In the Dark (or how to entertain five longarm quilters when the hydro goes out)

 Retreat is half about socializing and half about productivity.  I was plugging away and got the braid border finished for a Round Robin.

I finished the Block of the Month for the Binbrook guild (two blocks, really).

I also finished a sample block to see if my instructions were workable, for the house block swap group:

We were enjoying ourselves in the afternoon sunshine:

When all of a sudden - POOF!  NO HYDRO!

We looked at this for a while:

Then, we decided that since my laptop was charged up I could show them my pics from Birmingham Quilt Festival.  EXCEPT...(there's always a "but", right???) the laptop wasn't charged up - it was down to 25% because I'd left it turned on.😖  However, fearless leader Diane had brought a power pack with a zillion cords, so we plugged the laptop into the power pack and were back in business.  That lasted for quite a while, until the laptop swore and walked out, like a bad loser.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  By now it was dark and we had to entertain ourselves like the little 12-year-olds we are at heart. 

We could have given up and gone to bed early, but... WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!

There are a few Jays fans in the group and there was a game on, that couldn't be watched.  But also couldn't be missed.  More technology brilliance - hotspotting from a phone to a tablet got the girls a watchable screen until the bitter end.

Supper never happened because the hydro was out until 2 am.  We had sandwiches from Monday's leftover salmon using the rye bread that was intended for the ruben sandwiches that were supposed to be supper.  We finished it off with cheesecake, which has the magic ability to shut up anyone who was thinking about complaining. 

Newsy 2021 Post

Santa brought me a new tablet so I've been having my perpetual challenge with technology, trying to transfer over all my "stuff".  Today's project is DROPBOX, setting up the auto transfer of all photos from the tablet to the cloud, and from there I transfer them to the desktop.  The desktop has folders for each month of the year, and folders for my personal quilts, trips, special events, guilds, etc.  This kind of filing system is the easiest way for me to locate items, although I must admit I've had the occasional "oopsy" where I've moved something inadvertently and then not been able to figure out where I sent it.  I didn't want to do a blog post until I had this project finished...why?  I don't know.  Just because.

This was my New Years Day Sewing Marathon project, a Block of the Month from the Binbrook Guild 2017/18.  Each pattern was made twice using the opposite colours.  That was a fun exercise.  I had 16 blocks complete but I wanted four more to give the quilt a rectangular shape, so I pulled two of the block patterns and made them again with different colours.

Apparently I cannot follow graphic instructions which resulted in a NEW BLOCK.  lol... 

Normally Janice comes over and spends the day with me, sewing and (ahem) drinking and having dinner.  Sadly, covid made that not possible so I had to sew & drink alone.  Hubby had dinner with me, thankfully.

Within a week I had the blocks together into a top, and here it sits waiting for borders.

Major news event from 2021 that will remain burned in our memories for a long, long time include the insurrrection on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol.  Egged on by Donald Trump, thugs broke in and disrupted ("disrupted" is a very weak word to explain what happened) the vote count that cemented Joe Biden's win of the presidency.  Worries that the actual inauguration on the 21st would be also be disrupted were, thankfully, unfounded.

2021 CHALLENGES

Me, personally, I have perhaps foolishly, joined a few challenge groups again this year.

• Lose five pounds.  Last year my goal was TEN pounds and that turned into a major fail.  Overall I was ok with my fail, because so many people struggled with weight GAINS during the pandemic, and staying on track prevented that from happening to me.  Year over year I was only down 0.6 lbs., so not even one full pound was lost.  And my sanity was saved by the distractions and deliciousness of the breads, cakes, pies, crostatas, rolls, and creamy cheesy casseroles.
• Get rid of 2021 things in 2021.  Unbeknownst to me, DH had already started thinning his  many many piles of collections and saved items.  For example, we have, I think, three broken office chairs in the basement.  Why?  Oh, Helen, don't go down that rabbit hole.  Not today.  Yesterday I put cardboard box #1 just outside of my workroom doorway so as I find things for the Goodwill I can easily add them to the box.  Coincidentally there is a whiteboard on the wall there too, so we can track our progress.  Items counted will be thrown away, given away, and donated.  At the moment the filled cardboard box won't be able to go anywhere because Ontario is still under STAY-AT-HOME orders.  But someday...
• Stash reduction of 50 m.  Last year my target was also 50 m. and it was easy-peasy, especially with all the covid lockdowns.  How's a girl supposed to shop?  Last year my total year over year was down 108.5 m.  I anticipate no difficulty with this challenge, at all.

Next Sunday is the Superbowl.  

