What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 Wow -- my head is exploding with all the new stuff! 

Let's say that the hotel was kind to me yesterday, as there were no issues. My key works; I have figured out (thanks to Claire) how to turn up the "volume" on the desk light - it's still very dim. And I've been sleeping with zero issues. I think a train could go through the room and I wouldn't hear it as we are so tired at the end of the day! 

I spent the day in a room full of Designer EPIC 3s. I was a ...

On our last couple of days in Napier we called into the cutest little sweet shop around, visiting here is just like walking back into yesteryear.  Remember all those boiled sweets from days gone by? Lovingly displayed in large glass jars, every type of sweet imaginable.   We replenished our supplies of blackballs for him, and acid drops for her. 

Birdwood's Sweetshop

Where to next?  It was time to purchase some tasty fresh cherries.  I love them and we knew there was a roadside stall reasonably close by.  Robin doesn't care for them, so they are all mine!  And ...

Finally we are off on a caravan trip - the weekend was spent with our caravan club buddies, not too far away at Betts Farm.  Our previous caravan club rally had been cancelled due to Covid lockdown, as had our planned 3 week trip north.  So there was plenty of news to catch up with our caravan buddies.  The night ended with a lovely sunset, always so nice to see the gorgeous colours in the sky.

Lovely sunset

The weekend rally seemed to be all about eating and a little drinking.  Glenys was celebrating her birthday on Saturday so she rushed ...

To make things easier for hospital visiting Robin moved or caravan closer to Wellington to reduce the travel time.  The day arrived for my spinal operation and I was whisked away.  The six hour operation went well, the surgeon told us, and I am now sporting a 10 inch scar down my backbone..  Must say that the neurosurgical team were so professional and certainly inspired confidence. I was hooked up to all sorts of equipment,  and the nursing care was excellent.  Although it was difficult to lay prone on my tummy for some time each day.

As expected the next ...

Have to admit that only a little stitching has been happening, but every bit helps, doesn’t it.  Packed away in my stitching bag is a set of 12 pre-printed small Christmas panels, designed by Bonnie Sullivan, my new hand stitching project.  This was a gift from my penfriend Carol from South Dakota, and has some felt pieces attached.  Here I am working on block number one.

My new stitching project

Our tripping around continues, and it’s always exciting finding “new to us” places  to stay.  We had never heard of Te Anga, a small rural community along SH37 ...

I've got myself into a nice little routine. Every day is almost the same, but yet it's not. There's always something new going on and yesterday was no exception. I screwed up! Big time!!!

We have a pond in our backyard and the crew was over bright and early to open it up for the season. We have three small waterfalls and we love to hear the sound of the water. That's my sleepy time music when I'm in the backyard.

However, when I went to turn the water on for them, I knew there ...

I feel the last couple of days are just repeats of each other - kind of like the movie Groundhog Day. Quilt a quilt, do some binding, do some sewing! Going to have to shake it up a bit! At least the things I work on every day are a bit different, but not much.

However, there's always a challenge that each day presents. The first one yesterday was getting my package shipped. I was going to do the paperwork and then just drop it off at the UPS office. I normally get them to do all the work.

Package ...

Here's another day! They all seem to blur into one another and yes I have to remind myself what day of the week it is. But then I had to do that pretty much before as well. My calendar for April and May is pretty much empty except for one phone meeting and all the dates for the online classes and meetups. AND we have another retreat scheduled for the end of May. I'm very hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed that the rules will be relaxed enough to be able to go.

 At some point, I'll ...

 I'm going to try and think of one thing each day to be grateful for. We live in a great country with great resources and well - I think we have loads of things to be grateful for that we should NOT take for granted. I'm sure I'll be repeating myself as I won't remember that I've already mentioned something.

Today, I'm grateful for my two girls. They are a huge source of entertainment each and every day and I think they are definitely helping us cope with the crisis. They are also a great ...

Like many of you, I was not thrilled when I heard the news that the emergency status in our province will continue for another 28 days. Rather than get angry or frustrated or sad, I think we need to look at this in perspective. We're dealing with something life-changing. While life will go back to normal, the new normal will not be the same. And some people have lost loves ones, their life will never be the same. The front line workers - their lives have changed.

I think rather than lashing out, we should look at the next four ...

I'm surprised, but then I'm not surprised. I love to sew and I love having the opportunity to sew totally uninterrupted. And that's what we do when we go to the retreat. However, I think I'm the ONLY one sewing! But that's OK.

Our current situation of self-isolation is one where we need to learn to take ourselves somewhere else. We can't travel, so why not pretend that we are traveling. And that's what I did. I make it to the "retreat" by 9 AM after I walk the girls and then I ...

Progress on Night Sky is coming along nicely!  All the stars are done…welllllll, I have six seams left on the white/silver stars but the stars are basically done.  Now I just have to add the sashing…frame….borders?  Whatever the black pieces around the stars is called.  That is my quilty goal for July.  To get the... Continue Reading →

Previously I talked about starting my Jaybird journey with Gazebo.  With that done, I’m on to Night Sky. Like Gazebo, this is much simpler than it looks.  Night Sky uses the Sidekick ruler, which has a bunch of lines all over it as well. But once you understand how it works and use it, it’s... Continue Reading →