A Jen Kingwell love affair

OH -- I have to get back to responding to the comments!! Someone is also reading The End of Her. I finished it while walking the dogs, and well -- I don't want to say what happened, but I was a bit surprised. That's all I'm going to say! This is NOT the sort of book they talk about in a book club, but I want to discuss this with someone! 

I've started another book -- Looking for Jane by Heather Marshal. Someone recommended it to me. OH my -- what a fantastic premise. Who dreams up this stuff? I have to shake my head when I read this book. The subject of unwed mothers is covered in this book, and how SHAMEFUL unwed motherhood was, and these girls were trundled off to church-run facilities to have their babies. "What will the neighbors think?? 

Those words echo in my ears, not because I was shuffled off, but because my mother often used to repeat those words about other things. What will the neighbors think? Perhaps that is why we are distant from our neighbors now. Do I care what my neighbors think? Nope! 

Actually, it's pretty timely to read this book because of the turmoil about legal versus illegal abortions and women's rights. My headphones died this morning and it takes a long time to recharge, and I may have to revert to earbuds to continue to listen to it!

Well, it's been an intense week, but what week isn't. But it was well worth all the hard work and long hours. Something happened this week that hasn't happened in a long, long time. I've been teaching these sew-alongs for almost 20 years, and the number of quilts I've taught is huge! I must dig out that list one day, but it's well over 50. It's been rare that my quilt was finished at the end of the class. For some reason, I got busy with other things. 

So for this to happen is a miracle. 

Boho Heart

This is my Boho Heart by Jen Kingwell, and I'm thrilled with it. It turned out exactly as I wished - a bright and cheerful quilt. It's made with pinks, oranges, and some purple, and the background strips are black on white. All I can say is that there is a tremendous amount of work in that quilt. 

But that's not all. This also happened. This is my version of Wanderers Wife (formerly known as Gypsy Wife), also by Jen Kingwell. I am absolutely thrilled with this one as well. I LOVE the clear definition of the blocks in the blue background. This one was trickier to assemble than Boho Heart but worth all the effort. 

Wanderers Wife

All I can say is slow and steady and LABEL all those strips well. It worked like a charm, and presewing some of the background strips together, saved a lot of time during the final assembly. 

And here they are together -- Wanderer's Wife is considerably shorter than Boho. Both patterns are by Jen Kingwell. 

BOHO Heart and Wanderers Wife

I started Wanderers Wife several years ago, and I got discouraged with my color choice and progress. It got shelved. But thanks to these sew-alongs, it got resurrected, and for some reason, some SMART person (me) said, "Oh -- it will be nothing to do these two quilts in the same class." What was I thinking?? 

Let's me say that I love Jen's "puzzle" quilts, but the patterns? A lot to be desired from the instructions and layout diagrams. She should have used our group as a tester group because we had loads of ideas to make it easier to sew together. We developed cutting charts and handy layout diagrams!

I can't wait to see the final show and tell in June. Repeatedly, I've heard the participants say that if it had not been for this class, they would also have abandoned their quilts. Me too!! To all those brave participants (some of them are making both) -- thanks for the push! I couldn't have done this without your help!

But that's not all. We were also working on Long Time Gone (the one on the left), also a Jen Kingwell pattern. So between Zoom calls, I whipped down Boho Heart and put up my Long Time Gone. 

Long Time Gone and Boho Heart

I taught this class last year (and again this year), and despite an entire year, my quilt is still missing the borders. That HAS to be done by next month for the show and tell. 

As if that wasn't enough, Jen Kingwell, we're in the middle of making Green Tea and Sweet Beans. Seriously??? Are we groupies or what? 

And I've decided to offer a "remedial" class to those who have fallen behind for whatever reason. Any four quilts (heck, ANY Jen Kingwell will qualify) to get in the group. But it won't start until the fall or January of 2023. But whether you were in my class or not and have one of those quilts in progress, this is the LAST resort to getting them done! We'll all be motivating each other. Well, I hope to be up-to-date with Green Tea by the time this remedial class starts, but just in case! We'll cheer each other on. 

I don't know if I'll do another Jen Kingwell quilt, although I am intrigued by "It's a Small World." NO -- Just say NO!!!

I'm going away for a few days. If I was brilliant, I'd throw that Long Time Gone in the car with some white, grey, and black, and I'd get that darn border on. OK -- I might have to rethink what I packed. 

