What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Oh my—what happened to yesterday? And now a brand new week starts! Did I get any sewing done? None! And quilting? None! 

So, while this decluttering is great, I have to learn to balance my time a bit, as I don't want to give up one for the other! 

Actually, a good/bad thing has happened because of this decluttering. I'm actually spending more time in the office on the computer! But I managed to get all the follow-ups completed and out the door yesterday. I have one document that I need to proof this morning before ...

Oh my --- I may have "wasted" some free time last week, and today will be a scramble to get all the stuff prepped for tomorrow morning! 

Yesterday was super productive, but I can't share anything yet with you. It was a good day, though, and I learned a ton. 

Let's chat about the UFO club. Despite the three-month hiatus since our last meeting, everyone stayed pretty productive, and lots and lots were accomplished. Few unhappy faces were handed out! 

I want to share this photo of one of the attendees' quilts with you. It was made by Linda ...

Today's post should be called EXIT Game excitement! We sat and mulled the darn puzzle over at dinner, and I was getting tired of it and wanted to leave it. DH continued to mull it over and then said something VERY IMPORTANT. We forgot a VERY VISUAL clue, and as soon as he mentioned it, finding the answer was easy! So, points to DH for solving that one. Hanging up the laundry was easy. 

We moved on to the next door. I was trying to print a quilt label as he mulled over the cards. What could it be ...

WOW -- I have no idea what has happened, but for the past three nights, I wake up at ridiculous o'clock even for me. Should I stay in bed and try to go back to sleep, or should I get up and do some work? I've opted for working, but I hate this because it "wrecks" my day. Well, not really, but I may or may not need a nap. 

So if you're getting e-mails at weird times from me -- don't worry! This morning was bad because I was thinking about a thread issue on someone's ...

 Yesterday was a busy day, and I was on Zoom for most of it. I can't imagine what my days would be like without it! Yes -- I could get together with friends locally, but I couldn't be with someone in Germany, Mexico, and various parts of Canada simultaneously! But with Zoom, I can! The friendships that have grown, the things we have shared -- well, it just can't be beaten! 

And some of them just can't get enough! I left the call at 9 PM, and there were still some diehards. The night owls, but where are ...

 Yesterday, it was all about getting things done! I think it was one of my most productive retreat days ever! And how did that happen? I seemed to spend a bit more time sewing and a little less time chatting! 

But I still got to chat with everyone, and I still say that I have the best friends and we have the BEST time at Virtual Retreat! It's nice to know that we can laugh and chat without physically being with each other! And we solve all the world's problems! If quilters ruled the world!

OH -- here's ...

I'm going to have to start blogging at night! I know some people like to read the blog over coffee or breakfast in the morning, and well -- I'm going to be late. Not too late, but it'll have to be short!

Why? Because I started reading a darn audiobook -- that's why! I started it yesterday - only 9 hours, but the darn thing is a page-turner (so to speak!). 

I listened with my big headphones on while I was out setting up the sprinkler, then I sat at the kitchen table while I waited 20 minutes to ...

The best-laid plans get thwarted by the weather! So we have NOT had a significant snowstorm all winter, and I've been quite happy to stay tucked in my house and not go anywhere - well, nowhere really to go, so the weather didn't matter. Then the DAY that I wanted to go somewhere and had planned to go somewhere, we got a massive snowstorm! 

OK -- I was tempted to venture out, and then common sense prevailed. Why should I go out NOW in rush hour traffic when I can wait a couple of hours, sew with my friends on ...

OK -- this is late. Nothing I can do about it and I also didn't go to spin class. That's what happens when you go out and don't get back until late. I was awake at the usual time, and then I said "are you kidding me?" and went back to sleep. I ignored my second alarm - that still wasn't enough sleep and so the blog is going to be late. 

One more UFO is OFF the list!!

I sewed the last binding on. This was very fussy to do and I had to redo the join ...

I LOVE all of you! And I truly appreciate your reading my blog, and I've received so many fantastic suggestions. Jan gave me a BRILLIANT suggestion for the two UFO Clubs. I will pick a project to work on in one of the UFO clubs, and the assignment for the second one will be to quilt and bind one of my quilts. That's BRILLIANT. I'm going to have to do that as soon, I'm going to run out of room in those tubs, and I really don't want to buy another one. 

