What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 I'm up EARLY  -- the blog post should be on time!

I had two more successful events yesterday, and those attendees went home knowing a lot more about what they could do with their PFAFF sewing machines and loads of inspiration for making quilts. I came away with a list of samples I want to make to improve the presentation! 

Thank you to Patrick and Peachtree Quilt Shop for a fantastic couple of days! Loads of fun, and I got to meet some new people. 

So where am I next? The next stop (work-wise) is Quilt Canada in Halifax. So ...

This simple paper piecing Polar Bear block comes in two sizes 8″ x 8″ and 15″ x 15″.. both sizes included in the same purchase for $8.60

The pattern comes as a PDF download for you to print, the smaller version prints on one piece of paper, the larger on 4. Click here for pattern.

The eyes and nose are appliqued, the ears are free to flap and are inserted into the seams as you assemble the block. This is a great, quick, fun to make pattern. I’d love to see what you come up with.. don’t ...

How often do we laugh and joke about Plan B, and let's face it -- how often do we actually have a Plan B? Well, the story of my life seems to be - find Plan B! DH ordered those three things from Amazon, but I'm very skeptical that they will arrive in time. I'm watching the order, and if I don't see movement by Monday, I'm canceling the order, and I have to find Plan B for those three items. All of them are critical to my trip. Yep -- that's me -- leave it to the ...

Lots of great tips on the rash -- thanks to everyone for that, and YES -- I agree about the blow dryer, although I didn't resort to that. But the cool air blowing on my arm in spin class was very soothing. I'm happy to report that while it's still itchy and I'm keeping my hands off of it, it's calmed down. That Tea Tree Oil did the trick! Now to prevent anything from touching it, which reminds me it's there, and I want to scratch it! 

This weather is crazy! One day we're in ...

For me, every day used to be a good day. But since I got home from that trip, I never know, and it drives me crazy! Some days I wake up feeling like the dead even though I've had a good sleep, and I've been known to have a nap before 9 AM. Good grief -- what is happening to me? I think I best make a trip to the doctor to get some bloodwork done to ensure things are OK. And that darn vertigo keeps popping up from time to time. 

After I had my early morning nap ...

Once again, we’ve had a busy week with yet one more quick trip to Atlanta among appointments and planning a big event that was held yesterday. I’ll have more on that for you in a day or so. In the heat this week, my daylilies decided it was time to start their show. I got out early one morning before the heat hit to get a few photos. This peach one with the yellow throat is huge. I like the ruffled edges of the petals.

Nearby, a dark purple one is blooming.

I thought I had pulled up ...

Have you ever been so exhausted that everything hurt? That was last evening. And then you finally get to check into your hotel room at 10:30 PM, and typically the first thing I do is turn off the AC; well, I didn't even do that. I crawled into bed and fell asleep. But not before I put my Mom's quilt on the bed to keep me warm. 

I have tried to turn off that stupid thing this morning, as it's like an ice box in here! And noisy to boot. I MUST figure it out - at ...

Thanks for the suggestions on the topics for the basic sewing machine class. I'm going to put that agenda together and find a time slot. It WILL happen as I think it's terribly important for everyone to know the essential functions of their machines and how to make them work as they should!!

Yesterday was a bit of a topsy-turvy day. I had to get M and Bear to the airport by 10 AM. That was after spin class, and well, the girls never did get a walk! Now that the company is gone, we can get back ...

WOW --- what a crazy day, but I feel so accomplished! 

It's a long story about me getting my third shot, but it finally got booked for yesterday at 10:45 at the local pharmacy, so I could walk. Hey -- if I don't need to use my car, I won't, and I got lots of extra steps in the day. I arrive at the pharmacy and see two people ahead of me in the line. The guy's appointment was for 11, and his wife was for 12:45. 

The pharmacy wasn't giving the shots until 11 ...

Nothing is more satisfying than entering the kitchen in the morning and seeing a dishwasher full of clean dishes. 

The dishwasher cycle is finished!

I had to put on my appliance repair hat because this happened. 

The night before, M loaded some stuff in the dishwasher and I suspect there was a LOT of food left on the plates. I woke up to an F11 error message on the dishwasher. OK -- no big deal, I've dealt with that before. Oh no! The dishwasher was filled with greasy, orange water. ICK!! I shut the door and would deal with it ...