Quilters' Math:  tv football = piecing & cocktails

I have not yet settled on a project but it may be a small quilt using two charm paks from Missouri Star Quilt Company that I bought in 2017.  These are pretty pastel florals by Moda.  I need to drag the card table & sewing machine up in front of the tv so I don't miss any of the commercials.  Supper might be nachos using the corn chips that were in a Christmas gift basket.

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLDWIDE:  98.983 million cases, 2.12 million deaths, 600,790 new cases yesterday

USA:   25 million cases, 417,000 deaths, 168,000 new yesterday

CANADA: 746,000 cases, 19,065 deaths, 5,965 new yesterday

ONTARIO: 257,000 cases, 5,764 deaths, 2,417 new yesterday  (3,555 on Jan. 11th was the highest, so our numbers are finally dropping!  The current stay-at-home order is in effect until Feb. 11th at the moment.  I expect it will be extended.  My understanding is the daily average cases need to go below 1,000 before the order will be lifted.

HAMILTON:  8,611 cases, 232 deaths, 71 new yesterday

Tobermory Retreat Recap & Technology Mixed With Idiots & Scammers

I abandoned hubby for six days - he and the dog were feeding each other kibbles and bits for a week.  Although, a friend took pity on him and had him over for a roast beef dinner mid-week so he didn't starve.

I played THREAD CHICKEN and won.

The railing with completed projects.  This is always such a satisfying pic!  Debbie definitely took the prize this year - completing all those wee monthly quilts.  So cute.

Of course, cocktails.

I work on my Double Wedding Ring for one day every year.  The Tobermory cottage is a great space for it.  This year, to my horror, I discovered that I used bad math when I had the pieces cut several years ago by a quilting buddy, using her GO die cutter.  The quilting buddy has fallen off the face of the earth, and of course I no longer have any of that white fabric.  (Non-quilters may not realize that there are a zillion different fabric versions of white, so yes, this will show in the end.)  I threw in the towel around 3:00, poured a glass of wine and curled up on the couch with a book, nursing my angst.

This is the top I pieced, I managed to get it quilted and bound this week.  So girly.  I used up lots of strips that I have been collecting through the Strippers Club at the Caledonia Guild.

Now we wait until Winterruption for our first retreat of 2020.

TECHNOLOGY MIXED WITH IDIOTS & SCAMMERS

Dear God.  Did you see this story?

Attempted sextortion leads to call for stricter phone porting rules

I do feel great sympathy for the idiot.  His cell phone number was stolen.  Once the scammer accomplished that, he gained access to the idiot's emails, personal files, credit cards, and (of course) his personal sex tapes.
Why do men think they need to make sex tapes of themselves and their partners?  Why does ANYONE think they need to have nudie photos of themselves and/or their partners on their phones?  Do they get bored while they're standing in line at Starbucks and think "hmm, maybe I'll pull up one of my sex tapes and jerk off while I'm waiting for my Grande Mocha Latte"?  Or, in a boring meeting at the office do they decide to get the conversation started by showing pics of their former girlfriend's boobs?  Seriously.  Get a life, idiots.
This fella has admittedly compromised his own reputation, but Dear God, also the poor people who were intimate with him.  They will be on pins & needles for the rest of their lives, wondering if and when their pics/videos will be shared all over the web.

Not that anyone cares what I think... but my suggestion would be that you don't take photos and keep them on your cell phone or send them up to the cloud.  Really.  Simple.

The Garden, Technology, Book Recommendation, Zucchini Report

THE GARDEN

At this point, the GARLIC is the most prolific crop.  The large heads are from my planned & intentionally planted bed.  The small heads are all volunteers.  Every year I think... no I mean I hope I have managed to cull all that stuff, and every year I find that well, I guess I missed a bunch.

What will I do with all that garlic?

• I'll save a few of the large heads as seed stock and replant it in the fall.  
• Some will be used for PESTO which will go in the freezer in 1/4 cup portions.  
• Some will stay as dried garlic to be used as needed.  
• The balance will get chopped up in one of the kitchen whizzers along with olive oil.  That will go into jars in the freezer and be used when we need chopped garlic for anything (stir fry, pasta sauce, salad dressing, etc).  You need to plan a little bit ahead of time and remove the container about an hour early so it softens up enough to dig out what you need, then put it back in the freezer.  Alternatively you can use an ice tray and freeze small portions, then pop the cubes out and toss them in a container.

