This is a first for me - four blog posts in one day. But there’s so much to tell.
I did register for the convention in the afternoon which consisted of picking up a package. I’m registered for 8 classes so that’s going to be interesting.
I met up with my room mate - yes - I’m sharing a room with someone to cut the expenses. So that’s going to be fun and games, but since she’s a very experienced freelance educator, I’m learning as much from her as I possibly can. There’s a method to my madness.
OK - I guess I should get myself organized for the day. Not only do we have classes, but there are presentations, lectures and a display from some vendors of products that can be incorporated into what we do. I’m looking forward to checking that out. And we get to check out some amazing NEW sewing/embroidery machines. Can’t wait to get my hands on those.
It’s going to be an action packed week and I’ll be glad to get home for a couple of days of rest at the end before the whole madness of my schedule repeats itself.
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!!!
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Travel Day - Part Three
I hope that last part makes sense, I couldn’t go back and edit it and I know something was messed up when I tried to change one word. This damn APPLE product. I’ll call them again and see if I can figure out what is going on. I suppose I could use the laptop I’ve brought with me but I’m good with the iPad.
After hitting the three bookstores, I decide to check out Bourbon street. I walk along to the very end of the “entertainment” district and then I turned back and walked down the street. It’s closed to traffic but traffic does cross it so one must be on their toes. There were people on bikes, small motor bikes, and vespas.
The sights, the sounds, the smells - it’s a total body experience. I’m not sure I can even describe it. Here’s one way to visualize some of the people on the street - if any of you read Janet Evanovich and know the character Lulu. Let’s just say that there were MANY of her on the street. It’s an eye opener to say the least. There are shops for voodoo - no photos in the shop please and that’s the only reason I went in - to take photos. DRAT!!! There are vans selling weed and other goodies right on the street, people are drinking their beers as they walk along the street, the smell of weed permeates the air (something we can look forward to back home in a couple of weeks), cigar smoking is huge, beaded necklaces are huge, staff throwing beads and t-shirts off the balconies into the eager hands below, music blaring from every establishment, and a HUGE section of the street is under construction so the walk was crowded onto the sidewalk.
Let’s see - there were physics who would read your cards or whatever they were doing, one lady had live canaries that she was selling. Sure - I’ll get one of those please - in yellow! Oh let’s not forget the street performers. Various ages and acts, but the best one is the group (actually there were several groups) of young boys drumming on empty five gallon plastic jugs. It was amazing to see this young boy - he must have been 5 if that and he was counting up a huge roll of bills and putting them in his pocket. It was a HUGE wad and this kid is 5!!!!!
Let’s not forget the heat and the humidity. The streets are old, the buildings are old and every building I went into smelled of mole and mildew or dampness - however you want to put it. I’m not sure that I could live here. It would drive me crazy. Even the large room in the hotel where we’re going to eat - it smells damp. The water doesn’t drain properly on the old streets so there is dirty standing water everywhere. And there are the unsavory characters on Bourbon street. Some are street people, some are just drunk or stoned. There appeared to be lots of parties going on - could be a bridal shower, or a stag or a birthday - it was sometimes hard to tell. The white veil on a girl did give away the bridal shower groups.
After hitting the three bookstores, I decide to check out Bourbon street. I walk along to the very end of the “entertainment” district and then I turned back and walked down the street. It’s closed to traffic but traffic does cross it so one must be on their toes. There were people on bikes, small motor bikes, and vespas.
The sights, the sounds, the smells - it’s a total body experience. I’m not sure I can even describe it. Here’s one way to visualize some of the people on the street - if any of you read Janet Evanovich and know the character Lulu. Let’s just say that there were MANY of her on the street. It’s an eye opener to say the least. There are shops for voodoo - no photos in the shop please and that’s the only reason I went in - to take photos. DRAT!!! There are vans selling weed and other goodies right on the street, people are drinking their beers as they walk along the street, the smell of weed permeates the air (something we can look forward to back home in a couple of weeks), cigar smoking is huge, beaded necklaces are huge, staff throwing beads and t-shirts off the balconies into the eager hands below, music blaring from every establishment, and a HUGE section of the street is under construction so the walk was crowded onto the sidewalk.
Let’s see - there were physics who would read your cards or whatever they were doing, one lady had live canaries that she was selling. Sure - I’ll get one of those please - in yellow! Oh let’s not forget the street performers. Various ages and acts, but the best one is the group (actually there were several groups) of young boys drumming on empty five gallon plastic jugs. It was amazing to see this young boy - he must have been 5 if that and he was counting up a huge roll of bills and putting them in his pocket. It was a HUGE wad and this kid is 5!!!!!
Let’s not forget the heat and the humidity. The streets are old, the buildings are old and every building I went into smelled of mole and mildew or dampness - however you want to put it. I’m not sure that I could live here. It would drive me crazy. Even the large room in the hotel where we’re going to eat - it smells damp. The water doesn’t drain properly on the old streets so there is dirty standing water everywhere. And there are the unsavory characters on Bourbon street. Some are street people, some are just drunk or stoned. There appeared to be lots of parties going on - could be a bridal shower, or a stag or a birthday - it was sometimes hard to tell. The white veil on a girl did give away the bridal shower groups.
Travel Day - Part Two
We get to Atlanta where I had to change planes. I don’t think they could have booked my flights any further apart. I arrive at Terminal F and had to go to the very last gate at Terminal A. They have the Plane Train so it’s easy to get from one terminal to the other. Beautiful artwork. I didn’t stop to look much as I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take me to get to where I needed to go. I had seen some of it when I was in the Atlanta airport last year going to Quiltcon in Savannah.
An even bigger plane to go to New Orleans and I was even further back in row 33 but still not quite at the end of the plane. Flight was good - it seems that American’s do not like to fly with the windows open??? The landing was a wee bit rough as it seemed that we were flying into a major wind storm (which we were not).
While the temperature back home was on the cool side, when I stepped out of the airport, it is HUMID. Hot and humid. The humidity seems worse than back home if you can believe that. I had to wait a bit for the shuttle to take me to the airport. Next time, I’m taking a cab, but it didn’t matter. I do have to say that EVERYONE here is super friendly and extremely helpful.
