What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 AH -- thanks to Maryke; I know that if you subscribe to my blog on the little widget on the top, that you'll get an e-mail each day without having to go to Bloglovin'. Thanks for letting me know that. It's always a challenge to know if something works the way it's supposed to when you are the owner/maker because you are logged into your account, and it works, but what happens if you're not logged in?

We had a fantastic show and tell in our machine embroidery club. WOW -- everyone is working on some super ...

 Another great day with the Monday sewing group! I'm learning to get so much done. At the beginning of these Zoom sewing days, I will confess that I spent a lot of time chatting. Well, now I'm able to sew a lot more, and I accomplished a LOT towards the magazine quilt that needs to be in the mail by Thursday. There wasn't too much of a rush to finish it since I didn't even have the border print or the backing yet. 

I got a notification yesterday that it should arrive today. I wasn't ...

Oh dear -- I don't want to say that I'm flying by the seat of my pants or that I'm working to deadlines again. But I am getting things done the day they are due and not a minute before!

Today, it's all about the Quilts of Valour sew-along. Since I designed a pattern for them, they asked if I would participate in the event. No problem - I have NOTHING on the calendar today. Could I prep a short video? Of course, I can do that. When asked how long the videos would be (I'm making ...

Oh my - I have the BEST friends in the world! And a lot of them showed up for the Virtual Retreat. We got to meet new people, we got to chat with people from Western Canada and many from Ontario and Germany. I want to thank EVERYONE who stopped by - I learned so much. And I honestly don't feel shut in at all. Yes - I get it that it's not the same as in person, but what is nice is that people change up each time and even throughout the day. That brings up all sorts of conversations ...

 The good news - the pattern is written! Yikes - it's like three patterns in one! If you want to see what the quilt looks like, check out this link. I shouldn't lead you to that website until the pattern is absolutely read to go, but I will anyway. Months ago, I agreed to design a quilt for Quilts of Valour. I would make the quilt in Northcott's Oh Canada collection, and I would make a second quilt using one of Northcott's basics (I chose Dublin). 

The quilts were to be unveiled at Quilt Canada. That didn't ...

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I want to say that I'm truly blessed. Why? Somewhere along the way, I learned to always look at the glass as half full. Oh - trust me - I face issues just like everyone else. I've just learned to NOT worry about stuff that I cannot change. I don't complicate my life, and I'm perfectly happy to use what I have instead of coveting something that I don't have. 

Oh - I'm not a saint by any means. I have days when the world is a big bad place, and I want to stay in ...

You know that I was addicted to Tim Horton's and NEEDED a hot chocolate every day and often more than one (thankfully, that was years ago!). I love their cookies and muffins. I gradually weaned myself from a large hot chocolate to medium and then moved to steeped tea and then down to decaf tea with no sugar. The cookies are saved for a special day. I don't go that often any longer, but I do go from time to time.

I was going on a wee road trip yesterday, so I decided that it was an excellent ...

Another day is done! It's weird to say that because it makes it sound like each day is a chore or something that has to be endured! But that's not the case at all. I'm just amazed at how time is marching forward! I want time to slow down, and yet I don't! I go to bed looking forward to each day because something exciting is bound to happen the next day, or I have plans for what I'm going to do.

While I did manage to get some work done, the morning was crazy ...

I was off to the gym yesterday! And it was so much fun to be back! Masks are required inside, of course, but once you get to the cycling studio, you can take the mask off. Joseph is the BEST spin teacher I've ever come across. He's tough, but he's good. Even though he doesn't check, he motivates you to slog through the hard cycling. I cranked out 32 KM on the bike without a thought. OH, that's a lie - I thought about lowering the tension on the bike, but I didn't. I feel ...

It was a glorious day yesterday! I accomplished a lot, saw a lot, and well - just a great day!!

Often, when I go for a walk, I take my phone. Not because of the social media, which I'm hardly on these days, and I don't miss it a single bit, not because someone might text me or call me - I rarely get messages, unless it's from M who wants to know what's happening with Little Bear. Nope - I take my phone because it has a fantastic camera on it.

I stopped to take a picture of ...

