Taking stock of the coincidences!

 You guys are the best—so many good comments and suggestions. 

It was another amazing day of progress. And guess what? I have worked on almost all my projects - there are two bundles of scraps that I have not touched, and one quilt top! There are a few projects that didn't get finished, but they got advanced, and that is all that counts!

Here is the plaque from the BMO Museum in Montreal. What a hoot to see that. Thank you so much, Daphne, for spotting that and sending it to me, as I had no idea. I don't think I was ever in that museum, and I worked in that building for at least 10 years! I'll share that story and pictures with you when I get home. 

The writing about the scholarship

For something different, we decided to head out for breakfast, and this was one of the breakfasts. This was not mine, but it sure looked good. Let's just say that we did NOT need lunch. However, to help digest the goodies, four of us walked to the breakfast restaurant and then home! It was about a 30-minute walk each way. 

That's breakfast

Then it was back to the house to get some of those niggly little projects done, or at least advance them as much as I could. 

I'm happy to say that I got the invisible zipper back into that cushion cover. Good grief -- that job took all of 5 minutes, but it has sat on my sewing table at home for months. All that remains is to serge the edges together. 

Inserting the invisible zipper

I think I have now perfected how to put the invisible zipper in, especially how to avoid twisting the darn thing and get nice, neat corners at the edges where the zipper is inserted. That should be an easy finish when I'm home. 

A neat finish for the invisible zipper

I had attempted to cut away the zipper tape on the previous attempt, and with both zipper stops cut away, I had to use a clip to prevent the head from coming off!! But it worked, and I'm happy. 

Some of the zipper tape had been removed to reduce bulk.

Then I tackled this small binding sample. It had been turned inside out through the seam in the backing, and I wanted to add a few quilting stitches. 

So I added some stitch-in-the-ditch around the center part and top-stitched close to the outer edge. How long did that take? And yes—that has been sitting on the sewing table for eons. 

The front of the binding sample

The back of the binding sample

Then I grabbed this next binding sample. I wanted to put prairie points around the edge, as I didn't have a sample of that technique. I pulled out the fabric I was going to use, only to discover there wasn't enough. OK -- seriously? Why didn't I figure out how much I needed before I pulled out some black fabric? I wrote myself a note, and when I get home, I can pull the appropriate amount and either continue to work on it or bring it to the next retreat. 

Not enough fabric to work on this one

Then I needed to take a break and was going to check out the Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association on YouTube. They had planned to livestream the events this weekend. Imagine my joy when I found the live stream just ten minutes after the individual qualifying event started. So yes—I watched for about 40 minutes. Good grief - those puzzlers are intense, and the first puzzle was assembled after 38 minutes or something like that. That was a 500-piece puzzle - these guys are good, and I'm nowhere near that level! 

Watching the livestream of the jigsaw competition

The number of coincidences happening right now is incredible. I made a comment on the livestream that I was excited to watch and mentioned that I would be there today. Shhhh—don't tell DH that. Anyway, shortly thereafter, I got an email from a friend of mine who used to live in this area. They packed up and moved to PEI many years ago, and I saw her in person in 2015. I haven't really had contact with her since then. But she saw my post and emailed me right away to ask if I had switched from quilting to puzzling! 

She used to be a long-arm quilter and sewed quilts. She has given up quilting, and now she's a puzzler! It sounds like she keeps her puzzles, as she said they have close to 700!!! I don't plan on keeping mine. I'll be in touch with her—lots of questions, and it might mean a trip back to PEI. 

Then it was time to get back to work, and I had several pouches to work on. I had brought this pattern with me, but I wasn't all that excited about the construction method when I read through it. Hmm --- there is another way to construct these bags, but could I remember? 

Supplies to make a zippered boxy pouch

I got some information from one of my Monday sewists, who is in Europe at the moment! But I was certain there was a different way, so I got out some newspaper and cut some rectangles in the shape of my pre-quilted fabric. Yes -- it wasn't enough that I needed a pattern, but I would have to rejig it to match my shape. 

I had to make several iterations of my paper pouch, but I finally remembered the concept I used when making the bags in the past. It was quite the puzzle!!! But I didn't have the ratio of the cutout sections to make sure that all the seams would match up. 

Making pouches from newsprint

I remembered another friend had made a pouch in what I thought was the style I was looking for, so she sent me the cutting diagram, and DRAT -- it was the same one I had gotten earlier. But there is a different way. 