Made it to the hotel about 12:30 and my room was ready. Now how civilized is that! Dumped my bags and then I was off to find something to eat. There’s the Creole House right next door - Oh - I should say that I ditched my pants for shorts and got rid of the sweater. I ate at the bar where I watched one of the chefs shuck a ton of oysters. People were eating them raw or cooked. One lady next to me said she would NOT eat raw oysters, but her husband would and did. The chef said that she didn’t know how to eat raw oysters so he convinced her to eat one. He made a cracker sandwich of the oyster with hot sauce and horse radish??? She ate it, but I’m glad it was her that he convinced and not me. I had a spinach/chicken salad and I was good. But I did splurge and had this most decadent bread pudding for dessert. It was very good.
Then I thought I had better do some walking. I found three used books stores in downtown New Orleans and decided to pay each of them a visit. None were more than a few minutes walk from the hotel. On my way to the first one, I crossed Bourbon Street. Oh boy - that’s a place to come back and check out.
The first store wasn’t bad - the aisles were fairly clear and the books were well organized. I don’t have my list with me, but after using it to search at so many other places, I sort of know what I’m missing. I searched and while I didn’t find anything on the list, I did find some that I will be missing in the near future (once I read one that is on my shelf). I was able to check the library online and they don’t have these books. So I got three paperbacks for under $10. I was happy.
Off to the second bookstore where I found nothing. There are a lot of historical and old books, but not a huge amount of current books in these stores. I’m not sure why. This store was huge - three floors. I checked the craft section in all three stores. Teeny if one existed and NOTHNG on quilting - I maybe saw one book. There seems to be way more on afghans and cross stitch. That’s good - I didn’t need to make any decisions.
I walked to the last store and I wasn’t going to go in. It looked very unsavory and there was someone who didn’t look nice searching through boxes right outside the front door. Then I gave my head a shake and said - do it. OH MY GOD - this place was insane. It was small and the books shelves were about 12” (well maybe a bit more) apart. It was like a little maze in this little shop. The owner was standing behind a huge pile of books on the counter just inside the front door. He could barely see over the stack. I couldn’t find the mystery section so I asked. It wasn’t large, but I found one of the books that I was looking for. A signed hardcover no less. Not that I wanted a signed hardcover, but better than not finding it at all. I could just buy all these books online, but this hunting is way more fun than buying online. Where’s the fun in that?
I took some pictures of this shop - it was crazy and there was this tiny little space at the back of the store where the paperback mysteries were. You had to looksideways and stretch on one foot to see all the titles as there were boxes in the way. I don’t know that it would have passed a fire inspection. So for less than $30, I got one of my missing books.
An even bigger plane to go to New Orleans and I was even further back in row 33 but still not quite at the end of the plane. Flight was good - it seems that American’s do not like to fly with the windows open??? The landing was a wee bit rough as it seemed that we were flying into a major wind storm (which we were not).
While the temperature back home was on the cool side, when I stepped out of the airport, it is HUMID. Hot and humid. The humidity seems worse than back home if you can believe that. I had to wait a bit for the shuttle to take me to the airport. Next time, I’m taking a cab, but it didn’t matter. I do have to say that EVERYONE here is super friendly and extremely helpful.
Made it to the hotel about 12:30 and my room was ready. Now how civilized is that! Dumped my bags and then I was off to find something to eat. There’s the Creole House right next door - Oh - I should say that I ditched my pants for shorts and got rid of the sweater. I ate at the bar where I watched one of the chefs shuck a ton of oysters. People were eating them raw or cooked. One lady next to me said she would NOT eat raw oysters, but her husband would and did. The chef said that she didn’t know how to eat raw oysters so he convinced her to eat one. He made a cracker sandwich of the oyster with hot sauce and horse radish??? She ate it, but I’m glad it was her that he convinced and not me. I had a spinach/chicken salad and I was good. But I did splurge and had this most decadent bread pudding for dessert. It was very good.
Then I thought I had better do some walking. I found three used books stores in downtown New Orleans and decided to pay each of them a visit. None were more than a few minutes walk from the hotel. On my way to the first one, I crossed Bourbon Street. Oh boy - that’s a place to come back and check out.
The first store wasn’t bad - the aisles were fairly clear and the books were well organized. I don’t have my list with me, but after using it to search at so many other places, I sort of know what I’m missing. I searched and while I didn’t find anything on the list, I did find some that I will be missing in the near future (once I read one that is on my shelf). I was able to check the library online and they don’t have these books. So I got three paperbacks for under $10. I was happy.
Off to the second bookstore where I found nothing. There are a lot of historical and old books, but not a huge amount of current books in these stores. I’m not sure why. This store was huge - three floors. I checked the craft section in all three stores. Teeny if one existed and NOTHNG on quilting - I maybe saw one book. There seems to be way more on afghans and cross stitch. That’s good - I didn’t need to make any decisions.
I walked to the last store and I wasn’t going to go in. It looked very unsavory and there was someone who didn’t look nice searching through boxes right outside the front door. Then I gave my head a shake and said - do it. OH MY GOD - this place was insane. It was small and the books shelves were about 12” (well maybe a bit more) apart. It was like a little maze in this little shop. The owner was standing behind a huge pile of books on the counter just inside the front door. He could barely see over the stack. I couldn’t find the mystery section so I asked. It wasn’t large, but I found one of the books that I was looking for. A signed hardcover no less. Not that I wanted a signed hardcover, but better than not finding it at all. I could just buy all these books online, but this hunting is way more fun than buying online. Where’s the fun in that?
I took some pictures of this shop - it was crazy and there was this tiny little space at the back of the store where the paperback mysteries were. You had to looksideways and stretch on one foot to see all the titles as there were boxes in the way. I don’t know that it would have passed a fire inspection. So for less than $30, I got one of my missing books.
Travel Day - Part One
Good morning from New Orleans, Louisiana - deep in the heart of the south.
