What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 Yesterday was supposed to be a carefree day. One presentation with the rest of the day free. Well, it didn't go so well. 

I know that I need to be more relaxed about computers, but I was so frustrated that I was ready to toss my laptop in the pond! 

You see, I have a program that wouldn't open last week. I clicked, and nothing. Well, I got an error message that it couldn't open. OK - so let's try to delete and reinstall. That didn't work - I got a different error message telling me that ...

OK -- so I have NEVER said so many bad words while reading a book - EVER! The Innocent Man by John Grisham is just - well - it blows my mind at the comedy of errors that occurred for the characters in the book. Corruption, the desire for elected personnel to please their voting public, taking advantage of people with mental illness, poverty, and many other factors. It just boggles my mind that any of this was allowed to happen. 

I consider myself a believer in justice for all and hope that common sense and justice would prevail should I ever find myself ...

I'm getting very good at taking pictures. One would hope so with the number of photos that I take every day! My goal is to get rid of the glare, dog feet, and dog hair! I'm doing great at getting rid of the glare! The dog feet and hair? That's a constant battle. 

Here's my GIANT reflector that I use to cut the glare. 

Giant reflector

I bought it years ago when I was taking a photography class. It has five different materials that you can swap out. The other side is shiny silver, which I ...

 As I was reviewing the pictures this morning, I realized something. Murphy does NOT have a single blanket/quilt/mat that she can call her own. How did that happen? Lexi will have to write a story about poor Murphy, and then there's the poop incident. Yes - Lexi will need to get busy. 

I'm trying to keep up with my e-mail. I'm hovering around 700 in my inbox. I hope to get that even lower, but right now, I'm managing to keep it at 700 - it works for me at the moment. I have a TON ...

 Do you have days when you feel like an antique? It happens to me from time to time, but thankfully very rarely! 

I don't often visit antique shops as I never seem to find anything, so what's the point? Last week, I had a chance to pop into one for a few minutes, and I thought, "why not?" Well, I managed to pick up some old photographs for 50 cents each, which is rare in antique shops. BUT I also found a treasure, so I think the timing was meant to be. 

Pretty much the first thing I ...

Another GREAT day! I don't care what the rules are - having people to talk to is important! Whether that talking is via Zoom, on the phone, or in person. If you're NOT getting out or connecting with people, you NEED to do that. It's important for your mental health. And it's going to be even more important as winter arrives and people tend to cocoon inside their homes. 

I've found a good way to multi-task. I plug my headphones in, and I make calls while I'm on my afternoon walk. I have to laugh ...

Another great day! Even when I went for my walk in the rain. It wasn't raining much, and I needed to get out. I wore my raincoat, and I was fine. 

I'm almost finished with the latest writing assignment. That will go out this morning after our walk, and then it's time to start all over again! But the end is in sight! And that warms my heart! I haven't been sewing as much as I'd like to and the next two weeks will be very busy with presentations, so I'll do what I ...

I get stuck in the house sewing or quilting a lot, and I wanted to have a fun day out. And I love going for practically no reason! That's so not me!! I did have 6 boxes and bags of stuff that I had sorted from the pet mat situation that was to be handed off to someone else in the hopes they could use it for their cause. And then there was the barn block. It all lent itself to a day trip!

Thimbles and Things are hosting a sew-along for Barn Quilt Blocks. (sorry - it's FULL ...

Let's just say that I was EVERYWHERE yesterday. I started the day in Orillia with the Breakfast Club at Thimbles and Things. There were many people in attendance; I got the instructions for the block, and then it was time to zip back to Toronto, where I taught a two-hour class for the Etobicoke Quilter's Guild. Then I dashed off to Kingston (Stitch by Stitch) to do a one-hour lecture on the Premier + 2 Embroidery System Software. And then I zipped home so I could host the Virtual Retreat. 

Seriously?? Oh, yes - seriously! Thanks to Zoom, I was ...

…and maybe more than one purpose.

My rotary cutting mat (The Boston Revolver) is not just for quilting anymore. I’ve had this tool for at least 18 years. As a matter fact when I did an internet search I could not find any listing for the product. There are turntables available but they are quite a bit thinner than mine.

It certainly came in handy when painting my first barn quilt, holding up the board a bit from the table and makng it easy to turn the board around to get it at comfortable angle

Certainly a handy tool ...

…and maybe more than one purpose.

My rotary cutting mat (The Boston Revolver) is not just for quilting anymore. I’ve had this tool for at least 18 years. As a matter fact when I did an internet search I could not find any listing for the product. There are turntables available but they are quite a bit thinner than mine.

It certainly came in handy when painting my first barn quilt, holding up the board a bit from the table and makng it easy to turn the board around to get it at comfortable angle

Certainly a handy tool ...

Here is a free Barn Quilt pattern to make with quilting fabric and take on your next road trip as you look for barn quilts of the wooden kind! Wait till you see the fabrics on this bright and bold quilt…

Barn Quilts

I designed the pattern “Barn Quilts” for the amazing Landscape Stripes collection by Timeless Treasures. The quilt measures 50″ x 62″ and the blocks finish at 12″. It uses very simple paper piecing with the stripes of each fabric adding dimension and texture to each block.

If you are new to paper piecing, or need a refresher ...

Just finished my second Barn Quilt and am looking forward to displaying it with our new (that is new to us) on our first trip next week.

We’re headed up to Clayton NY, along the St. Lawrence River. This will be the second time there is as many weeks. We enjoyed our first trip so much in our old camper that we decided to go again to christen the new one. During our stay we plan on visiting the Barn Quilt Exhibit at the TAUNY (Traditional Arts in Upstate NY) Center in Canton NY.

Each year our quilt guild members are able to enjoy a number of workshops. This year is no exception – although the workshops and monthly meetings will be presented a bit differently. Unfortunately, thanks to Covid-19 we have not been able to have a physical meeting since February.

Last month our membership participated in a virtual meeting via ‘Zoom’. We had our scheduled program on ‘Barn Quilts’ along with our regular business meeting and ‘show and tell’. Our members (58 of our 90+ members participated) have certainly been busy during our time of isolation. Many of them had multiple ‘show and ...

I didn't get nearly as much completed as I would have liked, but we had company for a good part of the day so it was all for a good reason!

I did manage to get that Redwork Embroidery UFO - DONE!!!  It's now sitting in the "to be quilted" pile and I'm thrilled to death about that. There remain three items on the 2017 list, five on the 2018 list, and nine still on the list for 2019. As I mentioned, I am being very optimistic and putting 12 new items on the list for 2020. I ...