I have left that project out in case I get time this morning. I may decide to make several pouches using both methods. I'll have to find the pattern I'm thinking of when I get home. Then I can judge which one is easiest to modify, since I have quite a few pieces of pre-quilted fabric to turn into pouches. My sizes do NOT match any of the patterns. 

As the mother of the bride, with sewing skills, it's my job to fix this bowtie so a certain little Mister can wear it to the wedding. It had a huge buckle. I took the strap apart and will remake it with a velcro fastener. I managed to find a very similar colored fabric and will be making him another one that will be smaller -- this one is HUGE, and he's just a little guy. But don't tell the bride!!!! We'll have options, and I'm bringing a small sewing kit with me - just in case! And safety pins!

Deconstructing a bowtie

I pulled SIX raindrops off the Cherrywood challenge and WAIT --- someone suggested I use one of those shavers! I have one!!!!!! I'm going to try that when I get home. Thanks, Shirley, for that suggestion -- it's in a drawer of notions and I never even thought about it. That's why together we are a team!!!!!

More raindrops have gone from the Cherrywood challenge.

And someone has an answer for my three-needle bind-off, so I'll be checking that out as well. You guys are the best!!!!

There was one other project that I worked on - another small pouch. There is some appliqué to do, and I didn't have the right thread, and for some reason, I brought an invisible zipper. WAIT --- that was the zipper that came with the kit. So I'll get a regular zipper when I'm home, and they used snaps on it, which I didn't bring with me. So that can be worked on at home. 

Another zippered pouch

By this time, I had run out of things to do, including all the panic packing I had done. That left three bags of scraps and an entire quilt top to be sewn together. I grabbed the bag of scraps with all the leftover backing trim from the eight dog quilts for the vet and his staff. 

I had sorted them into bright colors and the muted ones. And I started making blocks. This process puts me in my happy place, and I just LOVE doing it. It's like a puzzle, and my brain is happy. 

Making fabric from scraps

I did a pretty good job at using up small pieces and cutting from the small yardage pieces. 

Making a scrappy block

OK -- this picture would NOT cooperate when I tried rotating it. But of the bright colors (a lot of them had black backgrounds), I have made/cut 82 six-inch blocks!!!! That's pretty exciting. 

I have made 82 blocks so far.

And this is all the fabric bits that remain for the bright colors, laid out to make one last block. That will be 83 blocks, which doesn't work well in any sort of configuration. I may have to add a few more solid colors or something. 

The last block

I'll work on the muted colors and see how many blocks I can make. I don't think I'll mix them, as they are quite different and will make the very scrappy quilt look even scrappier. WAIT --- that's a good teaching opportunity for my upcoming class in the fall!!! 

Here are a couple of pictures of what some of the others are working on. Look at all those beautiful colors of felt!!! Those came from Creekbank in case you covet them. 

Beautifully colored felt

Someone else bought a bucket of scraps and proceeded to cut them into squares of various sizes. Doesn't that look yummy!!! And she finished going through that scrap bucket!!! Yeah!!!!

Scraps in storage containers

And if you want to see something very crazy, these diamonds are hand-pieced. 

Hand pieced blocks

But she loves hand piecing, which is good because there are lots of diamonds to make (Quilted Diamonds by Linda Franz) and some of those pieces are tiny!!!!

Last night was the second full moon this month, so we kept an eye on it as it rose above the trees and risked life and limb (mosquitoes) to get a couple of pictures. The second full moon each month is called a Blue Moon (I'm sure you all knew that), and this one was supposed to be extra special because many planets were aligned!!

The Blue Moon

Well, I'm off to work on the rest of the dog fabric scraps, and who knows - I might be sewing those quilts together at the next retreat. But I have a bag of Oh Canada scraps in my retreat bag, and I NEED to get those sewn because they have traveled back and forth quite a few times. 

It's the last day of the retreat!!!!! I'll be leaving shortly after lunch and taking a bit of a scenic tour home, and then I can unpack and try to prep a few things to get them sewn this week. I feel quite energized and ready to tackle a lot of things. But I have quilts to quilt this week and a few things to finish or start for the wedding. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Back to Normal

Back to normal - what exactly does that mean these days? We're now able to go to the movies, eat indoors at restaurants, meet in small groups, and a whole lot more. But wearing masks and social distancing is probably with us for a long, long time.

