Quilt Retreat - Day Three Part One

And another action packed, exciting day has happened at the retreat. By the way - we’re at Fireside Retreat in Orillia in case you don’t know where we are. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to provide you a link as I’m on my iPad and sometimes I’m a bit sketchy with the touch screen for copying and pasting, but look it up. It’s an amazing place and one of the BEST quilt stores ever is just five minutes away. Good luck if you want a date as it seems to be booked. I’ve already got my 2019 dates booked. It’s crazy!!!!

What a difference a day makes. The temperature was quite a bit different than it was the day before. It was cool and I even had to wear my vest the entire ride. It was a bit shorter ride (31K) due to gusty winds and hills. Lots and lots of hills. Plus we had a class at 9 AM and I had to be back for that. I went in a different direction and you know you’re in the country when I was waiting for a window in the traffic to cross Highway 12. I did notice a pedestrian crossing that I could have activated, but I decided to wait. Next thing I know, the traffic stopped on one side which made the traffic stop in the opposite direction and I was away. Only in a small town!!!!

I had set in my mind that I would go a certain distance on a road, then I would turn around. Hmm - this particular road had a HUGE hill which I had to go down. If I went down, I would have to come back up as I wanted to take a picture of something I had passed. Oh crude - might as well go down. I had noticed that my brakes seemed to be a bit off, so I carefully went down the hill.

I later noticed that my front brakes were completely disconnected. DUH!!!!  I should have checked that before I went down that hill. On my way home, I came to the intersection where that hill was - go forward and up the hill or go left and miss the photo op. I went forward. This was no ordinary hill - it had a grade of 17% which is SUPER steep. I didn’t make it and had to walk a wee bit. Fortunately, it wasn’t a very long hill. I’m good to about 14% and then I just don’t have the mojo to do the steeper climbs. A goal????  In all my touring across Canada, only once did we have a hill like that. It wasn’t on the cross-Canada trip so I can still claim my riding EFI. (Every F*&&^^. Inch).  That hill was on one of the shorter trips.

Got my picture and I was on my way home.

We were having a class at the retreat house in the morning. We had hired a local instructor to make the Retreat Bag by Emmaline Bags.  It’s a super cute bag and most of us managed to finish the bag. Some even made two bags. Big and little. We’re going to have a photo shoot later this morning. They are awesome and was a welcome reprieve from that double wedding ring quilt.

Then it was back to the double wedding ring. I am very focused here and while I did bring other projects to work on, I’ve decided to march forward on this one project and get it done. I even got the offer of a pattern for a double wedding ring that you can chain piece. Thanks Patti!!!  I’m committed to this pattern and I’ll forge ahead and get it done. Maybe next time, I’ll make the chain pieced pattern - it’s by Patti Carey if any of you are interested. I had a total of 64 clamshells to make. I have 14 left to go and then I’ll start to assemble the quilt (s). Slow and steady!!!!  I’m a turtle.

But I took enough breaks throughout the day that it wasn’t so bad to work on. A wee bit of shopping to do at the quilt store and the book store and the F store. Little breaks are good. I don’t really have any shopping left to do today. I’ll see how it goes.

OK - going to be two posts today since I know that buffer is going to kick in. NO I haven’t called the Apple store yet, but it’s on my list of things to do.

Check out part TWO.

Retreat - Day Two

Sewing retreats are the best! It’s always a great time even if you’re working on something that is not fun!!!

First an update on the oatmeal story. Gosh - what an ordeal. I tried this morning at power 4 and the darn stuff still boiled over. But only a wee bit. That means, I should be OK if I use power 3 which I’ll try tomorrow. It’s amazing how different the microwaves are as when I was at my brother’s, I had to use the thing on almost full power. Now I have to remember these settings whenever I go somewhere!

I popped out for a bike ride after breakfast. WOW - it’s amazing how the worries of the world (as if I have any) fall away when you’re on the bike and the wind is pushing in your face as you go downhill - there’s a big hill to start the ride here. Downhill which you know means that there’s a big hill to get back to the house. UGG!