TECHNOLOGY

Pretty much everyone I know has a tablet of some sort, whether it's an I-Pad or an Android device.  Me, I'm an Android girl.  My nephew 1-800-LUKE 💓 got me on Android many years ago and I'm loath to change.
Anyhow... everyone also has a cover for their tablet so they can prop it up, which facilitates ignoring their dinner companion(s) as they either peruse Facebook, read a riveting book during mealtime, or ruin their meal by reading the news.

My cool little cover includes a removable keyboard.

It sticks to the flippy cover-thing with magnets, which are embedded in the cover-thingy, and in the back of the keyboard.

Sadly, though, my keyboard magnets, which sit inside a little divot, are no longer glued.  They float around underneath the backing.  This is VERY irritating because the keyboard does not stick very well, AND since they've escaped from their divots the added bulk prevents the flap closure from securely closing the cover.

I had a little discussion with DH about my dilemma.  I know the guy has many many versions of glue, so I managed to convince him to find a bottle of Gorilla Glue in his cluttered workroom/garage.  My project today will be to slice open the backing, affix those magnets in their respective divots with the glue, then close up the backing and glue the slits closed.  (note to self:  make those slices where you can glue them closed without impeding the magnets!)

Speaking of books, I just finished a trilogy.  If you like distopian novels, and/or stories about pandemics, this was really good, by Megan Crewe. LINK  I don't think anything will ever top Margaret Atwood's MADDADDAM trilogy, but it was good nevertheless.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

No, the situation has not improved.
Picked this week:  4
Picked YTD:  11

Hallowe'en In January/To-Do List/Technology Whining

Because I'm someone who has three Christmas quilts, two sets of Christmas pillowcases, two sets of Christmas placemats, and a set of Christmas napkins, I TOTALLY understand someone's desire to celebrate the seasons with themed quilts.
So cute. 🎃

I used a medium grey thread and quilted a design of bats.

The back is the best place to see the design.

As far as my Winter Holiday To-Do List progress, it's kind of stalled.  The drapery panels and the linings are all cut.  The decorator fabric has been hemmed.  The lining hems are pinned but not stitched.  I dug around in the cobwebby recesses of storage where I keep drapery sundries to discover that I don't have any drapery weights.  That means I either have to go to the fabric shop, or I have to ask DH if he has any stainless steel washers about 1" in size.  I also have 2 custom quilts and 1 panto that I want to finish before the end of the week, along with a dentist appointment and two guild meetings.  So my time this coming week is all accounted for.  Maybe I'll get back to the drapes next weekend.

TECHNOLOGY WHINING
I left the Royal Bank in 1998 and started this little home business, which has been working really well for me.  My darling brother wanted me to be efficient, so he gave me (Christmas present, maybe?) a copy of Money 98 so I could do my bookkeeping.  This was back in 1998.  I've been using that program ever since - if it ain't broke, don't fix it - right? So...I needed to look for something yesterday and tried to open the software.  Fuddle Duddle!! 

I am assuming there is a 20 year something-kind-of-deadline which expired on December 31, 2018.  Even though I've backed up my files religiously, and I have 75% of my bookkeeping already input for 2018, I can't get at it.  Now, my project (because the Universe thinks I NEED a project) will be to see if there's some kind of upgrade available from Microsoft, or if I'm chewed, screwed, and tattooed.  It is also possible (but not likely) that the Windows Update that needs to be downloaded will fix this problem.  What do you think the chances are, hmm?

Zentangle Workshop and To-Do List Update

I joined the Ancaster Modern Quilt Guild, partly because I know some of the members, and partly because they seem to have a pretty vibrant program.  Last Saturday I attended a Zentangle Workshop hosted by them, presented by Kim Mastromartino.  You can find her on Facebook as The Inspired Quilter.

Here's some of the little cards we were working on...

Here's my same card after I (maybe?) finished it.  The class was lots of fun AND INSPIRING.  Which we all need, especially in January.  Right?

TO-DO LIST
Yep.  Knocked another item off my list.  The mending & hemming item - complete.

