The full moon

I'm grumpy this morning. Very grumpy, and it's attributed to the fact that I'm tired. I'm tired because I didn't have a good sleep last night. Did it have anything to do with the heat? Oh no. Did it have anything to do with the full moon? Oh yes!

Just before I went to bed, I saw a headline about how the full moon affects animals. In the middle of the night, I could hear Murphy pacing. Upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs - it was insane. I finally got up and put her on her leash, and she went in the backyard for a pee. She still wasn't happy, but she did settle down eventually, or I fell asleep and just ignored her.

Good grief - what's going on?  I can hear DH making a ton of noise. Apparently, there's a bird in the bedroom. I wonder if that was the source of Murphy's unrest?  Not sure how the bird catching is coming along - I'm keeping clear of it.

If that were the only reason for the lack of sleep, I might be OK. But I didn't go to bed until quite late, which is very unusual for me. That was totally my fault, and I learned a VERY valuable lesson.

I was working on a giant quilt. It's almost 100" square. I don't dislike big quilts, but they can be tricky to load, and they can take a long time to quilt. I had to go back to it several times yesterday as I had a few other things to do.

There were 9 rows of a somewhat dense pattern. Because of the size of the quilt, each row took a long time to stitch out. I was just advancing the pattern to the LAST row. Things had been going well, and I don't know if I touched a wrong button, but the pattern disappeared, and the computer rebooted. This is NOT a good thing when you haven't saved the pattern. AH -- you've got to be kidding me!!!!

I hadn't taken a photo of the settings. Each pattern gets sized uniquely to the dimensions of the quilt, and I had relied on the ruler in the computer to do the measurements for the width. I restarted the computer, reinput the numbers, and advanced to the last row. All of this took a long time because of the number of stitches involved. At last, I reached the last row, and I'm ready to stitch.

Then after a bit of stitching, I realized that something wasn't right. I took the stitches out and fixed the positioning. Then I started stitching again and realized that something else wasn't right. OH NO!!! More ripping. Then I realized what I had done - I had inserted SIX patterns into the length, NOT five like the original was. I knew that, and I swear I had inserted five. Guess what? I didn't look - I just touched the button five times. I'm such a dolt!!! I must have touched that button one extra time and didn't realize it.

By this time, it was quite late, and I just couldn't deal with it - I'll finish ripping this morning. Before I turned everything off, I saved the new design, which is now the same as the original. Trust me - I'll be double-checking before I start quilting this morning.

I learned two lessons - that is, to create the pattern and then hit SAVE so that if something goes wrong, I can just reload the pattern. Once the quilt is quilted, the pattern is no longer needed, and I can delete it. OR take a photo of the settings with the number of designs and the sizes. Then I'll be good if I need to restart.

I'm laughing now, even though I still have that one row to go. Through the day, yesterday, I was so careful with that quilt - watching for the bobbin as one bobbin didn't do one row. The last row arrives, and everything was looking good. Then BAM -- everything quickly went to pieces. But all is good now.

So I'm grumpy from lack of sleep. BUT this means I'll be due for a well-deserved nap in the gazebo later today.

As a result of all that babysitting, I didn't get much else done. I did get the two quilt blocks sewn that needed to be made, but I didn't get the write-up done. That's a job for today.


The other day, I was chatting with Ronda about some kits that we had to do, and perhaps we could take one to our August retreat. That could work. She suggested the Santa panel that we both purchased. I said that I wasn't sure where it was, but it was likely with the rest of my kits. She pipes up that as long as I didn't move it, it was on the bottom of the shelf in the stash room. I checked! She was right!!! 

Kit on the bottom of the shelf

What's hilarious is that she knows where stuff is in my house, but she can't find fabric in her own home!!! And can you believe that she blamed ME? Apparently, one day on the blog, I suggested that she (along with all of you) tidy up something in your house. She has put the fabric is a safe place. So safe, she can't find it to cut it up! What a lark!!!


This was on the lawn of one of the neighbor's houses yesterday. I'm sure that that 16-year old boy feels special!

Birthday greetings!

I took a wee shopping trip in the morning. I needed to find that fabric for the Aviatrix Medallion quilt. I figured I would likely find something at Len's Mill in Cambridge. So I had a couple of companions with me, and we were off. Don't worry - these are companions in my bubble.

When I saw some of the shelves, I didn't have much hope.

This is how it is supposed to look

And this is how some of the shelves looked—a total jumble.