The roads are in good shape and the traffic is pretty decent until I went past the quarry on the main road and the last little bit was uphill with HEAVY traffic from the quarry which wasn’t fun. I shall not be repeating that part of the route again. I was out for 2 hours, did 46.5 KM in 32 degree temperature. What was I thinking??? It certainly wasn’t that hot when I left the house, but quickly got hot. This morning, the temperature is 16 - I shall certainly freeze but I did bring a jacket.

Back to the sewing machine where I diligently worked on my double wedding ring quilt. That has to be the most fiddlly pattern EVER to sew. Each seam has to be sewn on its own, none of this fast chain piecing. But I have managed to get one quilt top together in a 4 by 6 configuration. I’m not convinced that I want it 4 by 6 - I’m wondering if it might be better as 5 by 6. I’ll evaluate later today and see how it goes. Let’s just say that I was open to ANY distraction yesterday.

I’ve started to piece the clamshell components for the second one. I might as well keep at it and get the silly things done because it won’t happen at home. I might even be able to get them done and delivered by the next retreat (the recipients live in Orillia where the retreat house is).

I shall NOT be winning any awards for neatness on the back of that quilt. There are threads hanging off of it - it’s a mess. I haven’t pressed it and I’ll tidy it up then, but I have to say that I’m pretty happy with the piecing. There are a few little spots that could be better, but in the grand scheme of things, no one will notice. I was also using the configuration that I had started many years ago and it meant a bit more hassle to sew the thing together. I won’t be repeating that mistake on this one. So technically, it should be a whole lot easier to sew.

I got my two items in the UPS courier yesterday so that was good. And I stopped at the used bookstore which was a blast. The lady asked if she could help me. I said “no thank you - I have a list!” That was the first time I’ve been to a used bookstore with a list and it was great. I walked up and down the mystery book aisle as I checked out each missing book. I found EIGHT. And so for the first time in a long time, I spent money on novels. If I get them read and return them within a year, I get half my money back in a store credit. I’m in!!!!!  Now I want to hit the other bookstores that were recommended to me - I think there are three more that I can hit and maybe those will become Sunday drives (or during the week if they aren’t open on Sunday). That’ll be a fun day out. I can’t wait!!!!

We’re eating like queens here. I even had a second helping of dinner because I was starving (that darn bike ride - but it essentially doubled my caloric intake for the day and I had to eat something!).

On that note, I’m out of here. Got to fire up the bike and get on the road.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Retreat - Day One

After a wee bit of a later start than I had originally planned, I was on the road to retreat. I was only 15 minutes behind schedule so that wasn’t so bad.

I was going to car pool with Ronda and Laura, but I couldn’t justify the extra time to get to her house and then repack the car. And when they arrived, they would have had no room for me anyway so that was good.

I got one side of the sleeve hand stitched to the magazine quilt when I arrived. Yeah - I’ll get the other side done this morning and then it can go into the mail this afternoon.

I had to work on another project for another magazine. I had made a prototype of the item and wasn’t happy with it, so as I tested the pattern, I remade it. I’m very happy with it and it’s going in the mail today as well.

That took the better part of the day to get that project done. But it’s done!!!  And the pattern has been updated and it’s gone. That was a great feeling.

I didn’t bring a whole lot of different projects to work on, but I decided to pull out one of my oldest UFOs. It’s a double wedding quilt that was supposed to be a wedding gift many, many years ago. Hmm - after it got lost and refound and shuffled many times, it’s time to get this project done. So I spent the rest of the day working on the wedding ring quilt. I have to say that I made good progress. My original goal was to make 64 blocks and make one quilt with all the blocks. But who wants a big quilt? My new goal is to make three smaller quilts (or maybe two lap quilts and a table topper with the same amount of blocks). I’ve got all the “blocks” together for one quilt and going to start assembling this morning.

This is exciting news that I’m working on this and it would be great to say that it’s done. Besides, I can quilt it on the long arm with a cool “block” designs.

