Do you know where your luggage is?

The last day of the show is always the best and the worst! It's exciting because you get to pack up and go home, but we've made new friends and had fun looking at the quilts, checking out the vendors, and bonding with colleagues and dealers. But it also means we can get back home, back to "work," and proper food and all that fun stuff. Let's not forget about sleeping in your own bed, although the bed at the hotel was quite comfy. 

Since I was on my own for breakfast and had a muffin from the night before, I headed out for a walk. Oh my -- I walked quite far and was almost at 10,000 steps before 8:30 AM. I was on the hunt for a geocache, but when I checked, it was a DID NOT FIND for the previous two people. Oh, shoot. However, I did get one of the adventure lab stops (that's a subset of geocaching), but I couldn't complete the task as the spots were scattered too far for me to walk. I got 10 points for answering the first question, which was better than nothing. 

There are the churches!! There is a gigantic church in every town! And these two towns are across the river from each other. 

The church across the river

The church on my side of the river

Our hotel was several KMs away from the center of the town, and I managed to walk right to town! Who knew you could walk so far when it's a gorgeous day, and the scenery is second to none? Anyway, many of the houses or other buildings along that route in the town had a sign out front explaining the history of the building. Some of those houses are 200 years old!!! 

Historical sign

I wish I had more time as there was beautiful artwork along the river, and the answer to the Adventure Lab questions was related to the artwork! Next time. It's tough when you don't have a car. 

Artwork along the river

Then I met up with Michelle and headed to the grocery store to get lunch. While I loved the food truck, I needed something not greasy or fried. So we picked up a salad and fresh fruit! I have to say that it was very tasty at lunchtime. 

And Cracker Jack? Do you remember that? Can we still buy that here? It's a bag, not a box, but there's still a surprise inside! Gosh -- that brings back so many memories. How happy we were with some junky little microscopic surprise! We did NOT buy the Cracker Jack!

Cracker Jack

My feet did well all week in my dress shoes which was a surprise. But the heels are low, the socks are thin, and it worked out just fine! They did not get tired, nor did I get blisters! Can you believe there was a woman who completed the Camino in the same shoes as me and basically did everything wrong and had NO blisters? What happened to me? 

I managed to get to the Wonderfil booth and did a little damage, and I'll have to share that with you another day. 

When it came time to pack up, we had a ton of help from the dealers who worked in our booth. Let's just say that all the machines were packed up in ONE HOUR, which is pretty good. But that is a physical job, to say the least. We had sewing machines, sergers, quilting machines (one on a frame and one sit-down), and embroidery machines. And most of them have ONE way to get into the box. 

The big sergers are probably the worst ones to pack, and I did both. Yep -- I've got that one down pat! 

The samples needed to be sorted and packed, which was a challenge as I now had thread and my extra quilt, and I didn't want to be over my weight limit. Sitting on the suitcase sure helps compress what's inside! 

Once the machines were packed and most of them gone, Michelle, Trina, and I finished the booth. In all the years I've done trade shows, it never fails. The booth that I'm in is ALWAYS the last one to leave. Whether with The Hobby Horse or Sew Fancy at the Creative Festival, Northcott at Quilt Market, or SVP Canada at various shows -- we are always the LAST. Lots of bits!! Or maybe I'm slow? 

But by 6:30, Michelle and I were in the car. And by that time, the truck to pick up the pipe and drape had gone, and most of the quilts were picked up by their owners. 

The floor is EMPTY

The show will be at the same time and place in 2024. I can't wait to go back!

I had to change my flight to get home last night. I was supposed to fly home today, but if I could get home last night, I would be much happier, so I made that happen. But when I changed my flight, it was for the LAST flight of the day, which is always a danger. If the flight is canceled -- you are in a bind. 

However, everything went like clockwork. Since I had check-in luggage, I had to get a bag tag for my luggage. That is easy to do at the kiosk, and now everything seems to be much easier as you can just scan the boarding pass from PRE-CHECK-IN the day before. That brought up my ticket, and I quickly printed my luggage tag.  