All this show and tell will be done in June! And then what will I do with all my free time? 

It was funny to say that I will NOT be booking anything new until October. WOW -- I may book something, but it won't' happen until at least then! I'll be positively bored in that tidy Studio B with nothing to sew. HA! I have many community project quilts to quilt, tons of UFOs, and LOADS of ideas. I'll never run out of things to do. 

There was an interesting story in The Globe and Mail yesterday entitled The Great Junk Transfer. You have to sign in to read the article -- sorry, but these newspapers have to make money! It had to do with my generation inheriting our parents' mess! Oh boy --- I can so relate to what the article said. It's mind-boggling the amount of stuff that is languishing in people's homes. And it's the attitude that "I'll let my kids deal with it" that drives me CRAZY. Why should we deal with their crap? I am mad at my parents for that, although they have progressed in ridding themselves of stuff - mostly my Dad and certainly not my Mom. But we will still need to deal with many things when they are gone, and that's why I'm trying hard to do that to M. 

Excellent read in The Globe and Mail

Here's the thing --- all that beautiful old furniture? Worthless. The china and silver? Worthless. NO ONE wants this stuff. Royal Doulton collections? Worthless. I know that sounds harsh, but it's a reality. NO one has room for it, and because it was made in such quantities, there is no value in most of it. There may be some value in some pieces and undoubtedly sentimental value, but no monetary value. 

It's harsh -- very harsh, but that's reality. Thankfully, no crystal, china, or silverware came into my house. I'm taking the article for my Mom to read, although I'm sure it will go over her head. 

There's nothing she can do about it now -- well, she could as she has a LOT of stuff in their apartment that could be gotten rid of, but she won't let it go. I know she won't, and I also know that it's a disease of their generation. My Mom grew up in a log house that was insulated with mud! When you have NOTHING, you value every little thing you get! But to leave it to your kids to deal with is WRONG, but their brains aren't wired that way. 

Yes -- I know I'm guilty of mild hoarding, but I'm doing what I can to deal with it. And perhaps what I should be doing this summer is tackling this office. I need to put my money where my mouth is. Thankfully it's only one room, but if I didn't come home one night and someone had to deal with this mess? Well, it would be intimidating, and it's only one room. 

I MUST make myself a note to start working. No slacking off. 

Here's a book that I think is interesting - I need to find a copy of it. The Stories We Leave Behind by Laura Gilbert and an interesting way of dealing with our crap. Here's another link about Laura. 

And ENJOY everything you have or get rid of it. The other thing mentioned in the article was the jump in storage units. Instead of dealing with stuff, people rent storage units to put the stuff in. That is just wrong! Deal with it - NOW!!!! There's a HUGE amount of guilt involved in all this, so it's not easy. This is a topic I could go on about -- I have some interesting thoughts, and I really like Laura's ideas. 

OK - I've gone on long enough! It's time to get the day going. Two things need to be done today, and I'm on track to get both completed. I did accomplish all that was on the schedule yesterday. Another long day, but that's OK. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Who stole all the chocolate?

So I'm on a Zoom call, and DH is texting me that he can't find certain things at the grocery store. What??? I NEED Easter chocolate. He always asks me to text him what I need from the grocery store. Yep --- we both go to the store, I buy the things I like, and he buys the boring stuff. The last couple of times I went, I have been tempted by all the Easter chocolate. Not that I needed it, but I thought I'd like some Easter chocolate when he asked me what I wanted. Just because!

Well, there was no Easter chocolate. How could that be? So I went to the mall in the afternoon as I had a couple of errands there, and I could NOT find any Easter chocolate. Nothing. What the heck is going on? I could find Easter CANDY, but I didn't want candy. 

I admit that I almost caved, and I stood in front of the bins at Bulk Barn (I know -- hygiene) and looked at various candies. Then I decided that I could have one bad food habit of eating lots of chocolate, but I did NOT need to restart eating candy. So I walked out! Yeah me!! I felt rather proud of myself for that! 

Fortunately, someone had given me a chocolate Easter bunny earlier this week, so I can indulge later today. 