The others are madly working on their respective projects and I’ve taken a few pictures so far. Yes - I will post them when we get back. We were all a little miffed for Ronda though. She was making this project that we absolutely love. She’s sewing in a different room. When I saw the finished project, I was taken aback as this was NOT how I remembered it. Turns out the picture on the front of the pattern is totally DIFFERENT from the instructions. GRRRRRR!!!!!!   Why are there so many BAD pattern writers???? She will rip it out, but it requires some of the blocks being taken apart and switched around.

We’ve all been very responsible at this retreat. So far!! But I think Ronda had a drink after that episode. I don’t blame her.

I popped to the quilt store very quickly to get some Velcro but for the most part, we stuck close to the retreat house all day.

Well, I managed to cook my oatmeal in the microwave but amazing how different microwaves are. I did use power 5 today and I had a wee bit of a boil over. Tomorrow we go for power 4. But at least I was able to figure out how the power button works. Never used that in my life before, but now I’m good.

On that note, I’m off to sew more of my double wedding ring.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Ready or not - I'm gone!

It's time to leave for the sewing retreat. These are just the best vacations and so many others would like to come, but even with four retreats in a year, I'm never without participants to fill them and there's always a waiting list. I would love to schedule another one (or two), but that wouldn't go over so well at home. So for the moment, four it is.

It was a busy day yesterday but still had time to head off to the movies with Lynn to see Oceans 8 and then to spend an hour chatting with a friend last night. And that's what it should be about. Not deadlines!!!

I'm happy to report that the quilt I was piecing yesterday morning? Well, it's done. The binding is sewn on, the sleeve is made and I'll hand stitch that down at the retreat and get it into a UPS box while I'm away.

I'm rather pleased with the quilting. I choose an overall design from the built-in stitches on the long arm. There are so MANY different options to quilt something - the software is flexible and will basically do whatever you tell it to. Here's the back of the quilt. Nice circles and nice, even placement of the rows. I'm happy!!!

Quilting on the magazine quilt

I even had time to rifle through a basket of fabric because I decided that I wanted to make a gift for someone. Dug through the fabrics, found what I wanted and I'll make the quilt when I'm back. Nothing special, but a way to get rid of more fabrics!!! That's all that counts.

However I got caught last night when at dinner, I told DH about my plan to make this quilt. He just looked at me. OH - I said - that quilt that was supposed to be a wedding gift (a "few" years ago) well it's in my retreat bag and instead of one big quilt, I have enough to make two lap quilts. I want to get it done because he's on my back about it. Not only that one, but I have another "wedding" gift to make. That one was also promised years ago. I decided instead of making one big quilt that I would make two laps. One of the lap quilts is done - one more to go. I might even get those two items (gifts) off my list this year. That would certainly stop the harping from DH. And even though I said that things are quieting down, he said - Right - that'll never happen.  He's right because I got two more magazine quilts on the go when I get back. Just found out last night.

Sorting through a basket of fabrics for a gift quilt

I also had time to cut two small bags that we're going to make (in a class) at the retreat. The instructor is coming to us to teach the class. We've talked about it forever and now we have it happening. Pretty exciting and going to be fun!!!  I had to dig through my zipper bucket to find two zippers. Then I changed my fabric colors based on the zippers. How silly is that? But there are a lot of zippers and I can't buy any more until the lid fits nicely on the container. It's like a jack in the box at the moment.

Bucket of zippers

 And before I turned out the lights this morning, I got a few things lined up on the cutting table that needs to be dealt with when I get back. It's stuff that I've been moving forever from table to table and enough is enough. It's time to get this dealt with and move on. Just a waste of time to keep moving this stuff. So something to occupy my mind when we're back on Sunday afternoon.

The cutting table is full of stuff to sort and put away

And YES - that is a cordless drill on the table. It needs to be charged and then put away. I have to dig out the charger.

I tidied all the paper stuff that was on the kitchen table. OK - so I just crammed it into the office. When I'm back, I can't wait to get to the morning of paperwork and afternoon of quilting. And while I'm away, I hope to grab a few moments (on the deck) for a bit of planning with those quilt deadlines.