Then I took the bag to the bag drop, which is also automatic. The weight was fine at 22.7 KG, and the limit is 23 KG. Phew --- I got lucky! 

Then I was off to security and got into the priority line. Since it was pretty quiet, it was the most efficient security check I've done. I forgot to take out my toothpaste and hand lotion, but no one said anything. 

I swear I was dropped off and at the gate in less than 10 minutes, and I had checked my luggage! That was pretty quick! 

While sitting at the gate, as I now had two hours to kill, the airline offered to check some of the carry-on luggage. Hey --- if I have checked baggage, why not. One less thing to carry on the plane. So I did. Now both of my bags were at the mercy of Air Canada. 

The flight left on time and I was soon fast asleep. I didn't even feel the plane take off. But I woke up when they brought water around. It's only a one-hour flight. 

This is what the luggage hall in Toronto looks like now. It's EMPTY of luggage. Remember, back in June, this area was packed with luggage. 

No lost luggage in the hall

We had to wait a few minutes, and then the carousel started working, and once the luggage started coming, it was crazy. The luggage was flying out of the chute at a great rate, but there were my two bags. 

My luggage arrived

I don't get paranoid about any of that stuff. It is what it is, and one must live without worrying too much, or you'll be in big trouble. Now I would have been upset if that bag of samples went missing, but especially upset because ALL my thread is in there. Then I used the app to book an Uber, and I was home within a very short time. 

Travel can be stressful, but if you know what's happening and how to do stuff, it's not bad at all. The hardest thing I find is that you are trying to have your phone in your hand since so much of what we do now is with an app on the phone. And I had two suitcases, and my backpack and a jacket. I needed two more hands! I will say that travel is one instance where technology has definitely helped. Let's just hope it all works as it did yesterday. 

When I was getting my baggage tag in Montreal, the attendant asked if I needed help. NO -- I need two extra hands! I think Margaret travels with THREE big suitcases, and I don't know how she does it, and I will NEVER go beyond ONE. 

When I got home, Murphy was beyond excited, and Lexi was but in her own way. Oh, those girls -- I missed them. But now I'm home for the rest of the year, but I have a couple of day trips and a couple involves an overnight stay, but nothing extended and nothing on a plane. 

Don't forget that I'll be at the store opening of Sew Productive on Wednesday and offering TWO lectures on Thursday. Even if you've been quilting or doing embroidery for a while, there will be lots of tips for everyone! Be sure to REGISTER, and it's free. 

That's it for me today. I've got Monday sewing, so that's an exciting way to spend the day, and I think we have lots to chat about today. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Salon Quebec -- the final day

It's now the last day of the Salon Quebec show, and I've managed to get out and see about 1/3 of the quilts. As mentioned, my job here is to help customers; if there is time, I'll check out the vendors. But that's not my priority - although I'll be stopping by the Wonderfil booth this morning and doing some serious damage. Wait until you see what I'm getting!! I might need another suitcase!

Here are a couple of other quilts that I got pictures of. 

This is pretty cool and very scrappy --- right up my alley. And I love the colors, which are the same as my Tula Pink Butterfly quilt. 

Scrappy pink and green!

The label 

There were lots of BIG quilts; as I mentioned the other day, 21 were quilted by hand. FORTY-TWO were quilted on domestic machines! That's incredible, and 57 were quilted on a long arm. There are a lot of large quilts!

Some of the quilts are basic, and others, like this one, are out of this world. 

Stunning applique quilt

The label

Helen Anne would be asking for my detail shot, and I took some but didn't load them. 

Although I'm not a fan of the big white spaces, this quilt was stunning.

Another gorgeous applique quilt

But look at the label to see how long it took to make each border. Now that's dedication!

The label

Lots of great inspiration, and after several discussions with my colleagues, my head is about to burst. I need to sit down and make a list of what I would like to achieve and then JUST DO IT!

Time -- I need more time! Actually, I do pretty well with my time, so I can't complain. I'll be home REALLY late tonight, but then I can get an early start to the day tomorrow and get back into the routine. 

