What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 A week is a long time to be at a retreat, but it is heaven. I'm not thinking about the girls. They are in good hands. I miss them, but sometimes, it's great to get a break from their antics -- just like your kids! We go home tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll get the cold shoulder from the Princess and five minutes of love from Murphy, and then she'll be off to get into trouble! Dogs don't appreciate the passage of time; all is forgiven as soon as you are back! 

We have been ...

 Here we are on Day Three of the retreat. How fun to run away from home for a week and get to sew with friends all day. And if you don't want to sew -- that's OK. I only brought a few projects, but I brought some doozies! Lots of improv stuff, which is fun to do, and I don't really stick with them at home. 

We took a wee break in the afternoon and went to Creekbank Sewing. While they sell a competitor's sewing machines, I really like the store. It's currently situated on a ...

I know there are urgent needs to be on the roads right now. Some people have essential jobs, but seriously? If you don't need to be on the highways when the OPP asks people to stay home, stay home! A massive 100-car pileup means that people have to be outside in those ridiculous temperatures, people are stuck on the closed highways, and you won't get anywhere. I just shake my head and ask what is wrong with people. Is their entitlement so broad they think it's OK to be out there and add to the issue? And ...

I'm not out of the woods yet, but feeling better. Let's hope this doesn't develop into something serious -- I don't have time for serious! Lots to drink, lots of sleep -- that's my healing process!

It's probably too early to think about cleaning up, as most of you will be thinking about Christmas, but if you're starting to think about how to downsize your stash, here's an excellent and FAST way to make that happen. Comfy Cases, an organization that distributes colorful pillowcases to sick children, donated over 4,500 pillowcases across Ontario ...

It was bound to happen - I've developed a sore throat! It's been years since I've been sick, and I could feel it coming on yesterday. Well, nothing that a few throat lozenges can't cure! (I hope!) I've no plans to go anywhere, and nothing urgent to do, so the timing is right. But still -- I HATE being sick! So far, it's just a sore throat; let's hope it doesn't develop into something more. 

I accomplished more paperwork, and I'm getting things under control. I still have one distribution list that has ...

 Yesterday was a busy day, and I was on Zoom for most of it. I can't imagine what my days would be like without it! Yes -- I could get together with friends locally, but I couldn't be with someone in Germany, Mexico, and various parts of Canada simultaneously! But with Zoom, I can! The friendships that have grown, the things we have shared -- well, it just can't be beaten! 

And some of them just can't get enough! I left the call at 9 PM, and there were still some diehards. The night owls, but where are ...

 I'm not sure why some days I feel more in a panic than I am right now. Oh yes -- I know. There are no classes today, and everything is under control for the ones tomorrow. It's all about planning ahead! 

There's so much I want to do, and there just doesn't seem to be time, even though I spend a good solid eight hours or more these days in Studio B. The long arm eats up a big chunk of the time these days, but I'm happy to report that the last customer quilt for ...

I'm feeling pretty relaxed this morning! I'm going away AGAIN for a couple of days and I have to confess that I didn't run around yesterday trying to get a ton of stuff done and that feels AMAZING. 

I still have some paperwork to do, but could it be there's a light at the end of the tunnel? At least to get caught up on all the mundane stuff that has to be done? I doubt it because it seems the more you do, the more administrative stuff needs to be done. Or there is something ...

 These 2 were partially cut already a wrote ago but it's only this par weekend that I finally sat and completed them. 

Block 46 [Hill and Valley]

Block 80 [Single Wedding Star]

Linking to Design Wall Monday, Monday Making,  Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Happy Needle and Thread

Celine

OMG --- I LOVE my blog. That's a pretty narcissistic comment, but seriously -- I just went to search for something, and well, each of the posts has something cool that I remember. OK -- that's not exactly true as some days are boring as ever, but other days - well! 

But the underlying theme remains the same! Here's the link to a post from January 7, 2012. You'll see why I'm sending you there in one second. But the title of that post is Learning Never Stops. That's hilarious! And it's nice to see that I ...

Oh gosh -- I'm going to blab on about Farmer's Wife one more time today, even though I did NOTHING on it yesterday. 