A jumbled mess

I was looking for three fabrics, and I found two of them. Actually, I found the third fabric as well. I'll share some of them with you later. But here's what I found for Aviatrix Medallion. Actually, I found two fabrics that I think will work. And looking at this photo this morning, I know they will work. I got lucky!!

New fabrics to finish Aviatrix Medallion

So that's off my shopping list now, and I feel good about that.

I had to laugh, as if you didn't mind chocolate past the Best Before Date, you could get all kinds here. Not only did they have Easter eggs, but they had other chocolate as well. I didn't buy the eggs.

Easter Eggs for sale

It was a quick trip out and a quick trip back, which was good because I was dealing with that large quilt.

A big quilt on the long arm

No one will be the wiser once I get that last row done today. Here's the thing about the computer. And I'm knocking on wood as I say this since that row isn't stitched out. But I remember the lady I took a class from say - as long as the registration mark is still on the quilt (which it is), you can get anything to line up properly. This isn't really something they teach you how to fix, but if you remember that computers are pure logic, then it's easy to work out the logic and make it happen. 

I know that I'm only scratching the surface of my computerized long arm. I should shut it down for customer quilts in August and really play with it on my own or on some of those community project quilts. Hmmm - I might do that.

I had to laugh, though, as I was rolling through the huge piece of batting which I supplied. Yep - there was a piece of that gold thread. It must have got picked up off the floor somehow. I'm sure that I'll be finding that gold threads for years. It's good for a chuckle.

The gold thread has resurfaced

I didn't just shop at Lens Mills - I did shop at my house as well. I needed to find a couple of other brown fabrics to finish off the Sleeping Dogs Lie quilt. I found three that will work just fine. They are now waiting to be cut. To top it all off, there was a sleeping dog "helping" me choose the fabrics. 

Shopping at home

So that long list of things to do is still looming today, and some of them HAVE to be done today. I'm working on another quilt later today, but while it's also large, it's not nearly as large as this one.

Things are quiet upstairs, so I'm guessing the bird is now outside. I wonder how the heck it got in the house? We do leave the screen door open for the dogs, but it's not a huge opening. But you never know. But the bird didn't come into the house this morning as I haven't opened the door yet.

I slept in this morning - does that surprise you? And I don't feel so grumpy now.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Aviatrix Medallion

We had a wee bit of excitement at our house last night. I had just come back from my walk and was sitting on the deck, enjoying the last of my refreshing beverage. Don't worry - by this time, it was too dark to read, so I didn't walk in the heat. The girls are lying on the deck, enjoying themselves. All of a sudden, there was some rustling in the bushes behind the fence, and they went ballistic. 

This wasn't your typical barking session, and raccoons don't make that much noise. Yikes - so like the femme fatale in all the movies, I went to the fence. It's dark, so I can't really see, but that rustling is loud. I thought it was kids coming up to the fence or walking through the woods right behind the fence. The path behind the fence is at least 100 feet away. I've seen kids in the back sometimes, but never that close to the fence.

Then I looked through the slats of the fence. I always laugh when I do this cause it truly makes me think of a horror movie. You look through those slats and WHAM - something is going to jump out at you.

The view between the slats

The fence is too high to look over except in one spot, which I remembered after the situation was over. The dogs were running along the fence, and if they could have gone over or under or through, they would have. Thank goodness, a new higher fence was installed several years ago.

I kept looking through the slats at various spots, and it turns out the coyotes were right there! I briefly saw one, but there was definitely more than one. I think they were trying to get in at the dogs, or they were chasing something. However, if they were chasing something, they wouldn't have lingered at the fence. I could have reached my hand through the slats and touched them. No pictures, but I did try. They hung out for a couple of minutes, and after much crashing through the bushes, they were gone.

I wonder what their thought process was? There are enough rabbits, squirrels, and raccoons in the forest to keep them busy. Did they think our dogs would be suitable prey? Sometimes Lexi likes to sleep outside. She did not and even asked to come in, which was very unusual for her.

The mosquitos came out shortly after that, and I retired to the house.



Time is a wee bit of a challenge at the moment, but I did manage to get one of the homework assignments out. I'll share those blocks with you another day. The other one is cut out, and I'll get it done today. The blocks won't take that long to make, so if it's late by one day, I don't think anyone is going to care. Don't worry, it's already on my list to start cutting for the next session. I have a couple of weeks of breathing room. But I'm pretty much up to date with all five of those projects and for me? That's a huge deal.