Yippeee!!! I love ...

So no presents to wrap, but my goal is to WRAP up some UFOs before the end of this year. I'm running out of time. 

If I were a bit better at time management and focus, I'd be working on those UFOs a bit more often during the year and putting a push on to make that happen. 

However, in my defense, the quilt that I'm about to show you was a TON of work, and it wasn't really a UFO in the sense that any of it was done, and I needed to finish it ...

 A couple of observations before I start. I was up early (as usual) and off to the gym. I wanted to go, then I didn't want to, and finally, I just said - get your butt in gear and go! There are very few people at the gym at 5 AM. I walked for 2 KM on the treadmill, and to keep myself entertained, I turned on the TV. Good grief! Who can watch this stuff? I had the local news channel on, which would be the equivalent of CNN?? 

Anyway, the type of station that has people talking (I ...

Two more presentations under my belt for this week, and that leaves two for today. I'll stop talking about the internet connection since everything seems to be good! Yeah! 

I listened to a webinar last night from a library (Wheaton Public Library)somewhere in the US. How cool is that? Normally, I wouldn't have been able to attend this author event, but because of the wonderful world of COVID, I could. Boy - when things go back to normal, whatever that is, we are going to miss a whole lot of these kinds of events. The author was Mary ...

Another great day! Even when I went for my walk in the rain. It wasn't raining much, and I needed to get out. I wore my raincoat, and I was fine. 

I'm almost finished with the latest writing assignment. That will go out this morning after our walk, and then it's time to start all over again! But the end is in sight! And that warms my heart! I haven't been sewing as much as I'd like to and the next two weeks will be very busy with presentations, so I'll do what I ...

Oh my gosh - we had so much fun yesterday. Yes, I know that we were not in the same room, but we laughed, shared stories, shared show and tell, saw Mary's toy sewing machine collection, and well, a couple of other things that can't be shared - yet! And seriously, where else could we have so much fun with people from all over Ontario, Alberta, and Germany. That just wouldn't happen in real life. 

I love Zoom. And I'd be happy to keep Zooming for a long, long time. We even had a toast around 7 PM ...

Oh my goodness - do you want a good laugh?? 

I was so proud of myself for driving all the way to get a picture of that barn block. I sent them off to Sue at Thimbles and Things. Well, I got an e-mail last night to say that I had the right block, but the WRONG BARN!!!  That's hilarious!!! But it wasn't entirely my fault!

Sue did give us the address where the block they chose was on - Old Fort Road. I knew the name of the block, so I searched on the map by the block name ...

I don't know if I should say anything or if I should just pretend it was all a bad dream? 

The new modem arrived sometime after lunch. There was no knock on the door so I wasn't sure when it arrived. 

The new modem

I had a presentation at 3:00 PM - it was now 1:30 PM. Do I even dare to tempt fate???

I figured - there's no time like the present so I unwrapped the box and swapped out the old for the new. I  had passwords and such, but nothing happened. So I called ...

I want to thank everyone who has stopped by to pick up stuff that I no longer need or want. I had a quick visit with France yesterday as she stopped by to pick up some stuff. There'll be more, in bits and pieces as I unearth the unwanted things. And knowing that I can make quilts tops for Quilts of Valour or Project Linus from the fabrics that I don't need or want is so freeing. The more that goes in those piles, the more I want to get rid of - OK - within reason! HUGE thanks to ...

Whew -- another marathon of watching the Schoolhouse series from Quilt Market. That was another TWELVE hours of watching. And I watched pretty much all of it. There was some good, there was some bad, and I'm talking about technology and content. But overall, I'm happy that I sat through the series.

I'll share some of the great stuff that is coming. I understand that everyone is trying to find the next clever gadget, but I do NOT need a template to cut a square or a rectangle. Don't get me started! That's for another day ...

What can I say? It was another AMAZING day of fun and frivolity at the Virtual Sewing Retreat. As much as I LOVE going to the real retreat, the Virtual one has a totally different flavor, and we have people dropping in from all over. Nina from Germany was back, and we had Daphne join us from Vancouver Island. And then a lot of others joined in and out throughout the day. I finally had to "kick" them off the call way past the initially planned closing time! But that was OK -- it was loads of fun.

If you get ...