Bill Gates is my hero!!!

I solved my computer mouse problem by putting a book under the mouse. For some reason, it no longer wants to run on my desktop. No worries - I'm good with that. An easy and inexpensive fix! I would hope that in our current environment that we're all going to be finding ways to fix things rather than buy a new product.

I can't say that I'm surprised, but I'm a bit taken aback at how the BUY NOW e-mails keep coming through every day. Store owners - I know you're hurting. We're all hurting and the last thing I need is to rack up a credit card debt just because I wanted something to arrive at my door. Having said that, I do want to buy one thing online which I'll share with you shortly. But this is something that I need, not something that an e-mail persuaded me to buy.

I think that we need to dig deep because I don't think this is going to end quickly. Even if we're allowed "out" next month, it's going to be on a very limited basis. Did you hear that of the 44 cases in Newfoundland that ALL of them were linked back to ONE person!!! Please take this seriously! And try something new. I saw a guy who ran a marathon on his 22-foot long balcony. Anything is possible.

My schedule just keeps getting emptier and emptier. At this point, I doubt that I'll see anything back on the calendar until the summer. At least big events. Smaller events may go forward, but I'm not holding my breath.

That means that I actually have a chance to CATCH up on some stuff. Could that be possible? Yes - it's just going to require a lot of focus. The weather is getting nicer and calling my name to be outside!

So this is what's been happening at my house. OH  - here's something else. If you have something "fancy" at your house that you can't bear to use every day - get it out NOW. Life is short and why shouldn't we enjoy what we buy? I purchased these two very expensive tea mugs in 2015. They were in the cupboard for years and several months ago, I dug them out. I now alternate using them EACH DAY to enjoy my cup of tea. They are beautiful mugs and then I put them in the dishwasher. Should the paint fade or wear off, I don't care. I'm enjoying them now instead of having M find them in the back of the cupboard when I'm no longer around. Get something PRECIOUS out today. Who cares how much it costs or how fancy it is - use it every day NOW!!!

My two tea mugs

I got the entire "to be quilted" list updated. All the pages were reprinted and put into the red folder. I didn't do a final count, but there is a lot of quilts. The tubs are labeled, the area is neat and clean and doesn't make you feel happy to see that nice and neat space??? I'm ecstatic about seeing that area so neat and tidy.

The "to be quilted" area

I'm still putting quilts on the bed in the spare room. Every time I pass that room, I stop in to add another quilt to the pile. Here are two that got put on yesterday.

Green modern arrow quilt

And here's my Row by Row quilt from a few years back. I'm loving the fact that all these quilts are now lying flat and essentially pressing all the folds out. Let's hope that no one needs that bed for a long, long time. It will take quite an effort to get all the quilts off it. I wonder how many quilts I can put on that bed???

My Row by Row quilt

Don't worry - there are LOADS more. This is one pile that I'm working on. I'm trying for the moment to only put the lap-sized quilts on the bed. Then I'll deal with the smaller and larger quilts. I'm trying to minimize what's on the floor and on the railings.

More quilts to deal with

I did pull a couple of things off the work tables to deal with. Here's a container of plastic bags. All brand new. I think they were used for dying fabric years ago. Well, not these specific bags, but the boxes were part of my fabric dying stuff. What to do with them???

Plastic bags to deal with

I certainly do NOT need more plastic baggies. I have a cupboard full of them. Well, two shelves anyway. I took all those boxes and put them in the kitchen drawer. At least they will get used there and should anyone required plastic baggies - I have loads - I'd be happy to share!!!

Storage area for plastic bags

I also got another quilt loaded on the long arm. It's my quilt and I made it years ago. Several times already, it's been the "next" quilt to be quilted and then got bumped because of something else. I think something else was that I didn't know how to quilt it. I started off by ironing this HUGE piece of fabric. The quilt is 44" by 45". HEY - why do I have this giant piece of fabric that would be better used for a lap sized quilt. So I measured and labeled the yellow fabric and put it with the rest of the backings.

Yellow backing fabric

I dug through the backings and found something that will work a whole lot better. You see, that yellow was chosen YEARS ago. The new fabric is tight because of the width of the fabric, but it'll work. I've had several ideas for quilting running through my head for the last couple of weeks. I did some research on the internet. Then I had a chat with the quilt. I hung it off the ironing board and sat in a chair and contemplated it.

AHA - I think I know exactly what I'm going to do with it. It's now on the long arm and ready to go for later today. Should I feel like it!!!

Then it was time to deal with another project off the work tables. And I need to get more stuff prepped for the upcoming retreat. Remember it's a virtual retreat. So I dug out the yoga bag. It's a pattern from byAnnie.com. 

In addition to the quilted piece of fabric, there was a plastic drawer full of stuff in Studio U. I dug it out and brought it downstairs.