I will be in Acton to help with the new store opening events. That's on Wednesday and Thursday. The store is called Sew Productive, so if you are in the area, this is a good time to get out and support this new venture! Melinda would be thrilled to see you. And I'm doing some lectures/demos on Thursday. 

These are IN-PERSON events, so if you've been cooped up too long, it's a great chance to get out and meet other like-minded people, you get to see samples IN PERSON, and you can touch them. If you've got questions, it's a great place to get answers!!! And it's FREE!!!

Quilting 101

In the afternoon, I"ll be doing an Intro to Embroidery with all kinds of tips to make you a better embroidered, and you can ask questions!!!! 

Best of all -- the events are FREE, but you need to register!!!

So this happened in front of our booth yesterday. There are seven quilters in the Youth category. And they were all present in the afternoon. They were each presented with a Janome sewing machine. I have to say that it's so refreshing to see these young quilters, and one of them was male. Are we allowed to say that? The workmanship was pretty amazing, and I hope we see more of their work at the next show. 

The Youth quilters

So I had company on my walk the last two mornings and snapped this photo!! The sun was out, and it was a glorious day, but we were off to work shortly after these pictures were taken. 

I've got company!

The view

We have lots of help to help us pack up those sewing machines, so if each of us does three machines? We'll be out of there in no time. But then table cloths to fold, samples to pack -- it's so much fun!!! But it shouldn't take long, and then I'm off to the airport to catch my flight. I will have luggage on the way home as I'm bringing my suitcase of samples home. I need it for Wednesday, so let's hope it makes it safely!

OH -- I got to see Nancy for a bit while I was at lunch, but no pictures, and I've seen others as well and made new friends. It's been a great show, but I'll be happy when 6 PM comes around!!!

On that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Nostaglia

 So it appears that I need to learn more about sharing. I keep trying to share posts on Facebook, and they only get shared with M. Sigh................ So much to learn!  Of course, she only told me last night! OK -- so I fixed that and SAVED the settings, so it shouldn't happen again! 

It's been amazing to see people I know! I ran into the important ladies from CQA yesterday, or they ran into me. Hi Heather, Jane, and Irene! And I've seen some people from my Zoom classes. There were some that I met on Zoom, and they have stopped by to say HI. 

Karen popped in to say HI, and here's a picture of Karen, Michelle, and me. Karen is one of us (educators) from the US, and she's one of the most creative people I know!

Karen, Michelle, me

And then we saw Paul yesterday. EVERYONE knows Paul. He was on his way somewhere and honored us with his presence for a bit. 

Michelle, Paul, me

There are still two days of the show, and they tell me that the show gets busier as the days go on. And so far, they seem to be right. The traffic on the first day was OK, but yesterday was very busy. And because it's Saturday, it's supposed to be even busier. So we'll see. I must admit the day just whizzed by, and it was time to return to the hotel. Let's hope today is just as busy. 

People are super interested in the quilting machines and LOVE the sit-down quilting machine. Yep -- I also love it, and if you have the room, we have an excellent price on the darn thing!

Michelle and I walked to Tim's for breakfast since we had more time in the morning than in previous days. Afterward, she went to the hotel, and I continued my walk. I ended up back at the river right by one of the rest spots I had seen before. The sun was already up, and that bench was a wee bit cool, but I didn't care. It was a beautiful spot to sit and contemplate life. 

How inviting

We don't spend enough time just contemplating life. And as I sat there looking at this view, it made me think back many years. 

The view from the bench

When I first moved to Quebec, I moved to St. Jean sur Richelieu. The "sur Richelieu" part means "on the Richelieu river." That is the Richelieu River there. We lived near the river, and I was many miles from home, and I would spend long hours sitting at the river and wondering if I had done the right thing to move so far from home. 

Who would know that I would be sitting by the same river many years later, just in a different spot! You never know where life will take you! 

