Lost and found!

And now I'm off to something else today! I've got some classes at the Hobby Horse, and I'm packed!!

Poor Murphy—she hasn't been happy with all the toing and froing these last weeks. But I bet she's confused because there is no big black suitcase at the door—just a bunch of tote bags! But she's not budging from the front door because they did not get a walk yesterday, and I think she's mad!

MOM - you can't leave without me! 

We finished the training early yesterday, so I was home at about 2 p.m. However, I was exhausted from not getting much sleep the night before, so I had a good nap. I slept well last night, so all is good today.

To let people in BC know about next week, I'm in Penticton at Black Rabbit Fabrics on Wednesday to offer two lecture/demos, so be sure to check out the store class list to get in the class. I'm chatting about "Getting the most out of your sewing machine" and then machine embroidery, but I'm 100% focused on machine embroidery in the QUILT world. There is so much to say for both!!! 

Then, I'll be at Tom's Sewing Center in Chilliwack and the Surrey location on Friday and Saturday. So be sure to check those stores for details. That one link will give you information on both. One of the sessions covers accessories and the other talks about sewing machines. It's going to be super fun and I've been madly working on new samples! 

The following week, I'll be in Montreal at Salon Quebec, so if you're coming to that, be sure to stop by and say hello! And then that's it for a couple of weeks! I still have some travel for this year, but nothing is solidified yet. 

Once I was up from my nap, I had work to do, so my steps yesterday were pretty dismal. However, I am still ahead on all my walking challenges, so that is good, and I should be able to get back to walking today! I miss the "down" time that helps me work through things, not that I have anything pressing on my mind these days. 

I'm chuckling as I write this next bit because later this morning, I'm going to tell people how they can keep their spaces organized, and my sewing room looks like a tornado hit it! When there is no room on the tables, just spread the stuff on the floor. But see—it's in a nice, neat row, and I have a walkway along the cutting table. Now, in my defense, most of that stuff that came home from the meeting with me is new, and it doesn't have a designated spot yet. 

The spill over

I had some time this morning, so I put some stuff away. It just feels good to do that, and because everything has a home, it doesn't take very long at all. 

I'm also teaching machine quilting today, so I whipped through my samples to find what I needed. That didn't take very long. And it won't take long to put it all away, either! That's the beauty of organizing! 

When I was looking for that quilt top already in the "to be quilted" pile, I was rifling through everything and found these lists I had wanted to find. 

The missing half of my list

It was a list of all the $10 quilt/monthly quilt/sew-along projects that I've done over the years. I believe the first one was in 2001! It's actually a chart so I can track my progress. Not many are finished - at least, not the earlier ones. The list is two pages, and I have the other page in the office. I don't know where at this moment, but this is the second page. I think the list ends in 2015, so there is a LOT to catch up on, but I think I already updated the other half. It'll be fun to note how many of those quilts I've done over the years. There are MANY. I'm going to hazard a guess and say close to 100 by now! Yikes!!!!! Well, maybe 75 -- but I know it's over 50! 

I really think I need to have a Lost and Found list. This would be a list of everything I can't find but know I would like to find. Then it can be a eureka moment to cross it off and also to know how much stuff I can't locate!! OK—I'm a Virgo—I'm allowed to have all the lists I want!

Speaking of which, I need to get my butt in gear and acknowledge everyone signed up for my classes at Thimbles and Things and Spice Market. Yes, there is still room for all of them, so be sure to get signed up. Those classes all start in October, but guess what? It's almost October! 

Bear with me for a couple of days, and I'll get an answer to you! I have not forgotten - just a bit of a lack of time. 

While I was digging some batting out of the batting closet for one of those "to be quilted" projects, I spotted this on the wall. I see it every time I go into that room, but I thought I'd share it with you. It's a collage wall hanging I made many years ago. M and I took a class, and what fun we had that day. 

My collage wall-hanging

Here's a close-up of it. I would love to make more things like this, and it's on my radar. I have the materials, but just not at this moment in time. 

Detail of the collage

I removed two projects from the "to be quilted" tubs and with the other one that I found - already quilted, that's three that have been removed. I MUST remember to update the list, which is easy - I just cross it off, and when I decide there are enough changes, I will print another list. I started quilting one of the projects last night. It's a new learning curve for me, and you'll see what I'm doing in a few weeks. And I'm going to plunge right in and do the other one. As my Dad says -- there should never be a day when you're not learning. Well, that's not what he says -- he doesn't tell us - he shows by example, so technically, he says - I learn something new everyday. 

The last day of the technical training was all about sergers, so I asked lots of questions, took loads of pictures, and made lots of notes. Now I must write that out for my Dad, hoping it'll help him solve his serger problem. Maybe I should take up sewing machine repair as a job! No -- I just like to know how things work, but I'm not sure I want to get that down and dirty with my sewing machine every day

Remember, there is a Virtual Retreat tonight and tomorrow. We also have UFO tomorrow, and I've been getting emails with the homework! I won't elaborate on my project, but I will say it's not done! 

Here are the links. You are welcome to pop in whenever you wish. You can just come along to say hi and then drop off, or you can stay until we close. It's your choice. You can sew, or you can just come to chat! 