I also got two small quilts quilted yesterday.

Customer quilt - DONE

Customer quilt - DONE

I've got a HUGE quilted loaded for later today. I'm off on a fabric finding mission this morning. I need some cream fabric before I can continue with one of the ongoing projects, and I wasn't able to find something to match when I was at Thimbles and Things last week. That's the second store that I zeroed out on that fabric quest. I just want a cream fabric - nothing fancy! A light cream, but it seems to be elusive. I'll never find the same fabric as it's a Nancy Crow from 20 years ago. I'm OK with that - but I want something somewhat similar in color. Everything I've seen to date is too dark.

I had to reschedule some of our Zoom presentations from last weekend to this week. We had the last one last night. What fun to get together with the group via Zoom. I know it's not the same as meeting in person, but we get to see everyone's furry friends. Cats seem to love being on Zoom. I don't know what it is - they are like kids when you're trying to have a phone conversation.


This is the original pattern for Aviatrix Medallion.

Aviatrix Medallion pattern

This first one belongs to Gisele. I really like how that skinny yellow border sets off the rows. And I LOVE the consistency of the X block in the outer border. The bright colors in the original are beautiful, but the values are all over the place, and well - I like this version much better. I know the scale of the two quilts is not the same, but the skinny border is much more pronounced in our versions, and I really think that's a good thing.

Gisele's quilt

Cathy used a different tactic with that last border. Her coloring makes it look like a trellis is happening around the outer edge. And the pluses in the middle of the blocks are showing up as well—another great success for fabric selection. While we're all following the pattern, that doesn't mean that we're following the coloring.

Cathy's quilt

I must say that I like it when we step outside the box. Yes, there are times when you won't be 100% happy with the results, but that's a great learning experience. So far, I think these quilts are right on!

This is Deb's quilt. She is a BRAND NEW Quilter. It's interesting to see her coloring after looking at the previous two quilts. She used the neutrals in the border outside the center star. OH, and remember, we changed the center star! That border sort of recedes because it's made with neutrals that are very close to the background fabric color. Neither is right or wrong - just gives a totally different effect.

Deb's quilt

Then we have Rita. What can I say - Rita is a rebel, and we love her for it. She's just going for anything that works in her quilt. She's also incorporated a lot of background (white) in her blocks, so it definitely has a very modern feel to it. This is an excellent example of how you can take a traditional (yes - I'm calling the original pattern traditional  -  OK - we can call it contemporary, but it's NOT a modern quilt) and make it totally modern. Don't you just love that star in the center? Way to go, Rita!!!

Rita's quilt

 I love my new filing system for photos. I can find all these class photos in a snap. Too bad, I didn't have a great filing system before. Doesn't matter - one day I'll get it fixed up or really - who cares???

This is Dana's quilt from last month. She is mostly following the pattern and even did the very intricate center star. She didn't get a lot of time to work on her quilt this month, but she's still ahead of some of the others! She did get the borders fixed up and is ready to get back to work this month.

Dana's quilt

This is Corrie's from last month as well. She's following the coloring (somewhat) in the pattern. Again - look how different her quilt is with that first border surrounding the center star made from the neutral fabrics.

Corrie's quilt

I can't wait to see both of these quilts with the next row on.


There are a couple more working on the quilt, but I don't have pictures yet. One of the ladies hasn't started - wait - she did start cutting the other day so we should see something next month. There's no penalty for not getting it done, and I told them that they could technically stop at any point and call the quilt done! Perhaps I shouldn't have said that!!!!


And here's my version. I don't think I've ever done an orange and cream quilt before. But I love it. This is what I need the cream fabric for. I need some cream to add a small border to the outside of that pieced border. Let's keep my fingers crossed that I find something this morning.

My version of Aviatrix Medallion

And there you have it - another successful class. If anyone is interested in doing one of these online classes, I'll be doing more starting in January. I found a bunch of interesting patterns and have them sitting in a file folder. I'll be posting them later - I want to post them NOW. But if you have a pattern or an idea for one of these ongoing classes, let me know. I'd be happy to add it to the mix. The hardest part? Picking one! Or two or three or FIVE!!! Like happened this year.

I think the students LOVE the virtual format because they get a written document each month loaded with tips and pictures to help them along. And the cost is cheap! $25 for the year (not including the pattern or fabric).

