What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I don't think I have ever talked so much in one day as I did yesterday! My brain is half-dead, but WAIT --- there is one more day to deal with, and then I can go home, where I have things on my schedule. But it's all good—we are making amazing progress, which is great. 

But here's the thing—I keep saying that every time I come out, so why is there so much more to do each time I come? It just doesn't make sense. Some of it is repetitive from before, but most of ...

I really must learn the parts of the body! A quick update on Dad. He's been discharged without emergency surgery. The blockage is (was) in his neck. I don't know the details, but I will find out more later today, since I've been running around the house getting ready to get on a plane in a couple of hours!

But wait - let's back up! 

I decided to go to the quilt retreat as I had stuff to drop off to others. One must keep that Pony Express alive. I don't think I brought anything home ...

OH MY --- I was exhausted when I got home. I had a decent sleep the night before, but it was short. Can you believe I went to bed at 6:30 last night and got up at 4:30 AM—that is a rarity for me. I had five minutes of awake time and 1 hour and 13 minutes of deep sleep! Phew --- I feel great this morning, and that was probably my best sleep score ever. Those sleep scores only give you excellent if the sleep duration is long. 

But let's step back and see what happened in ...

 You guys are the best—so many good comments and suggestions. 

It was another amazing day of progress. And guess what? I have worked on almost all my projects - there are two bundles of scraps that I have not touched, and one quilt top! There are a few projects that didn't get finished, but they got advanced, and that is all that counts!

Here is the plaque from the BMO Museum in Montreal. What a hoot to see that. Thank you so much, Daphne, for spotting that and sending it to me, as I had no idea. I don ...

WOW --- what great stories of coincidences!!!! And, amazingly, our brain makes these connections! It's an amazing tool, and we need to use it or listen to it a lot more than we do!!

Good progress was made at the retreat house. I moved another bag of finished projects to the car last night, leaving one bag of projects and my knitting bag! We are here until Sunday, so I should be able to touch most of the stuff I brought. Well, let's see, since some of them are small, but still -- despite my panic packing at the end ...

In case anyone thought I was too harsh yesterday about my comments about the planet, I want to clarify that slightly. Yes, people visit these places to learn about them, and then they can be protected, but there are two types of people. OK -- so I'm generalizing there -- there are many types of people, but to keep this train of thought somewhat simple. There are two types of tourists -- those who just want to conquer the place/event so they can check that item off their to-do list. Get to the end as quick as possible, get to the ...

Yes -- I need to figure out how to change the stride on this new fitness tracker. I haven't found that yet, BUT I found the sleep app. Someone at the retreat mentioned that they use the sleep app to monitor their sleep, and I dismissed it. How can this app know so much about your sleep from a little band around your wrist? You think I would know better by now. 

So I did that last night. And I had looked at my previous night's sleep. OMG -- it's pretty bang on. And the snoring? There's even ...

There isn't a day that goes by when I don't learn something new. What amazes me is that as people get older, they seem to lose their curiosity and their ability to live like children (OK - children back in my day), a simple life, uncomplicated by all the stuff that life throws you. I do the basics of life, but I don't stress about many things. Life is too short.  

But the learning? Well, I'm still stunned by what I learned this morning. 

I'm doing my writing assignments while I'm not home. The first ...

 NO --- that was NOT pieces of sod I spotted the other day. That is artificial turf!!!! I get that sod has seams and it comes in rolls, and pieces are identical. No, if you look closely at the picture of the "sod", it's in big chunks and will not grow. But my thought was - do they know that? Unless this is a new kind of sod! 

ARTIFICIAL sod

Another fun and productive day at the retreat house! I'm having to do some paperwork and prepping for the next writing assignment, and the clock is ticking until I need ...

Thanks for the vinegar tip! I need a spray bottle for the vinegar to make it easier to apply. And I know where to get a great one. I've heard that before, but never got myself organized to make that happen. 

Shoot --- something bizarre happened in the morning and I was going to tell you about it, but it's gone! Maybe by the time I finish writing this morning, it'll come back to me. Anyway, I finished getting everything ready and packed it all into the car. There actually wasn't too much this time. Some items ...

