What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I'm home!! And I have NOTHING on the agenda that requires an overnight stay until the end of March! Yes!!!! I'm so excited!!

Regarding Bluetooth, my brain isn't comprehending the matter this morning, and I need to process this a bit more. But I learned last night at dinner, after complaining about the Bluetooth issue, that the Sonos speaker I have is Wi-Fi-enabled. So I do not even need a Bluetooth device to make it work! I connect to the internet through the app (of course!), and then I link to Spotify or the radio. NO device ...

I hope you all get a chance to read the comments. There are some great ones, and I need to respond to them! 

One person keeps a torque wrench in their vehicle! Oh my, and the number of people who use EXCEL!!! I am very far behind the times! I'm not sure I would track some of the things people track, but hey—we each need to do what works for us!!!!

I learn so much from coming to a retreat - well, any interaction with people! They are so much smarter than I am! Yesterday, we were talking about ...

I was excited to get up and continue knitting my cowl. However, as I was knitting, it just seemed wrong. I know that I hadn't planned to make it and was just using up some knitting worsted that my aunt had hanging around, and when I started, it seemed like such a good idea. But that niggling feeling wouldn't go away. And my aunt kept saying she thought the needles were the wrong size. 

So I went back to read the instructions only because we were going to the NEW yarn shop on Salt Spring Island, and I ...

I hope no one was offended by my comments about the technology and the class in yesterday's post. Yes --- the participants were very accommodating, but all it takes is one offhand comment to go the wrong way. I should be above it - I'm a big girl. But there are times when even my shiny disposition just has enough, and it was 99.9% because of the technology.

My apologies if anyone was offended, but I was FRUSTRATED!

I had two classes with presentations yesterday morning, and a Virtual Retreat all afternoon, and not a single drop! Of course ...

Today is an important day in history, and for those who are too young to remember (I'm in that category), we need to take a moment today (and every day) and thank those who fought for our freedom. 

And NO to the silly people who always want Remembrance Day on a Monday so they can have a three-day weekend. We are fortunate in Canada that we've not had any major wars on our shores. There have been battles to be sure, but not a war. The current generation (and I, myself included) have no idea what it's ...

 A fairy ring! That's a terrific concept to explain the circle of fungi I spotted. It wasn't on my lawn - it was on the property line separating two front lawns on a different street. I took a closer look and OH MY --- what clusters of fungi!

Here's a better picture of the fungi. OH MY!!! It's almost a perfect circle!!

The fairy ring

And look how dense the fungi are!!!! That's pretty incredible. I've never seen anything like it before. I walk past those two houses every day and only noticed this now! 

Clusters ...

The little jobs around the house NEVER end! 

I "fixed" the bubbler for the pond. I had brought the entire thing into the house and realized that the teeny tiny hole at the end of the tube was clogged with debris. So I poked that all out, put some water in the sink, and VOILA - the bubbler is working again. Now, to put it back into the pond. 

Then I opened the door to the furnace room to get a basket and saw water on the floor. The furnace, which is only a couple of years old, has sprung a ...

I took my SIL with me on my trip to the Kawartha Quiltmaker Guild! She said she got to learn a lot about quilting, and a lot about me! We had a great conversation, the driving went by in a flash, and the weather was decent!

However, a great deal of fun was had at the guild meeting. What a wonderful group of ladies, and there were a lot of them! They will be hosting their quilt show on May 8-9, 2026, so be sure to put that on your calendar! I'm sure with the talent we saw in ...

Good grief! How much more grief can those dog quilts give me? Everything was going just great - the backing for the seventh dog quilt had one seam. That was easy. The top was done, and the three pieces for the batting were on the ironing board. 

The other quilt was loaded, and I started it in plenty of time, but alas, it was not to be. 

While I'd like to blame this one on the machine, I can really only blame myself. Why? Because I need to change those leaders. 

There is a weak spot in the center of ...

You know when you wake up and it's one of "those days?" That's how today feels. Thank goodness, I don't have to talk to anyone today! I slept well, but I didn't. Poor little Bear has an ear infection, and he kept scratching it. He has an appointment at the vet today at 5:45. 

Then I seem to be in a rut with those dog quilts. I'll admit that I'm getting tired of them. WAIT --- I can't - I still have three more to quilt. The constant process of making the batting and ...

 And just like that -- it's a new week. So many ideas and so little time, but the important thing is just to do! 