On that note, I'm out of here. I still have to take the girls for a walk and pack the car - OH - I should pack some clothes I guess.

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Motivational Monday

I'm not sure why we choose Monday as our sewing day. I wish I could remember when it started - OH - Diane will know. She's been there pretty much from the start. But it's been years. Fifteen??

It all started out as a day when my students (from classes at the Hobby Horse) could come and get help (if they needed it) or they could just come and sew. For years when we were sewing at The Hobby Horse, I never had a spot to sew as I was the "supervisor". I used to prep stuff (hence the huge amount of prepped stuff at my house - I'm sure there is still stuff hanging around that I cut during those days). Then a number of years ago, we moved to the church and now I have a spot to sew as well. Gosh - how long have we been at the church? Four years? At least and part of that time, I couldn't sew since I was working.

Here's an invitation to any of you in the area. If you want, we always have room for a guest or two. The cost is $6 per day. We're there from 8 until almost 3. Guaranteed, you'll get something done - it's an extremely productive and friendly environment. E-mail me if you want to get more information.

But choosing Monday was a great thing. It makes a bad day (most people don't like Monday since it's the start of the work week), but it makes a bad day GREAT!!!!  It's my favorite day of the week and I really feel like I'm settling in and actually accomplishing something.

I've been VERY disciplined about what I do on Monday (since I had my freedom from a desk job) and I haven't looked back since.

Yesterday was an example of how great Mondays can be. I don't normally get a chance to sew on my own stuff at home. That's a HUGE problem. More on that later on in this post.

I sewed a lot on my little ender/leader project and was running out of the red AGAIN. So like the good, organized sewist that I am, when I got home, I cleaned out that Monday bag and got it all reorganized for next week. The first thing I did was to cut more of the red squares. The remainder of the red fabric (not cut) is in the bag so it's very handy should I need to cut more. Of course, I didn't take the time to count how many I need. That's a waste of time. I just cut more and I'll keep doing that until I get down to near the end when it's easier to count.

More red squares cut for the ender/leader project

I had a couple of small things that I had thrown into the Monday bag. I'm trying to be very good and not loading it down with stuff that I'll never get to. Oh no!!! I have my weekly blocks to sew, a big project and a couple of small things in the event I get to a point where I need a break.

This next one was one of those small projects. I had received a sample of Moda's Cake Mix Recipes at a trade show. There were two 10" squares and the paper to make half square triangles. I was a wee bit disappointed that it was only for making big half square triangles, but no worry. I made them. Oops - just checked - I had the recipe for number FOUR (you can see it in that link above) - it's half square triangles that are all the same size.

Cake Mix Recipe for half square triangles   (Recipe #4)

I'm not sure that I like this method for making half square triangles. Granted, you don't have to mark them, but you still have to be careful when cutting them apart. Any slip and some of those triangles will not be the same size. Then you have to remove the paper (not always an easy feat to get all the paper out) and then you still have to trim off the dog ears.

Dog ears need to be trimmed

But there are my half square triangles which are now in the pile of prepped half square triangles that I'll use for a quilt someday. And that little sample pack - DONE!!!!

Half square triangles are done!

These pictures are NOT in the right order. In fact, I think they are totally backward. I needed to move onto another project and this is what I pulled out of the bag. These flying geese were together as flying geese units, but not sewn in these rows. I managed to get that done yesterday. Very excited - this is going to be my next "must finish" project for Monday.

Flying geese sections are together

 Here are the rest of the components, already assembled and now need to be sewn into blocks. And what am I making this time???

Block components waiting to be sewn 

Here's the pattern (Signs of Autumn) - it's by Deb Tucker (Studio 180).  You can make a table runner or a wall hanging. I see from the number of components that I have, it's the wall hanging I'm making. I still had six extra flying geese. And note that the extra fabric is also with the project.  Yeah me!!!

Extra fabric and pattern for next Monday project

 So, if I'm working on a "new" project, that means, I must have finished the other one I was working on. Yep. The squirrels are DONE!!! This is a pattern by Sew Fresh Quilts.