My plan for today was to start the drapes, however that was slightly interrupted by ... oh, let's call it TECHNOLOGY. This is how my day has progressed so far:

• 7 am, go for a pee then crawl back into bed.
• 8 am, try to shut off the alarm before it wakes DH up, but inadvertently turn the radio on.  Oops.  Sorry.  Get up.  Let Sadie out of her crate and give her a morning massage.  Lucky dog.
• 8:03, take my morning pills and head out with Sadie for a pyjama walk.  She's recovering from knee surgery back in November, so in the morning she gets a massage, Range Of Motion exercises, and then a short walk.  Usually it's DH who takes her, but sometimes it's me - jammies & housecoat, yoga pants, ear muffs & winter coat.  It's surprisingly refreshing.  And I really Do.Not.Care. if people call me the weird old woman out in her pyjamas.
• 8:30, coffee & internet - read the forums, check the news, decide to investigate the KETO diet, and message on/off/on/off/on/off...etc. with the Beach Girls.  Discuss diets with them and pretend I have no idea what they're talking about when they mention the number of calories in alcohol.
• 10:00, beg DH to go get us breakfast from McDonalds.  Continue internetting & messaging while waiting on food.  Decide that KETO is never going to happen in this house.  DH would not eat 90% of the required foods.  Salmon?  Avocado?  ZUCCHINI?!**?!
• 11:00, breakfast is finished, go down to the "real" computer.  Search out "low carb diet", print out recipes that have a slim chance of passing muster.  (ha ha - "slim" chance - get it?)  Let's face it - if we're going to continue having McDonalds for breakfast we need to cut down somewhere else.
• 1:45, finish and send the letter of concern to one of my sales reps - yeah, I'm not particularly happy about something.
• 2:30, update the Caledonia guild blog after having gone through the photos I took at the January meeting.
• 2:45, start working on my blog.

Did you notice anywhere in that timetable a place where I mentioned "brush teeth" or "get washed" or "put on real clothes"?  So, here it is, 3:30 in the afternoon, and I have yet to make myself presentable.  Do YOU think I'm going to get those drapes started today?  

Stay tuned for the next instalment of The Caledonia Quilter's "Never-Done-Because-She-Won't-Get-Off-The-Damned-Computer List".

If It's Monday I Must Be In Tobermory

It's my annual week in Tobermory with the Beach Girls.  Always mid-October, which means I have to call my DB from here to sing Happy Birthday to him. 

When we arrived yesterday it was 18 c. and sunny.  Cocktails on the deck.  Smoked pork chops for supper.  You cannot ask for anything better.

Project #1 - the Challenge Fabrics, being made into a Drunkards Path table runner.
Work job #1 - sort out the SOLO attendees (southern Ontario Longarm Operators) for the October 30th meeting, and show "Debbie-the-label-maker" how to access EVITE.
KP job #1 - Salmon tonight with roasted potatoes & butternut squash, maybe cauliflower and/or salad.

Keeping the "assistant" off my lap will be a daily job. ☺

A Christmas Story (the movie) and Annoying (!) People

Apparently, this is a movie that I have somehow never seen.
S.I.D. the borders, sashing, blocks.

My customer watched it so many times with her sister that she cannot STAND the movie.
X-hatch the upper and lower green leg lamp fabric.

But her sister LOVES the movie.
Christmas ornaments down the red sashing.  Outline and fill the leg-lamp panel, add lines to the lampshade, and curve-x-hatch the fishnet stockings.  Stitch along all those crazy circles in the background.

So this year, the sister will have a quilt to snuggle under while she watches the movie.
Outline quilt the words.  Background quilted with eyeball-ey style filler.  Stitch along the plaids in the narrow yellow border.

That is true, sisterly love.
Outline the pictures, straight lines in the 'word' blocks.  More eyeball-ey fill in the green background.

This should be a big hit on Christmas morning.
A special order border - lampshades - for the upper and lower red border.

I can hear you asking (or is it the voices in my head?) "What has her all riled up this week???"  Well.  We bought a new tv yesterday, to replace our 20-year-old Panasonic 32" GAOO.  That tv still worked great, but DH wanted some new technology.  As most men do.  There was no point trying to sell the old tv, but I am always keen to put stuff out at the road for free.  Since that tv is so friggin' heavy, DH and 1-800-LUKE got it onto a pallet, and DH got the tractor with forks (like forklift things) and forked that baby out to the road.  I added the sign "works fine" and took the clicker out.  Why do I always get the hard jobs???  So, not an hour later there is an old guy and his girl who stop and load this tv into their car.  Only they can't really lift it.  So they drop it.  And smash it to smithereens.  And leave that unholy mess in our  driveway.  Really?  Must people be such assholes?
Sigh.  The new tv is great, though.  And spending several hours with the best. nephew. ever. was a bonus.

no-name quilt & stash report (along with some cursing around technology)

Yeah, I'm sorry.  I have no idea what the name of this quilt block is.

But I love the colours.  Especially that pretty rose print.

The corner bits are not symmetrical, so figuring out the quilting there was a challenge.

The roses that were quilted in the border triangles started out as a free-motion design that I recorded on the IQ, then saved as a pattern.