My Easter bunny

Yikes, someone interpreted my bizarre plane dream as I am the plane and the weird stuff the planes were carrying was my projects. So I'm OK with that, but I wasn't happy with the fact that one of the planes fell out of the sky! That's a bad thing! So yes --- I am the first to admit that I'm overcommitted at the moment and trying very hard to get back on track. I don't want to drop anything as it all needs to be done. So slow and steady, and if a deadline or two gets missed, it gets missed. What's the worse that can happen? No one will die, so I'm not going to sweat it. 

I think the next month will be bad and then things will get better. I know -- I know -- I always say that, and the next isn't any better. But I'm going to get responsible and NOT commit to things. Besides, it will be the summer, and I'm NOT teaching much during the summer. There are a handful of classes, and nothing more will get booked. I won't know what to do with myself. I see a lot of napping in the gazebo!

I'm happy to report that everything got done for the classes yesterday and is mainly done for today, our UFO club. It's nice to know that there are NO mad rush jobs for later today, although I need to get back to the long arm. 

One of the classes that happened this weekend was Wanderer's Wife by Jen Kingwell. It used to be called Gypsy Wife, but that terminology is no longer politically correct. There are ten sections, and we've started to sew the quilt together, so I thought I'd share some photos. All I can say is that our group has done a fantastic job picking colors, and they all look so much better than the original. 

Wanderers Wife booklet

No offense to Jen, but the quilt on the cover is not appealing. YET -- there is undoubtedly some attractiveness since many of us wanted to make it. I know I started many years ago, and I got through one or two blocks and then put it aside. I was trying to replicate the colors/style of the original, and it wasn't making me happy. So this time, I went with something totally different, and I'm thrilled. 

My version of Wanderers Wife

Now isn't that amazing?? It looks like a night sky with twinkling stars. I cannot take credit for the colorway as I had seen someone else do this, and I loved it. I think I mentioned that before. 

Anyway -- we have three blocks left to sew together and the remaining three sections. Then we can have our big reveal in June! OH --- that's how much I have left to sew -- the group just got their new assignment this week, so they are not quite as far ahead as I am. Well, not that I am aware of, and I don't want to know!

So here are a few of the other quilts. I picked these from our Facebook group and only chose the ones where the first three sections were together. 

Here are several with light backgrounds. I love that EVERYONE chose a background that didn't compete with their blocks. WOW!!!!! 

I love the low-volume busy prints for the background, as they provide lots of interest but do not distract from the main blocks. 

It has a creamy-colored background, but it shows off those blocks very nicely, and look at how one or two blocks (the pinwheels) blend into the background. Love that!

This is a unique colorway -- brown, but it looks rich, and the blocks pop off the background! 

Brights -- you can't go wrong with brights! 

Coral and green -- an unusual colorway, but it's very striking! I love how the background of some of those small square and square blocks disappear into the background, so the diamonds are sparkling! 

Oh my -- black and white. What can I say -- it's gorgeous, and look how the backgrounds of some of the small blocks fade into the white. YES!! And I'm intrigued by those black-on-white strips through part of the quilt. 

Let's look at some of the dark backgrounds. These blocks are BRIGHT, and they look amazing against that blue background. 

This is fabulous with the busy black prints, and I think the colored fabrics are Kaffe Fassett. 

And here's a version with purple and green. A classic color combination that you can't go wrong with!! I love it. I will have to get them to post a close-up of the background strips they chose. 

And here's one using Kaffe's fabric with BLACK or dark blue as the background. WOW!!! 

Another very dark background, but with bright blocks -- looks like grey, yellow, and orange/red. 

Those are amazing!! I'm not sure how many we'll have for show and tell in June, but they will all be unique and look so different from the original. Can you tell me what it is about that original that has drawn us all in? The need to make it better? The intrigue of not having a good pattern to work from? 

I can say that I'll be very sad when the class is over. We've had such great fun getting to know each other, and well, I'm going to miss the groups over the summer!

But don't forget that there is the Virtual Retreat for one weekend each month, so that will be a virtual way to stay in touch! The dates for this month are Saturday, April 30 (6 - 9 PM) and all day Sunday (May 1). 

On that note, I'm off to walk the girls because then it's UFO Club this morning, and the afternoon is "mine."

Have a super day, and I hope the Easter Bunny brought goodies to your house!

Ciao!!!

Half a success!

I'm behind! There's no other way to put that gently - I have my schedules and my TO-DO lists, and I'm not slacking off - things just take longer than planned! I had a plan for getting some major writing done, and I did get some accomplished. BUT, as I write, I think of something else to add (I need to STOP that), which involves a picture or two more and more editing. 