Oh my -- I'm as busy as ever and wasn't August supposed to be a quiet month? Well - it will be, starting tomorrow! HA - no laughing!! It seems that everything I'm working on, I still can't share with you! How crazy is that?

I finished off the second quilt for Quilts of Valour yesterday. The binding got put on by machine, and the sleeve got hand stitched in place. In case you're wondering, that particular quilt hanger is a rod with clips in case the quilt doesn't have a sleeve. This quilt needed a sleeve ...

I made excellent progress yesterday on the next quilt on the urgent deadline list. A while back, I was asked to design a quilt for Quilts of Valour using Northcott fabrics. The idea was the pattern was to be sold at Quilt Canada. Of course, we all know that Quilt Canada didn't happen, and the quilt design got put on the back burner.

At the request of Quilts of Valour, I had to redesign a part of the quilt - no big deal. I came up with something, and there the pattern sat. I have to say that I wasn ...

I say that with tongue in cheek! When bad things happen, I always try, very hard, to pass the blame onto someone else, but several things happened yesterday that - well, there was only me to blame. I'm good with that. Let's say that I had a few laughs over it and let's move on!

I was back to the dentist yesterday. Three weeks in a row! I hope that's the last of the dentist until my next cleaning in six months. This time, it was to get some work done on two teeth. Not really cavities ...

Oh my gosh -- I don't remember when I had so much fun at home in isolation! We had another fantastic day with the Virtual Retreat via Zoom. People were coming and going all day, and I know I missed chatting with a couple of them. Sorry for that - it's just that at times, the conversation was super busy and others where I had to babysit the long arm! So I didn't get to visit with everyone.

Did I learn stuff? Oh, yes - you bet. The most exciting thing I learned was how to override the shut-off on ...

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What a FUN filled day!!! Thanks to EVERYONE who logged in to share the virtual retreat experience. Nina joined us from Germany again - so fun to see what's going on in Europe. And Lucy joined us from Alabama - LOVE that southern accent. And loads from Ontario. A few new faces and lots of existing friends. They popped in and out all day!!

What I love about this is that it doesn't matter where in the world you live, you can join in. And wherever you are in the world, we are all experiencing the same thing with ...

I got a lot accomplished yesterday, although it wasn't exactly what I thought I would get done. Funny how that happens! But a few phone calls here and there, a few extra e-mails, a couple of errands, and well the day was totally shot!

I had another visit to the dentist. This was for my regular cleaning, which was initially scheduled for June 9th. The original appointment got canceled and then got rescheduled as the dentist is back in business. They've added plexiglass around the reception area. You still have to wait outside to get the OK to ...

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I love it when I have a great day! And yesterday was a great day! I got loads done and was able to check a few small things off the lists.

Remember how I'm always saying that people get out and walk and they don't really notice things? Well - look at what I missed! I mentioned that our house was the only one in our neighborhood that didn't have grass in the front yard. I LIED!! Here's another house that has no grass in the front yard. It looks awesome.

NO grass in the front ...

Whew -- another marathon of watching the Schoolhouse series from Quilt Market. That was another TWELVE hours of watching. And I watched pretty much all of it. There was some good, there was some bad, and I'm talking about technology and content. But overall, I'm happy that I sat through the series.

I'll share some of the great stuff that is coming. I understand that everyone is trying to find the next clever gadget, but I do NOT need a template to cut a square or a rectangle. Don't get me started! That's for another day ...

Yesterday was crazy! I sat at my computer for TWELVE hours of Schoolhouse presentations. OK -- that's not exactly true, I did get a LOT of stuff done. Wait for that. But in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, Schoolhouse is usually a one-day event that takes place at Quilt Market in the spring and in the fall. Quilt Market is a trade show for the quilt industry and not open to the public. They set up the virtual Schoolhouse on Zoom and over two days.

I think I much prefer this method to the in-person ...

What can I say? It was another AMAZING day of fun and frivolity at the Virtual Sewing Retreat. As much as I LOVE going to the real retreat, the Virtual one has a totally different flavor, and we have people dropping in from all over. Nina from Germany was back, and we had Daphne join us from Vancouver Island. And then a lot of others joined in and out throughout the day. I finally had to "kick" them off the call way past the initially planned closing time! But that was OK -- it was loads of fun.

If you get ...