Anyway - it's time to go. I wrote out a list of things that NEED to be done today. The list is long, but thankfully some of them are e-mails that won't take a lot of time. My little shopping trip will take a couple of hours, and that's eating into the day, but I NEED that fabric.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

On your mark, get set, go.....................

Who turned up the heat? I don't mind the heat, and no, we still haven't turned on the air conditioning. We like the fresh air in the house, so some of the windows are wide open. A strategically placed fan or two, and we're good to go. We eat outside, and I was out in the gazebo in the afternoon for a well-deserved nap.

The key is to stay out of the sun. I walk with the dogs earlier in the day, and I went for my evening walk a bit later than usual. Everything was good.

Sometimes, I wish I had a spare week. That would allow me time to get caught up with the deadlines, and then moving forward, I would stay up to date. Oh, seriously - that would never happen!! If I don't have a deadline, I won't get anything done.

The binding got made for the magazine quilt, and it got boxed up. The UPS truck picked it up after dinner. I do feel a little bit apprehensive about leaving the package on the front step for the driver to pick up. I could keep the package in the house, but these guys are pushed to the limit with their pick-ups and drop-offs, and I figure we're in a pretty safe neighborhood.

Waiting to be picked up

OH -- I just realized that I didn't put a sleeve on the quilt. Not even one pinned on. And it only occurred to me RIGHT NOW that I forgot that. The editor is going to kill me! Hopefully, they have a sleeve they can pin on.

So when I went to generate the label, I tried what my friend had suggested. He said to ship it via Canpar. Now I didn't think they shipped to the US, so I never tried them. Apparently, they are cheaper. Who delivers the Canpar packages to the US since they do not? They use UPS. However, when I went to their website to use the calculator, it didn't like the US postal code. So I wasn't able to make the comparison.

Let's just say that it is cheaper to ship from home, rather than go to the UPS store. I print the label off and tape it to the box. The truck comes by at some point to pick the package up. Super easy! I'll be doing that going forward. One positive thing that came from our current pandemic.

I can't believe the quilt sleeve never even crossed my mind. It's not that I thought of it and then forgot it - it just never once occurred to me. Oh well. It could be worse!

Here's a couple of pictures from the retreat that I haven't shared yet. This is a quilt that Ronda made. Talk about borders. The entire quilt is made with borders. She used a jelly roll, but half of the strips had to be cut down, so the quilt didn't become a square. Let's just say that it took a LOT of time to measure, cut, and pin. But the end result is gorgeous.

Ronda's quilt

These fabrics are shibori, but NOT the real thing. The patterns were created using shibori and then printed on the fabric. Here's some information on Debbie's latest shibori collection.   And here's a wee article about Debbie Maddy who is the designer.   I didn't realize she had designed so many collections.

So the other thing that happened at the retreat and I didn't talk about yet was a race. Sigh............  Why? I just ask myself - I HATE races. Someone challenged me to a race once - a jelly roll race. No, thank you. Why would one put themselves through this kind of stress? However, Ronda and Shelly decided to faceoff with squares for a sports-themed quilt.

Ronda happened to have TWO identical kits cut and ready to sew. Shelly took one, and Ronda took the other. They were in two separate rooms. They each had a different strategy for sewing it together. I did the running commentary, and I timed them. HEY - if they want to get all stressed out, that's fine - I'll egg them on, but I won't participate! I'm not stupid.

If we would have put money on the race, I think we all would have lost money! Oh yes, the seams had to be pressed. No sloppy sewing just because it was a race.

And after much cheering, a winner was declared. The time to assemble this quilt was FIFTY -THREE minutes. Seriously???  Now that's impressive. The winner??? Ronda!!!!

The winner's quilt top - Ronda

Now it was a good thing that she was the winner since it was her turn to make dinner. Dinner was 16 minutes late that night, so all in all, she did a great job.

Shelly wasn't far behind. Her top was assembled in 57 minutes. From the look on her face, I don't think she was too worried.

Shelly's quilt top

We tried to make it as fair as possible. Whenever either one of them needed to press, the rest of us stood far away from the pressing surfaces. None of us wanted to get in the way! And that was the only difference. Ronda had an ironing board, and Shelly had a small pressing surface. If they had switched their strategies and kept the same pressing surfaces, I think the outcome could have been different!!!

Anyway, it was fun, we all had a hoot cheering them on. That's it for stories from the retreat.


After the magazine quilt got put in the box, it was time to get back to work. I got this customer quilt done. Need to trim it later today.