Saturday, September 21  --- we start at 6 PM EST. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89816483795?pwd=Mjc3M3pvVmZPdjdsQzlHS3Zhck52dz09

Meeting ID: 898 1648 3795
Passcode: 248667

 

Sunday, September 22 - we start at NOON EST. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82983517671?pwd=ODdsa1FJenQwdFNaQWFTNGd4bEhPZz09

Meeting ID: 829 8351 7671
Passcode: 117636




And that wraps it up for today. The girls are waiting!

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!!

Quilts at the Creek

Don't forget - today is the LAST day for the Quilts at the Creek show. It's taking place at Black Creek Pioneer Village. I took a quick walkabout yesterday and it was amazing to see all the quilts flapping in the wind. Totally beautiful and totally inspiring. My quick tour spotted some familiar quilts but also lots of new ones. And gorgeous!!!!  I can't wait to have more time today to walk amongst the quilts.

The Prince (Cherrywood challenge) is inside the Visitor's Center. I'm volunteering in that room today so I'll get a good look at the quilts. I know from viewing past Cherrywood challenges, that those quilts will be well worth seeing.

There's also a lecture by Valerie Goodwin (our instructor from yesterday's workshop) and it'll be FABULOUS. She's a wonderful instructor - her work with map quilts is truly amazing. And she's using technology to make that happen. I love it!!!!

I'm doing a walkabout at 3 PM. Meet up at the Town Hall so we can start the tour.


When I got home, it was time to bind some quilts. And someone had asked me about the winding video for the binding.

Here I am installed in my favorite place to sew on the binding. I had the window open and there was a magnificent breeze coming in. M always complained that this room was too hot and while it can be hot, there's a great breeze that comes through when the windows are open.

Set up to do bind a quilt

 After I wind the binding into a figure eight, I place it in front of the sewing machine. Here's the link to the post with the video on how to wind the figure eight. I know that people like to be creative - I really do. And I know how people like to make gadgets and put their brand on them. There are a TON of tools and gadgets on the market related to putting the binding on a quilt. It might be a tool to miter the corners, a tool to finish off the final join or something to wind the binding onto while you sew it onto the quilt.

Not to be the naysayer, but NONE of those gadgets are necessary. Putting a binding on without gadgets and tools is so simple. There are no tools to dig out (if you can remember that you have them), there are no tools to store, no tools to lose, no tools to manage. I'm all about simple.

So - here's the binding set out in front of the sewing machine.

The figure-eight of binding is set up in front of the sewing machine

I use my finger and thumb as a guide as the binding comes out of that figure-eight - remember to pull the binding from the CENTER of the figure-eight or it doesn't work. I was trying to see if I had a tried and true method for my hand position, but both of these hand positions seem to work. I think it just comes naturally to hold it like that. There is no twisting as that binding comes out of the figure-eight which means putting the binding on super easy and FAST!!!

Hand position for adding the binding

A slight variation of hand position

The bottom line - the thumb goes underneath the binding to guide it into the sewing machine.

Anyway - it works for me and I finished off the binding on one of the Quilts of Valour quilts. This is the quilt that our group sewed at the quilt retreat earlier this month. Seems like eons ago now.

Binding on a Quilts of Valour quilt

I was on a roll, so I got the binding completely on one more quilt for Quilts of Valour. 

Binding on one more quilt for Quilts of Valour 

I got the binding partially on the last Quilts of Valour quilt. I ran out of the binding and have to make some more. I didn't feel like doing that last night. That's a job for tonight.

Then I dug out two quilts that have been sitting here. One of them was designated as a Quilts of Valour quilt. Shoot - it's the one our group made LAST YEAR at the retreat. I kept it back because of how the decorative stitch used to sew the binding on and I was using it as a demo. I need to make a new sample of that stitch. In the meantime, the quilt is going to be delivered this week. I also pulled out a scrap quilt from my quilt stash. I still use the quilt for trunk shows, but I have TWO of them and only use one for the trunk show.

Quilts to be delivered to Quilts of Valour

Now back to Quilts at the Creek. Here's my Mandala quilt hanging up. I LOVE this quilt. It's made with Northcott's Artisan Spirit Shimmer. Very nice to have that large range of color and value. I see on the web page that they have some NEW patterns. Oh dear - I feel a new quilt design coming up. This quilt was on the cover of A Needle Pulling Thread magazine a while back. (Issue 47 from 2018). It was hanging in the aisle as you entered the village. Every time I walked past someone was admiring the quilt and saying how pretty it is. That's all I need - someone to admire my creativity. I'm happy!!!

Mandala quilt

I had to see where my other quilt was hanging. Oh - it's with the other map quilts way at the far end of the village. Of course, it is!!!!  I ran over there and snapped this picture. I know you can't really see my quilt, but it's in the picture. I'll be sharing a better picture later. It's really cute and very funny. I also watched a few people admiring the quilt and when they realized what it was (you MUST read the words on the quilt or it means nothing), you'll get a chuckle!!!  I wonder what M will say when she sees it.

Some of the map quilts on display at Quilts at the Creek

Now let's zip to the workshop. It's very difficult to know what to bring to a workshop. Fabric - lots of fabric. I took my scrap boxes and that was the BEST thing I could have done. We sewed a small collage. This is about 12" by 6".

