What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Oh my -- there needs to be a handbook for new homeowners. Some people have bought homes with things that they really don't know much about, or it might be their first home and no clue. The item in question is the sprinkler system. I'm not an expert on the subject, but I do know that you shouldn't water your lawn every day, and it's best to water it really early in the morning or late at night. Why? Well, there's less evaporation if you water in the late evening or early morning, and the darn ...

 We had the most AMAZING wrap-up session for Long Time Gone. I was truly impressed by the work of everyone! Color choices were a challenge, piecing tons of small pieces, not getting out to buy fabric, and a whole lot more. But the group came through with flying colors. I'll be sharing their wonderful projects later this week. And so many of the group got their tops together. 

I'm so grateful to all of them for signing up for that crazy journey. I don't think I would have made the quilt without them. It was truly a ...

 It's the end of the week! How did that happen? There was so much going on that I just went from one thing to another, and well, here it is - FRIDAY!!

OK - so I didn't get as much done as I wanted yesterday, but I did have fun, and that's what life is all about. I watched one of the presentations for Quilt Canada (in french), and it was great. Amazing how much I still remember after all these years. And it's not even my first language. When I was listening to the French radio station ...

I'm like a dog with a bone about the windows. I happened to run into my neighbor while walking the dog and their patio door with the integrated blinds/shades? It's a Pella with the "bottom stack." That is what the blinds that open from the bottom up are called. Elle commented that they also have some Pella windows with the same mechanism, which is the same brand that I'm looking at. 

I was back to the showroom yesterday, and GRRRRRRRR   - they no longer make the bottom stack windows. Why not??????  I've spoken to two different ...

I need to use The Task Master more often. I got a lot done yesterday. YES - in the back of my head, I know what needs to be done, but that doesn't always mean that I focus on that. I'm easily distracted! 

Knowing that I have a list that I can check off and keeping it open on the ironing board makes me focus on what I should be doing, not what I want to do!

So there are 13 items on the list this week - that might be a bit ambitious, but some of them are not ...

I was on a roll yesterday, and I never did get out on the bike. I was exhausted by dinner time, and I could barely do some stretching, let alone get out on the bike! 

Well, it was a super productive day, and honestly, we need to be careful what we wish for!  

So, I've decided that I need to resurrect The Task Master. What is that? It's simply a notebook where I write down what I need/want to accomplish that week. Why did I resurrect it? I want to be able to see what I've ...

 I had one of the best nights of sleep that I've had in a long time. No aches or pains, no waking up with thousands of ideas flowing through my head. Just one long continuous sleep! Yeah! Now, if we could only bottle that and make it happen every night, that would be awesome!

Somehow, the stars are NOT aligned at my house, and I will be happy when today is over. Why? Well, have a look. 

On Friday night, I was reading on our deck. It started to spit a bit of rain, so I decided to move ...

From time to time (OK - every day), I check the stats on this blog. I'm not sure that I even understand how to read them, but I LOVE how the numbers change depending on the topic. The ketchup story? Lots of readers - so can you tell me who is searching the internet for ketchup? Appears that lots of people are. 

I'm happy (OK - thrilled) to report that today is Friday! What does that mean? Well, it's Step One of reopening in our province, and that means non-essential stores are open (if they choose to be), and so ...

Well, things don't always go as planned. We all know that, and we should expect that to happen. It seems to happen to me every day. But that's OK - I made some progress yesterday, and that's all I really care about - progress. 

Speaking of not getting things done, I missed an ENTIRE week. I was certain that I had someone coming yesterday morning to estimate some work we want to be done. I postponed walking the girls so I could finish the prep for the morning's presentation. Then when the person didn't show up, I ...

Out of wall space? How about making some quilted pillows?

I might not have thought of this, if I hadn't been asked. A neighbor saw my pandemic porch quilt show (the subject of my last several blog posts), and commissioned me to make four 18" pillows, including two with scenes from our town, South Pasadena, which is part of Los Angeles. We negotiated a price and a backing color - grey - and I was off. It took about two weeks, and here they are. 

The first one in the lineup above represents the town's Gold Line MTA Train crossing ...

Happy New Year! 

I hesitate to say it, since I said it last year, and look what happened.

