What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

With the weather turning decidedly toward winter, this past week was a good one for hunkering down and doing things inside. I got my fall decor put away, and all the Christmas decor is now up. I have my Santa collection displayed on the Victorian corner shelf next to the tree. The tree has been trimmed to the max, and I still have ornaments in the storage chest that won’t really fit on it – unless I hang them on the backside against the wall which doesn’t make a lot of sense. I was surprised one morning this past ...

Last year I made this little table mat for the side table next to my chair. This year, I converted it to a mini-quilt so I could put it on the Mini Quilt Stand and enjoy it more. It says “I just want to bake stuff and watch Christmas movies”, so that was the order of the day. I put on my favorite movie for the day after Thanksgiving, Miracle on 34th St (1947 edition). Do you love this movie? I thought it would be fun to do a trivia contest for you to torture entertain your family/friends this ...

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I had a very nice day, cooking turkey so the house smelled like Thanksgiving, dressing with a rich gravy, and jellied cranberry sauce right out of the can. Once again, I decided to experiment with another method of cooking the turkey, and I’ll share that with you soon. Sewing time this week made for a good bit of progress on several projects. I found a MINI logo on the internet for my embroidery machine, and I wanted to use it for a project for the upcoming silent auction to benefit Manna ...

There is a bit of good news. I managed to get about 5 hours of sleep (with no drugs) - well, I had taken a Celebrex earlier in the afternoon. I felt much better than the previous day when I slept less. It helped that I was able to get 50 minutes of naptime once I came back from walking the dogs. 

The worst part of the day is getting out of bed and waiting for that morning walk. Yes -- I could walk when I get up, but at 3 AM? A little bit of stretching, a little bit of muscle ...

As you know, I was very frustrated yesterday by the earbud situation. My voice kept cutting out on calls, the earbud mic dropped, and I could not move around and chat. 

I mentioned that frustration on my first call yesterday morning. I think there were ten people on that call, and can you believe that THREE of the people on that call have something different than earbuds? They are using what's called open-ear technology from a company called Shokz. Three people—that was amazing! 

Here's a picture of what they look like. 

Open earbuds

Time to sew this week is nice. I decided to start with a quick project in fall colors as a warm up project. I saw this pattern at my local quilt shop and had to get it. This wonderful stripe fabric is left over from last year’s fabric feature by Benartex, the line is Harvest Festival, but sadly is out of print. Still, this quick runner can be made with any stripe design. The pattern is Easy Striped Table Runner by Karen Montgomery, available in her Etsy Store HERE (no affiliation but the pattern is on sale now until ...

It was a busy day, but I don't have much to show for it! Unless you want to watch the video of our digital cutter class. Last year, the session was one hour, which never seemed enough. This year, I added 15 minutes. Yesterday, we went almost 30 minutes over that, and I have prided myself on NOT doing that in the past! Sigh!!!! 

But the information and the participation are amazing, so I don't want to NOT do it! It's not that I'm UNAWARE of going over. I'm very aware - I'll have to ...

I didn't think I was going to make it this morning! I mean getting my presentations ready. I went to bed relatively late for me, but I got up when the PILL alarm rang! I notice that's my last one, so I must go to the drugstore to get more. 

But the presentations are ready. Yesterday, I wondered if I had enough content for one of them, but after putting all the pictures together, I wonder if I'll get a chance to talk! This whole business of sharing in the Zoom format is fantastic, and I've ...

Gosh -- it's hard to believe that 24 years ago, we were all watching the New Year ring in in Sydney, Australia. Everyone was expecting the world to start ending as the computers couldn't handle the switch from 1999 to 2000. Now, here we are 24 years later, and all is well. But if the "experts" were that shortsighted for "small" detail, imagine how many more things are being ignored - like the disposal of batteries for electric cars! But I won't go there!

I want to apologize to those who came to the Zoom call yesterday, and I ...

No naps yesterday! And I did not go to spin class this morning. I'm trying to ensure there are no relapses on this bug that I had. The prognosis is good. I had a slow-down week, but not a dead week! I can work around that, but this week will be super busy, and if I need to nap - well, I nap! 