Top of the squirrel quilt is done!!!

And there's the backing and the binding made as well. This one goes in the "to be quilted" pile which is getting higher by the day!!!

Backing, binding, and top ready to be quilted

But the first thing I worked on was my weekly dose of blocks. I needed to do the applique on the handle of this block so the remainder of the bits got sewn at Monday and when I got home, I got out the thread and applique presser foot and sewed the handle down. I sewed the block together and then looked at it. Hmmm - I must have done something wrong.

Hmm - shouldn't that handle touch the rest of the blue??

 After ripping the block apart (with my new handy dandy seam ripper - did you see yesterday's post?), I realized that the components were correct, it's the handle that is too short (I did cut quite a bit off both ends). After consulting the pattern, that handle is supposed to come down onto the brown triangles at the end of the blue. How the heck am I going to do that? This is a bit of a weird block and I was too befuddled to think about it. But I will find a way. Just a shame that I got home, got out the stuff to do the applique, did the applique, only to find it wasn't correct. DRAT!!!!!   BUT I was able to find more fabric to remake the handle.

OH - this is going to require weird applique or piecing or both

 Then I was working on this paper pieced block and was happy when it was done, only to realize that it's not supposed to look like this. I screwed up on the color, but I didn't have enough fabric with me (or in the project box) anyway.

Colors are in the WRONG position!!!

 See the pattern????  You would think I had no brain on my head yesterday with these blocks.

The bat block according to the book

I know - it's not a big deal, it can stay that way, but it doesn't have to.  I did manage to eek out 6 blocks (not counting that dreaded basket).

Six blocks - done!!!

 This is the Farmer's Wife project in case you had forgotten from last week. I have the next grouping of blocks out and ready to go for next week. I've decided to start at the beginning and fill in all the holes as I went willy-nilly the first time (actually followed the instructions made by Marti Michell). Hmm - just checked on Marti's website. I don't think the instructions are there anymore as she is having a sew along. Here's the link if you want more information. I'm not sure when they started. She used her templates to cut 101 of the 111 blocks. That's how I did it and the remaining ten, I'll be paper piecing after I recreate the pattern in EQ8. Anyway, I think I now have the first 14 blocks completed - well not really since the basket (#3) is still not done.

Getting lots of empty plastic bags. Not sure how many more blocks there are to do, but I'm guessing I still have about 8 weeks (48 blocks) of this to go. End of the summer!!!

Empty plastic bags

But it's super exciting that I'm getting stuff done. I just wish I was getting more stuff done at home.

When I got home and after I had sorted out the Monday bag and prepped it for next week (except for one block that I have to create a paper pieced pattern for - rather than do the templates from the book), I decided to tackle a project that I should have worked on MONTHs ago. It was a challenge piece for the CherryWood challenge. The deadline was midnight last night. I had worked on it all day Sunday and got the top done, although I wasn't happy with one of the thread colors I choose. I knew it from the beginning, but being in a rush, I didn't take the time to fix it. I know - STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!! Last night, I set out to quilt the piece and get the binding on before midnight. I was having trouble with the thread that I absolutely wanted for the quilting. I tried free motion, I tried non-free motion. I even tried a completely different machine It wasn't going to work.

And then I sat back and thought to myself - what am I doing to myself?? Quilting is supposed to be my hobby. It's supposed to be fun And this just wasn't fun. So I abandoned the project. Yep - I just said, "to hell with the deadline".  I'll take out what I don't like and I'll fix it the way I should have. Am I upset? Nope - not in the least. I learned a very valuable lesson though. Matter of fact, I might just leave this piece the way it is and remake it the way I SHOULD have done if I had given myself more time. I always do that!!!  I'm not a good planner that way and most times I can eek myself out of the situation. But not this time, I could not. Not a big deal - I do challenges to learn from them and I learned lots - therefore the challenge was a success. Yes - I think I'll leave this one the way it is and then I'll make it again - I still have enough fabric. It'll be a good thing to include in my challenge lecture. Oh - that makes me excited!!!!!

