What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I have to admit that I have a problem when things go wrong in the house, such as appliances, or the computer.  Yes, I do tend to panic, probably because after many years of Robin tending to these sorts of blokey things, it now all falls on me.  What to do, who to call?  On Sunday I noticed a big puddle of water under the tub and washing machine,  after I had done a load of laundry earlier in the morning.  So out came a couple of towels  to mop it all up, and I wondered if the washing machine ...

The good news is that with shorter and slower walks and lots of ice, I'm doing OK. Better than OK, and that makes me happy. 

However, someone is very unhappy with the short walks and is protesting. Every time I was near the front door, guess who was there? Demanding that I take her for another walk. How does she know her walk was shortchanged? Lexi is just happy to get out and doesn't care how long the walk is. 

However, the morning walk with Murphy was bizarre. I think I had mentioned that we had some lightning ...

I love the stories of people's post op knee surgery! I love that people are PREPARED for the recovery and their reduced mobility. That's what I call sanity!! Good luck with the recoveries - I know there are two of you who very recently had knee replacements! Probably about a week apart! 

My two presentations for today are done! I need to stop tweaking them! My brain just goes on and on, not stopping as I dream up more examples and do more research to help the students. I can only hope that they watch the presentation, get inspired ...

 I've got three things on the knitting needles at the moment, no socks though, but I'm concentrating on a light summer top I'm making for myself.  For this I'm using some pretty pastel knobbly sort of yarn I found in the local op shop (thrift store). 

 I only have four balls so it's been a bit of an adventure to see just how far it was going to go.  Not too far at all, as it turned out, so I had to purchase  some balls of pale pink cotton yarn to eke it out in ...

I thought about the stride thing yesterday with my KMs, and it's NOT the stride. I did measure that way back when I got a FitBit. I tried to verify it last night, but do you think I could find that in the app? Nope! 

The big issue is the translation from my FitBit records to the data on the Virtual Challenge site. It's sporadic, and I have no idea what's happening, but have a look and see what I mean. 

The data from the Virtual Challenge website for the last two days

For comparison, my FitBit ...

Well, it appears that another friend has those open earbuds. I need to encourage my friends to tell me about NEW things when they get them! I'm behind the times. I wore them for the four hours of Monday sewing, and I thought I might be bothered a bit by the band at the back, but all was good. They were very comfortable - they could hear me well, I could listen to them, and I could move around the house without losing the connection. YEP -- I'm glad I bought them. 

DH will be testing mine out today. He ...

There is always something to learn when it comes to computers. I have asked my class participants to put certain words in the subject to track the e-mails when looking for homework pictures. Not everyone listens, so I'll have to be tougher next year. But I always seemed to miss some. However, I learned another way to use the search function this morning, so let's see how that goes!!!

And the next time a man says that all women are chatty? I don't think so. The last two days, I've had an appointment with men. Both ...

It’s always nice to get the chance to sit and do some slow stitching.  I’ve just finished another of my Noah’s Ark blocks, and this one was tiny.  Actually, I had doubled the size of all the blocks, because I wanted to stitch mine with Perle 5 instead of stranded cotton.  So you can image just how tiny this pattern would have been in the original size.  This block contains snails, tiny bees and lady birds, and two very small butterflies.

Insects for the Ark

The other slow stitching I’ve been doing is to hand stitch ...

The last stop on our South Island Trip was Koromiko – where we started our trip back in mid December, all those weeks ago.  This is a beautiful place, surrounded by totara trees, and the cicadas were having a fine old time, making plenty of noise in the trees while looking for mates.  We were to stay here for two nights while we waited to board the Inter Island Ferry on Thursday.

Staying at Koromiko

It’s no secret that both ferry companies have been having maintenance problems.  We received a text telling us our trip the following day had been ...

Those birds were waiting for snow before they hit the birdfeeders! It was like a switch got turned on, and before I knew it, a pair of cardinals, a woodpecker, and many other smaller birds were feasting away, and I loved watching them. 

Mr. Cardinal

Small birds

Woodpecker

Of course, the girls were excited by the snow and couldn't wait to get outside. Our area hasn't had much snow, and it was like a winter wonderland walking in the morning. Then it stopped snowing, but we haven't seen the sun in a long time! Where is the ...

What do you do with left over fabrics?  You know, the ones you cut off from other projects?  I cut mine into usable pieces, usually.  I have made SO many flannel things and have tons of left over bits.  I have been cutting them into 5" squares.  Well, my bag of flannel charms is now 2 bags and both are FULL.I decided that I needed to see if I could use some up.I laid out a boy and a girl version

Although there has not been any quilty type stitching going on here, I’ve been busy with alterations.  Fixing a neckline or four here, and run in a couple of pair of summer trousers.  In fact, I rather feel like Father Christmas does as he sits and mends his Santa hat!  Isn't he cute?  Santa was a gift from Carol of South Dakota several years ago.

HE’s finishing off his mending too

In the absence of any projects, I thought I’d show you a Christmas quilt or two, which I have hanging up.  “Selvedge Christmas Tree” was ...

You may remember that my wedding ring has slipped off my finger a couple of times recently.  Another consequence of loosing a little weight is that items don't fit quite as well as they used to.  Especially around the neck line, and I cant stand it when a top slips off my shoulder.  So rather than getting rid of my favourites and buying new summer tops, I’ve been making a few adjustments.  Gemma has been helping, as she likes to do, keeping the clothing in check on my  sewing cabinet till I’m ready to take in an ...

 Last weekend, I attended a quilting retreat, my first in two years.  Everyone in attendance was double vaccinated and our tables were spaced apart.  I brought along 4 projects plus some mending to work on over the three days of the retreat.  My husband gave me a nifty folding cart for my birthday in February 2020 and this was my first chance to use it since I got it.  With the cart, I was able to bring in all my sewing stuff in one trip as well as my overnight bag.