I'm OK with that. I think, as a society, we're a whole lot healthier because of it. I haven't heard many sneezes or hacking coughs. People are either too afraid to do either in public, or they are just healthier!! Which goes to show that if you're sick, you should be staying home. Now, if only the workplace can figure that one out. Hey - have your employees work from home!

I don't have a lot of allergies, and I'm thankful for that, but gosh - I'm becoming super sensitive to perfumes. We accidentally bought laundry detergent with a scent. The window in the office was open the other day, and I was doing laundry. The dryer vents outside close to the window, and I was about gagging from the smell. It was the laundry detergent scent intensified from the dryer - we don't use dryer sheets. Holy - we better not make that same mistake again. How can people tolerate that stuff? And my clothes smell - it's awful.

When I pass some people these days, I'm wondering if they've gone back to the tricks of the Victorian era where they would layer on the cologne and perfumes to mask the lack of hygiene??  Holy people - you do NOT need that much.

The boomerang project is very much under control and almost out of my hair. Yeah!!! I had other stuff that I had to get done yesterday, so I had to take a wee break, but I did still work on it. I feel like I've been chained to the computer the entire week! I hate that!

But I'm happy to report that I spent some time prepping for the retreat. Yeah!! That makes me feel like I'm actually getting something done.

I got the topstitching from the second little pouch ripped out. The lining is cut, even the corners (to make the box corners). This is now in a bag with the matching thread.

Zippered pouch number 1

And here's the second zippered pouch - all ready to be sewn together.

The second zippered pouch

I've got one more pouch to make from this fabric, but I need to find a strip of Decor-Bond and some webbing to finish it. Oh, and a buckle. So that's on the agenda for this morning - find the missing stuff and put it in the bag, so it's all ready to go. Before, I'd just shove that in the retreat basket and hope that everything was in there - only to find that I was missing stuff to finish it. Well, no more.

I think there are three other zippered pouches that I can make from some orange fabric that was prequilted. I hope to get those ready for the retreat as well. I might just be able to steal a few minutes this weekend to get that stuff prepped. I have a quilt of mine that HAS to be quilted and bound by Monday. It's a custom job, so it's going to take some time. It's my focus this weekend.

Then I pulled out this other project. It's on my UFO list for 2020. It's a string quilt made with busy green fabrics. I'm using newsprint (yellow pages) for the foundation, which is a 60-degree triangle. I had a bunch made, but how many more did I need to make??

60-degree triangle string quilt

I had no idea, so now I have a map that I created in EQ8. I counted the triangles that were sewn (149), and I need to make 31 triangles. There's PLENTY of green strips in that case to make 31 triangles. Then I can start to sew the triangles together. This project has been sitting around for several years, and I'd like to get it done.

I pulled out a Yellow Pages from my ample supply of the darn things. I think this one is from 2010. And nope - they don't make them any longer. I wonder when they stopped? It's been several years now.

Yellow Pages from 2010

I thought I'd have a peek at the Quilting category. I got a laugh out of that. I don't think all the listings are retail, and quite a few of those are closed now.

Quilting in the Yellow Pages circa 2010

Then I ripped out 31 pages so I can cut them down using my 60-degree ruler so this project will be ready for the retreat. I do like to be totally prepped, so all I have to do is sew.

Yellow pages need to be cut into 60-degree triangles

And here's the retreat basket to date. Some stuff is sitting outside because it needs some more work before it goes in or is waiting for me to find the pattern, cut something, or whatever.

The retreat basket

The laundry basket is FAR from full. Oh, yes - my backpack is back in there. But only to work on the straps. I need to find the pattern for the straps. It's here somewhere. That's why I've been feeling out of sorts lately. Things are strewn everywhere as I tried to get things under control. I wasn't that successful, but now I can get back on track. The pattern is actually on my desk as I need to order the buckles which I might do today since I wasn't able to buy them at Fabricland.

While the basket is far from full, there's quite a bit of work in there. I have two bags that I want to add and the orange zippered pouches. That's it. There's already so much in there to do, and the basket is not full. Gosh - I'm becoming so much more reasonable!!! I'll have no problem fitting the toolbox in there.