Remember that duplicate block? The one that didn't have the values in the correct place? As I was searching for the final reveal in my blog, I stumbled across this post.  

Here's the link to the blog post about the coloring on that block that was wrong. But did I make a note of that? Nope. So let that be a lesson to myself -- if you make a duplicate block -- identify it as such ...

Thankfully, the basket of Kansas Troubles fabric is not a full sized laundry, but still! My guess is that there is enough for at least 10 quilt tops and some of those would have backings. That's shameful! But I had fun buying it, but now, to get it used up! I also found three patterns in the basket. I don't have time to start a new project, so all the excess went into the basket and back on the shelf. 

Look what I found when I went shopping for the border and backing fabric for Farm'ers Wife ...

What a super productive day! I put my headphones on and listened away to that book about a world without ANY modern conveniences and sewed and pressed and cut. And this is what happened. 

The status of Farmer's Wife

Yep -- I got over half of the top together, and I love it!! The photo does not do justice to the richness of these fabrics. It's amazing what can happen when you are totally distracted from the process of sewing! Thankfully, the battery died in the headphones when they did. The subject matter of that book is very challenging ...

I got the third car errand done and did a bonus on that trip as I had to return something to Best Buy. They were very accommodating since I was past the 30-day limit, but they took it anyway. Thank you, BEST BUY!! I was thrilled with their service and will definitely shop with them again before I would consider buying from someone else, and you all know who I mean! 

OH BOY -- things are starting to open up for sure. The day before, I ran into Elaine at Oh Look Fabric, and yesterday, I ran into a LOT of ...

I'm so glad to know that it's not just me who received those annoying robocalls. And yesterday? Not a single one! Go figure!!

But as some people have acknowledged in the comments -- DO NOT, I repeat - DO NOT answer any call if the caller ID isn't there or you don't recognize the number. It's perfectly OK to let your phone ring. Remember, if you have Android and programmed correctly, you flip the phone face down, and it stops ringing. 

Don't be going around saying, I received a call about an illegal package or the ...

Torry wins the prize -- well, there is no prize, but her answer was correct, and a couple of people were close. It's all in the name. 

Remember the mystery tool from yesterday? 

The mystery kitchen utensil

While some people will call this a tomato/lemon/egg slicer, it's, in fact, a HOLDER to slice those items. You put the roundish food in the claws, then put your knife through the tines and cut away -- no accidents. There's a bottom lip that holds it flat on the table, and you can even buy plastic ones. Personally -- it's ...

That was a CRAZY weekend! One class on Friday, THREE on Saturday, plus the Virtual Retreat, one more class on Sunday, and then Virtual Retreat all day Sunday. That's about 20 hours of Zoom in one weekend! Let's say that I'm getting my money's worth from my annual fee. And I saw a lot of familiar faces throughout the entire weekend!

I need to look at several other things to which I have a subscription and see if I'm getting my money from those. 

I think we all agree that the Zoom thing is here ...

 Before the holidays, I finally cut out one new block for the Farmer's Wife quilt

39 [Friendship] that I completed on our return

While sewing #39, I also cut out and worked on another block

30 [End of Day] since both could be made without templates. For this one, I decided to simplify the construction, constructing squares out of 2 strips and making HSTs out of the squares. The fabric placement is different from the book but I figured that this is my interpretation of the quilt and it would be fine this way. 

Next on my list were ...

 Another long-abandoned project out today. I started the Farmer's Wife quilt with a view to gift it to my mum for her 60th birthday. She'll soon be 70 and the quilt is far from finish. Going through the box, I have 52 blocks completed. The full quilt has 111 so I am not even half way but not far either...

Will I find some motivation and finish it all this year? I would love to gift it to my Mum for her 70th...

Linking to Design Wall Monday, Monday Making,  Midweek Makers ...

OH --- I LOVE Terri's idea about the shoebox. I intended to take the images of quilting designs and patterns and put them in an inspiration book. She says that doesn't work for her. Instead, she keeps ONE small box with loose pages from magazines, etc. Periodically she goes through and cleans up. Hmm -- that might work. I need to empty a box to try that out! 

That method will be faster  -- I like that idea! Thanks, Terri. I love that we can all learn from each other. I'll see how the day goes, but I might have ...