And I'm home! It felt good to sleep in my bed, but I'm also sad. Retreats are so much fun! I accomplished a lot, making me happy, and the girls were beside themselves when I arrived. 

I was up early and trimmed my flying geese units for the 365-day quilt. I also trimmed some more of the half-square triangles. 

Pressing and trimming

The weather is just totally insane. Earlier this week, we had high humidity and hot temperatures. I'm wearing my sweatshirt this morning, and it's only 14 outside. Zero humidity. I'm not complaining—I can put on more clothes, but it changes so much from day to day that you don't know what to wear! 

Sadly, we are leaving later today. I'm not ready!!! I have a lot of stuff to do at home, so I guess I'm good to go. Plus, those two girls will be very excited to see me. 

I've been ...

 It's always exciting to be at a quilt retreat. I love being at this retreat house (Retreat at the Farm); we missed all the chaos in the city yesterday. Apparently, the rain was incredible, and the flooding caused many issues with traffic and power. We didn't have problems with either in our immediate neighborhood, but it wasn't fun for some. 

We started the day with a trip to Creekbank Sewing, where we met with Sally, who added to The Pony Express! Actually, it was a very fortunate situation. She had something she no longer wanted and asked ...

 Yep -- here I am at a quilt retreat. It's a small group (intentional) and is one of the most relaxing retreats because of that! Plus, it's an excellent opportunity to catch up with friends we rarely see. After getting all the morning stuff out, I loaded the car and was on my way. I think this is our third or perhaps fourth retreat that this small group has done. 

I always look at what I bring and think do I need all that, but I've cut way down on what I bring. OK - so I threw in ...

While being away on this retreat was so nice and relaxing, it's sure nice to be back home again. This was one of the best retreats ever -- I've never been so relaxed. The energy in the room was exciting, yet even-keeled, and we all just worked together in a way that - well, it just seemed magical with the mix of people. Not to say that I don't enjoy the other retreats. I guess you had to be there. 

The day dawned bright and sunny, and I got out for a short walk in the morning after a ...

You know I've had significant issues with my Outlook (for email). Not only had I lost my signature file, but I had questions about some other features, and every time I looked up the answers in support, the tab/buttons never seemed to be in my version of Outlook. 

Well, thanks to my friends, I got the signature file back. Good grief -- the MOST important thing about this was where to find the command. Someone here who works with Outlook knew immediately where that command was. I think it's a bizarre place, but no worries -- the signature file ...

Where is the sun? We've been promised sun for the last few days, but those clouds never even broke up enough to see an inkling of blue sky! We're supposed to get sun today -- let's hope. 

There's one big advantage to sewing at a quilt retreat. You (hopefully) haven't brought a lot of projects with you, so you have to work on what you have. There have been numerous occasions when, if I were home, I would have abandoned what I was working on. Well, the old me would certainly have done that. You arrive ...

Anne has a good eye! She not only knew what the quilt was that I was working on, but she sent me a picture. I'm not sure if that was her quilt. Great job, Anne -- you know your quilts!!!

Another productive day! It's amazing what you can get done when you can focus on the quilting and have good conversations and good working conditions! So, what does the quilt I worked on look like? I finished the quilt top last night. 

My bicycle quilt

I have no recollection of cutting this quilt, which is called Mod Geo Cruiser ...

And the progress continues! I get a chuckle at how much we think we can do in a day and how much we actually get done! Now that the miters on the 365-day quilt are done, at least for the moment, I had visions of using the remaining blocks as enders and leaders as I plowed through a quilt top that was totally cut out. 

Yes -- the pieces are cut out but NOT labeled, which is typical of ME! 

The background is cut but not labeled

This is not a quilt with the same block repeated over and over. It ...

Wow -- I'm not sure if I should be happy or not. I'm working on my 365-Day quilt that I started in 2016. I was working on the February blocks at the January 2023 retreat. This retreat? I'm working on the March blocks! If I continue this way, completing this quilt will take another NINE years. 

I thought it might be a good project to use as enders and leaders, EXCEPT the FOUR blocks I worked on yesterday all had miters in them. In total, I made 28 mitered corners on teeny tiny blocks! I'm not afraid ...