What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Hello everyone!

As promised, I'm back to share the beautiful Portland Totes my super talented pattern testers created. I love how different these bags are, and how well they represent each of the maker's style.

Let's get to it, shall we?

I love this travel inspired bag sewn by the lovely Fani @faninoulika on IG. So sweet, and would definitely make a lovely handbag to be taken on trips.

Next ...

Hello lovelies,

I have a brand new bag pattern to share with you today! I hope you will like this Portland Tote as much as I do.

This bag design has been on my mind for a very, very long time so a few months ago I finally sewed it up and made a bag for myself (using Merchant and Mills dry oilskin for the exterior) . I've been using this bag every since and I couldn't be happier with it.

With its large front exterior pocket, zipper and slip pockets on the inside, as well as a main ...

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 ...

It was a challenging day yesterday! I had three Zoom sessions and the internet did not cooperate in some of them so I'll be calling my service provider yet again. At least, I have some knowledge of what the issue is to help those that are not trained enough to help fix the problem. 

Speaking of which, I learned a very valuable lesson. I had to give a demo of something that I'm not that familiar with and I had practiced but I wasn't that confident in the subject. It showed and I goofed! Oh boy - it ...

We had a great mini Sit n Sew yesterday. However, at one point during the day, I noticed that I got three e-mails in a row indicating that my reservation for the spin class next Wednesday had changed. I thought that was weird as it's never happened before. I went from bike number 11 to 25 (which I hate that bike because it wobbles - I had it last week), then to 41 and finally to 57. What's going on? 

After the others left, I realized that the class size for gyms in Ontario had been reduced to a ...

After learning the news about my dear friend (and former neighbor) who's currently going through chemotherapy for a recent lymphoma diagnosis all I could think of is "what can I do?" She lives in Oklahoma, so not only is distance a factor in feeling helpless, but my current state of worry over infecting someone with anything, (let alone a dreaded virus) when their immune system is wiped out is

After learning the news about my dear friend (and former neighbor) who's currently going through chemotherapy for a recent lymphoma diagnosis all I could think of is "what can I do?" She lives in Oklahoma, so not only is distance a factor in feeling helpless, but my current state of worry over infecting someone with anything, (let alone a dreaded virus) when their immune system is wiped out is

So you know that I have a crazy schedule. One for my "day" job and one for me. If it could be possible, the day job has exploded. The bookings for lectures are coming in so fast that I can barely keep up to the number. It's somewhere over 60 at this point. Thankfully, the bookings started slow so we could get a handle on the paperwork involved and for the most part, I think we have all the agendas in place and the samples worked out. 

I'll never be done making samples because that's how I ...

How cool is my new tote?

I just had to make a bag from the wonderful new Octopus fabric designed by Brandon Mably for Kaffe Fassett Collective.  

I wanted the lining to be from Kaffe Fassett fabrics too, and I was considering using the two fat quarters of black and white Onion Rings that I've got in my stash.  But I've got other plans for them, so I bought Good Vibrations in black in white (on the left above).  But then I thought it might be hard to find "stuff" in the bottom of the bag, so I ...

This project came from the book Reinvention, which I borrowed from the local library.

I was so excited to give it a try. I still have a lot of my father’s old jeans that my mother saved for years.  And, I am happy with the results.

BUT, it was not without trial.  I don’t know about the rest of the patterns in the book, but this one had numerous errors.  The measurements were off both in cutting directions and finished sizes of components in at least 4 places.

That is too bad, because it is a great idea ...

     That is what I got when I arrived home after cardiac rehab on Wednesday. A box from the company that sells the tote bags I have been using for my comfort quilt packages. When I opened it, all 13 bags left in their inventory were in the box. Hooray! They generously donated them to me!

OK -- so I'm totally spoiled and totally loving it. But yes - we're back at Fireside Retreat. With the whole pandemic thing going on, we had to move some dates around, and well, this retreat and the last one ended up being very close to each other. Couldn't be helped and well - I don't care.

We're a much smaller group than usual, so we're all spaced out in the house, and loving the extra room.

I wasn't sure if I was going to get everything into the car. Not that I had a lot ...

     The comfort quilts that I make and give on referrals are put into tote bags which hold the quilt, book, card, and pocket quilts. The quilt is washed, dried, put into the tote and the whole bag goes into a XL ziploc bag to keep it clean and fresh.
     A few years ago, someone gave me about 25 bags that are a vinyl canvas with side pockets that I have successfully used. The company went out of business, and I got the totes. I sewed a quilt block pocket over the logo pocket and that is where I put the ...

If you've been following the blog the last couple of days, you've probably seen The Crafty Bear! No - it's not a person - it's FABRIC. You can see on the selvage that it was designed by Debbie Mumm. Yes - it definitely has a Debbie Mumm feel. It was made for Jo-Ann Fabrics. The year? It's not on the single selvage piece that I have, but it's been a while!  If you don't believe me, go to her web site, and it almost feels like that crafty bear fabric is on the front page.

Designed ...

H MY GOD -- we had so much fun yesterday at the Virtual Sewing Retreat. Fran from Sudbury poped in, Mary from Scarborough, Carol from Parry Sound, Susan from London, and many others more local and are too numerous to mention. Sorry!!!  But what a fun time. OK - so I didn't get a lot of sewing done, and I'm perfectly OK with that. 

It was great to actually have a NORMAL conversation with a group. I love it!!!!

We got to see other people's sewing rooms, projects, pets, and a whole lot of stuff. We got to sew ...

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I love hosting the Virtual Retreat!!!  Now that my commitments are out of the way, I can actually enjoy the entire day!!!

I finished the editing and presentation prepping in the early morning. When I did start the retreat at 9 AM, it was to get the binding and the sleeve on the magazine quilt.

The quilt got packed in a box, and then I went to print the labels for shipping the box. Oh, boy - that was an experience. It's super easy to put all the information into the online form, but when I went to ...

ownMy apologies to whoever tried to dial into the Zoom call last night after 8 PM. No one had been on for a while, and I decided to nip out for a walk! I shall be ending the calls at 8 PM just so I can get that walk in. I should have thought about that when I did my planning. I'm averaging 6 miles these days, and so I'm going to have to make up some time when this week is over. Also, the heat didn't help, as I wasn't walking the dogs in the ...

When I refer to Tick Tock, I don't mean the program/app or whatever it is that people are watching these days. That's so funny as I used to be a TV junkie. I watched hours of TV every day. All the reality shows, comedy shows, and talent shows. I was addicted to the darn thing. Now there are all these subscription services and streaming services, and I have NO clue about any of them. New shows? Talent? Trends? No clue.

And you know what? I'm perfectly OK with that. I do watch some stuff on You-Tube ...