Customer quilt - DONE

Then it was onto getting the homework completed for the Zoom class last night. These blocks are from Summer Moon. In total, there are 24 different blocks, but you make them in three different sizes for a total of 72 blocks.

Each size (small, medium, and large) gets a different frame around the block. Here are my large blocks with framing on two sides. I changed that from adding framing on four sides.

Large blocks of Summer Moon

Here are the medium blocks, and yes - all the framing is on those blocks as well.

The medium blocks

Here are the small blocks. They have a pieced frame on them. This is as much as we've done with the small framing so far.

The small blocks

This quilt is a LOT of work. The good news? I'm up to date. Yes - hard to believe. We're halfway through the blocks, and I'm up to date! I've got a bit of cutting on the framing pieces so they'll be ready to sew on as I make the rest of the blocks. Hopefully, I'll get that done later today.

But time marches on, and I'm now prepping the homework for the two online classes that are due today. NO - I'm not done either of the projects, but I'm working on it, and everything should go out before the end of the day.

I have one more presentation tonight that I postponed from last week. Then I should be caught up until the end of this month! The five projects are keeping me hopping, but so far, I've managed to keep up with all of them. It was easy - I just made them a priority!!

Plus, the commute to class is great, and I'm gaining a TON of time by not having to drive anywhere!

Here's a little cleaning tip for you. If you get all kinds of odd bits of dust, lint, and fabric on your cutting mat, it's a pain to remove. I use a kitchen scrub brush to take it off. Someone suggested last night that they use an old shower scrubber. Great idea!!!! But your cutting mat will be clear of debris, which isn't good to be running over with your cutter!!!

Scrub brush to clean the cutting mat

Well, that's it for today. Another totally crazy day and then - well, tomorrow is another day. I only concern myself with what I need to do today!

Have a super day!!!! Stay cool.

Ciao!!!

Celebration!

Yes - it was Canada Day yesterday, and it was a great day (well, any day is a great day) to be a Canadian. My only beef and it's a little one. Can the neighbors not coordinate the darn fireworks? One group would stop, and then someone else would start their display. It went on for over an hour! But if that is the worse of my concerns, then life is pretty darn good!  OH -- we more than made up for it as Murphy barked like mad at 6:50 AM this morning. Oopsy!!!!

I should mention one thing about that retreat laundry basket. I think there is only one more project to add to it. I've got a bit of work to do before that one gets added. I've also included stuff that I'm taking to give to someone, so hopefully, the basket will come home with less stuff than what it goes with. The supply box is ready to put in as well.

However, there are some tools (mostly rulers) that I want to take, and if I put them in the basket, I will continuously be digging them out. So I made a LIST of tools to pack just before I leave. Now, how easy was that? I just have to consult the list and put those items in the basket, and then I'm ready to go. I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get that organized. But it doesn't matter - I've got it down to a science now, and that's all that counts!!!

We had a great start to our Big Canada Run. This is the team walk, and we need to walk at least 22 KM every day (as a team) to finish the race in the year-long time frame. I walked over 14 KM, and Shelly walked over 9 KM, so we're more than covered for day one, although I do know that Laura and Ronda walked as well. I think we're good for the first two days! As someone mentioned in the Facebook group, it was easy to run because the weather was beautiful - what about the winter? Well, I'm good in any weather! Go, team go!!!!

I made great progress with my magazine quilt. The binding is cut and ready to be made. The quilt is quilted and needs to be trimmed. My goal is to have it ready for a 5 PM pick-up today. I was chatting to a friend of mine who works for a Canadian courtier company, and he gave me some suggestions to save money on shipping. I'm going to try that today. If it works, I'll share the tips with you.

I also made great progress on the homework that is due tonight for our Summer Moon class. I should have no problem getting it all completed and the homework written up by 7 PM tonight. There are a TON of flying geese in this month's homework assignment. BUT with the laser guidance system on the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC 2, it's a snap to make the flying geese. No drawing lines - I just use the laser to stitch the seam, and these are the most accurate flying geese I've ever made.

The laser guidance system

We had a discussion the other day about whether you should leave your machine on or off if you need to pop out for a bit. I tend to turn my sewing machine on, and if I'm just going for lunch, I leave it on. If I'm going to be gone for several hours, then I turn it off. While I was standing at the long arm, I looked over to the other side of Studio B, which hadn't had the lights turned on yet. That Designer EPIC 2 sure has a BRIGHT light.

