Disaster

I'm sick! I feel like crying but I won't because there's a huge mess to clean up and to be honest, I've no idea where to even start.

Well - that's not true - I do know.

What happened?

I was merrily sewing away this morning. It's time to go upstairs for breakfast. Just as I reached the stairs, I glanced down and this is what I saw.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yes - that is water between the floorboards.  OH MY GOD - the last time that happened - well, it was a huge mess.

Survival instinct or whatever you want to call it kicked it. Where is the water coming from? A quick search revealed that it was coming from the storage room which is underneath the bathroom and laundry room.

I shoved the worktables aside so I could get in that door. No - it wasn't the one that was locked. That's another story.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO   - there is water everywhere. I can hear the water. What to do? what to do???   Run upstairs to grab some towels.

Back downstairs. No taps are running, no toilet running.

Calm down!  Calm down! and find the source of the water. Ah - there's a wee plastic pipe that's snapped clean in half. It's probably deteriorated? No idea.  But there were bags of projects stored in that room.

Thank god for those big blue IKEA bags. Some stuff looks to be intact and dry. Others - well, I don't know.

You can see in the picture below those cloth bags which were sitting on the floor are SATURATED with water. Some projects were in plastic bags, but maybe not sealed.

Saturated bags

Some of it I've transported up to the kitchen to see what can be salvaged. What a way to downsize!!!

Threw stuff in the kitchen sink

One box had a purple T-shirt in it and the purple ran. It shouldn't affect the project much. But the fabric in the box is soaked and there was water in the bottom of the plastic container.

ACK - purple water in a container

Instructions - toast!

Instructions soaking wet

I'm still shaking. I've got a bucket under the leak and I'm paranoid about it going over. It's not that fast of a leak but it's fast enough. I'm not sure how to turn the water off for just that pipe. I don't think I can. But I'm checking often to make sure it doesn't get full.

I think every towel in the house has been called into service. The plumber has been called. Do I call the insurance company??  Oh god - I know there is water under a great part of that floor downstairs and that means mold. I checked and the water ran into the furnace room.

I don't even want to imagine the job ahead of me. It's going to be a nightmare. Last time we had a water issue in the basement, it took months to get things cleaned up. And nothing got damaged or wet. That was a fluke. This time, I'm not getting off so easy.

I don't know what else to say this morning.  Oh - I do know what to say. Thank god this didn't happen next week when I'm away. DH would not have seen it - no one would have until the leak or the damage was severe.  I think the pipe snapped overnight or sometime yesterday. It would have taken a wee bit of time for the water to seep to the staircase.

Breath deep. Breath deep. Better call the insurance company as well. They are going to freak out when they see the situation.

Waiting for DH to get up so I can move more boxes and clean up more water. I figure at this point, I've contained the leak, cleaned up most of the water. There's nothing else to do but wait for the plumber. And now to tackle those projects bags and boxes to see what stays and what goes.

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I was going to call this post "nasty things", but I thought that might be too negative of a way to start the blog, especially on Valentine's Day when the air is supposed to fill with roses and love. But nasty jobs - we all have to do them. And can you tell me why we leave them until the last minute? We procrastinate on them until - well, it just gets ugly!

I had a nasty job sitting in my studio for almost one year. It's been on various lists and I totally ignored the task. But it's time to get this thing done.

You may remember that we did a LOT of tuffet classes last year. Unfortunately, I had one student who - well, it just wasn't going to happen for her. I think she had tried two different covers and both of them - well, they just didn't work. I felt bad for her and I offered to fix her cover and get the tuffet finished. I know - why do I do that? Because I'm a nice person that's why!

The worst part is that I didn't act on my kindness right away. So now I'm trying to get it finished.

Oh dear -- another nasty job just happened. I've been having trouble with my computer. The memory or something is just bad. I had spent hours with GeekSquad last week but I don't think the problem actually got fixed. I tried again yesterday - again HOURS trying to resolve the problem. While it seems to have resolved the problem with Outlook, I can't load pictures this morning. I may have to reboot the PC to get that process started.