Little Bear and I took a walk to the library yesterday to return some books. Now that things are moving, albeit slowly, at the library, I had some books that were due. One of them I hadn't read, so I need to put it on hold once it clears off my account. And there are 6 or 7 new books that slipped through the system, and I had to make an appointment to pick them up. I should have delayed that pickup as long as possible, but still, the earliest I could get was August 11. No worries - I have a lot of reading material here.

On our way home, we passed these gorgeous flowers. Where are the hummingbirds??? I think these are called trumpet flowers??? I have no idea how I know that.

Trumpet flowers

 I discovered something else yesterday. Oh, first, I LOVE my new FitBit. The bracelet is so much more comfortable than the old one. It's softer and more supple. It does a lot more, and of course, I don't know how to do any of that yet. But I'll figure it out. I do know how to find the weather app on the Fitbit, so that's a start.

So the four of us - Ronda, Shelly, Laura, and I signed up to do the Big Canada Run as a team. It's a virtual walk/run. I'm so used to seeing our individual progress on the map for Route 66 that I was missing that for this run. Well, yesterday, I found the map.  Yeah!!!!  We started in St. John's and walk around the northern route in Newfoundland. We've walked over 900 KM, and we're almost at the ferry landing.


Our marker is the greenish one pretty much right in the middle of the map. That's pretty exciting. There are a lot of individuals who are doing the run and a lot of teams. Some teams consist of two people, all the way to 27. Our small team of four is doing great, and I think we're in second place for teams of 4. Way to go, ladies!!!  We rock!!!! We should be able to do the distance in 10 months, and that gives us two months of leeway in case we start to slack off. Not all of our group has logged their miles, so I bet we're probably closer to 1,000 KM.

Almost at the ferry dock for the Big Canada Run

I love these Virtual Walks and can't wait to finish one, so I can start another. I'm at 67% of the Route 66 walk. Almost in Arizona. Yeah!!! 

Speaking of walking, it's almost time to get the girls ready. I now have to do two walks each morning. It's too much to take all three, especially with Murphy and her harness situation. More on that another day. So I do two shorter walks, which makes all of them unhappy because I'm the only one who gets to do the entire walk! Too bad - I'm the one with the hungry FitBit!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Fireside Retreat - Day Five

I had a load of fun at the retreat. But I have to admit that it is great to be home! The girls, of course, was quite excited to see me and now time to get back to my routine. I have a load of things that have to be done this week, so it's going to be all hands on deck. Well - just my two hands, but I think you knew that!

Ooops -- I didn't find my flower photo this morning, but here are some fungi that I saw on my morning walk. I took a trip down to the small conservation area near the retreat house.

Fungi on a dead tree

 I thought I was doing great at following the WHITE markers on the trail, and then all of a sudden, I was on a different trail. I had looked at the map the previous time I was there, so I had an idea of how all the trails were laid out. I did get a nice long walk through the trees. I didn't stop to dally long at any spot since the mosquitos were out in the forest.

I did stop to grab this photo. Who lives there? It makes me want to make a fairy door for this opening. 

A beautiful spot for a fairy door

You're not sure what a fairy door is? I stole this picture off the internet. They are the cutest things.

A fairy door

I don't really have any trees in my backyard where I could install a fairy door, but I love it. I love little things, and the other thing that I saw that is adorable is the mouse houses for inside your home. I want one -- I wonder if you have to make them or you can buy them? I've seen miniature doors installed along the baseboards - it's just a super cute idea!

Baseboard mini house

Someone I follow on IG had her husband make one that they installed at their house to entertain their grandchildren. How fun!!!!


Time for a bit of show and tell from the retreat. Laura finished quite a few things, including TWO of the Everyday Basket. They are sure easy to make. The pattern used to be on the Northcott website. I really, really need to find a home for all those freebies that I wrote, now that my patterns are being replaced.

Everyday Basket - number one 

EVeryday Basket - number two

Once I got past the yoga bag and the backpack, I was into making up some zippered pouches. Usually, when I make a zippered pouch, I make them with a lining. That way, the seams can get hidden inside. I had some leftover bits from the yoga bag that were already quilted with the lining attached. This is the one zippered pouch that I made.

Zippered pouch

I decided to bind all the seams on the inside. At one point, I was wondering how to attach all the binding bits and still turn the pouch inside out. Hmm - then I realized that it didn't have a lining and I could EASILY turn it inside out through the zipper. That was a hilarious moment when I came to that realization!  We get so caught up in the "normal" way of doing something, and when you change it up a bit, well, it takes a moment for the brain to catch up!