Bright LED lights on the Designer EPIC 2

I do love that sewing machine. It's a LOT of sewing machine but has so many bells and whistles that make sewing that much easier. It's not that you can't do most of the same stuff on a regular machine, but it's just easier.

OK - so let's look at the Celebration class homework. Honestly, looking at this pattern, I'm surprised that anyone signed up for the class. The coloring on the pattern is not the best. Even the alternate in solid colors is not very attractive.

Celebration pattern

However, we had some adventurous quilters sign up, and we've got some great colorways happening. Let's take a look.

These blocks belong to Catherine. Love those blue batiks and the little pop of purple. And high contrast, which I think is missing in the original.

Catherine's blocks

I should mention that so far, we've only worked on two blocks - the one for the center and the 12 that you'll see in some of the other pictures. They just got assigned another block this month.


Kathi is working with batiks as well. She's got some nice contrasts happening.

Kathi's blocks

These blocks belong to Linda, and this is how the center block and the 12 other blocks that we've worked on fit within the quilt. It's going to be interesting to see how the different colorways work. Some have darker fabric in different spots. That's the exciting part of these kinds of projects - we get to see so many options. The colors in this version are grey/black/white and red. Love it!!

Linda's blocks

These blocks belong to Lynne. That little pop of dark in the corners of those blocks is going to make this very interesting!! One thing I love about doing our homework show and tell this way is that we get to see the quilts as they progress instead of just seeing a block or two at the store.

Lynne's blocks

These next two blocks belong to Marilyn. It looks like she's using a mix of batiks, and maybe a regular fabric is thrown in as well. Here's the thing - MANY of the members are working with their stashes! There hasn't been a great opportunity to shop for fabric. These quilts are going to have a super story behind them when we're done!!!  This look is softer than the others, but it's going to be great.

Marilyn's block

Marilyn's center block

This set of blocks belongs to Grace. I love that WARM colorway. Can't wait to see the rest of the quilt!

Grace's blocks

These blocks belong to Wendy. It's interesting how so many people (myself included) went to the cool colors when the original is done in warm tones. Lots of high contrast and a beautiful color combination with the purple/blue/turquoise and pink!

Wendy's blocks

These blocks belong to Diane. We've got a very different colorway here - burgundy and green with some cream thrown in. Love those burgundy fabrics.

Diane's blocks

This last set of blocks belongs to Val. I love those outer blocks. In keeping with the picture of the quilt, her center block is light. The colors will tie it all together. I LOVE that color combination, though!

Val's blocks

This is what mine looks like. So you can see what the class has for homework this coming month. We're working from the center out. I'm still not convinced that I have the correct colors in that center block, but there are more greens to come in the quilt.

My quilt

We had others who shared their homework on the Zoom call, but I didn't get pictures of their blocks.

It's so exciting to watch the quilts come together like this. As I said, it's even harder as we don't have easy access to a quilt store if we need to match something up. I think some of the group members are running out of fabrics, and that's where creativity is going to kick in. I'll be using bits and pieces of stuff as I work through the next set of blocks.

Don't forget the Virtual Retreat, which takes place on July 18 and 19th. So far, I've been keeping booked events on my calendar. At the beginning of the month, I review the calendar, evaluate the current situation, and then start deleting. July is looking pretty empty at the moment. I can't say that I'm too upset. It's kind of fun to have all this time to sew and quilt and not feel the least bit guilty! And of course, that's a good thing since once this quilt gets in the mail today, there are a "few" others that have deadlines this month, and I'm working my way through the customer quilts as well.


Well, another busy day on the schedule so I'd better get started.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!

How much is too much?

Happy Canada Day!!!

Today is also the first day of our virtual walk across Canada in the opposite direction from my current walk. It's a team effort, so that'll make us go much faster. I did some calculations, and if I add up all the mileage that we've walked on Route 66, together, the four of us have walked over 5,200 KM in 6 months. Can you believe that??? The four of us will have no problem to walk 8,000 in 12 months.  The goal for today is to collectively (all the registrants) to walk enough KM to walk across the country. I don't think that'll be a problem. I'm all set!

I've noticed that virtual walks are popping up all over the place. Some of them are "runs," but seriously? If you're not a runner, you don't need to run them - walk them! I'm not a runner.