Let's reboot and see what happens.  AHA -- we have pictures. I'm not sure what the problem was. I think they cleared everything out of the temporary memory and so that takes a wee bit of time to repopulate.

Anyway - regarding the tuffet. I'm also tired of moving this darn tuffet form whenever there is a sit n sew. Time to get it done!!!

Tuffet form that belongs to a student

What was the problem? The blades were not cut correctly. So she had a beautiful circle with 24 wedges that looked like this, but in fact, they were not supposed to be wedges.

Wedges which will not work for the tuffet

The wedge was supposed to be cut from a three-inch strip. You can see where the problem lies. I had to cut the wedge down to make 2/3 of the piece a straight strip with a taper along the other 1/3.  Centering the taper and all that fun stuff. Then I used the wedge ruler to trim up the tapered side as they weren't necessarily the most accurate either. 

Retrimming the tapered edge

So the one on the left is what they are supposed to look like and the one on the right is what I started from. Thank goodness the pieces were too big and could be cut to size. 

Left is the good one, the right is the starting point

The good news is that I've got 12 of 24 wedges recut to the proper size and shape. I hope to get the rest of them done today and even to get the tuffet cover sewn together. If not, then it's sitting there ready for the Sunday Sit n Sew this week.

Another little bit of nastiness. Oh yes - lots of nasty things to cover today. So after my fender bender, I've been going for physio and massage. I really like the massage person. Trust me, the massage was awful. It was painful, it hurt bad and the muscles in my neck are a mess. In particular, there is one spot that is just painful - right about where the seatbelt was.

I'm supposed to be using heat which I do a lot and I'm supposed to be doing strengthening exercises. Hm - I might not be so good at that. Then I remembered this torture device that has been hanging on the back of the bedroom door. Oh - I guess I could use that. It now sits on my ironing board and when I have a few minutes, I do 10 reps of an exercise. My shoulders are going to look like the Hulk. 

My revisited torture device

Because of the nature of what we do - sit at the computer or sew all day, we have a tendency to have rounded backs. My posture is not so good either. Another exercise that I'm to do is lie on the floor (or works just amazing in the sauna) on my back with a towel rolled up and along my spine to open up those shoulders and let them fall back where they are supposed to be. It helps to stretch out the shoulders. I'm really trying because this painful muscle situation isn't pretty. And it'll help me with my job as well. And who doesn't like to just lie around on your back and it is good for you?

So if you see me using my torture device - you'll know why. I have to say, it actually feels good to do that stretching (and strengthening).

Here's another bit of nastiness. M would appreciate this one. I'm experimenting with what to put in my oatmeal in the morning. Love the banana, love the almond milk. The occasional time, I'll throw in some raisins, but I ate them all - so no more raisins. I thought I'd add some spices - like cinnamon. That's not bad - just don't throw in a lot. This morning, I added a touch of nutmeg. OK - so it was more than a touch. Did you know that nutmeg can be considered a hallucinogenic???  Oh my!!!  But I think you need to take a lot of it! And if you read this article, it's actually very good for you. I think I might just continue to add it to the oatmeal, but not quite so much!!!

While I was waiting for the GeekSquad to work on my computer, I was busy making soup! Yep - we have another pot of yummy soup all set for lunches this week. I have a feeling that it's now far from the version that James made for us. I literally emptied the fridge of all veggies and then what celery I didn't put in the soup - I ate that raw!

Also got to work on something else that had been sitting for a while. Here are my new geckos!! This is actually homework for my freelance job with SVP. It's part of a class that we offer to sewing machine dealers and their customers. It's all done in the hoop and doesn't take that long. Let's say that my shiny stretch material was a wee bit of a challenge. But common sense prevailed and I got it stitched out no problem. The red one is made with red vinyl and it also stitched out no problem. OH - it's all a learning experience. It seems that everything I touch is a learning experience.

Geckos

Hm - I've got requests to make more. Or perhaps they should do it themselves to learn how to use the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC????  I could be nasty and do that, but that stretchy fabric? - well, I wouldn't put that on a new person. I might throw a couple more on the embroidery machine later today. We'll see what happens.