 The Zoom link has been sent for the free-motion class today. Dare I say that there are 100 people signed up? It will be crazy, but I've got it all planned out, so we should be good. I still have some prep work to do this morning, but I have plenty of time. 

I'm getting a wee bit later start to today because I heard this BANG in the night and then BEEP BEEP BEEP. That can only mean one thing. The backhoe is back to clear out the street. OH NO!! The plow had passed earlier in ...

It was exciting to get downstairs and do some sewing, but not as much got done as I would have liked. But that's OK. What's important is that I completed the master task list for February, which was a job in itself to finish and get everything on one list. 

My master list for February with the patterns

The list contains the sew-along assignments, documents to write, and quilts to quilt. This is something I should have been doing a LONG, LONG time ago instead of scrambling the night before trying to figure out what to do. 

Now ...

Have you ever had one of those days? I did NOT sleep well the night before, and it was a struggle all day. I can hear you asking, "why didn't you just have a nap?" Well, this happened. I went to spin class and enjoyed the steam room. Then home to have breakfast and walk the dogs. I was only partway through Murphy's walk, and I got the phone call that MIL's new fridge was on the way. Since DH is out of the country, it was my job to get to the apartment. 

Instead of 30 ...

 AHA  -- Elle asked about the status of my cutting table, ironing station, and sewing space. I'm happy to report that all THREE of them are clear EXCEPT for the current project that is on the slate. Well, let's be honest and say that ½ of the cutting table is clear. I don't have time for pictures this morning as I'm heading to spin class, but I'll share them with you tomorrow. 

As Elle mentioned, it's great to have something prepped and waiting on either of the stations, ready for the day rather than go ...

 It was another successful Virtual Retreat. We had a few more people pop onto the call to check out what's happening, and welcome to all of YOU! We're not a scary bunch at all, and basically, the chitchat is much more exciting than sewing by yourself. And if you happen to finish something -- you've got someone to share it with. 

The diehards show up every month and stay for most of the day, and others just pop in to say HI; both work. My circle of friends has grown enormously through the monthly Zoom calls, and I ...

Wow --- I'm running out of time, and I've just started to write this morning. 

What a fun time we had at the Virtual Retreat last night. When I left at 9 PM, quite a few were still on the call. I was tired and had to get to bed. Then I slept in a wee bit this morning and still had to prepare the last presentation for this morning, so I was a wee bit behind. However, ALL is good. 

I started two new sew-alongs yesterday, so that's pretty exciting. I'll share those with you later ...

 Well, it took a bit of planning, but I'm ready for today! Actually, the first class of the weekend was last night, and we're working on The Butterfly Quilt by Tula Pink. 

I had purchased the original pattern years ago, and well, it had never been out of the package until yesterday! 

The original pattern for The Butterfly Quilt

I knew that some of the students had the old pattern, but most would have the new one, so I had to get the new one. 

Version 2 of The Butterfly Quilt

Here's MY take on the updated ...

 Let's start with a wee bit of math. Don't worry -- it's easy! 

The other day, I had to gas in my car. It's a RARE occurrence these days and this was the first time this year. Don't worry -- I'm driving it enough to not seize up the brakes, but there's not many places to go that I can't walk. 

When I had filled up, I glanced at the screen and WOW -- I saved $1.32 because my credit card is linked to my bank. I saved THREE CENTS a litre. That got ...

 What did I just do? It's like I opened Pandora's Closet and then followed Alice down the rabbit hole. 

So I decided to do a bit more sorting of the stuff from the closet. I knew this container of scraps was sitting there, and I was ignoring it, but this morning it called to me. So I dug it out to investigate further. 

A basket of green scraps

What's that all about? 

The green container is FILLED with green scraps. Don't you love my color coordination? 

Green scraps

This is the messy basket. There's a ...

Well, I don't seem to have a lot to show for all my work yesterday. And there are days when I think back to what I did the day before, and I have to search really hard. The days, especially when it comes to decluttering and sewing, can run endless one into the other!

I did some puttering during Monday sewing, and I had a few more hourglass units to trim. Speaking of hourglass units, here's an update in that area. 

So you saw these units that I stitched at the retreat. 

Hourglass units created at the retreat ...