I have a stash report for you, but let me tell you:  it was a serious struggle.  We got our new computer last week so I'm learning WINDOWS 7.  First I had to FIND my spreadsheets (many of which are in Corel) and then figure out how to get them into Excel.  I also seem to have lost my photo program, so in the interim I am (using the term loosely) WORKING with whatever the hell picture program is installed with Windows 7.  However, our nice computer man emailed me today that he will be popping round in the next week, so I will ask all my dumb questions when he shows up.

STASH REPORT
Used this month      7.2 m
Used YTD             39 m
Added this month  25 m
Added YTD           25 m
Net 2015               (-14 m) 

Appliqued Hearts & Technology Overload

Such a pretty, girly quilt.

Appliqued hearts mixed with embroidered butterflies & dragonflies.

The outer border is quilted with a feather & flower pattern.  The green border is butterflies.  The inner pink border is a filled diamond.  Inside the body of the quilt is a heart pantograph.

Real purdy on the back, too.

I have been spending countless hours updating all of our internet settings, getting rid of our old @shaw.ca email and resetting everything to our @gmail.com addresses.  Good Lord.  Between all my google stuff, including the blogs, and our online shopping stuff, and the internet banking, and the forums, and Yahoo, and, and, and, and...  I still have 8 or 9 accounts to update, so I could be sitting here for another couple of hours.  While I'm at it I should probably put some new head shot photos in, too.  You know, a lovely one that highlights my wrinkles and grey hair so nicely.  ha ha ha.

Why was I doing this, you ask?  We have switched our internet provider over from Rogers and gone to Detour Wireless.  Anyone living in the area will understand why.  Mountain Cable was a little company that had the BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE, EVER!!  But damned if it wasn't bought out by Shaw, who's customer service stank.  Then that little pipsqueak of a Shaw area was bought by Rogers.  Rogers f*cked everything up so badly that many customers have run for the hills, including us.  Because I am getting tired of changing my email address from one service provider to another (yes, I also now have ANOTHER email address from detourwireless) I thought I'd just stick with gmail. 

While all this has been going on, my darling nephew 1-800-luke has also been updating our entertainment computer connected to the tv, because it crashed last week.  I've been going through withdrawal without my tv shows, for a whole week.  Waa, waa, waa.  DH and I actually went to the movies.  We saw Gone Girl, which was an excellent movie.

All this upheaval has happened co-incidental with Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  I've been purchasing and downloading new patterns for the IQ, as well as searching for a new tablet (since ours is getting a bit, um, cranky).  Geez Louise.  I just want to go chill out with crayons for a while.

Toadstool quilt

This is such a cute kid's quilt.

Toadstools.  :-)
Quilted with 'Bubbles' pantograph.

Liane Moriarty is the next author I am going to follow.  This was a GREAT book.  At the first page I liked her writing, and the story was very intriguing.  You don't normally hear about men being stalked.

Sunday was a fun day around here.  Actually, it started more than a week ago, when DH began ripping apart the office.  And the basement.  And my quilt supplies storage area.  He ran an internet cable from the office (at the west end of the house) over to the big-ass tv (on a different floor at the EAST end of the house).  The first time he ran out of cable and had to start all over again.  And every trip to Lowes or Home Depot means another wad of cash.  Anyhoo... yesterday was tech installation by our darling nephew.  If you think you just plug televisions into the wall and change the channel?... you are living in the dark ages.  We now have a computer attached to the tv so we can surf the web!  Hah!!!  I can CONTROL the tv with either the new computer keyboard, the mouse, or...I can use my TABLET.  OMG.  And long after our nephew left, we were able to watch a movie without phoning him for help.  Hah!!!  Mind you, we have two pages of idiot notes, which we referred to a couple of times.  But still - at our age I think that's pretty good.  I tease my nephew and refer to him as "1-800-call-Luke".  Um, don't phone that number.  It's not real, ok?  And there are too many digits.  You'd probably get a phone sex connection or something, and be totally pissed at me. 

Last week was Red Hat day and after lunch we went to one of the gal's houses to play cards and watch a movie.  As I said about technology, we could not get the DVD to give us sound in her lower level, even though we had several remote controls to choose from.  We had to go upstairs to the kitchen zone and watch the movie there.  Not that it was any hardship - it was actually better to be at the kitchen big-ass tv where we were close to the pie.  And, I remember several years ago when my brother added a ton of technology to their family room - his wife could no longer watch tv unless he was home.  DH and I stayed there for a week when we had our hardwood floors refinished, and we couldn't figure it out either.  We read a lot of books that week.  Lord help us over the next 20 years...