The bottom line is that I got one of five assignments done. And I've got pictures for the next two (well, most of them). It's all in a day's work! I'm also working on the homework assignments, and one of those will go out this morning. 

E-mails are waiting to be answered, but it'll all work out. I'm not going to lose sleep over it -- we're not talking rocket science or life or death! 

I signed up for my class at Quilt Canada. I can't wait as I don't usually take a class - I'm not a very good student. But this is a software class, and I'm good at those. There's so much for me to learn, and I hope to take full advantage of the opportunity (make new friends and potentially get some support buddies) and learn tons from this industry expert! And the even better part -- we're at the long arm the entire day. I will pay a kit fee and need to take NOTHING with me, and I love that even better. 

OK -- you're wondering how you can have half a success? I'll tell you! Remember my saga about my order from the US? The one that would be destroyed if I didn't complete the order and pay? That order arrived at the US warehouse on November 9, and it was delivered to my house yesterday. Technically, it was my fault since I didn't properly check the website to initiate the next step, and I now know how it works. 

I was waiting for a second notification that the order was ready for pick-up at their depot near me. Imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang, and I went to see what that was all about. WHAT?????  My package was delivered by FedEx to the door. Seriously??? Perhaps that's because of my closeness to the depot -- but I would definitely use the CrossBorderPickups again. That was excellent service. And they refunded the storage fees because of my error. Thanks for the recommendation, Laura!

At last, my package arrived

So what was in the package? It was the Cherrywood Challenge book for the Princess Diana challenge. 

Cherrywood Challenge book for Diana

Yeah -- at long last, the book arrived. Wait a minute ---I bought TWO books, and there is only ONE in the box. Sigh......................  And that's how you get HALF a success. 

I've already contacted Cherrywood, and they are sending me another one, and this time when I see that it arrives at the warehouse in Niagara Falls, I'll be on it to get it across the border. I had purchased one for Helen as she also has a quilt in the book, and I'll let her have this one while I wait for my copy to arrive. But what a saga this has been. However, it's been a good learning curve, and now I have a "permanent" US address so I can order anything in the US and have it delivered this way. It's certainly much cheaper than having things shipped directly to me, especially if they have FedEx deliver it to my door. I didn't pay to have it delivered by FedEx.  

Here's a picture of my quilt in the book. 

My Diana quilt

I'll post Helen's picture after she sees the book in person! 

OK - so what's with this weather? There was very light snow at lunchtime when I went for my walk. I only walked to the grocery store, adding an extra block or two, since the grocery store is only 1 KM away. Gosh --- when was the last time I took my car to the grocery store? Eons ago. I never thought that would ever happen in my lifetime. I think I only walked about 12 KM yesterday. No time for much craziness!  

Light snow at lunchtime

Then the flakes got HUGE. 

HUGE snowflakes

And then it looked like a winter wonderland out there! 

Winter wonderland

There was enough snow to make it necessary to shovel. I shoveled my sidewalk, and the two neighbor's on either side -- well, I shovel up to their driveways! Young men live at both addresses -- they can very easily shovel the rest themselves. That snow was WET and heavy. Thankfully, there wasn't a whole lot of it. Well -- a whole lot -- it was about 3 inches deep!

OK -- so I promised some show and tell. Here's my Wanderer's Wife quilt. 

After completing the homework, here's what's left of the background strips for the remaining sections. Nice to see some empty spots! And yes -- they are all back as neat as this -- well almost, after I tipped all the boards onto the floor -- by accident! Thank goodness they are labeled because they are cut for a specific spot!

The remainder of my background strips for Wanderer's Wife

All my blocks are sitting in a container, waiting to be sewn into the quilt. I think we have 7 blocks left to sew - something like that. I was going to be fussy and sort them by section, but instead, I put them in the container, and as I need a specific size -- I'll grab it from here. It worked for the first three sections -- the system will work just as nicely for the next 7. 

My blocks for Wanderer's Wife

And here are three of the ten sections sewn together.

Three of ten sections

YES --- for any eagle eyes, there is a mistake in the top section. Someone spotted it in class. I wasn't going to change it, but I have to because the strips are also out of order! DUH!!! 