I’m in a different time zone, so the posts may be slightly later than normal.
My flight yesterday was at 6:15 AM so I was up early, not only to catch my flight, but to ensure the blog was posted. See how dedicated I am?
Because I booked the flight on points, I didn’t get to have a direct flight so I had to fly to Atlanta and I think the airline (Delta) thought it would be fun to put me at the back of the plane on both flights.
Why am I in New Orleans? I’m wearing another hat this week. That of a freelance educator for SVP (Singer, Viking, PFAFF). This is the annual convention where new machines are introduced - a general gathering of the dealers across North America. They choose New Orleans and so here I am.
You know that I like to travel light. I’m going to a sewing convention and I do NOT want to bring any check-in luggage. Hm - what size of scissors can I bring? I took a chance and put all my stuff into my carryon - the only bag I have besides my backpack. Shoot - when it went through the X-ray, it got flagged. Fortunately I had left time that I could go and check it if need be. I had done my research before we left so I knew what was going to happen.
You have scissors in the bag the lady asks? Yes - but I thought I was good with blades up to 4”. No - she says - 2 1/2”. Oh shoot. Well, she takes out the bag with the pointy objects - like my long bent ended tweezers - doesn’t give them a glance, but she looks at the scissors and measured against her name tag. Yep the blade passes thee test, but the 25 MM rotary cutter that I brought does not. I knew that - I’ve taken it with me before, but this time it was in the same bag as the scissors. They were not looking for that. The scissors were good, the rotary cutter NO - It’s a concealed blade and NO concealed blades are allowed. I think even those little cutters that they say are OK are in fact NOT OK. I asked if I surrendered the blade would I be OK. Yep - so I surrendered the blade and I was good to go.
Then I got to go through NEXUS. I couldn’t get my finger prints to register properly. I finally did and then got a big black X on my exit card so I had to wait to speak to an agent. I got a lecture - well it wasn’t but it felt like it - those guys have no sense of humour. I just need to place my finger tips gently on the screen. No forcing. I wonder how he knew what happened - perhaps because others had the same issue. Then I was good to go.
I’m not in the terminal that I normally travel from and NO gate on my ticket on my phone. The screens for the departure gates are not frequent and I had to choose between the left or the right corrindor I choose left and that was the right one! I bought breakfast (no Tim’s) but a good breakfast burrito and I was good to board the plane. Like I said - I was near the back of the plane - no worries - there was room for my luggage overhead.
I was reading that book by Plum Johnson - “They Left us Everything”. While it’s a book about cleaning out a house after the parents die, it’s more about the emotional baggage that is left in a house than the physical. It was a very emotional book to read and there I am crying almost at the moment I started to read. There were several more sad instances in the book but I managed to finish it. It is an excellent book if you can get your hands on it. I know - I’m just a big softie at heart. Why do I cry for someone else’s family that I never knew? I blame it all on the movie Yeller. When I was a kid, every time I watched that movie (and we watched Disney or should I say Walt Disney World every Sunday), I would cry my heart out when the dog died.
I’m in a different time zone, so the posts may be slightly later than normal.
My flight yesterday was at 6:15 AM so I was up early, not only to catch my flight, but to ensure the blog was posted. See how dedicated I am?
Because I booked the flight on points, I didn’t get to have a direct flight so I had to fly to Atlanta and I think the airline (Delta) thought it would be fun to put me at the back of the plane on both flights.
Why am I in New Orleans? I’m wearing another hat this week. That of a freelance educator for SVP (Singer, Viking, PFAFF). This is the annual convention where new machines are introduced - a general gathering of the dealers across North America. They choose New Orleans and so here I am.
You know that I like to travel light. I’m going to a sewing convention and I do NOT want to bring any check-in luggage. Hm - what size of scissors can I bring? I took a chance and put all my stuff into my carryon - the only bag I have besides my backpack. Shoot - when it went through the X-ray, it got flagged. Fortunately I had left time that I could go and check it if need be. I had done my research before we left so I knew what was going to happen.
You have scissors in the bag the lady asks? Yes - but I thought I was good with blades up to 4”. No - she says - 2 1/2”. Oh shoot. Well, she takes out the bag with the pointy objects - like my long bent ended tweezers - doesn’t give them a glance, but she looks at the scissors and measured against her name tag. Yep the blade passes thee test, but the 25 MM rotary cutter that I brought does not. I knew that - I’ve taken it with me before, but this time it was in the same bag as the scissors. They were not looking for that. The scissors were good, the rotary cutter NO - It’s a concealed blade and NO concealed blades are allowed. I think even those little cutters that they say are OK are in fact NOT OK. I asked if I surrendered the blade would I be OK. Yep - so I surrendered the blade and I was good to go.
Then I got to go through NEXUS. I couldn’t get my finger prints to register properly. I finally did and then got a big black X on my exit card so I had to wait to speak to an agent. I got a lecture - well it wasn’t but it felt like it - those guys have no sense of humour. I just need to place my finger tips gently on the screen. No forcing. I wonder how he knew what happened - perhaps because others had the same issue. Then I was good to go.
I’m not in the terminal that I normally travel from and NO gate on my ticket on my phone. The screens for the departure gates are not frequent and I had to choose between the left or the right corrindor I choose left and that was the right one! I bought breakfast (no Tim’s) but a good breakfast burrito and I was good to board the plane. Like I said - I was near the back of the plane - no worries - there was room for my luggage overhead.
I was reading that book by Plum Johnson - “They Left us Everything”. While it’s a book about cleaning out a house after the parents die, it’s more about the emotional baggage that is left in a house than the physical. It was a very emotional book to read and there I am crying almost at the moment I started to read. There were several more sad instances in the book but I managed to finish it. It is an excellent book if you can get your hands on it. I know - I’m just a big softie at heart. Why do I cry for someone else’s family that I never knew? I blame it all on the movie Yeller. When I was a kid, every time I watched that movie (and we watched Disney or should I say Walt Disney World every Sunday), I would cry my heart out when the dog died.
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Done, done and done!