The darn little guys are stuffed which is a wee bit of a challenge. Somewhere in this house, there's a stuffing fork. I know it's in a white plastic bag with the bits of a doll that I was stuffing. Now, where is that white bag? I was also tidying up some stuff yesterday and went to put something in this closet that's off the studio.

Closet in the studio

 Oh crap -- the darn door is locked!!! Because of stuff in front of the door, it's a bit of a tight squeeze to get in there and I bet my butt turned the little knob and locked it. There's only one problem. Where the heck is the key??? I'm pretty sure that it's in a bright orange bowl that used to sit on a table downstairs. The bowl has been put somewhere -  but where??   The last time that happened with a different door, I ended up picking the lock to open the door. I may have to resort to that as well. I would like to find those stuffing forks! It'll make the job of stuffing the geckos a whole lot easier!!!! I know - when I find the keys - put them ALL in a VERY SAFE PLACE.

Enough of the nasty stuff for today. Let's see some good stuff. If you remember, I finished the top of the Jamestown meets Stonehenge. Yeah - now to find a backing. I had initially pulled two bolts of fabric but realized that the one on the left was too burgundy and the one on the right didn't have nearly enough fabric on it.

Auditioning fabric for the backing

They went back in storage and I pulled out this bolt of Hobbit fabric that I got for a very good price recently. Hmm - I think that'll work just fine. 

Hobbit fabric for the backing

 I made the center of the backing from the Hobbit fabric and essentially used the leftovers from the quilt top to add a border on all four sides of that center. That took a LOT of time. 

The backing is made for Jamestown meets Stoneheng

I took all the leftover fabrics and filed them in their respective color baskets. Yeah!

Leftover fabrics are filed in their color baskets

And here's the binding, the backing and the quilt top (oh yes - the pattern as well) and now it's been moved to the "to be quilted" pile. My second one added to that pile for this year. 

Binding, backing and quilt top ready for quilting

The best news? This was one of my UFOs for 2019. It's crossed off the list. Yes - I know it's not quilted, but my definition of a "finished" project is to get it into the "to be quilted" pile. It's my list - I make the rules.

On another positive note, I got all the applique prepped for this second to the last block on Gingerbread Joy. All the pieces are glued in place and ready for stitching. 

One more block is prepped and ready for stitching

Time to consolidate a couple of glue bottles. I filled one up but didn't empty any. I wondered why my hand was sore the morning after the gluing session. Because I'm trying to squeee glue from an almost empty container! Duh!!!

Lots of glue on hand

Lots of other stuff to share, but there's no time this morning. I'm going to be a few minutes late!

Have a super day!!! Let's hope for a wee bit of sunshine to start melting this ice mess.

Ciao!!

Lilla show n tell

Oh - what a morning. We're digging out from the Snowmageddon and it's still snowing this morning. DHshoveledovelled in the afternoon just before the freezing rain hit. We didn't get too much snow after that point. We also cleared the windshields on the cars and left the wipers hanging in the air.

The plow went by around 11 PM and left a bit of snow in the drive. I noticed DH went out and shoveled it which was a good thing. I was in bed and too tired to get up and help! I wimped out!

This morning it was a question to go to the gym or stay home. Oh what the heck - it's only 4 KM away. I'll be fine. Well, it must have taken at least 15 minutes to scrap the ice off the windshield and the side windows. I still can't penetrate the ice on the back window of the driver's side. It felt like if I scraped any harder, I'd be scraping the glass away.

BUT I had a bit of excitement before I started to scrap the ice. I opened the car door and sat down to start the car. I left the door open as I was going to get right back out. Something caught my eye and I glanced out the open door. OH NO!!!!  A skunk came toddling along from under DH's car which was just beside me. ACK!!!!   "Don't turn around!", I shouted to the skunk and scrambled to find the door handle to slam the door shut!  Could you imagine? A skunk spraying into that new car?  Phew - didn't happen. Oh, what fun!