I can't take credit for the colors in the quilt. Before starting the project, I looked online and found a quilt that I loved. Once I had that concept in my head, I've just been grabbing blues and yellows from my scraps and winging it. I love how it's turning out. It looks like a night sky, and those square in square units are twinkling through the blue. 

Here's the photo I used for inspiration. I'd give credit, but I'm not sure whose quilt this is. I thought the concept was brilliant. WAIT -- I found the owner.

 

My inspiration

This is the book's cover - remember, it used to be called Gypsy Wife, now changed to Wanderer's Wife. More politically correct. 

The cover of the pattern

I had originally started to make this quilt years ago but got discouraged. I love the pattern, but those prints are so busy -- it doesn't really let the quilt shine. That is partially why I was discouraged the first time I attempted to make it. And let's just say that this quilt is not for the faint of heart. The pattern leaves a LOT to be desired. Jen Kingwell's quilts are often referred to as puzzle quilts. That's not really a style -- it's her patterns that create the puzzle!!

And this is another version I pulled off the internet. I'm not sure if I even want to comment on this. It's definitely a scrappy quilt, but there's not much contrast between the blocks. 

A very scrappy version of Wanderers Wife

Trust me, we had major discussions in the class about the color of the background strips. Here's the issue with the original -- the background strips are cut from the SAME fabrics used in the blocks. Nothing wrong with that, but if you're already using busy prints and then put busy prints to busy prints -- it's all going to blend! I would be disappointed if my quilt looked like the one above. I'm so glad that I decided to abandon my original version and go with the blue and yellow. I think I'll comment on Sarah's blog and let her know how impressed I was with her colorway!

For the most part, we are attracted to a pattern usually because of the color, but sometimes the style. I have NO idea what is appealing about the cover quilt, but lots of us want to make it! Perhaps it's the overall craziness, or we wanted to struggle through the pattern. I'm glad we are doing this class, and thanks to ALL the crazies who are encouraging each other to get it done! For anyone in the class that hasn't kept up -- good luck attempting it on your own! 

We'll have a FULL show and tell at the end of June!! So exciting!

I shouldn't even remind people that we'll be starting up another sew-along(s) in the fall - we're taking the summer off! We need to get away from our sewing machines and enjoy the summer! At least that's my plan -- I'm trying very hard (and succeeding) in clearing my summer calendar of almost all quilting events. Note -- I say ALMOST, not all! There are still some classes and clubs, but not the intense sew alongs! 

If you happen to have or know of a quilt that would make a good sew-along (must have different blocks or neat techniques) to make it interesting, let me know. 

On that note, I'm off to spin class and then back home to sit at the computer all day!!! I will say that I've had to do some research for part of the writing, and WOW -- I'm going to be so smart when I'm done! I'll be sharing some of the writing with you when the time comes, and then you'll be equally as informed as I am. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Mini design boards are the best!

Yesterday, with all the Zoom calls and the prep for those calls, just about did me in! 

By the time I was finished at 4 PM, I was wiped. I did NOT go for a second walk. It was late, the sidewalks were treacherous from the weather, it was cold. I wimped out and said, "NO -- I'm not budging." I even asked DH to order pizza (we were going to go out). It was just one of those days, and I'm OK with it. I did feel a twinge of guilt, not going for that second walk, and then I said, "screw it! I'm allowed to miss a day here and there!"

I couldn't even walk to the grocery store to get bananas for my oatmeal this morning. So my oatmeal is sad, but I was prepared for it since I didn't want to brave the wind. That's how badly I didn't want to go for a walk -- I was ready to sacrifice not having bananas for breakfast. Mostly, it was because I was tired. Both of the sessions in the afternoon lasted almost a half-hour longer than planned, and well, it just wiped me out. 

I have two presentations today, and well, I'm prepped, but not nearly as much as I would have liked to be. That happens, and I'm OK with it. 

However, I did a minor repair job last night that needed to be done, and I watched the first episode of Season 10 of The Great British baking show. A just reward. There are only 11 seasons online, and what will I watch when I'm done? Oh --- I have tons of episodes of The Quilt Show to watch. Somehow, that's nearly as much fun as the baking show. 

I had two technical issues to resolve yesterday. One is mainly resolved, and the other -- is a mystery. I had to do a factory reboot on my Fitbit. Did I need to go that drastic? I don't know, but I was tired of it adding those extra steps. So I rebooted. Of course, that means you need to redo all the connections, which wasn't a problem. Several years ago, Ronda set up my clockface as a Bitmoji, and I loved it. 