Today it's all about what I've been working on. While it seems that my focus has been scattered and I worked on the computer for most of the week, I did manage to get some sewing done.
Even better, yesterday was a fairly relaxed day. Oh, you're never going to believe this. I've struggled for a while to upload books to my tablet. Mostly reference books. Well, yesterday I was loading stuff like crazy. I think I know what the problem was. It took a wee bit of response time to upload the book and perhaps I was too impatient? But yesterday I uploaded some reference manuals - some over 500 pages and there was NO PROBLEM at all.
I even installed two software programs on my laptop (yes - I got a new laptop - a small one for travel) and there were no glitches. Could my technology woes be resolved? I doubt that. But I was a happy camper and that's all that counts.
Now let's check out what I've been working on.
It appears that it's mostly one project that I've been working on - but that's OK.
I was working diligently on this project on Monday sewing days and I wasn't quite finished so I continued plugging away at the last Sit n Sew. I've been working on this project (Farm'ers Wife) for several months now, but I'm happy to report that ALL the blocks are DONE. That's 111 blocks. DONE!
Here's the first lot of them.
And then I kept right on going and got the last five done. Notice that I didn't necessarily save the tough ones until the last. Some of these paper pieced, some of them had to be recut because I goofed when I initially cut them. I was running on scraps at the end. Doesn't matter - they are DONE!!!!
Here they are - tucked into the project box. Yeah!!! What a great feeling it is to have these finished. That's my second set of blocks that I've completed this year. The 150 Canadian Women being the other one which had 150 blocks.
I'm not out of the woods with these silly 6" block projects as I have Sylvia's Bridal Samper to complete - I'd say there are about 40 blocks left? No - I have no idea really. That's just a crazy guess. I think I counted at one point, but now I don't remember. There's the Hobo quilt - that had 55 blocks in total and I probably have most of them left to complete. Let's not forget Farm Girl Vintage which is the one that I'm going to work on next besides my UFO project list. There are NOT many Mondays left in the year and that's the scary part!
There could be more small block projects but those are the three that come to mind.
I do try to double dip on my projects and if you checked out my links to QUILTsocial this past week, you would know that I was doing stuff for Farmer's Wife for the QUILTsocial posts.
This is the label that I made on the Designer EPIC (I love that machine). If you didn't read the post, you can check out the story at this link. Notice the dates on the label. I have ONE year to finish the quilt.
I'm going to assemble the quilt with sashing between the blocks. And if you were following the QUILTsocial posts earlier this week, you would have seen what I'm doing for the sashing. This picture isn't the best, but I'm using the Designer EPIC to write out the names of each block. That piece of sashing will be attached to each of the blocks (hopefully the correct block - the blocks are all labeled with a piece of paper) and then sewn together. This picture is NOT The best, but hopefully, you get the idea.
Everything is now safely stored in these two project boxes. I'm over half of the sashings stitched out and hope to get them completed quickly before I forget how.
Once the sashings are completed, all the blocks are going on the wall and then I'll start sewing it together.
However, last night I was taking some inventory and there are SEVEN quilts for magazines that need to be completed before the end of the year. Fortunately, none of them are huge or time-consuming -OK - I lie - at least three of them are a fair amount of work. No make that four of them. Oh well - and I long a few quilts to quilt on the long arm. I'll be busy right up until the end of the year. That's good - if I'm not busy I'll die. Isn't there an insect that functions like that?
Now that I have the blocks and the sashing chosen, I put this big basket of fabric away. I won't need it again until I get to the outer border/binding and backing stage and that's a wee ways away.
I managed to get a couple more blocks trimmed on the Halloween quilt. And I still want to try and fix the spider web that got messed up on one block. It's going to be tight to get this completed for Halloween, but at least I know it can be done for next year. I can enjoy it on my wall. I passed a house yesterday that was decked out in Halloween decorations. Halloween is still a month away!!!
And that's it for today. Progress is being made - just not as fast as I would like. But you know the story of the turtle and the hare. Slow and steady! That's me! Slow and steady!
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!
Even better, yesterday was a fairly relaxed day. Oh, you're never going to believe this. I've struggled for a while to upload books to my tablet. Mostly reference books. Well, yesterday I was loading stuff like crazy. I think I know what the problem was. It took a wee bit of response time to upload the book and perhaps I was too impatient? But yesterday I uploaded some reference manuals - some over 500 pages and there was NO PROBLEM at all.
I even installed two software programs on my laptop (yes - I got a new laptop - a small one for travel) and there were no glitches. Could my technology woes be resolved? I doubt that. But I was a happy camper and that's all that counts.
Now let's check out what I've been working on.
It appears that it's mostly one project that I've been working on - but that's OK.
I was working diligently on this project on Monday sewing days and I wasn't quite finished so I continued plugging away at the last Sit n Sew. I've been working on this project (Farm'ers Wife) for several months now, but I'm happy to report that ALL the blocks are DONE. That's 111 blocks. DONE!
Here's the first lot of them.
 |
| Six blocks from The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt |
And then I kept right on going and got the last five done. Notice that I didn't necessarily save the tough ones until the last. Some of these paper pieced, some of them had to be recut because I goofed when I initially cut them. I was running on scraps at the end. Doesn't matter - they are DONE!!!!
 |
| The last five blocks |
Here they are - tucked into the project box. Yeah!!! What a great feeling it is to have these finished. That's my second set of blocks that I've completed this year. The 150 Canadian Women being the other one which had 150 blocks.
 |
| All the blocks in the project box |
I'm not out of the woods with these silly 6" block projects as I have Sylvia's Bridal Samper to complete - I'd say there are about 40 blocks left? No - I have no idea really. That's just a crazy guess. I think I counted at one point, but now I don't remember. There's the Hobo quilt - that had 55 blocks in total and I probably have most of them left to complete. Let's not forget Farm Girl Vintage which is the one that I'm going to work on next besides my UFO project list. There are NOT many Mondays left in the year and that's the scary part!
There could be more small block projects but those are the three that come to mind.