Let's not forget that when I went to put Murphy out for her morning business (she is always on a leash for that as we can't trust her). Well, wouldn't you know it, there was an opossum or a raccoon (more likely an opossum) walking along the edge of the fence in the backyard (on the other side) and she freaked out - barking like a maniac at 5 AM. Fortunately, she was on her leash so I could get her attention real quick! You see why she's on a leash that early in the morning.

I ended up getting to the gym too late for the spin class, but I did my own thing on the bikes in the main area. Then I did some stretching. I need to be doing lots more stretching and a bit of strengthening for my upper body. It's all part of my rehab from that fender bender. But it's just good practice to do every day. I feel much better because of it so I need to incorporate that into my schedule.

OK - now onto the topic for today.

We had our Lilla class last Friday at Oh Look Fabric. The assignment was three blocks and to make up to four of each or whatever combination they need to make the type/size of quilt they have decided to make.

Let's have a look.

Lilla pattern by Lotta Jansdotter and Cheryl Arkison

This first set of blocks belong to Gisele. Oh - I should say that they were all given complete free rein over how they made the blocks. Some of them ended up exactly like the pattern, some of them have been modified to suit the maker. That's the gist of the entire class. Use the pattern as a guide, but do your own thing.

She didn't want to cut the Tula Pink fabric with the squirrels to insert the second slash so she didn't. I love it. And contrary to the pattern, her background is dark!  Going to be a totally different look.

Gisele's blocks

 Genny is making two quilts. These are the blocks from one of them. I think this is her prototype - probably the one she's going to give away!!!  She has also reversed the light/dark values. The light is a solid or a muslin - I can't remember. And look at those backgrounds! It's going to be bright and cheerful.

Genny's blocks

 Rita is a knitter, not a sewer. But she got talked into the project and for a newbie, she's done an amazing job. She must have had a great teacher - right Sara???  I love the black/white with the neutral grey background.

Rita's blocks

Sara has pulled some older fabrics from her stash. I wonder where they came from since she hasn't been quilting that long either. Anyway, she made four of each block. What's interesting is that some of the fabrics have large prints and some have small prints. It's neat to see how the fabrics react to the various sizes of cuts. A great learning experience.

Sara's blocks

These are four more of Sara's blocks.

Sara's blocks

The other thing that I'm trying to show them in the class is that each of the blocks can become a quilt on their own. As I was putting them up on the display board, I tried a couple of different layouts to show them. Here's one that we messed with. 

A different layout of those four blocks

Here's the last set of Sara's blocks.

The last set of Sara's blocks

Cathy wasn't able to join us that night, but sent pictures of her three blocks. Cathy is fairly new as well, but doing an amazing job!!!

Cathy's block

 It's all a learning curve. Cathy is using a directional print for the background and that can cause some issues with those prints. Can you see what happened? But seriously - it's not a big deal. Personally, I'd leave it like that. Otherwise, she's going to drive herself crazy as we go forward with the other blocks.

Cathy's second block

 And here's her third block. Remember - there's no right or wrong. I really want to encourage the class to step outside the box and change up the pattern if they want to or feel it looks better in another way. If you didn't know that this wasn't according to the pattern - would you know that she switched the pieces around? Exactly!

Cathy's third block

Stacey wasn't able to be at class either and she sent me a picture of her blocks. Stacey is also a newbie and those blocks look pretty awesome!

Stacey's blocks

 Eleanor wasn't able to be there either and here's a picture of her blocks.

Eleanor's blocks

We're missing Kathy's blocks. Shoot - I forgot to e-mail her and get pictures. I'll do that right away so they can be added to this post later.

For the recond, here are my blocks. I'm making four of each block. I doubt that I'll be making ONE big quilt from all 100 blocks - that'll be too huge. I'll break it up. Not sure how yet, but I'll be thinking about it as the year progresses. 

My first set of blocks

My second set of blocks

My third set of blocks

On that note, I'd better get the day started. I must call the Geek Squad back - my computer is almost worse than it was before. I'm not a happy camper.
. 
And I've a ton of e-mails to send and those sewing machines are calling my name. So much I want to do, so little time.

Have a super day!!!


Ciao!!!