After several steps in the mapping process

It's totally improv. The background was collaged (I've got some great ideas for future pieces), we painted it (I found a tube of blue acrylic paint before I left, not really my first choice) and there are some sheer fabrics on it (I used light so doesn't really show).

Next up was to cut the piece into several pieces (if you didn't want to you didn't have to). I followed instructions - YES - I was a good student!

Then it was onto handwork and embellishing. I found some dark scraps in the brown bin I had taken. So what is it?? Well, it looks like some cows running on the side of a road or is that a river?? Actually, now that I think about it, there's an illuminated BLUE bicycle path somewhere in Europe (Poland). That's what my piece is - I now need to find a way to represent the bike path.  Oh yes - this is going to be perfect!!!!

It was a super fun workshop. I was glad that I went. This is the kind of thing that I want to do in my free time. I think it's something where you'll get infinitely better the more you do. It's a truly creative process and I like doing that kind of stuff. I just need to schedule that into my day and STOP reading so much!!!  I can read when my hands have given out. For now, I need to get some of this fun stuff out of me!!!!!

Someone popped in to see me in the workshop room yesterday. I won't say her name to protect her identity!! BUT she asked me when I was going to get organized. I think she was talking about Studio B and when it was going to be finished. Not for a long time. However, I beg to differ on her thoughts about me being organized. I am a SUPER organized person. (for the most part). I know where almost every supply and piece of fabric is situated in both Studios. A few projects are AWOL at the moment because of all the shuffling around. So to answer her question - I AM organized. I just have a lot of stuff that still needs to be managed. Two different things!!!!


On that note, that's it for today.

Have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!!!

What's in a quilt magazine?

Yesterday, I had the best day ever! A totally relaxed day with a wee bit of quilt related stuff.  Actually, I had a few errands to run in the morning and then had lunch and spent the afternoon with Vivenda! We're in the process of tackling a Laura Heine (collage) pattern. While we did a little bit of work, we mostly chatted and then we were off to visit a quilt shop that I've never been to before.

The pattern has a collaged background but we wanted to do a different thing for our background. After much discussion, it was time to cut and see what we could come up with.

Vivenda cutting her background fabrics

While we had a lot of the same fabrics for the background, we also each had different ones that we shared. Then we drew up a "firm" plan of the background on a piece of paper, made a basic (more detailed) cutting plan and we were golden. Once we get the backgrounds together, we'll meet again and discuss how to put the bee together. I do love these quilts, but not her method. So we make it up!  Vivenda finished her giraffe - I have not! But since that was a quilt that I started this year and technically, I'm supposed to finish everything that I started - I'd better get busy!!!

This store (new to me) has been around for a couple of years. It's mere minutes from Vivenda's house and we decided to pop over to see if there was anything else we might like to add to the background. Oh my - I think we found four more fabrics. The more the merrier!!!

The shop is called Owl be Sewing (the name used to be Arts and Crafts for you). It's in a very neat little neighborhood. There's a long block that's built with shops on the ground floor and two floors above that where the owner can live. There's angled parking out front and it's really a quaint little neighborhood. Anyway - she does have an amazing selection of fabric in a small space and we happily took some of the fabric (and patterns) home with us!!!!

Owl be Sewing storefront in Brampton

If you haven't visited, then you should take a trip there.

As I mentioned the other day, I NEED to start going through those magazines. Me nagging my kid about stuff is like the kettle calling the pot black. So now that things are out in the open, I feel very ready to deal with it.

It's a hoot. I'm not going to share every magazine with you, but there are a couple of things that I thought were blog worthy.

McCall's magazine has been around for a long time. Oh - I should mention that I've been quilting since 1998, but at quilt shows or through "friends", I've acquired a bunch of magazines that were published before I even started to quilt.

This first lovely magazine called McCall's Country Quilting is copyright 1990. And I am the proud owner of not just one copy, but TWO copies of the same old magazine. Now how did that happen???? I almost died laughing when I saw that.

Not one, but TWO copies of the same magazine from 1990

Here's something to keep in mind if you're making a quilt for someone. Look at these old quilts. These are vintage quilts - each one is a two color quilt. But they are so classic that they do NOT look dated. Both are very appealing - at least to me.

Two color vintage quilts

Now have a look at this one. This is from fabrics in the 80's/90's era. Would you want that quilt on your bed today??

A quilt made with fabrics from the 80's/90's

I think the pattern would easily translate to today with that giant Dahlia, but the fabrics? Oh boy - they are dated. And that darn puffy batting that was all the rage back then. I think I'm actually grateful that I didn't quilt in that era. 

The cover of the magazine said "easy photo printing on fabric."  I opened to that page to find that you could buy cyanotype kits called The Blueprint Printables. Oh my - times have changed on the technology side as well. Yep - the patterns (even the squares) are cut with templates and scissors. I'm very glad that I didn't have to go through that! GIve me a rotary cutter any day!

Cyanotype photo printing

Keepsake Quilting was in existence (founded in 1986) and they were advertising their free catalog in the magazine. The shop remains open today (after passing through several different owners) and still offers the free catalog, although now you can view the entire thing online. I remember getting this catalog when I started to quilt and drooling over page after page of neat patterns, kits, and fabric.