I do try to double dip on my projects and if you checked out my links to QUILTsocial this past week, you would know that I was doing stuff for Farmer's Wife for the QUILTsocial posts.
This is the label that I made on the Designer EPIC (I love that machine). If you didn't read the post, you can check out the story at this link. Notice the dates on the label. I have ONE year to finish the quilt.
 |
| Label for Farmer's Wife quilt |
I'm going to assemble the quilt with sashing between the blocks. And if you were following the QUILTsocial posts earlier this week, you would have seen what I'm doing for the sashing. This picture isn't the best, but I'm using the Designer EPIC to write out the names of each block. That piece of sashing will be attached to each of the blocks (hopefully the correct block - the blocks are all labeled with a piece of paper) and then sewn together. This picture is NOT The best, but hopefully, you get the idea.
 |
| The sashings for The Farmer's Wife quilt |
 |
| Everything is now stored in two project boxes |
However, last night I was taking some inventory and there are SEVEN quilts for magazines that need to be completed before the end of the year. Fortunately, none of them are huge or time-consuming -OK - I lie - at least three of them are a fair amount of work. No make that four of them. Oh well - and I long a few quilts to quilt on the long arm. I'll be busy right up until the end of the year. That's good - if I'm not busy I'll die. Isn't there an insect that functions like that?
Now that I have the blocks and the sashing chosen, I put this big basket of fabric away. I won't need it again until I get to the outer border/binding and backing stage and that's a wee ways away.
 |
| Basket of Kansas Troubles has been put away |
 |
| A bit more progress on the Halloween quilt |
And that's it for today. Progress is being made - just not as fast as I would like. But you know the story of the turtle and the hare. Slow and steady! That's me! Slow and steady!
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!
Friday, September 28, 2018
It's a good day when......
We had loads of fun at Sit n Sew yesterday. When do we not have fun at Sit n Sew? There's nothing like getting together with friends and sewing your heart out all day. While I didn't accomplish a lot, I did. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.
Today, I'm going to show you some of the stuff that the others were working on. I didn't get pictures of everyone's work, but we were a full house!
I love how some of the ladies have projects that they only bring to Sit n Sew. I have stuff like that as well.
To start, Linda brought her Town and Country quilt to show us. I believe she sewed the top and bottom border on in the morning. The blocks were all together. This is such a fun quilt. She still has a long way to go. I was looking at the blocks - the buildings all have a name on them. It sure looked like they had been put on with a marker, but NO - each of those words is HAND STITCHED. The stitching is super neat, but we all know that Linda LOVES to hand stitch. Beautifully done Linda - I can't wait to see the finished quilt.
I bought the patterns and I have intentions of doing it. I know exactly what I'm going to do. Just need to find the time.
Then we have Diane. Diane is my competition for getting projects completed for the year. Last week, we were both sitting at 58. Well, after a bit of advice of myself and the loan of my big sewing table, Diane managed to get the entire jelly roll rug completed. Yes - she made the strips in the morning and sewed it together in the afternoon! I tell you - Diane is a machine!
The rug looks gorgeous. She used a batik jelly roll and used the strips as they were placed in the jelly roll. It's beautiful and she did an EXCELLENT job of keeping that rug flat. Impressive Diane!!! She's already put in a request to use that big sewing table at the next Sit n Sew as she has one more rug to make!
When Rose was here last week, she was finishing up these blocks. I think it's the disappearing 4-patch block. She laid claim to the design wall and had all her blocks up to check the colors and then she got the entire quilt top sewn together. Well minus borders. I love the quilt. It's so bright and cheery. The blocks were made with a layer cake from Me and my Sister. (I love their stuff - bought some a while back and since their collections are mostly the same look, I'm NOT buying more).
Pat was busy getting this airplane quilt together. I've never seen this pattern before but it's super cute. The planes are 3-D and appliqued down. The mom of the child the quilt was made for had requested those colors. That pink is BRIGHT, but it's definitely a fun quilt. I do believe the top is finished and it's off to be quilted. Pat had purchased the pattern as our guild's garage sale a while back for $1. She needs to take the quilt to show n tell so the person she bought it from can see!
Helen-Anne was working on this gorgeous quilt that was designed by Patti Carey. Patti was our guest speaker a couple of months ago (at our guild) and she had graciously donated a couple of kits to our outreach program. This was one of them. Helen-Anne offered to make it. A big thank you to Patti for that kit which was partially constructed. Helen-Anne had fun with all those inserts yesterday. I'm still in awe that Patti designed this quilt in EQ7. I've no idea how she did that, but the end result is pretty spectacular.
If you check out this link, you can see what the finished quilt will look like. It's pretty spectacular.
And the center part is made of two panels that you can see at this link on Northcott's web page for ColorWorks Concepts.
Pauline was working on a baby quilt. And the only reason I can show you a picture is that she left the quilt here. I found it by accident last night as I was digging out a book. As she was packing up, she must have put it on the stack of books and not on her table. Hmm - I wonder if she wants it back? It's very cute.
I was the guest speaker at the Barrie Modern Quilt Guild last night. So the moment, the last of the ladies left, I unpacked the suitcase from the previous trunk show last week and repacked the suitcase with the MODERN trunk show and off I went.
I love speaking at the various guilds around and so nice to meet new people and see some familiar faces. It's great fun. Thanks to the Barrie Modern Quilt Guild for hosting me last night - I had fun and hope that they enjoyed my presentation and maybe inspired some of them to try something new.
I must say that I feel a wee bit lost this morning. While I have loads to do, I don't have a pressing deadline. Now how did that happen? That doesn't mean that today isn't going to be jam-packed with stuff to do.
I was busy prepping for an upcoming class and had to dig out some feet for the sewing machine. I have two dual feed feet. Don't ask. I picked up one of the boxes and then I picked up the other one and opened it.
OH MY GOD!!!!!!! There's my missing USB stick!!! Now, how the heck did that get in this box? It would appear that when I packed up the sewing machine and accessories for the Halloween quilt months ago, that I threw all the bits into this box where they do NOT belong.