I shouldn't tell you this, but I was trying to do that challenge and I still had a quilt top that had to be pieced because it needs to be quilted TODAY. Yes - I'm not a very rational person at times. I'm happy to report that after going out for dinner with DH, I was back home, fired up my audiobook and pieced away in complete bliss. Ah - this is what quilting is all about.

I still have a lot to learn in the time management department. I don't know why I end up with all these rush deadlines. OK - stop kidding yourself. I know why - I leave things to the last minute. Seriously? Why do I do that? I leave no exit plan for myself which is a problem. If I want to spend more time sewing for fun, I had better get myself in gear for setting those deadlines. It's as simple as that!!!

On that note, I'm out of here! The quilt top is over half pieced and it should take about 2 hours to finish it this morning and then get it on the long arm and quilt it this afternoon. I still have a lot of e-mail that I need to send and I'm going to try and get those done today. We leave tomorrow for the retreat and I need this stuff off my plate before I go. Nothing serious, but would be nice to make it go away. And going to the movies this afternoon - see - that's what life should be all about - not rushing for some silly deadline.

This morning, I cleared out a TON of e-mail. Unread e-mails from companies that are trying to sell me something. Yes - there are one or two tidbits of stuff that I could have shared with you, but I'll be getting more e-mails today. No end of that. I shouldn't share with you the number of e-mails that are in my inbox, but let's say that it's in the four digits - but small four digits!!! I'm notorious for reading someone's e-mail and then not doing anything with it. I need to learn to use the DELETE key much more often.

And this audiobook is so exciting - I still have two hours to go or I would have stayed up last night and sewed, but I need my sleep!!!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!

Good tools are important

There should be NO question about this statement. If you're going to quilt, you need good tools. PERIOD!

I get it that there are new quilters who have no idea what's available. I'm OK with that. My first quilt fabrics were purchased from a chain store because I had no idea that quilt stores existed. But for those that have been around for a while - you need good tools. And good habits.

I've been teaching some new quilters/sewists in the last couple of weeks and tried to instill in them that they need good tools. Small snips for clipping thread and USE THEM ALL THE TIME. It drives me crazy when I see a project with tons of threads hanging off of it. Looks messy and who wants to spend all that time at the end clipping threads? NO ONE. So make sure you get a pair of snips and snip, snip, snip!!

The other tool that is essential is the seam ripper. I know - as much as I'd like to say I never need one, I use it every day. Well, at least every time I sew. I used to be a big fan of the Clover seam ripper. But I got the use of this one the other day and I'm LOVING it. Surprisingly, this one is from Unique. What do I love about it? It's large so it fits easily into my hand. Let's face it, as we get older, our hands just don't work the same way they used to. Second, all that blue is a sort of rubber material which means that the darn thing won't roll off the table. Another important thing so you're not scrambling under the table trying to pick it up. And there's nothing like a NEW SHARP seam ripper for ripping out seams. That thing just rips through stitches like they were butter.

UNIQUE seam ripper

I'm not sure where you can buy this, but if you see one, I'd snag it. I love it. And I might just be retiring the Clover ones that I have.

The other mistake made by MANY new sewists is their NEED to sew with crazy fabrics. I had a student the other day who was trying to make a cushion cover out of three different fabrics - one had a nap (so the fibres are like waves and shift when you sew), one was a loose weave, so it also shifted and frayed, and the third one was a Japanese print - frayed like crazy and slippery as an eel. No idea how her sewing machine worked or how the bobbin went in. That took me a few minutes to figure out - no manual.

M is going to start and do some sewing. ACK - I want to be close, but at the same time, it might be a good thing I'm not. Here's her little stash of tools that I sent with the sewing machine.

M's set up for sewing

I have a toolbox for all that stuff and I'll be sending her a care package along with some more goodies once I'm back from the retreat!!!!  I can't wait to put it together.