I had all my stats available on the screen. Most people count steps on their FitBit; I like to see the KM. After the reboot, I had difficulty getting the darn thing set up. 

Ah -- where are the numbers?

It got stuck in this mode for a day! I've gone back in and linked my accounts made a new avatar for Bitmoji, but do you think I can sync it with my Fitbit? Nope. 

So I had to go through all the clock faces to find something that had the stats I wanted. Isn't that amazing that we can choose the style of watch face??? Well, I was so used to the other one that this just feels wrong. But I'll learn to live with it. 

My new watch face

So all I have to do is tap on the numbers in the bottom right, and this next screen pops up with all the stats. Actually, I think I like this one much better as it's easier to read and actually easier to access ALL the stats at one time. OK -- I'm going to call this technology challenge over, and I will STOP trying to get my Bitmoji back on my Fitbit. 

My stats

The second issue is strange, and it involves the printer, which is wireless and sits in DH's office. I've had trouble with it in the past, but once I installed the program (years ago), I've been good with it. Then one day, it stopped printing. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers, but nothing. However, my computer can see the printer, and it tells me that it's in READY status. I can even scan from my computer using that printer, but it won't print. 

I can print from my laptop and phone, but not the computer. Now can you tell me why that one is? It is a tad annoying, mainly because I needed something for today, and well -- I wasn't sure how to get it. After complaining at dinner, I realized that I could print the same document from my laptop, and that's what I did. So I have a workaround, but I'd really like the convenience of printing from my computer. OH -- I was even able to print a test page after I ran some Printer Doctor program, but nothing from any of my programs. And it's not just Microsoft -- I couldn't print from EQ8. Very weird. 

I've lived with that one for a while; I'm going to ignore it for the moment. I don't have time to mess with it. 

I'll start showing you homework pictures tomorrow, but today -- well, what would we do without those mini design boards? 

These are about 18" square -- a foam core base with industrial felt glued to the surface. 

I was cutting strips for my Wanderer's Wife quilt, and they were perfect for laying out the strips so I could easily find one that worked. It was a bit of a random process -- I mostly went by the total length of the strips rather than figure out if this color worked best beside another. 

Choosing the strips

 The leftovers went onto another board in case I needed more strips, and I did, so this was a good idea to lay them out rather than throwing them in a heap. 

The leftovers were prepped for the next round of cutting 

And then the strips were all laid out. And LABELED!

The strips are laid out and labeled

And I could stack the mini design boards on top of each other, which was great!!!

Three boards stacked

My homework for Boho Heart was stacked neatly on another board. 

Boho Heart homework

To save a bit of space, I decided to stack them all on top of each other. I placed it in a bit of precarious place, and of course, I whizzed by, and CRASH, they all fell to the floor. They don't look so neat now! Thank goodness the blue ones were labeled, or I would be in a huge mess. 

This is what happens when they fall to the floor

I'll try to straighten that out later today - or not. 

I had a couple of blocks laid out on another board. Those blocks are now sewn together and safely in the project box. 

Blocks are laid out on a mini design board

And there is more stuff piled on this one. 

YES -- there is a mini design board underneath all that

Whew!!! What a day, and well, today will be much quieter from a Zoom perspective. Only two sessions, and none of them should go over the time. Yeah!! But it's still cold outside! Not as cold as in some other parts of the world, but cold. I think I'm feeling the cold more because I'm a bit tired? Or perhaps, I'm just fed up. That's more likely the reason. But that PLUS ONE --- that's what keeps me going. It will be warmer! Tomorrow! 

Actually, if I look at Thursday, the temperature will be 34 degrees WARMER than our current windchill. That's just nuts! Average out the temperature, and I'll be fine! Of course, the girls couldn't care less. As a matter of fact, I think they like this weather better than the warm weather. 

On that note, I'm out of here! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Another good deed

 

So Murphy and I were out for a walk. We had just started down the multi-purpose path near us, and we spotted a skunk by a tree. WHOA! Of course, Murphy went nuts, but then I noticed the skunk was NOT well. I stopped to take a picture which didn't turn out, and a couple of joggers passed me and mentioned that the skunk didn't look well. OK -- so it wasn't just me. How does a skunk not look well? When they are having a seizure -- that's how! 