Keepsake Quilting advertisement

And there's a buyer's guide on the last page of the magazine. Oh my - you have to send a SASE (I bet that the younger quilters have no idea what that is) for information and in one ad that was selling ribbon floss, the colors were listed by name! No picture. I wonder what color Mist Green was???

Anyway, those two magazines are now in the recycle bin. I had fun going through them. Did I learn anything? Yes - I learned that making quilts with trendy fabrics is RISKY!!!! But I love going through those old magazines. Good thing because there are a lot of them.

Here are two more that I went through. Both from McCall's. I think I had sorted all the McCall's into that first box to go through. One of these is from 1993 and the other is from 1988.

Two more dated magazines, one from 1993 and the other from 1988

I noticed that in the 1993 magazine that there were phone numbers which you could call for more information rather than requesting it by mail. That saves a wee bit of time. In an article on "care of fine textiles" (which basically said if you have trouble with stains of any kind, write her a letter and she would respond to each one. Good grief - why not put the information in the article? Anyway, the one thing that hasn't changed, she provides a recipe for removing stains. I'm going to copy it here for you. The article was written by Maryon Pittman Allen - the magazine is McCall's Needlework from December 1993.


"Here is my formula: fill up your washing machine or tub with hot water (heat is a must when removing stains) and pour in equal parts Dove Dishwashing Liquid and Clorox 2 Powder. The entire formula is heat + Dove Dishwashing Liquid + Clorox 2 powder + plenty of water + soaking, soaking, soaking + washing + rinsing, rinsing, rinsing at the same temperature you used for washing."

Not sure if we still have Dove Dishwashing Liquid around, but Dawn Dishwashing Liquid seems to be the go-to for stain removal today. So why don't they market that product as a stain remover???  Anyway - I thought it was funny that nothing has really changed in this area. Not sure about the heat part to remove a stain??  Any takers? Maryon was an expert on textile restoration. I say was - she could still be alive????

Irons were made by Norelco. You could get a Nancy's Notions catalog from the 1993 magazine. Jinny Beyer had already designed her iconic Eyelash fabric. I noticed it was used in one of the projects.

And what was it with all these baby bonnets???  Seriously??? Did people use them???  What do people use today?

Baby bonnets were a popular item!

Notice in the box to the right of that picture is an advertisement for the Quilt Festival in Houston! You could send a SASE for more information on the 2,500 quilts and 100 classes. What a hoot!!!!

Oh god - I also found a C&T book catalog and a Connecting Threads catalog - both from 2009.

Catalogs from 2009

Yes - all of the above magazines/catalogs are now in the recycling!!!!

After I got home from my little day trip, it was time to get back to work. Oh - we're still eating leftovers, but I had the last of the lentil soup for dinner. I think we'd better get the recipe from James and make up another batch with all the veggies still in the fridge. However since there are so many leftovers, no one has been the grocery store in days and there was no banana for my oatmeal. Oh well, a few chocolate covered almonds will suffice!!!  Oh god!! Well - I have 10 days left to eat badly and then I'm giving all the bad stuff up again. I see that I'm on the high end of my 5 pound buffer zone and I can feel the difference. Actually, it's not so much the weight that I can feel - it's the fat content. My pants just don't fit as well because of the happy little fat cells around my waist!  I'll be putting them in their place soon!!!!

After dinner, I was down to the studio to get something concrete done. The end of the year is fast approaching and I still have things to finish!!!! 

I had put the binding on this quilt earlier in the day, but it needed to have the sleeve hand stitched in place. I had to dig through those tubs of fabric from Northcott to find the matching fabrics. There were just scraps left from the backing and I used those to make a sleeve.

This is finish number 88 for the year.

Finish number 88

I know - isn't that exciting?? I can still make 100 finishes for the year. It's going to be a stretch, but not really as there is enough stuff sitting there that's so close to being finished. And I have a sewing day with Ronda planned for today. So lots should get done.

Look at me - I've emptied three spools in the last couple of days. 

Empty spools!!!!

I did have to clean off a spot for Ronda to sew today. Oh, shoot - I found two more small boxes of magazines. Those are now on the shelf. And there was this stack of books on the table. I bought these when I was in Houston. The price was a steal and I couldn't resist. I was going to pick them up at the publisher's location in Toronto, but on one of those crazy days when stuff was being delivered, the box arrived. Oh boy - how much did they charge me in shipping???  The box was very heavy! It wasn't that bad considering the books were a steal. Can you guess how much I paid for all these books?? They are all hardcover.

More new books to add to the bookcase!

I paid $162 US including shipping and tax. That's a good price even considering the shipping was $50 US.  The top book alone was $50 US. But buying more than 4, I got a very good deal. I love this type of book - coffee table kind of books. They're the best! Now to include those in the reading mix!

Speaking of reading, I finished TWO audiobooks in the last two days. Yikes! I'm getting very used to the audiobook thing.

Thanks to Shelly, I got my Cherrywood Challenge fabric bundle. They are NOT cheap to buy, but the cost of the bundle includes your registration fee to the challenge and all the shipping costs related to the challenge - well for them to ship the challenge back to you.