What happens at Virtual Retreat stays at Virtual Retreat, but I will say one thing! We had a blast, and we had some conversations about some pretty serious subjects. It was an eye-opener for me, and with ...

Can I possibly have had another lazy day? Well, it was not so much being lazy as I didn't get much done except visiting! 

However, I must say that we had two Zoom sessions in the morning - one on EQ8 and one on digital cutters - both were continuations of classes before our summer break, which seemed to never end! 

It was great to see everyone, and it was great to get back to what we love to do! But I seemed to run out of steam after, and we ran late with the digital cutters. Then it was into ...

Again --- thanks so much for the comments! I need some quiet time to digest them, and I've put myself in a bit of a bind this morning for time. 

I got up at the right time but didn't realize that I booked a bike in spin class, and I hate to miss it, but I don't have time. I'm going, but only for half, as I still have a few things to do before leaving for the retreat. 

We had loads of fun at the Virtual Retreat. However, I was a bit "out of it" as ...

I laughed when I read the comment about the sofa and the dog. We are NOT trying to keep Lexi off the sofa. I already put a blanket, which used to be in one of the dog beds, on the sofa. I don't want her to think she's entitled to sleep there 100% of the time. She needs to learn that there are rules in the house. We've already broken the one about being on the sofa, and those tables were for Murphy, not Lexi!

Lexi was too skittish to even think of jumping on the sofa ...

 OK --- so how many of you are saving the "good" stuff for a special day? Don't use the good china - that's for a special day? Or the linens, the new shirt, or whatever item you save for a special day?

I hear so many stories of people going into their parent's home to clean it out and finding so many items that are brand new and were being saved for a special day. A friend gave some nice embroidered kitchen towels to some friends, and they all said they were too nice to be used daily. So ...

I need to catch up on answering comments, and I said I would stay up to date! Maybe this coming week when things are quieter. DO NOT laugh -- I'm away at a quilting retreat, and it better be quiet! 

But let's just say that I'm behind. The presentations are done for this morning, but I'm hosting a Virtual Retreat all afternoon and evening, and I'm supposed to finish prepping to go away. I'll have to leave for a few hours to finish a few things. That is my fault for not planning better. 

And ...

What a great Christmas Eve we had! I wasn't sure how many would be able to make the Zoom call, but because of the crazy weather, a few showed up because their plans had changed. Family members got caught in the highway shutdowns and had to make some crazy detours, and we all cheered when they got home! As usual, I went to bed, and some were still on the call. 

Sorry -- I'm tired and need my sleep! 

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope your day goes as planned! I bought tickets to the movie, and that'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 ...

The stocking are hung! Interpreted into my world, that means that all three presentations for this morning are done! Well, until some of the missing photos come, and then I'll have to add them. Let's say that, for my part -- I'm done! It's an exciting show and tell to finish off the year. 

Yes -- speaking of the show and tell, I've been very lax in showing off what the students have been working on, and I'll remedy that this week. 

But -- someone suggested the Buy Nothing groups on Facebook. OMG -- I want to get ...

Oh, shoot -- I forgot to get a picture of the under-the-desk drawer situation. Something to look forward to tomorrow!

More great classes yesterday on using pre-cuts and scraps. I've got my share of pre-cuts, and I need to use them up! The class (hosted by The Hobby Horse) runs until June, and if you didn't sign up, I think you missed the boat. The discussions we've had so far have made me WANT to use these things up, and I'm getting ideas on what to do with the pre-cuts. So this is what I'm tackling ...

The weather is perfect these days, although I wish it would rain every night. Things are so dry, but it's beautiful to have the windows open all day and night. The humidity levels are extremely low or non-existent. 

I started the Virtual Retreat two hours later, although technically, anyone could have joined, and I was off for a bike ride. I wasn't sure what route I was going to take, and I usually make a big circuit, so at any point, I could have turned right and made the trip as short or as long as I wanted ...