But enough about the past -- I sometimes wish certain things would be different -- I think we all would, but no regrets. I had lunch with a lady from near Quebec City whose life changed many years ago when her husband (a pilot) and his student were killed in an accident, and she just found out she was pregnant. Now that is life-changing! 

So here's what's on the menu for lunch! A LUNCH TRUCK. The truck is parked outside the center, and we order inside, and they bring the food inside. Not having much experience with food trucks, I was a bit skeptical, but the food is excellent. They only take cash, so I need to find a cash machine this morning. I never carry cash, and I've been borrowing! 

The food truck

I got a chance to get out and look at some of the quilts yesterday. Can you believe 21 BED quilts are HAND quilted?? I was shocked. Some are quilted with bigger stitches, but many are quilted with small stitches. 

Hand quilting 

This quilt is hand quilted. Oh, shoot - I forgot to take a picture of the label. I'll try and get it today. This was the first picture I took -- I got labels for the others. 

Quilter's Garden Patch

I just posted a picture of this quilt last week, as we did this as a class at The Hobby Horse a few years ago. It's a Laundry Basket pattern, and my top is done but needs to be quilted. 

Then I was in another section and thought there were a lot of medallion quilts. Ah -- then I clued in when I started reading the labels. This was the mystery quilt that was designed by one of the guild members, and members participated during the pandemic. There are 29 of these quilts in the show and it was fascinating to see how different each one of them looked in different colors. 

Two of the mystery quilts

That photo shows two of them; some makers changed some of the blocks, and others added applique, but all the quilts are unique! So fun to see them all.  

I hope to get out a bit more today, but my priority is to help people who come to visit us and check out the machines. And I haven't checked out the vendors at all, although I don't need fabric, I want to just check what is out there, and there is one purchase I want to make. It's a legitimate one and involves something for our embroidery club!

I have to admit as much as I like working from home and Zooming, there is nothing like a face-to-face to connect with people. You might glean little snippets of information from a conversation you are not even part of (just a bystander, not eavesdropping) or dinner with your colleagues. Or chatting with the customers and the dealers. It's been so much fun, and we have another two days, although today, the show closes at 5 PM and tomorrow at 3 PM, so there's not a lot of time to check out the rest of the show! 

I will be glad to get home, though -- I know Miss Murphy and Lexi are missing me. Murphy even slept under DH's desk while he was working; she NEVER does that when I'm home. Oh, Murphy and Lexi -- I miss you too!!!

Where's MY MOM?

Don't forget about the mySewnet software club this coming Tuesday!!! Call Brampton Sew and Serge (905-874-1564) if you want to get signed up. And I should mention that there's a new store opening in Acton --- Sew Productive. I'll be there on Wednesday and Thursday. Come check it out -- we have lectures on Embroidery and Quilting on Thursday, and I'll answer questions on the Husqvarna Viking machines on Wednesday. 

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Courtrepointe Quebec Best in Show

 For a minute, I thought I might not have internet. But refreshed the page, and here I am! 

So the show's first day is over, and it was a lot of fun. I managed to chat with the customers in French, and I'm getting decent at it! We were out last night and told the fabric cutter (wait for that story) that we were from Ontario, and she told me my French was excellent! 

I went for a walk in the morning along the river and snapped a couple of pictures. But first, it's bizarre to walk in this area. The drivers STOP at the stop signs, don't turn right on red lights, and that sign with the speed limit? They respect it!! It's freaky!! I almost feel out of sorts because I don't have to watch the traffic like I do in Toronto. 

OK -- so that is another reason to want to move back here. And some of those houses along the river -- well, the view would be spectacular. This was the sunrise with Mont St. Hilaire in the background. And besides the bike path along the road, there were a couple of little stops along the way with benches and a bicycle rack. Now, how civilized is that? 

Sunrise

I spotted a free library along the road. I had a peek to see if they were french only books, but nope, there were a few in English as well. I just love the idea of these little libraries!! 