I had a crazy day yesterday. I don't think I've ever appliqued so much in one day. The good news - the project is finished - the applique that is. Now to get it quilted. If I wouldn't have been in such a rush, I may have done it differently. I really MUST set myself a false deadline for some of these projects. I'll share it with you later on this summer. It's OK for a rush job. Not a prize winner by any means, but an experiment so therefore it was successful.

Here's something else that I got done yesterday. One more customer quilt - DONE and ready for delivery today.

Customer quilt - DONE

 The last of the magazine submissions went out the door very early this morning. Technically it was due yesterday, but they won't even be in the office yet so I'm sure it's going to be OK. I really like this design and if they don't take it, I'm still going to make it.  There are NO MORE outstanding submissions, but there's still a couple of quilts in me. I'm going to continue designing and submitting and maybe one or two of those will get picked up. If not, I should design and write the patterns for sale. And I really should design a sew along, but there are so many out there already. Who needs another sew along?  I do NOT part take of them as I have no time. Even if I did, I've done my time with this kind of project, but people seem to LOVE them. I'm over them.

After I got the applique done, I decided to fix my magnetic pincushion. Those are pretty powerful magnets, but after a bit of study, I figured out how the magnets fit (there are two magnets and one metal plate in the pincushion) so that the two parts snap back in place. So while it's together, there's a big crack in the side.

The magnetic pincushion is back together

Can you see? Right in front - there's a big crack. That means, it'll never snap back as tight as it did originally. That must have been from the fall the first time. I've got time to wait for a sale or if I'm out and about this summer, that item can be on my shopping list.

On that note, I'm off to Monday sewing. It's weird to not have to do anything but grab that bag and go. I prepped it last Monday when I got home. And when I say prepped, it's prepped. If I could only get that way with all my projects. I'm getting there - things like my book list and my Monday bag. Super organized. The rest will come. I just have a few more urgent things on my plate before I leave for the sewing retreat this week. So some of that stuff will have to wait. I may have to take one urgent thing with me to the retreat and ship it from there. Otherwise, I think I'm good and that means when I'm back, I can focus on paperwork in the morning and sewing in the afternoon which will be very welcome!!!!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

It's DONE - a UFO is done!!!

Well - it's a tad hot these days. How the heck did that happen when last week, we were freezing? We hate putting the A/C on in the house. I hate it and DH likes to keep the windows open, so we don't have the A/C on. I slept very well last night - as a matter of fact, I was freezing in my sleep and ended up getting up because I was cold. How did I achieve that? I moved to the basement where it's very cool. I set up a small cot and I was happy as a clam until I got cold.

I was busy working yesterday afternoon and decided that my task was mindless enough to put on an audiobook. Only to find that the audiobook that I had barely started had been returned. Seriously? Those three weeks went by very quickly. No worries - I got out my reading list and within minutes I had found a book that I could borrow. (Don't forget that almost all my books are in series, so I need to keep track of what I've read.) I LOVE my reading list. It was so worth the time and I know that anything else that I organize to the extent of the reading list will make my life a whole lot easier. It's coming - just takes time. And I'm off to a used bookstore this coming week so I'm taking my shopping list with me. I'm super excited about that.

Yesterday was a pretty productive day. I got a UFO done from the 2018 list. It's actually the second one. I know - only four behind. But I'm working on others on that list so I'm not worried. If only I could focus on one at a time!  Not going to happen - not in my lifetime.

OH - I should mention that I found a couple more interesting things about china and they are posted at the very end of yesterday's blog (in red). An interesting article about china and its value (both monetary - ZERO value to the personal value which is a loaded question). Check it out and thanks to Helen who mentioned that some churches will take donations of cups and saucers.

OK - let's check out what I've been working on.

I love my little sewing table, but there's not a lot of room on the left-hand side when you want to sew a big quilt. I had an extra table set up for sit n sew the other day and it's perfect. So it stays there for the moment as I have a couple of backings and more borders to put on.

My sewing space

I'm sure you would all laugh - I have these big swivel chairs and big tables in this space and I sew on the smallest table with my orange stool. I love having my sewing machine flush with the tabletop rather than sitting ON the table. 