More supplies for the yoga bag

Oh boy - can you believe what I found in there? FOURTEEN zippers?  Why???  I only need one for the yoga bag. Wait - I actually need three. Now that I'm savvier about zippers, NONE of them are what I want. So that's my job today - try to find someone who is still working who sells the zippers that I want and have them shipped to the retreat house so I can work on the project.

The extra supplies for the yoga bag

I found three different colors of green thread (three????) and a receipt where I bought a lot of this stuff. Do you see the date on that receipt?? Good god - what's the matter with me???

Three spools of green thread and a receipt

I also found all these hardware bits. Really?? What the heck was I going to do with all that? It's now in the box with the other purse/bag hardware. There's a shoulder strap on this bag, but I never use a shoulder strap so it doesn't make sense to add one. Right?? What what I thinking???

Extra bag hardware

So the yoga bag is now prepped except the missing zippers. All the pieces are cut and labeled. There was enough quilted fabric to make a funky shaped zippered pouch and I set aside one of the green zippers for that.

The yoga bag is prepped except for the BIG zippers

What I'm hoping to find is the zipper tape in GREEN, so I can make my own zippers. Look what my BEST FRIEND in the whole world made for me. That's a fork that she's beautifully designed into a tool that makes it easy to put the zipper pulls onto the zipper tape. It's very professionally made. I'm going to owe her a LOT of money for all the little things she does for me!!!  Yeah, Shelly!!!! And Shelly is in the health care profession so an extra shout-out to her in this crazy time. We love you!!!!!

My zipper fork

Now that yoga bag goes into the laundry basket along with two other projects. That makes three projects - I hope to have a total of five. Can you imagine what Tish told me?? That a virtual retreat would allow for a virtual laundry basket which could be as big as my imagination. OH NO - these girls do not understand my virtual retreat!  I'm making it as real as possible. I'm going to have loads of fun with it - just you wait and see. This is good training for the next real retreat. Can I work just from the laundry basket for five days? So far so good in the packing department. No panic packing yet.

My retreat laundry basket

And before I order a zipper for that yoga bag, I should check that I have the correct color zippers for my backpack as I wanted to take that with me as well.

I love the liquid calcium, but alas I ran out of it yesterday. Now I could run around trying to find more, but I do have a container of these GIANT calcium tablets so I'll get those used up. Hopefully, you are all making do with what you have in your house as well!!!!

Calcium tablets to be used up!

I have to share this photo from the Virtual Challenges. Route 66 takes a wee dip into the state of Kansas. It's so small that I wasn't sure if I'd walk through the entire state in one day. My mission (according to Ronda) was to time it so that I'd stop in Kansas. Hey - I'm in Kansas. I know - maybe tomorrow, I'll get to say "Toto - we're not in Kansas anymore!"

My Route 66 Virtual Challenge in Kansas

So much of our world seems to be virtual these days. I heard that Lynn is going to be eating virtual cookies at HER retreat. Too funny!!!  I believe that Route 66 goes through 9 states in total. I'm now in the third state. And almost 1/3 of the way in the distance.

Two people sent me their quilt tops from the North Stars class from The Hobby Horse last year. This is Jana's quilt. She used fabric with DOTS for most of the animals and the background. It's absolutely adorable and my favorite are the otters with their funky large dots!!!

Jana's North Star quilt

Oh, shoot - another sideways photo. This quilt with a BUSY background belongs to Sheila. It's absolutely stunning and that busy background did a great job of showcasing all the animals. It looks awesome Sheila!!!!

Sheila's North Star quilt

If you need to buy something online, here's something to consider. Are you into making jelly roll rugs?? Tired of inserting the batting into those strips? Here are links to FOUR different tools to make that job easier. One of them was made on a  3-D printer and if you have access, you could make your own tool.

Jelly Roll Rug Binding Tool from PUrple HObbies

Jelly Roll Tube Maker by The Gypsy Quilter

Jelly Roll Sasher Fabric Folding Tool  - this is the one that you can 3-D print

Jelly Roll Sasher 


So if you're in the market to make jelly roll rugs - have a peek at those tools. By the way - if you have one of these tools and have used it - I'd like a review so I can post it here. I haven't tried any of them.


I have two other links for you today. One is some VERY WISE words of wisdom by Bill Gates. Have a read - it's very thought-provoking. I LOVE Bill Gates. I think we should print out this letter and tape it to our computers and read it EVERY DAY!!!!   I've been the victim of FAKE NEWS.  This letter was a fake - oh god.   The words were very good. I did save them in a word document.

And now, one last link. It's the final day of my QUILTsocial week with the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC 2 and some of the amazing tools for machine embroidery. Check it out - you'll see what I've been slaving at for the last couple of weeks.

Have a super day!!!  Remember what Bill said!!!

Ciao!!!!