Free library

Here is our booth. It's HUGE, but then we have a LOT of sewing machines, embroidery machines, quilting machines, and sergers on display!! People are very much interested in the quilting machines -- we have a sit-down one to die for!! And there's a machine on a five-foot frame, so if you're tight on space, that's a great way to go, and you can do any size quilt on it by quilting one area, moving the quilt, and doing another area. 

Our booth

We have some employees from other stores helping us, so I get to speak French with them all day long. I love it!!!

I also picked up a membership form for Coutrepoint Quebec and will sign up for a membership. Actually, I can do that online today. They meet weekly on Zoom and so another opportunity to practice my French. 

This is a judged show; there are many entries, and I'll talk more about that another day. But here is the BEST IN SHOW. I forgot to get some close-ups, but this is a stunning quilt and encompasses MANY techniques. 

Best-in-show quilt

The big fancy ribbon

Hopefully, you can read that label in French and English. Shoot -- I may have to take another picture -- it seems blurry. 

Label for Best in Show

OH -- I have to take a picture of what we ate for lunch. It's unique, and I was skeptical, but it's probably the best food I've eaten at a trade show. Wait for that tomorrow. 

Once the day was done, Michelle and I were off. It's not as if there wasn't enough fabric around us, but we HAD to go to Club Tissus. I believe there are four of these places, and they are to die for if you love to sew and create. I wish we had them in Ontario. Oh -- another reason to move to Montreal! Anyway, it's a GIANT fabric store that is sectioned into different stores. One for sewing machines and accessories, one for garment sewing, another for notions, then home dec, yet another for quilting cotton, etc. It's like having everything under ONE roof; if you want an accessory, you will likely find it if you walk to the next boutique. Yet - it looks like one big store. It's amazing.

What is even more impressive is the variety of fabrics they have and the quantity and selection of colors and styles of each. We restrained ourselves, but it was hard. You had iridescent water-repellent fabrics and knits of all shapes and varieties; it was terrific. We saw Minky and plush in amazing prints. 

And I've never seen so much Baby Yoda fabric in my life! And I swear they had every bolt of Ruby Star society fabrics, and there was a TON of Tula Pink. I guess they like their modern fabrics here. 

Baby Yoda

And don't forget the wall of Kona. I suspect they have every color!! Now, if that doesn't look inviting, I don't know what would excite you. 

But did we buy anything? Yes -- I bought three things, and this is one of them. This was not on my radar, but as we neared the cash, Michelle wanted to look for one more thing, and I spotted this. Oh -- I can't leave that on the shelf, so I got enough to make a T-shirt. NOW when I get home, I NEED to make that T-shirt. It is more of a rust color; it's not bright orange. The lights in the hotel room are not made for taking pictures! 

Orange bicycle knit

Exciting times!!!! I learned a bunch of other stuff, but not ready to share yet. I had a very quick peek at some of the vendors at the show, and today I want to get out and look at some of the quilts. 

If you are interested in a class on the mySewnet embroidery software, I'm running a class on Zoom starting October 25, which is Tuesday. It's a three-part class (October, November, and December). If you have the software and want to sign up, call Brampton Sew and Serge (905-874-1564). I was going to run this personally, but why double-dip? If you waiting for ME to give you the information, I'm giving it to you this way. Sorry for the late notice. 

And that's it -- I need to get out for my walk. 

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!

How much is that beer worth?

Someone offered a good suggestion about the charging cords: to have them in a separate bag. This would work IF I had duplicates of the darn things, which I do not. I should buy a second power supply for the laptop, but I don't have a second charger for my Fitbit, and I have no plans to buy one. So if I label the darn phone charger instead of quickly grabbing what I think is the right one, I should be OK. It's the first time EVER that I've made that mistake!

So the worst day of any show, set-up day, is over. However, I'm happy to report that while the day was long, it went rather well. No drama - no injuries, and I FOUND one of my quilts in the company sample bags. I hate to admit that I didn't even know it was missing!

The hotel we are staying at is like a hotel for foodies, so we haven't even hit the restaurant here, although we checked the menu. I don't think there will be much I like. And the prices - well, the more I eat in this restaurant, the less fabric I can buy! Just kidding -- I don't have plans to buy fabric at this show. 