UFO progress report

As you know, I've made myself an aggressive list of UFO projects to be finished. I didn't quite complete the list for 2017, got about halfway through the 2018 list and there are twelve new projects for 2019. I'm not removing/replacing any of the items on any of those lists. I want them done and ideally, I would like them finished by the end of this year. That means I would have to finish TWO UFOs per month.

I've already finished one UFO and madly worked on another one last night.

The one I'm working on is called Jamestown meets Stonehenge or was it Stonehenge meets Jamestown? I can't remember how it went. It was a year-long class that I taught at a local shop that has since closed.

The quilt got put away with one block left to make. That missing block was made a couple of weeks ago. The center section of the quilt was on my design wall in three pieces. I needed the design wall on the weekend, so I bite the bullet and sewed those last two seams to make the center of the quilt.

Jamestown meets Stonehenge

The quilt top got put aside for the weekend classes. Hmm - in trying to keep stuff at a minimum in the studio, I decided that I would attempt to put the borders on it and get the binding and the backing made as well.

The work tables were relatively clear so that makes putting a border on a large quilt a whole lot easier.

I started cutting and pinning and sewing. Just a note here - I NEVER or very rarely pin as I make blocks or sew the blocks together. But when it comes to borders? I measure and I pin and I NEVER forget to do that. Otherwise, you may have a very ripply border.

There are three borders on the quilt. Between last night and this morning, all three borders are now on the quilt and pressed!!!  I'm so happy I could jump up and down.

The top is finished!!!!

It's not ready to be put away just yet. I have to measure the quilt and see how much binding to make and then make the backing. I'll show you my options for backing. I think I found something that'll work just fine. I will NOT buy more fabric for backings. I've loads of yardage designated for quilt backings.

As I was getting near the end of those borders, I started to think about the next UFO project that I would like to work on. Most of them are huge and will take a lot of time. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to work on these UFOs. I have quilts to quilt for customers and quilts to make for commitments so the time I get to spend on my own stuff is very limited.

However, I went to those UFO lists in my Task Master book and I found two that will work perfectly for the next project. Now to pick one of them to focus on. I'll let you know what I pick if I get around to it today. There's a lot of work to be done today and I should be making samples!

Yesterday was Monday sewing and that is a designated day to work on my personal projects. I have decided this year to focus on those UFOs and I'm making great progress on the Gingerbread Joy quilt. I almost completed all the prep for the second to last applique block. I was so pumped up that when I got home, I kept right on prepping. All that remains is to make 3 more stars like the red one on the pressing mat and four more circles. That shouldn't take long at all.

Almost completed the applique prep for the second to last applique block

Here's my little applique prep station. See how I spread out? I do the same thing wherever I go. But I did condense myself yesterday when we had a lot of people show up for Monday sewing. 

My applique prep station at home

I downloaded another audiobook and I was happy as a clam.

In keeping up with all the parts of this quilt, I had cut the large and small pieced block pieces for that month. As I was sewing the borders on that other quilt, I used the half square triangles as my ender/leader project. 

Ender/leaders

The half square triangles for the small block are almost all sewn. They need to be trimmed and hopefully get the block together today. We'll see how the day goes. There are way more urgent things to be working on than those HST.

To recap the Gingerbread Joy (which is also another UFO). There are three applique blocks left to do. I'm stitching one down, the second one is almost prepped and ready to be glued in place. The last one hasn't been started. There are 2 large pieced blocks - one is cut and one hasn't been touched yet. Of the two small pieced blocks, one is cut and partially sewn, the last one hasn't been touched yet. I could even get so brazen as to start sewing the blocks together! Hmm - I could lay it out on the design wall? NO - get the blocks done first and work on something else - like one of the two projects that I have in the back of my mind.

I have to say that I'm so excited about the progress of my UFOs. I just wish that I had of got myself in this gear years ago. I now have 20 years of UFOs to deal with. It's not pretty and I really want it tidied up. I can't imagine leaving the mess for someone else to deal with. Slow and steady - make lists so nothing gets forgotten and FOCUS. That could be by designating times of the day or week (like I have with the Monday sewing) or early in the morning (when you're all fast asleep), or whatever. But without the reminder to work on the project or the FOCUS, the project won't get done.

