What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 I have learned something about myself. Actually, I've known it for some time now. I can get up and work like mad all day. But if I have an interruption to my schedule, I'm a zombie for the rest of the day. Case in point, I had a trunk show yesterday morning, which went very well and was not far from home. Hello to all the members of the Busy Hands Quilt Guild in Cambridge. 

Then I got home in time to join the Monday Sewing Group for a bit, and well, instead of logging off at the ...

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 ...

Or should I say a very demanding quilt! Today's story is all about why it takes me so long to finish a project. 

You know that I'm working on the Enchanted Autumn quilt. It's a quilt I taught at The Hobby Horse in 2015 as one of our sew-a-longs. It's the last quilt on the UFO list for 2018, and I really want to get it done. 

Yesterday, I told you there was one block left, and well, that wasn't entirely true. That last block was done, but I didn't like it. 

Here's ...

I did little in the cleaning department yesterday. Too many other more exciting things, but I did some more laundry, and I'll share the story of a quilt tomorrow. 

Here's a couple of exciting things about applique. Yes  -- I'll share my progress on Enchanted Autumn later today. 

I'm notorious for keeping small bits of things. They WILL come in handy one day - I know they will! So I saved bits of fusible web, and one day, I sorted through my fusible web bits. All the larger pieces were stacked in the cupboard, and all the bits ...

It sucks to get old! For anyone with an aging parent or spouse, you know that the highlight of their days is the next appointment with a medical specialist! 

DH has three siblings, none of whom live remotely close to us, so the task of dealing with his MIL falls on him. He's been a wee bit busy these days, so I've had to help out. Yesterday, I had to take her to a specialist dentist to remove a broken tooth. That wee errand took almost FOUR hours! 

If my experience was typical, and I suspect it was ...

OK -- -so you are all way smarter than I am about my own stuff. I have a Shop-Vac! DUH!! So yes -- that set of black vacuum attachments belongs to that! Good grief  - that doesn't say much for me! I own too many things and do not use them often; one forgets what one has!

I'm happy to report that most floors are vacuumed and washed. A bit more furniture has to be moved before I can vacuum and wash the remainder. The cleaning lady is coming today, so she will vacuum and wash. I'll try to get ...

 Another fantastic day with the Monday sewing group. If you haven't joined an online sewing group yet, you're missing some great entertainment. We chat about everything and anything, and it's just a hoot. We help each other, solve problems and actually get some work done! I think Zoom sewing groups or groups of any kind will never go away. Imagine if a friend moves away - they can still be part of the group. People from all over the world can participate!

I'm playing catchup today with some photos sitting here and no time to post them ...

In all the years I've been posting to this blog, I've never had an issue with writer's block. How could I when my life is crazy? And it sure helps to look on the bright side of everything. I have behind-the-scenes issues and concerns just like everyone else, but I choose to keep them behind the scenes and keep their impact on my life small. 

I've so much to share today! First -- to catch up on those couple of photos I've been promising. Here's the first one - the keyboard situation. 

The missing window has been located! Yeah! I was so worried that the issue I uncovered back in June hadn't been rectified, but I was sure that I scoured that contract before shelling out the money. When I returned from the morning walk, the guys were already hard at work in the garage on the window that had initially been forgotten. Phew -- that means the contract should be OK. 

The missing window was in the warehouse, and it was a challenge to keep them all straight when they had so many windows! But we are good to go. 

All ...

So my morning hasn't gone quite as planned. I slept in - a LOT. I must STOP watching those darn baking shows as they keep me up later than usual, and I woke up in the night for a couple of hours. Hence, I'm tired this morning. 

I was a bit miffed because I thought my first presentation was at 10 AM, and I had some work to prep, but it's at 1 PM, so I'm good! However, I do have a quilt to quilt today and to pack for the retreat. 

We had a great time ...

What a fantastic Virtual Retreat!! I think I accomplished the most I've ever done, and I'm thrilled. We had people from the US, Germany, and across Canada. Loads of fun, and I'm so pleased to say that I've made new friends, and we get to check up on how people are doing in other parts of the world. It's way better than listening to the news! Thanks to everyone who attended. 

I also dug out my Brother Label Maker and two rolls of tape. As the girls said -- why "save" that tape for a better ...

 Who knew two weeks ago that I would actually get all that work done, and I would survive and even find a few spare moments to watch The Great British Bake Off? That Paul guy is pretty darn good-looking. And I must STOP thinking about baking something. Good grief -- what is happening to me? 

I still have two presentations today, a Facebook Live and one of my own classes tonight. The weekend will be entirely on Zoom, but I have minimal prep, so it's all fun stuff, and I can't wait!

There are still two weeks of "work ...

The week is progressing quite nicely. I had two presentations yesterday, and both were almost ready, so they took no time to finish up. Just that switch-a-roo with the sewing machines and the language of the software. 

But all was good. I'm in CONTROL!! 

I prepped as much as I could for the three reveal presentations this weekend. I did a wee bit of writing and paperwork, although more needs to be done this morning. And I NEED to get to the long arm. 

I'm also a slacker, and well, I couldn't help myself. I could watch ...

OH! While I still have deadlines, none of them are super urgent, and I let everything slide yesterday. There was a problem with that, though. I didn't know what to do! It was bizarre to be as free as that!

Don't worry - I made good use of my time. We had a super time during our Monday sewing session. Lots of fun and laughter, and I was entertained while working on the applique for my current UFO. I almost feel like I shouldn't share with you what happened. But I don't care -- here is what I ...

I had the best day ever! And then I had the most fantastic sleep. I will say that I almost didn't make dinner. I tried to get some computer work in before dinner, but I was fading fast due to my late-night reading the previous night. So I was in bed shortly after dinner and slept through the night! Yeah!

As you know, I'm doing some virtual walking challenges, and I follow the group on Facebook. Some fantastic stores get posted - how people have used the challenges to help them kick an addiction, lost weight, and got motivated ...

OH --- I had set a schedule for this post for tomorrow morning and forgot to take it off. Ooops!

 We had a good session with our UFO group this past weekend. So much is getting accomplished it's blowing my mind, and repeatedly, I hear that the only reason people finished something is that they committed to getting it done for the group!

I have to include myself in that group. I'm working on an applique quilt that I taught as a year-long class in 2015, and I don't seem to have gotten much of it done during ...

 Oh my gosh!!!!  A totally random question, but a good one. Who will play the duck? Thanks to someone for posting that on the blog yesterday. If you know what that means - well, then you are a fan of Louise Penny. I bet some ducks have agents! 

WOW -- yesterday was another amazing day. OK -- in the sleep department, it wasn't amazing, but who cares -- naps are always good! OK --  why won't my Fitbit sync this morning? I'll figure it out later. 

I had a super productive day, and then we had the Virtual Retreat from 6 - 9 ...

The porch was a hotspot yesterday! I should have taken a picture of the two bags of fabric that Diane picked up in the morning. Actually, that was an exchange as she left me this in place of the two bags. 

Completed quilt tops for community projects

I think there are six quilts in total in that basket. Yep - the basket is mine, in case you didn't figure that out. I sent it to Diane a while ago filled with fabric. 

Then I had someone pick up a quilt that I quilted for them. And they dropped off a ...

 WOW --- we had such a riot at the Virtual Retreat. As usual, they kept me up later than I normally do, and after sewing all day, I was exhausted. I had to FORCE myself to stay awake to finish up the last of my project. But so much fun and so much more interesting to sew with others than to sew alone. Thanks to everyone who stopped in to sew or just to say hi!!!

Over and over, I heard the same thing, "I got SO MUCH done!" And that was the same for me - just wait for it. 

But ...