Cherrywood challenge bundle

 The thing is going to be to start NOW so that the piece will actually be ready by July 1. That's for the new year!!!!

And it even came in an orange bag!!!!   Thanks, Shelly for being my fabric mule!!!!!

Orange shopping bag

So much more to say and no time!!! 

Have a great day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

I have the BEST friends!!!

I know that I haven't met a lot of my readers, but I consider you all my friends! I get lovely comments/suggestions/ideas and I try to respond to them all.

I didn't respond to comments about the UPS issues. I don't send a lot of packages, never had a package get lost (I know - there's a first time for everything). I'm just not convinced that I need to pay $5 to have a signature. I might just continue on blind faith that when I get the confirmation that the package has arrived that in fact, it has arrived.  BTW - the #humboldtstrong quilts arrived on Friday - right on time.

I do have an update about the lug nuts. I was going to call the car dealer yesterday, but someone had suggested that I look in the space where the spare tire is stored. And guess what???  There was the white cloth bag with the lug nuts. PHEW - thank goodness I checked there first before I called. Thanks for that suggestion to whoever suggested it. They've always placed the bag beside the tires. FYI -  the lug nuts would NOT be attached to the winter tires as there are NO bolts on the tires themselves. It's the lug nuts that attach the tires to the car where the bolts are attached to whatever the thing is called that they are attached to. But thanks anyway!!!

And since you are all my best friends - if ever you want me to post something you've done or discovered - I'd love to do that (as long as it makes sense). My posts are totally random so I'm sure we could fit it in. Or you have a topic that you want me to explore? I love that and I love experimenting so bring it on!  Keep it sewing/quilting related of course!

I'm a collector of patterns. I won't say hoarder, but that adjective could be used. I've collected a number of Laura Heine patterns. She uses a collage technique on all of her designs. Now I could figure the technique out myself, but what's the fun in squirreling myself in the studio any more than I already do? I saw that there was a two-part class at Thimbles and Things (in Orillia). I asked at our last retreat if anyone was interested in the class. I got two takers. Vivenda and Sacha. We drove up together both times which was hilarious. Let's just say that what was said in the car, stays in the car, but we had some pretty good conversations. And of course, we solved the world's problems.

I hadn't had a lot of time to work on my project since the previous class, but I was determined to not arrive with NO work done. So there I was yesterday morning, busy as a bee slapping my collage together. Once I got started, it was pretty easy, but then I ran out of pieces that were prepped and time. My goal for the day was to get the entire image in one piece.

As I was cutting and browsing through my fabrics to "fussy cut" certain shapes for certain parts of the image, I was coming up empty. I searched the fabrics in the store, but there were certain fabrics that I was still missing. I had some maybes but nothing that jumped out at me. Then Vivenda pipes up that she has some flowers and would I like them?  OH MY GOD -- they were PERFECT. I could have lept over the table and hugged her but I thought that wouldn't be too mature. She had some amazing fabrics that added the perfect touches to my image. 

Do you want to see???

My collage giraffe

Notice the mane  That was from Vivenda's fabric. It was so PERFECT and I used some of her fabrics for the face and the eye.  I'm so happy with the piece. It's totally assembled which was my goal for yesterday. I just need to cut out a few other things (the grass) and then it's ready to be put on the background and then quilted. It could be done today if I wanted, but I don't have time.

Thanks, VIVENDA!!!!!!!   You're the best.  I did trade some pansy fabrics for her giraffe which you can see in the back leg. She hasn't trimmed the legs down yet so the giraffe looks like it has pants on. Those vibrant colors are STUNNING!!! I'm not sure which giraffe I like best. They're both amazing. Did you see the bows on the feet of Vivenda's giraffe!!!!  Nice job and can't wait to see it completed. 

Vivenda's giraffe

Sacha was working on the owl. I didn't get a picture of it, but she had more applique to do for the background and she was working on that.  I'll get a picture when she finishes it.

Seriously, it was totally fun to get out and do something with friends and how would I have ever found that perfect fabric if I'd done this myself??  Now I have a few other of Laura's patterns and I'm gung-ho to work on them. I just need to find the time. Remember, I'm not supposed to start anything that I can't finish this year. In preparing for the sit n sew tomorrow, there is so much there - most of the projects are half done or almost done. It's just a question of focusing as I'm working my butt off.  All in good time.

One of the patterns I need to write is written - it just needs to be formatted which I'm not good at, so I have a bit of learning to do. The blog posts are coming along just fine - a wee bit more sewing and all is good and there are quilts to be quilted. I can't let that slide. But here's my problem  - the remainder of the week is supposed to be amazing.  Oh no - how am I going to cope???  I've already thought that I can take the sewing machine to the gazebo which I might do on Friday (a laptop would be pretty handy, but I'm NOT moving the computer outside - too many wires and accessories) and if I had a video monitor that watched the long arm, I could manage that while I'm outside as well. Sewing of course, not reading - there's no time for reading this week.