Needless to say, I was doing the happy dance this morning. Not so much because I needed what was on the stick, but just because I found the darn thing. I swear, I need to get better at putting stuff in the appropriate place. I'm way, way better than I used to be, but when I get into a panic clearing up thestudio, then I throw all caution to the wind.
I'll be spending the day going through stuff to try and put some things back where they belong, like all the accessories in this box. It's a box for a walking foot and there isn't even a walking foot in the box!
I keep saying that I need to make a list of all those things that go missing so I can cross them off when I find the item. I think I might start, but now I can't remember what else is missing. So I'll have to wait until I realize that something is missing and then I can start my list. I should also include the date so I can see how long it takes for me to find the missing item. I know - that's a bit crazy, but what the heck - life is crazy anyway.
Oh - and don't forget to check out QUILTsocial today. You can see my last post of the week.
On that note, I'm out of here.
Have a super day!!!!!
Ciao!
Today, I'm going to show you some of the stuff that the others were working on. I didn't get pictures of everyone's work, but we were a full house!
I love how some of the ladies have projects that they only bring to Sit n Sew. I have stuff like that as well.
To start, Linda brought her Town and Country quilt to show us. I believe she sewed the top and bottom border on in the morning. The blocks were all together. This is such a fun quilt. She still has a long way to go. I was looking at the blocks - the buildings all have a name on them. It sure looked like they had been put on with a marker, but NO - each of those words is HAND STITCHED. The stitching is super neat, but we all know that Linda LOVES to hand stitch. Beautifully done Linda - I can't wait to see the finished quilt.
 |
| Town and Country (Linda's version) |
I bought the patterns and I have intentions of doing it. I know exactly what I'm going to do. Just need to find the time.
Then we have Diane. Diane is my competition for getting projects completed for the year. Last week, we were both sitting at 58. Well, after a bit of advice of myself and the loan of my big sewing table, Diane managed to get the entire jelly roll rug completed. Yes - she made the strips in the morning and sewed it together in the afternoon! I tell you - Diane is a machine!
The rug looks gorgeous. She used a batik jelly roll and used the strips as they were placed in the jelly roll. It's beautiful and she did an EXCELLENT job of keeping that rug flat. Impressive Diane!!! She's already put in a request to use that big sewing table at the next Sit n Sew as she has one more rug to make!
 |
| Diane's jelly roll rug |
When Rose was here last week, she was finishing up these blocks. I think it's the disappearing 4-patch block. She laid claim to the design wall and had all her blocks up to check the colors and then she got the entire quilt top sewn together. Well minus borders. I love the quilt. It's so bright and cheery. The blocks were made with a layer cake from Me and my Sister. (I love their stuff - bought some a while back and since their collections are mostly the same look, I'm NOT buying more).
 |
| Rose's disappearing 4-patch quilt |
Pat was busy getting this airplane quilt together. I've never seen this pattern before but it's super cute. The planes are 3-D and appliqued down. The mom of the child the quilt was made for had requested those colors. That pink is BRIGHT, but it's definitely a fun quilt. I do believe the top is finished and it's off to be quilted. Pat had purchased the pattern as our guild's garage sale a while back for $1. She needs to take the quilt to show n tell so the person she bought it from can see!
 |
| Pat's airplane quilt |
Helen-Anne was working on this gorgeous quilt that was designed by Patti Carey. Patti was our guest speaker a couple of months ago (at our guild) and she had graciously donated a couple of kits to our outreach program. This was one of them. Helen-Anne offered to make it. A big thank you to Patti for that kit which was partially constructed. Helen-Anne had fun with all those inserts yesterday. I'm still in awe that Patti designed this quilt in EQ7. I've no idea how she did that, but the end result is pretty spectacular.
 |
| Helen-Anne working on a fun bright quilt |
If you check out this link, you can see what the finished quilt will look like. It's pretty spectacular.
And the center part is made of two panels that you can see at this link on Northcott's web page for ColorWorks Concepts.
Pauline was working on a baby quilt. And the only reason I can show you a picture is that she left the quilt here. I found it by accident last night as I was digging out a book. As she was packing up, she must have put it on the stack of books and not on her table. Hmm - I wonder if she wants it back? It's very cute.
 |
| Pauline's baby quilt |
I was the guest speaker at the Barrie Modern Quilt Guild last night. So the moment, the last of the ladies left, I unpacked the suitcase from the previous trunk show last week and repacked the suitcase with the MODERN trunk show and off I went.
I love speaking at the various guilds around and so nice to meet new people and see some familiar faces. It's great fun. Thanks to the Barrie Modern Quilt Guild for hosting me last night - I had fun and hope that they enjoyed my presentation and maybe inspired some of them to try something new.
I must say that I feel a wee bit lost this morning. While I have loads to do, I don't have a pressing deadline. Now how did that happen? That doesn't mean that today isn't going to be jam-packed with stuff to do.
I was busy prepping for an upcoming class and had to dig out some feet for the sewing machine. I have two dual feed feet. Don't ask. I picked up one of the boxes and then I picked up the other one and opened it.
 |
| Two Dual Feed (Walking feet) |
OH MY GOD!!!!!!! There's my missing USB stick!!! Now, how the heck did that get in this box? It would appear that when I packed up the sewing machine and accessories for the Halloween quilt months ago, that I threw all the bits into this box where they do NOT belong.
 |
| My MISSING USB stick |
Needless to say, I was doing the happy dance this morning. Not so much because I needed what was on the stick, but just because I found the darn thing. I swear, I need to get better at putting stuff in the appropriate place. I'm way, way better than I used to be, but when I get into a panic clearing up thestudio, then I throw all caution to the wind.
I'll be spending the day going through stuff to try and put some things back where they belong, like all the accessories in this box. It's a box for a walking foot and there isn't even a walking foot in the box!
I keep saying that I need to make a list of all those things that go missing so I can cross them off when I find the item. I think I might start, but now I can't remember what else is missing. So I'll have to wait until I realize that something is missing and then I can start my list. I should also include the date so I can see how long it takes for me to find the missing item. I know - that's a bit crazy, but what the heck - life is crazy anyway.