Anyway, the borders are on this quilt at last. The other day, I called this quilt Easy Street, but in fact, it's called Celtic Solstice from 2013 (Bonnie Hunter mystery).

Borders are on at last

Then I went to work on the backing and found this join in my fabric. Fabric companies do allow ½ meter extra whenever a join falls within a bolt. Fortunately, there was enough on either side of the join to make the backing.

The fabric is joined!

Then the backing and the binding were completed and this one went into the "to be quilted" pile.

Backing, binding, and top - DONE

I had to laugh at the binding. Notice how similar the color of the border and the binding are? They're from the SAME fabric company. Just years apart. They must have a batch of the same blue dye that they just keep using over and over again!!!  At least, it comes in handy when you don't have enough fabric for the binding.

Binding was easy to match within the same fabric company

I also got the little pinwheels completely sewn and pressed (hopefully all in the correct direction). Do you know that these little pinwheels are the cutoffs from the quilt above???   Yep - they are. Now it's time to do something with them. There are a lot so I'll mess around with them later today.

Pinwheels are sewn

I also got the binding and backing completed for this table runner.

Backing and binding and top - for the table runner - DONE

I've had this quilt loaded on the long arm for a couple of days and finally got to it yesterday. It's trimmed and ready to be delivered! The next one is almost ready to start quilting later today.

Customer quilt - DONE

You can never have too many bags. This was a bag that I had received from one of my students a while back. I needed a bag the other day and all my cloth bags were full of stuff so this bag came in very handy to carry supplies to class. Thanks!!!  I love it.

Bicycle bag

I think I'm going to have to break down and buy a new magnetic pincushion. A while back, the darn thing fell on the floor and somehow it broke. DUH!!! Then yesterday when I picked it up, it just fell apart. Oh, shoot -I love that pincushion. Better get a new one. But I'll fix this one at least one more time.

Pincushion needs to be replaced

 And you know it's sad when this is what you have for a snack. Yes - that is cauliflower. It was almost time for lunch, so I didn't want to eat a lot. And I wanted to save sugar and calories for dinner later in the evening. The cauliflower did the trick - my tummy was happy. You know, there's a huge difference between being hungry where your tummy is rumbling and craving where you head is playing mind games with you. Fortunately, I'm about 95% in the hungry zone, and only once or twice do I get cravings. That's very big for me and I'm super excited about that. I did share a piece of cheesecake at dinner after I had my lettuce "bun" burger. What a great idea since I don't eat the bread.

Cauliflower for a snack

I had my favorite salad for lunch, celery, apple, chicken breast and some avocado. I like to load up on the celery and I throw in an entire apple, instead of a half. I was so tired of chewing that at some point, I almost had to stop eating!!!!

I also worked on something else yesterday, but I can't share it with you at this point. In a couple of weeks, I'll share it.

Well, lots more to share, but no time. And as usual, I've got a lot of work to do. A couple more magazine submissions to finish off today. It shouldn't be a lot of work, but it still takes time. And I got another quilt cut out last night. It really needs to be on the long arm by Tuesday AM, so a wee bit of work ahead of me. And I need to finish the project that I was working on yesterday.

I'm sitting here in my office with the window open. It's warm, but not unbearable. Imagine if I put a fan on with all this paper!!!  Oh - it would look like a snowstorm in here. I know you're thinking, just turn the A/C on.  You know, I think I'm a better person because I'm much more tolerant of less than desirable situations. Learning to live with inconveniences make us better. Plus our house is not bad temperature wise.

It's all good - the heat is keeping me "trapped" in the basement where it's cold. Seriously - I have my sweatshirt on down there. I'm sure after another day or two of heat that it will eventually seep downstairs, but for the moment, life is good. It's funny how when you walk past the basement stairs, you can feel the cold on your feet and as you descend, the heat is on one step and the next step is many degrees colder. It reminds me of the ice house in Tuktoyaktuk. Apparently, it's now closed to the public, but I had a tour in 2010. An amazing place.  Check out the link.

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!