I stopped and called Animal Services. Good grief -- my second time in a couple of months. Yep -- they would send someone to pick it up. 

Murphy and I walked up the path for a couple of blocks and then turned around and walked back down. I was NOT walking on the sidewalks yesterday -- they were treacherous. By the time we got back to that corner, the Animal Services van was there. As I approached, the officer approached the skunk with a cage and quickly walked away with the cage. I'm guessing the animal was so sick that it didn't budge, and she just used her foot to nudge it in the cage. 

OK -- so the area was pretty smelly with the skunk smell, and I wondered how she would deal with that in the van. AHA -- there's a little platform on the back of the van, and she strapped the cage onto the platform. So the smelly skunk got to ride outside. I'm sure he's long gone by now, but the way he was acting made me think of distemper or rabies, and we don't want that in our yard. 

The skunk gets a ride on the back of the van

We had a great Monday sewing. We will be very hard-pressed to go back to in-person sewing when we would be allowed. I really like Zoom as it allows people to participate from anywhere. Two people are vacationing in Florida right now, and even when they are back in Canada, they are too far away to come to the in-person sewing. One person lives in Massachusetts, and one other person was in the in-person group and moved to Eastern Ontario. It's the packing up of machines, the driving, and the set-up -- well, I think Zoom is here to stay for the sewing group!

It's a shame that more people from our group didn't embrace the technology. It's been a saving grace for us during the lock-downs. 

And now onto some work that I did! YES -- actual sewing. I was a bit behind in the homework for Wanderer's Wife. I had only made one of each of these two blocks, but I needed two, so I made the second of each. 

Blocks for Wanderers Wife quilt

And I remade these blocks. 

New courthouse step blocks

I had originally made them all yellow. 

Old courthouse step blocks

But I realized that I should have made blue and yellow blocks, not just yellow. So those are remade. 

And here are the other blocks that we've made so far. 

Pinwheels

Square in a square

More square in a square

And one final square in a square

Two of these blocks are pictured above, but the third block is different. 

My background strips are cut. I'm not sure if I have cut enough, so I need to work on the sub-cutting, labeling, and assembly of those strips. That might be a job for the virtual retreat that's this coming weekend. But other than working on the strips -- I'm up to date! It's a challenge to keep up with all these sew-alongs. I'll be evaluating the number that I start in the fall! I love teaching them, so I'll always be doing some!

But after we finish the four Jen Kingwell quilts that I'm working on, that will be it for Jen for a while! 

And this weekend, there are FIVE classes to prep, so it's going to be a busy week. Plus, that French serger class will finally start this week - I hope. It's been delayed two weeks in a row now for various reasons. 

I also finished my scrappy green quilt. Here's the top. 

Scrappy green hexagon quilt

The backing and the binding are done, and it's now in the "to be quilted" pile. 

Backing and binding are done

This quilt was on my 2020 UFO list, so that leaves eight more projects on that list. Yes -- slow and steady, these giant UFO projects are getting done. 

And I added two more hourglass blocks to my bag. So now I only need five more before I can start to sew that project together. 

Two more hourglass blocks

 

I hope to get five more from the stack of triangles by the sewing machine. We'll see how it goes. It's not like I'm in a rush to start sewing that quilt together. 

Hmm -- as I'm writing this, I remember that there were two things I thought of last night as I lay in bed. I did NOT write them down, and now -- do you think I can remember what they were? Nope! Hopefully, it comes to me today! 

I don't know what Murphy did, but it looks like she put herself in the dog house. Sleeping in her bed facing the wall? She doesn't normally do that. Poor thing. Maybe she was traumatized by the skunk incident!

Facing the wall

Don't forget that we have the Virtual Retreat this weekend! I almost forgot! It starts on Saturday, February 26 at 6 PM and technically goes until 9 PM. And then Sunday, February 27, it starts at 11:30 AM and goes until whenever. I'll post the links starting tomorrow. It will be super fun, and I'm getting stuff lined up and ready to sew. 

On that note, I'm off to see the condition of the sidewalks this morning. Yesterday was a glorious day, and I walked a LOT after Monday sewing. But it's hovering at zero this morning, and my guess is that those sidewalks are going to be treacherous with bits of ice patches all over. We might be walking only on the multi-purpose path again. That's OK -- we can go for miles on it, and Murphy behaves because there aren't many squirrels. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!