I had a wee bit of a panic attack this morning. Last week, I put off some of my meetings for my ongoing sewing clubs. We had one of the sessions last night. I'll share all the homework with you tomorrow. What fun that we still get to meet even if we don't meet in person. So that was good - one down. There's another Zoom presentation scheduled for tomorrow evening. Hmm - still a wee bit of work to get that one ready. The last presentation for June is on Friday, and that one is all set - I mean, the homework is done. That'll take care of all the June stuff.

BUT then I realized that both of the strictly online classes also are due on FRIDAY!! Oh boy - thankfully, some of the blocks are already cut. Let's just say that it's going to be a busy week!

I managed to get the magazine quilt top pretty much completed yesterday. I added two of the four border pieces this morning, and the other two will go on when I start "working" at 9 AM. Then to switch out the customer quilt on the long arm and get this quilted. I'll make the binding today, and there should be no problem to get it out the door by 5 PM tomorrow. Don't you just love that these deadlines are mine and not yours?

This one was totally NOT my fault. I now have two more quilts to make for the magazines, and both of them are pretty exciting. Something new to play with and new is always exciting. You'll have to wait for that.

Thanks to Ronda, I got a copy of the latest issue of Quiltmaker that has one of my quilts in it.

July/August issue of Quiltmaker

And here's my quilt. Oh - that picture doesn't show the quilt very well. Well - you have to buy the magazine to see the quilt.

My quilt

I took a few minutes to prep another project for the retreat laundry basket. The missing stabilizer for the yoga bag handles is now included in the project.

The yoga bag is ready to go

My chalk marker ran out of chalk, and so the refill is also in the supply box. Oh, yes - I'm super ready for this next retreat.

Here's the laundry basket, which is getting full. But there's a HUGE hole in the middle. I did add a couple of zippered pouches to the basket this morning. The pieces are all prepped and ready to sew together. There's just enough room for my backpack and the supply box. And it's barely overflowing!!!

The retreat laundry basket

I wanted to put the projects into those giant plastic bags that I have. It seemed like a good idea to put each project in a separate bag rather than have the bits and pieces all over as I've done before. That meant getting into the cupboard where the plastic bag supply is stored.

Of course, this cupboard was filled with stuff. BUT all the plastic bag supplies are in ONE spot. I ended up pulling all the plastic bags out of the cupboard. Hmmm - just a "few" bags in there. It was so bad that I could barely keep the door shut. I had to hold the stuff in place and then whack the door shut.

Upon searching through everything, I decided that I did NOT need 20 partial boxes of plastic bags. I don't know that there were 20, but there were a lot.

The plastic bag situation AFTER I cleaned it up

I removed this many boxes of plastic bags. Most of these are freezer bags, and the personal grocery shopper in our house was commenting that we needed to buy more freezer bags. OH NO - we do NOT!!!

Excess freezer bags

 Now - can you tell me why this happened? How the heck, or why did I end up with so many? No idea, but it must have seemed like a good idea at the time! I know we did a lot of exchanges and whatnot, but why I needed so many is beyond me.

I doubt that I'll ever have to buy another plastic bag in my life. Either for the kitchen or the sewing room. Should anyone need a few extra bags for a project, I'm sure I can help you. I also have a TON of those giant plastic bags as well. I don't get how my mind works.

Guess what else I found this morning? Oh yes - another gold thread. And I saw a big piece of it on the deck yesterday. I guess that thread will be around for a LONG, long time.

A gold thread

I think I mentioned that I had books to pick up at the library. The scheduled pick up was at the same time as my Zoom presentation. I pushed the presentation by 15 minutes, and the timing worked fine. I took the long way to the library to get in some extra steps since I was going to be missing my usual long walk after dinner.

It was a pretty slick setup. The librarian had some tables set up outside the library in a protected area in case it rained. The books were bagged with the pickup time on them. No need to check them out - that had already been done.

I grabbed my huge pile of books, said hello to Jennifer, and then I was off home. Let's just say that SIX books weigh a lot when you have to carry them home, but I was okay.

NEW reading material 

I'd better get busy as I'm currently reading, not one, BUT two physical books and one audiobook!! I know - how did that happen? I went from not reading anything to three books with six on deck? Oh well.

I did sneak out to the gazebo yesterday as well. Yes - I had a nap! And I read some as well.

Thankfully, it'll be a quiet day today - no wild celebrations to attend as if I was going to. But I'll be quilting and sewing as if it's a regular day. A super busy regular day!!!


Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!