What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

It's an interesting retreat. Heck, all retreats are interesting, but they are always different. It's never the exact same group of people who attend. It's funny, as when I first started going to retreats almost 20 years ago, we were a set group of nine people, and we went together for years. Then things happened, and that group fell apart. Now, we have a larger group of people; it's never the same mix each time. That makes it interesting! 

How am I feeling? I'm pretty good. I'm realizing that I can't sit well ...

The last day of this section of the marathon! Then, after two days of mini madness, I'll be back on the road! If you live in Penticton, BC, or the area around, come out, as I have a great event planned. Then I'll be in Chilliwack and Surrey for more great events. If you live in those areas, check out the shops. Tom's Sewing Center is in Chilliwack and Surrey, and Black Rabbit is in Penticton! I'm going to make it!!

Here's a couple of observations before I share my photos with you. Is your ...

Yesterday was the complete opposite of the previous day. I accomplished lots, and I went to bed, exhausted but happy, after walking over 20,000 steps.

Quite a bit still needed to be put away, so I got out my audiobook and got to work. I also had to start packing for Quilt Canada in one week, so as I was sorting and putting away, I pulled out the samples I needed for that show. 

Stuff to put away

Of course, my faithful companion was right there with me, lying in the middle of the floor space. It doesn't ...

The saga of the jelly roll race quilt continues. I checked out the video, and YES, she has you join all the strips together (jelly roll race technique)and then cut the first length (non-jelly roll race technique). The next step makes me shudder: To make this quick, like the jelly roll race, she takes the remainder of the long strip and sews it onto the first cut length. And you continue to do so until you run out of fabric. 

That is a wonky quilt waiting to happen!

That first video was released five years ago and has 500 ...

Before I forget, here's the latest development on the Gordie Howe International Bridge: The gap is almost closed!! It's been fascinating to watch, and it will still be approximately one year before the bridge opens. 

Much has been happening here, and getting work done is hard! But I did. 

The quilt back is finished. Yes, I was short fabric by a smidge, so I added another piece. No big deal! That got rid of the remainder of a bolt of fabric. 

A quilt backing

This quilt is ...

The vertigo is better and seems only to affect me if I bend down. My world no longer spins behind closed eyes while lying in bed. But I need to watch some of the links/sources you are providing. It's one of those things—do I want to cut into my sewing time or watch the video? How silly of me! My health should be a priority!

OK—so I had some real sewing at the treat yesterday. I had gotten to a point on my QUILTsocial posts that I couldn't progress further without another tool, which I ...

By Jove -- I think we may have an answer to the comment situation for the blog. I'll go back and read the comments in greater depth. Thanks to everyone who commented, and I received some e-mails - I still need to look at those. 

We had Monday sewing, and I got stuff done, but not much. I'm not very productive on those Zoom calls. I can sew, or I can chat! I can't seem to do both. Part of the reason is I need to get my earbuds back working. Otherwise, no one can hear me if I ...

I'm curious about novelists - when they write their rough drafts - how rough are they? When I write a rough draft for my blog posts (not this one), they are ROUGH. The spelling mistakes, the grammar, the wild thoughts -- well, I dare not share that with anyone as it looks like a grade school student wrote it! I am very intrigued by the book-writing process - but I'm not there yet. And I wonder if I have the knowledge to write something longer than 2,500 words. 

I have another writing project that I really want to do. It's ...

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 ...

I've been whining about my cutting table and how I can't seem to get it completely clear. Well, I've been whittling away at it, and this is what it looks like. Well, I should say, this is what it looked like last night. It looks even better this morning. 

The cutting table

The nice thing is that's it now only ONE layer that covers it! I hope you notice how much of the cutting mats we can see! Not a bunch of stuff stacked up. I'm going to keep whittling away and try to get ...

Oh my gosh -- we had so much fun at the Facebook Live event last night. I hope you were able to join us. YES -- I know I need to smile ALL THE TIME. My face just looks awful if I don't smile, but you forget! Oh well - it is what it is! 

Almost ready to start!

If you missed the presentation live, you can go back and watch it and see the fun stuff that happened while we did the Spectrum Quilt A Long. 

I'm not sure why I was so busy in the past - now it seems ...

 OK -- I promise that tomorrow, I'll get started on all the homework photos. I have things to share with you from the Virtual Retreat. 

What fun we had! We got to meet Barb from Maryland!  Lots of familiar faces that stretched across the country and over to Germany. We discovered MANY things, including there's an imposter amongst us! That's all I'm going to say about it, except that we had a good laugh over it. 

We talked about everything and anything, including the FitBit and what it tracks and do they do anything with the data ...

I know we've all had those days. You have the best intentions, and you're fired up to get lots done. Then POOF! You need a mental health day! 

After I finished the writing assignment, I couldn't get myself motivated to do anything. I had to laugh, though, as I needed one last picture for the article, and I was going to take it outside. As I went to go outside, it had started to rain! So I had to wait! 

I wonder if my motivation had to do with going for a car ride. It was something ...

I was going to start the show and tell for Long Time Gone, but I have a couple of things to share with you. Then I'll start the show and tell tomorrow. There's too much to put in one day, so it'll span several days. 

Have you been out walking in your neighborhood lately? I've noticed two things that are springing up everywhere. Can you guess what they are?  

There are the FOR SALE or the SOLD signs. We've had a lot of that in our neighborhood. 

And there's the giant bin thing. 

Seriously ...

There are a lot of issues in the world. The biggest one right now is that the ENTIRE world is working its way through the pandemic. A lot of people are struggling with the stay-at-home order. It's a major inconvenience, to be sure, but it's not a hardship. I am extremely fortunate to live in a country where we have a pretty darn high standard of living and freedoms. Many of us have not lived through any kind of hardship. I wonder how society would cope if we actually suffered a major hardship?

I'm going to have ...

Have you ever taken a class and felt that it wasn't enough? You didn't get the confidence to do what you want to do, so you take another on the same subject? Yes, we all say (and it's often true) that we learn one more tidbit in that second class. But at what point is it enough and time to actually do something? 

I find the most often repeated class is free motion quilting. It amazes me how many people sign up for this class at their local store and then perhaps with another store or a ...

Oh my - I have the BEST friends in the world! And a lot of them showed up for the Virtual Retreat. We got to meet new people, we got to chat with people from Western Canada and many from Ontario and Germany. I want to thank EVERYONE who stopped by - I learned so much. And I honestly don't feel shut in at all. Yes - I get it that it's not the same as in person, but what is nice is that people change up each time and even throughout the day. That brings up all sorts of conversations ...

What a difference 24 hours can make. I snapped this photo when I was returning from our morning walk. I think there's a bit of a mixed message here. 

Let's get both meanings of Christmas in the same scene! 

The meaning of Christmas

I finished my last two presentations for the week yesterday. It's so much fun to chat with the ladies from across the country. I get to hear what's happening, and it sounds like Winnipeg is going to shut down starting Monday - similar rules to what we have in the Ontario hot spots. 

I just won't go there as I'm so frustrated with the entire picture. We went out to dinner last night. We were so far apart from other people, plexiglass between the booths, people wearing masks and handwashing - that it's crazy to think that ...

It was another great day! We had fun at our mini Sit and Sew. I call it a mini Sit and Sew because it's a very small group! And yesterday, it was just Lynn and me. We're trying to do our part about keeping our bubbles small. But it never fails; I seem to be in a whirlwind on every sew day. Or maybe I just notice it more because someone else is in the room. 

Murphy was having an issue in the backyard. She would NOT stop barking. I checked twice and couldn't see anything. But ...