make you feel happy to see that nice and neat space??? I'm ecstatic about seeing that area so neat and tidy.

The "to be quilted" area

I'm still putting quilts on the bed in the spare room. Every time I pass that room, I stop in to add another quilt to the pile. Here are two that got put on yesterday.

Green modern arrow quilt

And here's my Row by Row quilt from a few years back. I'm loving the fact that all these quilts are now lying flat and essentially pressing all the folds out. Let's hope that no one needs that bed for a long, long time. It will take quite an effort to get all the quilts off it. I wonder how many quilts I can put on that bed???

My Row by Row quilt

Don't worry - there are LOADS more. This is one pile that I'm working on. I'm trying for the moment to only put the lap-sized quilts on the bed. Then I'll deal with the smaller and larger quilts. I'm trying to minimize what's on the floor and on the railings.

More quilts to deal with

I did pull a couple of things off the work tables to deal with. Here's a container of plastic bags. All brand new. I think they were used for dying fabric years ago. Well, not these specific bags, but the boxes were part of my fabric dying stuff. What to do with them???

Plastic bags to deal with

I certainly do NOT need more plastic baggies. I have a cupboard full of them. Well, two shelves anyway. I took all those boxes and put them in the kitchen drawer. At least they will get used there and should anyone required plastic baggies - I have loads - I'd be happy to share!!!

Storage area for plastic bags

I also got another quilt loaded on the long arm. It's my quilt and I made it years ago. Several times already, it's been the "next" quilt to be quilted and then got bumped because of something else. I think something else was that I didn't know how to quilt it. I started off by ironing this HUGE piece of fabric. The quilt is 44" by 45". HEY - why do I have this giant piece of fabric that would be better used for a lap sized quilt. So I measured and labeled the yellow fabric and put it with the rest of the backings.

Yellow backing fabric

I dug through the backings and found something that will work a whole lot better. You see, that yellow was chosen YEARS ago. The new fabric is tight because of the width of the fabric, but it'll work. I've had several ideas for quilting running through my head for the last couple of weeks. I did some research on the internet. Then I had a chat with the quilt. I hung it off the ironing board and sat in a chair and contemplated it.

AHA - I think I know exactly what I'm going to do with it. It's now on the long arm and ready to go for later today. Should I feel like it!!!

Then it was time to deal with another project off the work tables. And I need to get more stuff prepped for the upcoming retreat. Remember it's a virtual retreat. So I dug out the yoga bag. It's a pattern from byAnnie.com. 

In addition to the quilted piece of fabric, there was a plastic drawer full of stuff in Studio U. I dug it out and brought it downstairs.

More supplies for the yoga bag

Oh boy - can you believe what I found in there? FOURTEEN zippers?  Why???  I only need one for the yoga bag. Wait - I actually need three. Now that I'm savvier about zippers, NONE of them are what I want. So that's my job today - try to find someone who is still working who sells the zippers that I want and have them shipped to the retreat house so I can work on the project.

The extra supplies for the yoga bag

I found three different colors of green thread (three????) and a receipt where I bought a lot of this stuff. Do you see the date on that receipt?? Good god - what's the matter with me???

Three spools of green thread and a receipt

I also found all these hardware bits. Really?? What the heck was I going to do with all that? It's now in the box with the other purse/bag hardware. There's a shoulder strap on this bag, but I never use a shoulder strap so it doesn't make sense to add one. Right?? What what I thinking???

Extra bag hardware

So the yoga bag is now prepped except the missing zippers. All the pieces are cut and labeled. There was enough quilted fabric to make a funky shaped zippered pouch and I set aside one of the green zippers for that.

The yoga bag is prepped except for the BIG zippers

What I'm hoping to find is the zipper tape in GREEN, so I can make my own zippers. Look what my BEST FRIEND in the whole world made for me. That's a fork that she's beautifully designed into a tool that makes it easy to put the zipper pulls onto the zipper tape. It's very professionally made. I'm going to owe her a LOT of money for all the little things she does for me!!!  Yeah, Shelly!!!! And Shelly is in the health care profession so an extra shout-out to her in this crazy time. We love you!!!!!

My zipper fork

Now that yoga bag goes into the laundry basket along with two other projects. That makes three projects - I hope to have a total of five. Can you imagine what Tish told me?? That a virtual retreat would allow for a virtual laundry basket which could be as big as my imagination. OH NO - these girls do not understand my virtual retreat!  I'm making it as real as possible. I'm going to have loads of fun with it - just you wait and see. This is good training for the next real retreat. Can I work just from the laundry basket for five days? So far so good in the packing department. No panic packing yet.

My retreat laundry basket

And before I order a zipper for that yoga bag, I should check that I have the correct color zippers for my backpack as I wanted to take that with me as well.

I love the liquid calcium, but alas I ran out of it yesterday. Now I could run around trying to find more, but I do have a container of these GIANT calcium tablets so I'll get those used up. Hopefully, you are all making do with what you have in your house as well!!!!

Calcium tablets to be used up!

I have to share this photo from the Virtual Challenges. Route 66 takes a wee dip into the state of Kansas. It's so small that I wasn't sure if I'd walk through the entire state in one day. My mission (according to Ronda) was to time it so that I'd stop in Kansas. Hey - I'm in Kansas. I know - maybe tomorrow, I'll get to say "Toto - we're not in Kansas anymore!"

My Route 66 Virtual Challenge in Kansas

So much of our world seems to be virtual these days. I heard that Lynn is going to be eating virtual cookies at HER retreat. Too funny!!!  I believe that Route 66 goes through 9 states in total. I'm now in the third state. And almost 1/3 of the way in the distance.

Two people sent me their quilt tops from the North Stars class from The Hobby Horse last year. This is Jana's quilt. She used fabric with DOTS for most of the animals and the background. It's absolutely adorable and my favorite are the otters with their funky large dots!!!

Jana's North Star quilt

Oh, shoot - another sideways photo. This quilt with a BUSY background belongs to Sheila. It's absolutely stunning and that busy background did a great job of showcasing all the animals. It looks awesome Sheila!!!!

Sheila's North Star quilt

If you need to buy something online, here's something to consider. Are you into making jelly roll rugs?? Tired of inserting the batting into those strips? Here are links to FOUR different tools to make that job easier. One of them was made on a  3-D printer and if you have access, you could make your own tool.

Jelly Roll Rug Binding Tool from PUrple HObbies

Jelly Roll Tube Maker by The Gypsy Quilter

Jelly Roll Sasher Fabric Folding Tool  - this is the one that you can 3-D print

Jelly Roll Sasher 


So if you're in the market to make jelly roll rugs - have a peek at those tools. By the way - if you have one of these tools and have used it - I'd like a review so I can post it here. I haven't tried any of them.


I have two other links for you today. One is some VERY WISE words of wisdom by Bill Gates. Have a read - it's very thought-provoking. I LOVE Bill Gates. I think we should print out this letter and tape it to our computers and read it EVERY DAY!!!!   I've been the victim of FAKE NEWS.  This letter was a fake - oh god.   The words were very good. I did save them in a word document.

And now, one last link. It's the final day of my QUILTsocial week with the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC 2 and some of the amazing tools for machine embroidery. Check it out - you'll see what I've been slaving at for the last couple of weeks.

Have a super day!!!  Remember what Bill said!!!

Ciao!!!!