Pink is the first color of the year for the rainbow scrap challenge. I hope to follow a plan for working on this challenge this year.

1. grab color wire basket and sort

 I keep my fabric chunks in wire baskets by color. Some baskets are in tidy shape, others, not so much. Pink is very tidy and full.

2. decide ufo by color -prioritize as #1

pink -2 love pillowcases, 2 baby flannel quilts, zuckerwaite ( any progress is progress)

3. make ...

I have made pillowcases a few times on the blog, using different techniques and patterns.  I’ve shown you the burrito (or rolled, or hot dog) method, and a quick serger method.  Some have had pockets, and my favorite Travel Pillow Case has handles too.  For Autumn Jubilee (#AutumnJubilee2020), I thought it would be a quick and fun project to add some fall color to your bedrooms and guest rooms, and show yet one more way to do a pillowcase project.

Begin with the selection of some pretty fabrics, you’ll need the main fabric print and two accent fabrics ...

Do you remember in some magazines way back when they would have set up two rooms? They were basically decorated the same, but one was filled with items that were high priced and the other was normal priced stuff? Could you always guess which was which? There were many times when I preferred the low-end room over the high-end room.

Well, yesterday was a bit like that. I was back at the training and I learned enough tips to make it worth my time to be there. It's one thing to be self-taught. Quite another to have an expert ...

I won't bore you with the details of how my FitBit logged 21,000 steps yesterday. Let's just say the girls were happy, I got some errands done and I used my gym membership! If I do that for a couple of days, I'll be right on track! Phew - I CANNOT get so far behind that it's not possible to catch up. One of my teammates suggested that I could change the end date. WHAT????  NO WAY - when I make a commitment I could NEVER change the end date. Unless something very significant got in the ...

For our seventh Make of Christmas we are bringing back an oldie but a goodie. In this replay on how to make a pillowcase, I show you how to use your leftover yardage or novelty fabric to create a custom pillowcase with no raw edges.

That means we cover how to do a hot dog roll to get all of your raw edges concealed in the pillowcase sleeve, and how to make a French seam, which sounds way more complicated than it actually is, to give your pillowcase a finished look with no raw edges. No serger needed!

This video ...

It was a very quiet day around my house yesterday. Of course, I had work to do. I had lots and lots of paperwork to get done. I've started sending out e-mails with dates for next year's events. Like the Sit n Sews and that list of people is already long - I can't add anyone else to the list at the moment. Sorry!

But watch the blog because there'll be upcoming events that you can participate in no matter where you live. Those have to be up by the end of next week.

I do have ...

When I booked the pillowcase sewing day a couple of months ago, I had NO idea that I booked it on Giving Tuesday. Yes - Giving Tuesday is a real day! Trying to counter all the hype of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There's even a website for the day!  Who knew? Anyway - it was a perfect time and I think I'm going to book the date for 2020 to do the same. In case you want to book the date - it's December 1st. It's already on my calendar.

Not only was it a day of giving ...

I've been taking applique or embroidery to Monday sewing and frankly - I can't do it all day. I get bored and that makes me sleepy. I thought it might be the sitting all day but nope - it's the applique. Note to self - try to avoid ALL hand applique in the future! Unless the project is small. I have a couple more hand applique projects to finish and I might just switch to machine applique. I can do the prep there but stitch at home. Something to think about as I get stuff organized for 2020.

So for ...

With the crappy weather we had yesterday, it was a perfect day to sew. And indeed, I sewed and quilted the entire day and I was happy as a clam. I'm going to have to name those sewing machines one day so I have "company" in the studio. Otherwise, I have the radio going in the background and life couldn't get much better.

I'm taking a break from the audiobooks for the moment. I'm finding the listening and working is too much or too - I'm not sure what word to use, but I don't ...

Do you remember that I made a commitment - well a goal at least of making and donating 100 pillowcases to Ryan's Case for Smiles? That date is fast approaching - Tuesday, December 3rd. If you're interested in helping us sew that day - you're more than welcome to come. No need to bring a sewing machine or a serger. I'll have multiple sewing machines and sergers set up that day. In addition to sewists, we're going to need pinners for the first seam, pressers, and finishers so there's a job for everyone. You can e-mail me ...