What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Like many people, I would say that I use the internet a lot. Lately, I've been using it for Zoom and have been known to run 12-hour Zoom sewing sessions. I've never had an issue with the internet - my calls never dropped, I rarely experienced lag time for the video. I did get a couple of "your internet connection is unstable" from time to time, but it's been excellent. 

Someone in our house, who shall remain nameless, has been bugging me to upgrade the internet speed. "Hey - there are advertisements that you can get this amazing download ...

So you know that I have a crazy schedule. One for my "day" job and one for me. If it could be possible, the day job has exploded. The bookings for lectures are coming in so fast that I can barely keep up to the number. It's somewhere over 60 at this point. Thankfully, the bookings started slow so we could get a handle on the paperwork involved and for the most part, I think we have all the agendas in place and the samples worked out. 

I'll never be done making samples because that's how I ...

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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 ...

Another week has gone by and I wonder what I did to faff my way through it! There was one big, colourful customer quilt. I tried to quilt rainbows onto it but the pattern kept crashing the system so I used a substitute pattern called “Dizzy Izzy”.

Nessie tried out her new, fleece rain suit. She was not altogether pleased at putting it on and taking it off but once it was on she did not mind at all and it kept her clean on a muddy walk.

Freya and I both made new sourdough starters for bread making.  I ...

I had one of those weeks that felt really busy and quite stressful but I can hardly remember what I actually did. There were 3 customer quilts and I ran up a few more face-masks. It rained a lot, I practised my German and I did not catch up with any paperwork. I spent far more time than was necessary researching microphones for teaching over Zoom – apparently people can put up with a dodgy camera but not poor quality sound. 

On Saturday I tackled sewing up the Collins Top. I swear that every time I attempt dressmaking I vow never ...

All American ~ 60" X 60"I didn't quite succeed in getting this patriotic quilt top pieced by Flag Day this year, but almost! I saw this pattern a few months ago online and knew that this was the quilt that I wanted to make as a wallhanging for brick wall out on the new porch, it will hang over the drop-leaf game table that Mr. Goodneedle is building-- the colors are perfect and I believe that the

All American ~ 60" X 60"I didn't quite succeed in getting this patriotic quilt top pieced by Flag Day this year, but almost! I saw this pattern a few months ago online and knew that this was the quilt that I wanted to make as a wallhanging for brick wall out on the new porch, it will hang over the drop-leaf game table that Mr. Goodneedle is building-- the colors are perfect and I believe that the

H, OH!!!!!  I'm so EXCITED!!!!  Can you guess why? Sometime yesterday afternoon, the ban on short term rentals in Ontario was lifted! Oh, happy day!!!  That means that the next scheduled REAL quilting retreat can take place. We did have one planned for next week, but some of the people coming work during the day and they had to rearrange their vacations. I doubt their bosses would be too happy if we switched around again. Besides - we do NOT know any of the rules and restrictions that come with this development. I can easily wait three more weeks!

Needless ...

Look what I finished yesterday!  My Spirit Song flimsy is finished!  (For those non-quilters or new quilters reading this, a "flimsy" is another name for a quilt top -- the pieced or appliqued top layer of a quilt, prior to being sandwiched with fluffy batting and a backing fabric that are all held together by quilting stitches that go through all three layers of the quilt).

My Spirit Song Quilt Top, 59 x 75, Ready for Quilting

Last week I wrote about “Business as Unusual.”

We are in uncharted waters. More of us are now under self-quarantine or shelter-in-place rules. Those of you who aren’t, you likely will be at some point. This is serious times.

Artists tend to look for ways they can help. As a quilter, I’ve seen the masses of textile folks make masks for hospitals and healthcare workers. You can find numerous resources online, particularly on YouTube. One resource I’ve found a good place to start is the page put together by artist, photographer, and writer Gloria Hansen. In addition ...

Well, this wasn't the most productive weekend for me. I didn't turn on the long arm or even turn on a sewing machine. How the heck did that happen??? I did feel a wee bit guilty, but I'm over it already.

I didn't even get in lots of walking, although I still managed to get about 5.5 miles each day. That's OK too. I did spend a lot of time outside especially yesterday where the girls and I retired to the backyard to read a book. Well, I read the book, Lexi ate Murphy ...

Yep - things were going along very smoothly in the technology department. Then yesterday morning when I turned on the PC (OK - so I woke it up - I never seem to turn it off), I got this error message.

Error message

Introducing the newest member of our family, Samwise the Brave!

Baby Rottweiler Samwise at 13 Weeks

Bernie and ...

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 ...

This needs to be short and sweet today, as I have about a bazillion errands to run before choir rehearsal tonight and if I even stop to blink, my clock will spin from 10 AM to 5 PM while I'm not looking!

Current Favorite Quilting Plan for Jingle, iPad Sketch Detail

Alright, you guys -- my #1 priority quilting goal for the month of December is to get as much of this Christmas themed Jingle project quilted as I can.  It's not loaded on my frame yet, but here's what I've accomplished since I posted about it a few days ago:

• Located a package of Hobbs 80/20 Cotton/Poly batting in my stash that can be cut down for this quilt
• Ordered and received a package of Quilter's Dream Wool batting to layer over the 80/20
• Located the 108" wide backing fabric and prewashed it in ...