While we were at Thimbles and Things, we found another class that coincides with the dates of our next retreat. I'm going to encourage some of the others to attend with me. So check out the classes at your local quilt shop/guild and even if you already know how to do the project, take the class anyway, but sign up with a friend. Seriously, we had so much fun over the last couple of classes - it was so worth it. Just be respectful of the teacher (which we were) and we had a good chat with her and with the store owner - getting all the scoop from Spring Market.

Shoot - I need to mention that the Quilt and Fibre Art Festival in the Waterloo area is happening this week as well. I really, really wanted to get to that, but I'm not sure that I'm going to have time. But check out the schedule - remember what I posted yesterday about the quilt shows. Make it a FUN time with friends, not something that you think you need to get your money's worth from. Keep an open mind and you'll have fun.

OH -- if you go all the way to Ailsa Craig, you may want to stop in at the Museum in St. Mary's. There a display of 47 SMALL quilts. They are 12" square. One of them is MINE!!!.  Here are the details.

Well, we have made it big, and have 47 small quilts to exhibit!  Thank you all so much for joining us in this venture.  I think you will be astounded and delighted at the interpretations of "Big and small".

Do come and enjoy the Grand Opening next Monday evening, May 14, from 6pm to 7.30pm at the St.Marys Museum, 177 Church St S, St.Marys. Friends and family are welcome.

Cadzow Park, where the Museum is situated, is a building site at the moment, but drive right up to the Museum and there is a small parking lot there. There is always street parking.

The show continues through until Saturday, June 9. The opening hours of the Museum are Monday to Friday, 9am to 12 noon, & 1pm to 4pm.  In June, it is also open on Saturday and Sunday, from 1pm to 4.30pm. Entrance is free, but there is a donations box.  The curators, Amy Cubberley and Bethany, are very helpful and always ready to answer questions.

On that note, I'm out of here to get something done today.  I've already been to spin class and I'm pumped!!!!   Also to note, strawberries on the oatmeal are NOT as good as the banana! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

It's like being in kindergarten

A quick comment about the keyboard. I'm used to using a laptop keyboard. There's a different touch of laptop keyboard compared to a stand-alone keyboard. I DID go shopping for a new keyboard a while back. I couldn't find anything that was BETTER than what I have and it was around Christmas time so I couldn't get a salesperson to chat with. BUT, I'm going to go again today. It's not so much that it's sticky, but it just doesn't work smoothly OR it could be me. Maybe I'm trying to type too fast? Some days the keyboard is totally fine - like this morning and other days, it's bad. So maybe it's just me and I have to just suck it up and rely on Grammarly to help me fix the mistakes?

While I have a ton of stuff to do, it's nice from time to time to take a class. I RARELY take a class with someone else. I'm a bad student. But a couple of us decided that we were going to take a class and yesterday was the day. Actually the first of two days. The next class is next week. We made Sacha drive and Vivenda and I (and Sacha) chatted all the way to Orillia!!!  We were a wee bit late for the class because of traffic. Let's just say that it felt totally weird to be at that store and not staying at the retreat house which is just around the corner.

There was NO way we could start the class immediately as we were like children in a candy store. Thimbles and Things is my ALL time favorite store. Sue (the owner) keeps up-to-date with all her stock - patterns, fabrics and other goodies. It's hard to walk away from that store without buying one, or two, or perhaps even three (or more) things. Sue wasn't there as she was on her way to Spring Market. Alas - I won't be going, but that's OK. I don't need to go and I have a ton of stuff to do. Besides, Sue will bring back all the good stuff and we'll get to see it next week at our second part of the class. No worries! She will unearth all the good stuff and I didn't have to take the time out of my schedule. Love that!!!

So what class were we taking?  Collage!!!!!   Laura Heine style. If you're not familiar with Laura's work, check out her website. And Sue had brought in some NEW patterns which we couldn't possibly leave in the shop. However, we did restrain ourselves so we would have a few things to buy next time we were there. We are so BAD!!!!

I've decided to use my Kaffe Fassett fabrics which have been sitting around forever to make my collage picture. Which pattern am I working on?  Oh - you'll have to stay tuned for that.

Cutting fabrics

 Actually, when we left, we told Jen that we were going to have several prepped for the next stage by next week. AH - the dreamers we are!!!!

OH MY GOD!!!!   This morning, I had to drop my car off for service to finally get the summer tires installed. That took an hour, just to drop off the car and get a ride back. BUT the Customer Service Rep, with whom I always deal with asked me if I had lost weight!!!   YES!!!  I was quite excited about that. Actually, I was at spin class this morning and cranked out my 30 K and I feel like a million bucks this morning. So nice to put clothes on and not have my body spill out where it isn't supposed to.

Anyway, back to the post.  In keeping with my daily handwork, I dug out the next block of embroidery. This is the one that I had to wash out and remark. The blue wash away pen had virtually disappeared or was such a mess of lines that I could no longer work on it. It was partially stitched so that presented a problem. 

The next block of embroidery

This time, I used a very thin permanent marker with my new light tablet which I'll show you another day. As I sat at the table last night and listened to my audio book, it was a breeze to stitch on those very visible lines. But they are NOT visible once I've stitched on them.

Going gangbusters on the stitching

 I believe this is block number six of ten blocks. It's the last large block, but even the small ones have lots of stitching on them. But the important thing - I'm going to focus on this. EVERYDAY!!! 