So Tim's it is, and they are just down the street. We grab and eat on the drive to the show, and that works for me. 

Before we left in the morning, I went geocaching and snagged two caches. They were the ONLY two within walking distance of the hotel. There are a few others, but they are across the river and so not convenient to get there. 

I got bonus points, so after finding only three caches, I have 145 points. I need to get 500 by the end of November, so I still have time for that. 

Geocaching points

Here's a picture of the river. It was beautiful yesterday morning, with the mist rising off of it. 

The Richelieu River

I lived near that river when I moved to Quebec many years ago. I lived in St. Jean sur Richelieu!

There's a cycling path beside the river - well lanes on the road, but there is a good sidewalk in this area, so nice to walk. And can you tell me why ALL the drivers STOP at the stop signs??? It's so encouraging to see. Now I bet some drivers blow through them, but these are good solid stops. And I love how the stop signs are designed, so you know who has a stop. It's a brilliant system. OH --- You can't turn right on a red light. Why can't we have that in Ontario? OH -- because we're probably violating the driver's rights (to be idiots!) Ooops -- did I just write that? 

A stop sign

Did I ever say how much I love this province and wish I still lived here? It wasn't my fault I was "forced" to move, and I would still be here if it were my choice. But then my life would have taken a different path, so I'm not complaining! But it's always thought-provoking when you think about how one decision can change your life. 

There are a couple of statues in front of the hotel, and this one is all about food. 

Statue in front of the hotel

And this one is all about working. The hotel is showing that you can work and eat at this hotel!

A second statue at the hotel

Our booth is huge, and we have a vast variety of stuff on display. Here's one of our walls. 

Sample display number one

And the second one. 

Sample display number two

And there's the third one.  

Sample display number three

It looks different with all the machines in place, but you get the idea.

So the afternoon was taken up by unboxing machines. I hate to say this, but I don't think I will ever get excited about unboxing a new sewing machine. I've unboxed so many of them that another machine is another machine. How awful is that? But it's part of this job, and I don't mind, but some of those machines are heavy and get stuck in the foam and are hard to extract. Let's just say that by the end of the day, I was tired and happy that we were done. 

We threaded all the machines, meaning bobbins had to be wound. I was on my almost last machine and grabbed the wrong accessory pack, so things wouldn't fit. I had to work that one out verbally before I realized my mistake. DUH!!!! We had someone from one of the dealers helping us, and I realize now that I should have given her some instructions on setting up the machines so we could come around and fix them up. No worries -- it's all done. 

We stopped for a quick bite, and then we were off back to the hotel. But WAIT -- not before we got a bottle opener. I stopped at Wal-Mart and ran to the kitchen section. 

Yikes --- this made me stop and think how much I wanted that beer. The price of that fancy opener was $16.47. 

AHA -- this is a bit better at $11.97. 

I continued down the aisle and found one for $5.97 -- even better. 

But WAIT --- there's one for $4.97. Phew --- that was a bit better price-wise. 

And so Michelle and I sat around until very late for me, and we solved the problems of trade shows and how to very quickly and efficiently set up the booth -- well, at least the samples. LOL -- like that will never happen, but we came up with some good ideas!!!

At last - my beer

And, of course, it never fails, I'm away, and they came to install the new railing on our front step. Try to explain to DH where it should fit. Hopefully, it'll be in the right place when I get home. I have to say that I'm not sure I like the railing. One side of the railing is very straight, and the other seems curly. Oh well --- I'll see it when I get home. It's just a railing, after all. I need the functionality, not substance. But we paid a small fortune for that railing. 

On that note, I'm out of here! I will take a little walk before heading off to the show. We seem to have a lot of help from the local dealers, so that is GOOD NEWS. At least we will have time to trade each other off for a bit, and I might feel like walking the show. There are MANY vendors here. I didn't think there were a lot of shops in Quebec (or Kbec as the GPS says), and some did come from Ontario. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!