The seams are finished with binding

I've decided that I do NOT like this method. For those pouches that are made with leftover quilted bits, that I'll add a lining so I can hide all the seams inside. Or, I'll make a flat pouch where it doesn't matter.


This is Ronda's road trip tote bag.

Ronda's road trip tote bag

She embroidered Quilt Posse (our little group's name) and all of our names on both sides of the bag. I had to laugh as I said, she put our names on the bag, the same way that we sit in the car. She's in the driver's seat, Laura in the other front seat and Shelly and I in the back. Although I usually sit behind Ronda, so she got that wrong! I think she should make the bag over!!!

The embroidery on Ronda's bag

There was a whole lot of mask making going on. Katheleen spent a good part of the time making masks. She was making masks with pleats and using strips of t-shirts for the ties instead of elastic.

Can you believe what she found on one of her masks???

A GOLD Thread

Yes - that is the same gold thread that has been hanging out at my house!! I was using some of the fabric that the gold thread had been in. It just won't go away!!!

I had been admiring the style of mask that they had at Thimbles and Things. Katheleen gave it a try, and she ended up using that pattern for the remainder of the retreat. Here's the link if you want to try it. It's called Jen's 3-D mask. Katheleen modified the pattern slightly so that she could insert the t-shirt ties along the sides. I made one, and I'll share it tomorrow.

I didn't get a picture of what Katheleen had done, but she was making 100 of them and got a good part of them completed on the weekend. They will be donated to a local charity near her. Way to go, Kathleen!!! I did help a wee bit (pressing) as a thank you for her providing me with the directions to make mine.

This is one that Claudette was making for her son.

A mask

Then I was back to making more zippered pouches. These were made from leftover bits, and now they are made into a pouch. There was a lining, so no raw edges on the inside.

The front of the pouch

 I didn't have enough of the same fabric, so it has a different front and back. Both are from the same fabric collection. That's perfectly fine!!!

The back of the pouch

 Then I made a bigger one. This one has the same fabric on the front and the back. That uses up MOST of that Crafty Bear fabric. I have enough leftover to make another small project. Not sure what yet.

One last zippered pouch

Ronda got one more sports quilt done. This is her specialty, for sure! I have a feeling that I'm going to see a few of these in the next couple of days that will need to be quilted.

Ronda's sports quilt

I always take a group picture before we leave. This is my test photo. I had forgotten to take the tripod, so the angle is a bit weird. But that's OK.

Testing the camera angle

This was my laundry basket when I came home. Not bad!! That big bag is a string quilt, which is going to take two days to make. I MUST work on that at the next retreat. I'm working on the bag on the right, and I pulled the bag of tumbling blocks so I can do a few a day.

The laundry basket at the end of the retreat

All the finished stuff or stuff that needs to have some more prep done got put into another bag for the trip home. 

And I've started to pack for the next retreat! I did have a bag of enders and leaders in the laundry basket, but I wasn't doing anything that required enders and leaders. So it got left in the basket for next time.

Staring to pack for the next retreat

I had an uneventful trip home and got everything unpacked. Studio B is going to need a wee bit of tidying, but ONLY after this week is over. There's so much to do that tidying up is NOT on the agenda.

I decided it was too nice in the evening to sit in the house and it was threatening rain, so I didn't go for a walk. I sat in the backyard (and in the gazebo when it rained) and read a book that I started a while ago. No time for reading at the retreat, and so far, the book had been slow. I managed to plow through quite a bit yesterday, and now it's getting exciting, and I don't have time!

At one point, Murphy charged to the fence because something was RIGHT on the other side. Oh - it's those damn coyotes again. Sure enough, the one was running right along the fence. Was it trying to get in? It sure seemed like it, and it certainly isn't shy. I grabbed my camera and went to the spot on the fence that I can look over.

The coyote outside our fence

He just stood there - trying to think of what to do. And at this time of the evening, there was a LOT of cyclists and people walking on that trail, which you can see in the background. Unfortunately, there was this stupid tree right in the way.

The coyote

Then he moved a bit or did I? and I got this shot of him. He's about the size of my dogs and very bold.

The coyote

Well, eventually, he went away, but in the meantime, my girls freak out when he's behind the yard.

I see I'm running out of time.

Have a super day, and it's great to be back home!!!!


Ciao!!!!