The other thing and I've been pretty good about it is to NOT add to the UFO list. I think in the last two years that there is two, possibly three quilts that didn't get finished during the year. At least the inflow has slowed to a trickle and that helps enormously as well.

Or you could be incented by the $10 in the UFO club that we have going this year. I'll share that with you tomorrow.

According to the news, we're in for another Snowmageddon. Stay warm, stay safe and SEW, SEW, SEW!!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!

On garment sewing

I used to sew a lot of garments - mostly for myself. A few for M when she was a baby. Oh - I should dig out the one outfit that I made for a girl that took forever. I made it way before M was born. I made it just because. My kid wore it ONCE for a photograph and that was it!  I'll dig it out - it's a hoot.

Anyway, I really really want to get back into garment sewing. There are so many neat fabrics on the market (including quilting cotton and batiks) and some very nice patterns. I can't see myself sewing pants. That just a disaster waiting to happen. However if you can get a good fit, it would be neat to have a perfectly fitting pair of pants. And last Monday? We chatted about sewing underwear and bras.

What I'm making is called the Mandarin Vest by Indygo Junction. It should have been made months ago - it's going to be a sample at The Hobby Horse where I'm teaching the class next month  - Saturday, March 23 at 1 PM!!!  It's a very simple pattern - the hardest part is putting in that collar. I only made one wee mistake on that, but no one will know as long as I don't point it out. The store is closed today, but call tomorrow and get yourself signed up.

I used to cut out patterns with scissors - no more! I now use my rotary cutter. First I traced the pattern pieces onto tracing paper that I found in my stash. Placed the fabric on a cutting mat and freehand cut those pattern pieces. I bet they are as accurate or more accurate than if I had cut them with scissors.

Cutting the vest pieces with a rotary cutter

Once everything was cut (I hate marking and will only mark if absolutely necessary). I can usually wing the placements or refer back to the pattern. My home ec teacher (Mrs. Sealy) is probably turning over in her grave that her star pupil isn't marking her fabric,.

Oh shoot - I didn't think I had any dark interfacing. I left that to deal with this morning. I searched through the interfacing drawer (YES - all my interfacings are in one spot) and voila - I found a package of black non-woven interfacing. That'll be perfect.

Non-woven black interfacing

The package was brand new. Why did I buy it? Who knows.  Then I dug out the serger. It'll make quick work of the seams and this serger is a dream to work with. It was easy enough to change the thread from white to black. Maybe took five minutes? And then I was in business.

Working with the serger to have nice finished seams

The front facings are done. The collar is stitched in place but needs to be hand sewn on the inside. A perfect job for today at our Monday sewing day. I was hoping to have the vest completed this morning, but that isn't going to happen. I bet it'll take about an hour to finish the vest once that collar is hand stitched in place. There are no sleeves, so I just need to serge the side seams, turn under a hem on the armholes and the bottom - all of which will be done by machine. Oh - and a bit of topstitching.

Partially completed vest

The pattern comes in two different lengths and two different styles of pockets. My print (batik from Banyan Batik) is so busy that you're not going to see the pockets so, at this point, I'm opting to not put them on. They are cute little patch pockets with gathering at the top. Personally, I think it's going to add visual bulk right at the waist/hip line and I'm not sure that I want that. I'll get the vest finished and then decide. Gosh - I'm such a bad model! I just make up the instructions as I go along. There's no lining so it'll be easy to add after if I want.

But that's the beauty of sewing. Don't like something - change it up. It's just like cooking. Unless I'm baking, I rarely measure anything. I like to live on the edge.

We had our UFO class in the morning yesterday. Oh my gosh - it was so much fun to see how people scrambled at the last minute to get their $10 back. We took lots of pictures and roped two more people in. I'll be sharing those pictures later this week. Same thing with our Lilla class on Friday night and the Kimberbell on Saturday. Lots of stuff to share this upcoming week.