There's still a lot of marking to do in the center of the block, so maybe I'll work on that. Speaking of prepping, I did get the next 7 or 8 blocks (the red) cut for the 150 Canadian Women. I'm going to try and get it all cut out in the next couple of days. So much to do, so little time.

Now, this is a snob story. M used to work at Teavana which was in the nearby shopping mall. They have since gone out of business. But before they did and before she left, I bought a couple of canisters of loose tea. Spiced Apple Cider. Since I've given up Tim's, I've been making my own tea bags with the loose tea. I'm now through the first canister and there's one remaining.

Canister of Spiced Apple Cider (loose tea)

Notice that huge sticker on the side - 75% off?  Well, have a look at the price of that canister of tea. Yes - the regular price is almost EIGHTY dollars. That's crazy!!!  But I LOVE this tea.

Crazy price for tea

It was priced at $16 per 100 GRAMS which is insane. 

I have a couple of other canisters (smaller ones) of different flavors, but what am I going to do? I love this tea.  I suggested to M that I visit David's Tea and she said: "Oh if you want a lesser quality tea!" What a tea snob!!!  I know there is a new tea store at the mall and I might just check out both places and see what I can come up with. I still have a couple of months worth of tea here and lots of green tea so I'm not going to go short anytime soon, but I don't like change!  (Well most of the time).

That means I have to put keyboard and tea on my research list and see what I come up. 

Now that I'm way behind for the day, there's a pattern that I need to write today and then I have to hit the sewing machine this afternoon.

OH - I should tell you my UPS story. So I went yesterday to take that box of quilts. I had applied for a UPS card which would give me 10% off shipping. I found that out from a DIFFERENT UPS store than the one that I go to all the time. Why wouldn't he tell me???   Probably because he wanted to "keep" that 10% in sales.  And I'm already on my second UPS store in the neighbourhood. So I told him about that because I couldn't find the darn card yesterday before I left the house.  Would he give me the 10% discount?  NOPE!!!!   I was a bit ticked off. So you can be sure that I'm going through the stack of paper where that darn number is residing and will be presenting it the next time I go there.  Serioulsy, I showed him the e-mail I had received from UPS (welcoming me to their program). Not good enough.  Thanks a lot - UPS store!    I think I'm going to start checking the weight and size of the boxes before I go to the store. Somehow I don't trust them and this guy used to charge me $5 to get a signature on the other end without asking me. Now I know to say NO SIGNATURE. I should have brought the box home and shipped it today. The discount was worth $12!!!!

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a great day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

What goes on behind the scenes.........................

Oh there is so much that goes on that you have no clue about!  Sometimes I think I have no clue what is happening as well!

So much to share today - I have to laugh because I know there are bloggers out there that struggle each day to "talk" about something. I have no end of stuff to blog about.

Let's start with Monday. It was another great sewing day despite the fact that no one seemed to have gotten a good sleep the night before. We were all too excited?  I doubt that - while I like Monday's they are NOT that exciting. Oh who am I kidding!  They are exciting because you never know what is going to happen, you never know what show n tell you are going to see and the direction the conversation takes - well you just never know.  I am LOVING our new seating arrangement. It means that no one is left out of the conversations.   Thanks so much Karen!!!!!!

Joyce was buying this beautiful table runner from Joyce (yes - they are both Joyces!)  Anyway - the binding was not quite done and so Joyce on the left was finishing the binding so Joyce on the right could take it with her. Turns out Joyce was leaving sooner than Joyce expected. So literally the hand stitching got completed and it was GONE.

This is the OFFICIAL photograph, but

I like this one better - you see Joyce is getting ready to bolt out the door!!!!!

The table runner is beautiful. Good taste to both Joyces!!!!

Lynn was also doing some hand stitching and binding a quilt. This is a mystery quilt that I designed and it ran last year at one of the local guilds. 

Among other things I got these blocks sewn and trimmed!  I did get other stuff done, but not picture worthy yet!!!!

Yesterday was DECEMBER ONE. In our house that is a BIG DAY. Why?  Well - it is Advent Calendar day!!!!   And I had NOT prepared a thing. I had been thinking about the calendars for the last couple of days, but just had no time to get them out and "loaded".  I got home - pulled out the Christmas boxes (which was NOT an easy feat since the storage room is a bit jammed these days with quilting projects).  But the boxes were labelled and so it was an easy task to know what was where!!!!

Then off to the mall to get stuff to fill the calendars. Back home - and like a mad woman - I managed to get all EIGHT calendars up and functional before M came home from her internship.  Oh yes - I was running around the house like crazy since I put inspirational quotes in one of them and I had to find and print the quotes!!!!!

Opening up one of the advent calendars - this one had chocolates!!!!

This was easy - a piece of chalk (but I had to find the chalk). When I put it away - the chalk goes in a small bag taped to the back!!!!

This one took a bit more time - had to put up the garland on the staircase and then attach the string of stockings. I'll take a close up for tomorrow.  Then I put an inspirational quote in each one. 

The "loot" for day one including the little gift on the tree

See the quote?  I printed them on brown craft paper and then tore them off the page.  M LOVED it!!!!!