Oh - and don't forget to check out QUILTsocial today. You can see my last post of the week.
On that note, I'm out of here.
Have a super day!!!!!
Ciao!
Thursday, September 27, 2018
These are super cute!!!
Not a lot of time this morning if I want to meet my time schedule. Two more days before the weekend. It's still a crazy time, but things are looking up!
On Tuesday night, I went to hear Linwood Barclay present. In case you don't know him, he used to be a columnist for the Toronto Star. He has always wanted to be a writer (of books) and ten years ago, he had his first major book - "No time for goodbye". It's a very good book. I've read one more of his books. They have a psychological component to them - not just a murder mystery.
He's an EXCELLENT presenter. I could listen to him all day and I wonder if he reads his own audiobooks? He would be good at it.
 |
| Linwood Barclay |
I hope to get back to reading in the next couple of days, but there are still too many deadlines to have that luxury. Don't worry - I've got things scheduled in HUGE letters to prevent this craziness from happening again.
I was so focused on Linwood, that I didn't get a picture of the beautifully quilted wallhanging in the church. It huge and hangs perfectly flat against the wall.
The other day I was in the grocery store and I saw these in the yogurt section. I couldn't help myself. I had to buy them. Actually, it was the lids that caught my attention.
The yogurt is in little GLASS pots. They are just the cutest!!!! They are called Petit Pot.
 |
| Riviera yogurt |
I bought the lemon flavored and yes it has a lot of sugar (14 gm per serving) but I'm OK with that. Actually, I just checked the Greek Yogurt that I usually eat - hmm 14 gm isn't bad. OK - I'm sold on these guys!
Look at how cute this is.
 |
| A Petit Pot of yogurt |
Now, what does one do with all the leftover containers? You can buy lids so you could store things in them. And there's a website with 1001 tips.
You know what the best part was? Eating from a GLASS container. We eat so much from plastic and it just tasted better in the glass container. Hmm - I didn't even check the price. But I want to try the other flavors and I'm sold on the idea of having this for dessert. Even though it has sugar in it, it also has protein and that's better than some little tart. OH - is it time to go the grocery store yet? I want to see what else they have.
 |
| Lids for the containers |
Yesterday was a crazy day and I had two classes back to back. We're making quilts in one so you get to see the show n tell when the quilts are done. The other one was two young ladies learning to sew t-shirts. They were so enthusiastic and so funny. One of them finished the side seams and the two shoulder seams and then whipped the shirt inside out and tried it on. She did it so fast - it was hilarious. They didn't quite finish their shirts, but they went away happy. I'll get pictures when they are finished to show you. I have some other pictures of classes and will post hopefully tomorrow.
I didn't have a chance to post the QUILTsocial link for yesterday so today you get two of them.
Here's the link for Wednesday post. And here's the post for today.
On that note, it's Sit n Sew again!!! The studio is cleaned up for 10 of us to sew today. I won't show you what the area around the long arm looks like. It's an obstacle course, to say the least. I can make it from one end to another, but it's like the hurdles in track n field.
Yes - I have some serious work ahead of myself to get that organized.
Have a super day!!!!!
Ciao!
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
I'm not competitive at all..............
There are two more days of sheer craziness and then things will calm down. Oh god - why do I even think that'll happen. It's sheer chaos at my house and this crazy schedule I set for myself this week - well, I'll be having some planning moments next week to prevent this from happening again.
I've got a lot to cover today so I'd better get started.
Here are those pictures from my studio as I promised. Loads of room for three people to sew.
 |
| Tables for three people to sew |
 |
| The other set of work tables |
But this is my corner of the studio. Seriously? We have a major problem here!!! There are two sewing machines set up there if you can believe it. While I did a bit of sewing on the machine on the Sit n Sew day, I did take the one empty spot (yes - someone did NOT come so I had a big empty table to myself) and I did some hand sewing.
 |
| My space to sew in the studio |
However, there's going to be THREE people sewing at that station tomorrow. I think a bit of tidying up is going to have to happen. Later tonight!
By contrast, look at my sewing station at Monday sewing.
 |
| Monday sewing |
I got a lot accomplished on Monday - probably because the other two were not there to bother me. This is what my scrappy quilt (the third one) looked like at the end of the day. I forgot that I have to fix the second one before I start putting the borders on. But it's going to take a while to get these three done. Everything takes longer than you think it will.
 |
| Third scrappy top |
 |
| The last of that huge stack of enders and leaders |
 |
| Bag of sewn bits that need to be pressed |
Here are some projects that some of the others were working on at the Sunday Sit n Sew. Pam got this quilt top together. It's a beautiful quilt and a LOT of work, but she made great progress on it. I remember when she started it a couple of months ago. Great job Pam!
 |
| Pam's quilt top |
Ronda wanted to learn how to put the binding on her table runner by machine. So we had a quick lesson - you see - it's not always about sewing your own thing. You may get an impromptu lesson as well.
 |
| Ronda's finished table runner |
She did an amazing job on the binding and you'd never know that it was her first attempt. I see more machine bindings in her future!
 |
| The binding is sewn down by machine |
I started off by sewing the binding to this set of placemats by sewing machine. The first step was already done. We have agreed that a set of four placemats counts as ONE item. So now I'm at 56.
 |
| Set of four placemats DONE |
These placemats will be donated to a local community group this coming Christmas.
Next up was to remove the sleeve from our QuiltCon Charity quilt. It's being donated as a quilt for a bed so no need to have that sleeve and that bright orange sleeve can be used on another quilt.
I had to remove the previous label and make and sew a new one on. I managed to get all that done. I sent Diane a text - 57! No response. I did check in my list of finished projects that I wasn't double dipping with this one. I quilted and bound it earlier this year. NOPE - it's not in the book meaning that I was waiting for the day when I switched the label and took the sleeve off.