Speaking of batting bits, it's amazing how many quilts you can quilt with those bits! I've pulled a few pieces from that stack I brought downstairs, and it doesn't seem to have made a dent. I calculate there is enough batting here for about 20 quilts! That should cover the remainder of my dog quilts, and the ten for the favour, and a couple more! This is the last favor job I do ...

It was a bit of a train wreck day, but I still managed to get three things done! Remember, I mentioned I had the shingles shot the previous day? Well, about dinner time yesterday, it hit me, although my arm had been sore for most of the day. It didn't help that I had done a lot of upper arm work with Brooke, and I could feel that in my arms as well. 

I had a slight fever, accompanied by a chill, and I was exhausted. I went to bed with a hot Magic Bag and fell into a ...

LOL - Your comments are so funny! I'll answer them individually this morning!

But seriously -- WAIZE versus Google Maps? Oh dear --- DH and I have this discussion all the time. I'm a Google Maps girl, and he likes WAIZE and never ceases to encourage me to use it. Well, I have had ZERO issues with Google Maps. Any app I use uses Google Maps, like Geocaching, and my house locator (shh -- used for spying, not moving!), and so I love Google Maps! 

The issue with my car is that Android Auto seemed to be timing out - it had nothing ...

Thankfully, I had a great sleep last night. Why can one night be so different from another? I woke up at my ridiculous early wake-up time without an alarm and then decided to luxuriate in bed for another half hour, only to wake up again without the alarm. Then I decided it was time to get myself organized and out of bed. I have a lot of work to do today!!!

Remember the minor detail (the slot) on those bobbins? I decided that I am not keeping those old bobbins—the ones without the slot. Some of these bobbins had ...

Oh my --- I love the comments!!! YES -- I can see some individualized sew-alongs happening!!! One for the Savannah quilt and one for the suitcases!!!! And that William Morris quote --- you bet -- we all need that one in our house, and I'm going to look at it every time I touch anything. Hmmm --- there might not be anything left. I'd better warn Lexi and Murphy!! Right now they are helpful, well, no, they are beautiful and always will be!!

I confess that I wasn't quite as productive as I would have liked yesterday, but then I went on ...

Just waiting for the email wth the photos to come through! It's been a super productive retreat so far, and we still have a few days to go. Can I finish the remaining quilt tops for the dog quilts? They will have to wait unit October to be quilted, but that's OK. 

OK -- the pictures came through, but some of them need a bit of editing; however, that doesn't seem to want to happen this morning. No big deal -- some are sideways -- we'll just have to let it go. 

This first picture is a bit weird ...

Lol --- yes --- depending on the time of year you were here at Springhouse Retreat -- many of us have watched the corn grow! There never seems to be a lack of entertainment in the form of the fancy equipment moving in and out of that massive driving shed! I find it fascinating!

I've done pretty well at my goal of making those eight quilt tops from the dog fabric. Here is number one. 

Dog quilt number one!

I want to keep them simple and easy to piece. I want them to be approximately 60 inches by 72 inches, and I ...

If you have been looking for some new pooch patterns, here you go. My most popular dog pattern is DOGS ONLY…

This popular dog quilt offers 11 block patterns for only $10. If purchased separately, the block patterns would cost $33. Such a good deal to buy the quilt pattern. Since Dogs Only is so popular , I thought it was time to design another quilt based on pooches….

My DOG LOVER QUILT has 12 block patterns and the paw print pattern for the corners. That is 13 block patterns for $15. So much cheaper than buying them separately. I had ...

I’ve been busy designing paper pieced dog blocks and quilts for my friends and customers. It’s been exciting putting together a collection of blocks for one specific breed. These are some of my recent collections…

Inspired by my friend’s beloved Cavalier King Charles, all 4 of these blocks were used in a quilt and some pillows for an auction. Thanks to Sara for providing this photo. You can find these Cavaliers in my ETSY SHOP. I currently have 160 dog blocks to choose from.

My niece Mandy has a Doberman which inspired this lap quilt for a ...

Everyone knows how much I love to design animal patterns. Here is my newest paper pieced pattern, A DOG FOR ALL SEASONS.

This adorable pattern includes all 4 blocks, LABRADOR WITH BUTTERFLY (spring); BEAGLE WITH FLOWER (summer); RETRIEVER WITH PUMPKIN (autumn); FRENCH BULLDOG WITH SCARF (winter). Use them to create pillows, potholders, or a lovely table runner for the dog lover in your life. You can keep these projects out all year!

Although they are all super cute, I am partial to this LABRADOR! He’s my fave. All of the block ...