In the afternoon, I taught a class on EQ8. Oh my - what fun we had in that class. There's so much that one can do with that software. My head is still spinning every time I look at it. And I usually discover something new. It's amazing how many little "tricks" can get hidden away in any software and unless you know where to find them or how to make them work - well - it's all a learning experience. I have to say that I learned something too. When you use the tools all the time and in the privacy of your own workspace, one is not required to know the names or the exact function of each. But in a class - well that's a different matter.

We're going to have a second class in the future because we barely touched the surface of what you can do with the software. If anyone is interested in the basic class of EQ8, let me know. It was loads of fun and those poor students went home with their heads FILLED - no, let's say they were way over capacity!! I gave them homework as well.

I'm packed and ready for Monday sewing. Can't wait!!!! My favorite day of the week. It's the only day of the week that I'm guaranteed to work on my personal stuff. The rest of the time, it's all about making samples for teaching or working on other people's stuff. This is my precious day!!!

On that note, I'm out of here!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!

One more spool of thread bites the dust

I was at IKEA the other day because I was looking for a cabinet to put my thread in. I thought of the ALEX line of cabinets. I already have two of the wide ones, but I didn't want a wide one. Gosh - I'm not sure I even have room for a narrow one. Initially, I wanted the tall cabinet, but it proved too heavy to lift by one person, so I settled on the short narrow one.

It's now made. Very simple and no parts left over. That's always good news.

My new cabinet

The previous ones I purchased came with wheels. This one does not! Why is that??  I would really like to have wheels on it so it's easy to move around. I'm sure I can find wheels at the hardware store or back at IKEA? It's perfect for storing threads and my embroidery supplies. Having the cabinet made clearing the tables of all the stuff that I'm using for embroidery a very easy job this morning.

Then it was onto working on that last panel for the design wall. When the bookcases went up, one of the panels had to come down. Rather than disassemble that panel and cut it down, I bought a new insulation panel, measured it, and cut it down. All that remains is to put the flannel on it and attach it to the wall. 

Cutting a new panel for the design wall

The panel has now been shortened and made a wee bit narrower so it'll fit. The flannel is pulled from the stash and hopefully later today I can get a chance to make that happen.

Insulation panel is now cut to shape

While I was working on piecing something, I managed to empty one more spool of thread. That's crazy how many have been emptied so far this year. I'm good with that - it means I'm being productive. Not seeming to get tons finished these days, but making progress none the less.

Another empty spool of thread

I taught the second class for Hello Sunshine yesterday afternoon. What a great group of students. They were completely done their homework. No excuses for this group! And they went gangbusters on the next group of homework and many got several blocks done during class.

Here are my "sentiment" blocks for the Hello Sunshine quilt.  Yes - I should have used a more contrasting thread color on that second one. Ack - why is life always a learning curve? Even after years of experience.

Two sentiment blocks

Two more blocks. These are so cute and would look good on a pillow or bag or even as a small wall hanging. Again, the bee (yellow on the green block) is a bit weak. My thoughts? That is going to draw someone in to really look at the details of my quilt!  That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!

More sentiment blocks

They also had to make FIVE pineapple blocks. They have chenille (three layers of cut fabric) on the pineapple part. Mine hasn't been roughed up yet, but it's cut and ready for that to happen.  There are four small one - this block is cut to 4  ½" square. Tiny!!! There's one larger pineapple block as well.

Pineapple chenille block

Those blocks are from the Hello Sunshine quilt by Kimberbell in case you're wondering.



It's going to be a busy day as we regroup for our UFO buster. I've talked to a couple of people already and they have completed their task and even went beyond! Amazing how motivated people can get by $10. I love it!!  I have to think that it's not just $10 that's the motivator. I think it's a bit of peer pressure? You make a commitment in front of a group of friends and well - you'd better live up to everyone's expectations.

On that note, I'm really early this morning. Which is good. That'll give me time to get through e-mails and try to get a couple of other things completed before the group arrives. Needless to say, there are a few semi-urgent things sitting on the cutting table that really need to be addressed NOW. I'll be working on them as well.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!