The other thing I needed to do with this quilt was to wash it. It was very heavily quilted and was a bit stiff. I threw it in the washing machine with NO regard for the fact that it had oranges, reds, and purples in it. Never even thought about the colors running. And they did NOT! The fabrics are solids from Northcott Colorworks collection. Hurrah for GOOD quality fabrics.
 |
| The quilt before it was washed |
Here are several shots of the quilt AFTER it was washed. Like I said, you just want to touch this one - the texture is gorgeous and that means I can do heavy quilting and still have a soft bed quilt. Granted, it's not as soft as if it were more loosely quilted, but it's not bad.
 |
| The back of the quilt |
Look at that texture!
 |
| Gorgeous texture after washing |
 |
| More texture shots |
 |
| More quilting detail from the back |
 |
| An experiment with colored threads on the front |
 |
| More texture |
Here's a link to the story of how that Charity quilt came into being. It's an incredible story and a great group effort on the part of the West End Modern Quilt Guild. A HUGE THANK YOU to Northcott for helping out with the fabrics in this quilt.
 |
| The West End Modern Quilt Guild Quilt Con Charity Quilt |
Next up was to hand stitch the sleeve onto this quilt. This was the quilt that was on QUILTsocial on Monday. The one I put the flange into the binding. I love this quilt and it was made with Northcott Banyan Batiks. Lots of very yummy colors. The background fabric is from the basic Ketan collection. The others were from various collections and chosen because of their color. I like BRIGHT. This now hangs on my wall in the family room. It's a happy quilt.
 |
| One Fish, Two Fish |
I pinned the sleeve onto the quilt and hung it up for photos. So it came down on Sunday and the sleeve was properly sewn on and because it wasn't my pattern, I decided to add a label to this one. Then I sent Diane a message - 58!!! With a smiley face or two!
Oh - there's no competitive streak in the two of us at all. I'm sure by now that she's made several more quilts. No, wait - she was on the Charming Shop Hop (20 stores in three days and MANY MANY KMs) She didn't have time to sew.
The One Fish, Two Fish pattern is by JB Quilt Designs. That's Janet Barker if you know her that way. I tested the pattern for her a while back and it took this long to get the binding on.
Loads of fun and I've got some leftovers that I want to do something with.
Anyway - that's it for me today. I've got a ton of stuff to get done. Not just stuff, but a few deadlines that won't go away. No one's fault but my own.
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Farm Girl Vintage Show n Tell
Yikes - I'm not sure what I was thinking when I set up my calendar several months ago. But the month of September has been a nightmare. OK, not a huge nightmare, but this week, I'm out every night and last week was the same. That's just crazy! I see some weeks in October are just as bad. Note to self - DO NOT book so many nights out during the week. That cuts into my reading time!
Today I have the last of the show n tell from the weekend classes. This one is for the Farm Girl Vintage quilt by Lori Holt. There are 45 blocks in the book and after this month's homework, we're down to the last 4 blocks. The blocks come in two sizes - 6" and 12". Some people are making both, some people are making a combination and some people are sticking to just one size. The final show n tell is going to be loads of fun - I can hardly wait, but there's a LOT of work to be done before then.
For now, let's just enjoy the show n tell. There're a LOT of pictures and I'm not going to remember whose blocks are whose. I'll try to insert the names where I can remember but don't be upset if I screw it up! You should all be used to that by now!
 |
| Love the pumpkin with all those oranges! |
 |
| A big star block and a little chicken! |
Here's someone who is making big and small blocks. They have the same block in both sizes.
 |
| Big and small blocks |
 |
| The big sheep - this is so darn cute!!!! |
 |
| An embellished cow with glitz on the tail |
The silo barn block is included in the book, but it's not one of the 45. The barn block is big enough that you can fit one of the 6" blocks in the door. How cute to have the cat block in the barn.
 |
| Cat block in the barn door |
 |
| Tractor block has been downsized |
 |
| House and tree block |
I believe the homework for the summer was 10 blocks - anyway - it was a lot of blocks. Here's a grouping of 6 of the blocks. I love the color palette on this - bright, but not too bright.
 |
| Six of the small blocks |
 |
| Marlene's quilt top so far |
 |
| A 12" house block |
 |
| The silo barn block with a 6" block in the door |
 |
| A 12" block in blues |
 |
| Monochromatic purples in a 12" block |
 |
| Spools in 12" block |
 |
| The canning block in 12" |
 |
| The cream can in 12" |
 |
| One of the star blocks in 12" |
 |
| Mixing bowls in 12" |
Here's the strawberry which was super cute!!!
 |
| Strawberry block in 12" |
 |
| Another star block in 12" |
 |
| Basket in 12" |
 |
| Cream can in 12" |
 |
| Basket in 12" |
 |
| Strawberry in 12" |
 |
| 12" block |
 |
| The canning jars in 12" |
 |
| Bowls in 12" |
 |
| Six more small blocks |
 |
| Two small blocks |
 |
| Some fun blocks |
More small blocks - I think these might be Nancy's as well. I don't remember.
 |
| More small blocks |
 |
| Small blocks |
 |
| Small blocks |
 |
| More small blocks |
 |
| Extra small blocks |
 |
| More small blocks |
 |
| More small blocks |
 |
| More small blocks |
 |
| Karen's quilt |
Raili is in the process of quilting her quilt. I must say we were all a wee bit shocked when we saw the top. She had been bringing in blocks but the color palette didn't really register when you saw the blocks by themselves. But when you see it all together - the colors are GORGEOUS. The picture doesn't do it justice, but the colors pop!!! She made up the blocks in the middle, but otherwise, the rest of the blocks are from the book.
 |
| Raili's quilt - in the process of being quilted |
There you have it - a pretty spectacular show n tell. I didn't take a picture of my blocks, but I'm mostly up to date. Although I do want to make some of the extra blocks so I'd better get myself together.
On that note, I'm out of here. A super busy day today - as usual.
Don't forget to check out QUILTsocial today to see what I'm up to. Actually, I'm working on my Farmer's Wife quilt. See what I'm doing with the sashings. Hmm - might be something you want to do with this quilt. Just saying!
Have a super day!!!
Ciao!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)