And after all that hard work of opening the advent calendars - one needs a bit of energy. Good grief !!!!

 On my way home I also had to stop at the library and there is always LOTS of books for sale. I always have a peek. Never to buy a book to read, but books to rip up!!!  Yesterday was a BONANZA day as I found FOUR books.

Four books - useful for collage

Perfect for collage!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then it was back home where I am about to give up on ever getting the studio back in shape.

Oh yes - it seems to get worse every day, not better. But I have TEN people coming for a workshop on Sunday.  I think I will have no choice but to tidy it up.  Hmmm - laundry baskets and IKEA bags - let's get them out and fill them. Whisk them into a corner and VOILA - that space will be clean!!!!

This past Sunday I went on an adventure. I have been curious about two things and I was able to satisfy my curiosity for both in ONE day. I had never been to The Workroom in Toronto. I think it started out as a sewing studio? They have classes on clothing and quilts. And beautiful quilting fabrics, books and other things. I had also been curious about The Modern Quilt Guild. Just so happens that The Workroom hosts the Toronto Chapter of The Modern Quilt Guild and the meeting was on Sunday afternoon.

WHOA - I walked into the store and I just about died. I don't think I have EVER seen so many people in a quilt store. The place was PACKED!!!!  There is a big table in the center of the room and people were madly at work - PIN BASTING a quilt.  I had to take pictures. (took them with my cell phone and I obviously didn't do a good job!)

PACKED store

Pin basting a quilt

The pin basted quilt

Burying threads on their charity quilt!!!

In addition to the people pin basting the quilt, and burying the threads on the charity quilt, there were people at ALL of the sewing machines in the store and they were working. There are two resident dogs in the store and I had no idea who worked there.  I browsed around and managed to scoop a couple of things.

One of the dogs - was so funny as the dog was resting its head on the shelf as it watched the people go by outside the store!!!

They sell COSMO thread - I LOVE IT!!!!!!

Fat quarters - beautiful fabrics!!!!   (Maria - the two on the top are the SAME as yours - just different colourway!)

And I got this as part of the festivities from The Modern Quilt Guild

I just thought it was very funny that they were burying threads from the quilting and pin basting a quilt!  Yet the girl whose quilt was being pin basted had TWO full sleeves of tattoos and tattoos on her neck.  It was weird. And I ran into someone that I knew many years ago at the Mississauga Quilter's Guild.  I didn't know her well but we recognized each other.

Anyway - once the quilt was out of the way - everyone sat around that big work table which was the same style of work table that we had when I was at Sheridan College and made me feel right at home.  I  took my knitting - that story is for another day.

The meeting was pretty loose which is OK. Not sure that I will be able to go back because of the timing of the meeting. Does anyone want to start a chapter of The Modern Quilt Guild here in the west of the city?????

But the most important link to be checking this week is QUILTSocial.  It is my turn to blog this week and it is all about free motion.   That links to the first day (Monday) and this link takes you to Tuesday post. Tuesday's post has VIDEO!!!!!

Let me tell you my video story. As you know - I bought a video camera a couple of weeks ago as Carla wanted us to try and put some video on the QUILTSocial blog. Then it was to find the time to learn how to use the darn camera. The other night I attempted to get my child to help take the video. Well she helped with some, but wasn't very receptive to the entire process. So I got the tripod out and set up the camera.

Video camera set up 

Notice that in order to get a good picture - there is NO ROOM for me to sit at the sewing machine!!!!!

You remember me complaining that you cannot find a video camera with a remote!  Well - it turns out that you can use your CELL PHONE as a remote. Seriously?????   Yep - M had found that out while watching an instructional video on the camera. Good thing we have teens who have time to play. I wasn't going to get any further help from her and I really wanted to get this video working.

I briefly read the instructions in the manual. I had to download an app to the cell phone. Then figure out which menu on the camera to use to link to the phone. And next thing I know - WHAT I WOULD NORMALLY SEE ON THE CAMERA VIEW FINDER is ON THE CELL PHONE!!!!!!

See - the viewfinder of the camera is NOW ON THE CELL PHONE

OK - I was running around the house pretty excited about that!!!!   Not only do I have my remote - but I have an incredibly awesome remote!!!!!   The other day I was shopping and saw small stands for your cell phone and I remember thinking "who needs that". Well I NEED ONE NOW!!!!!     So I set up the cell phone where I can easily reach and see it. The camera is set up. I squeeze between the camera and the sewing machine and I am MASTER OF my VIDEO CAMERA!!!!!!    I am so excited!!!!!  

Then it was quite another matter to get the actual video from the camera to the internet so it could be loaded on QUILTSocial.  Transferred the video to my phone. Then uploaded it to DROPBOX which seems to be a separate DROPBOX from the one that I use on my home computer. Must find a way to link them. Then sent an invitation to Carla so she could access the file.

The best part - I repeated that process this morning and it is so easy!!!!!   WOW!!!!!!!


So check out the videos - yes one of them got cut off - I have already redone it and it will be reloaded tomorrow.   Enjoy.  Hmmmm - what other things can I video tape??????  


On that note - I better get to work.

Have a great day!!!!!!!

Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!