What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 In case you don't know, I've been hosting Monday sewing for MANY years. It's probably something like 16 or 17 years. I'm the longest standing member, and Diane isn't far behind me. We've seen people come and go for lots of reasons. We almost had a coup d'etat, we've had deaths, births - actually, I think that's more grandchildren - I don't think anyone in our group has actually had a baby. We moved locations once and had to move on-line last year. Even when I went to work full-time for a ...

This past weekend, I taught a beginner class on the EQ8 software. Many of the students had just purchased their EQ8, some have dabbled in it for a bit, others hadn't touched it in a long time. It's one thing to take a class (most followed me as I went through the software), but quite another to design your own quilt. As I brought the class to a close, I gave them a homework assignment - design a block or a quilt. 

Well, this class has NOT disappointed me. I've been getting pictures of the homework since Sunday ...

 There is NOTHING like a sewing day. Even if it's getting together on-line. I have a feeling that with the colder weather not that far away, people are going to embrace Zoom (or whatever platform they are using) a whole lot more readily. No shoveling the car out of the snow, no wet boots, no frozen butt on a cold car seat (even with seat warmers!), no frozen hands. Oh yes - I'm going to love sewing in my space this winter with Zoom!

A lot got done yesterday and a good part of it happened while I sewed ...

Gosh --I love Zoom classes! We all get to sew, chat, ask questions, share our show and tell, eat a hot lunch (if we want), and well - it's just the best. We had another fantastic Monday sewing session via Zoom. I would feel so disconnected without that weekly get together as this sewing group has been in existence for many years. I'm going to say that it's been close to 20 years? Oh yes - it must be because M used to sleep under the cutting table on days that she came with me. 

The members have changed ...

Wow -- this month (like all the others) is marching on and waiting for no one. If we don't take advantage of today, well - it won't be there tomorrow! I try to take advantage of every minute, but don't worry - I do get some downtime in there. I actually picked up a REAL book yesterday. I had let three audiobooks expire without reading them. I just couldn't bear the thought of reading. And I certainly had not picked up a physical book to read in weeks.

Why? I bet it's because of all the time I ...

I couldn't help myself. When I got home from Monday sewing (I left early as I had things to do at home), I made my urgent phone calls and then I went into the backyard. It was such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist. I played ball with Murphy for a bit and Lexi and I hung out. But then it was time for ME. I dug out my favorite blue chair from the shed. I sat on the deck for a short while and then decided to move to the gazebo.

I know  - it's not even ...

I hate it when you wake up and then can't get back to sleep. Why is that? I tried reading - a novel and a non-fiction. Neither worked. I emptied my head of all the things that I need to get done this week by writing them done. That didn't work. I had a wee snack since I was a bit peckish. Petted the dogs. Finally, after a couple of hours, I went back to sleep, but that put my morning out of sorts.

Oh well - thankfully that doesn't happen every night as I'd go mad.

It ...

We've all had them - days that just do go wrong from the moment you get up. That seemed to be yesterday. However, that was yesterday, today is a brand new day and it's going to be a good day! Why? Because I'm going to make it a good day!

I didn't get as much done as I would have liked yesterday, but that's OK. I learned some lessons so, from that perspective, it was a good day.

One quick note about our Virtual Challenges. Ronda had mentioned that it would be nice if we could ...

I've been taking applique or embroidery to Monday sewing and frankly - I can't do it all day. I get bored and that makes me sleepy. I thought it might be the sitting all day but nope - it's the applique. Note to self - try to avoid ALL hand applique in the future! Unless the project is small. I have a couple more hand applique projects to finish and I might just switch to machine applique. I can do the prep there but stitch at home. Something to think about as I get stuff organized for 2020.

So for ...

While we did have a great time at the retreat, there were just a few issues that I needed to rant about. That's what these Monday sessions are all about. I had my rant and then I was fine - it was out of my system! Time to move on!

Just in case you think I was ranting about people, NOPE - I was mostly ranting about gadgets. How much money and time is spent on gadgets and less than informative YouTube videos? I get it that everyone wants a piece of the quilting industry pie, but we need to make ...

Ah - Monday - my favorite day of the week. It's our Monday sewing day and well, getting together with friends and enjoying a laugh (or two, or three, or - well you know what I mean) and getting a bit of stitching done at the same time. It doesn't get better than that.

I'm making progress on the current piece that I'm hand appliqueing. It's one of the big quilts that we did in our $25 class at The Hobby Horse in 2009!!!!  Yep - if I could clear up those quilts, I'd be laughing. So every ...