On a rescue mission

I'm happy to report that progress is being made on various projects. There's prepping for the classes this weekend and the UFO club on Sunday. Quilts are getting completed for Quilts of Valour and magazines. There's the writing of blog posts.

But have you noticed a theme in all this?? I can't share ANY of it with you. I feel like a closet quilter! It'll all be revealed soon, but in the meantime - well, we have to talk about other things.

I'm sure that some days my blog makes no sense to anyone but me! I do like using Grammarly to help me with the writing. I didn't pay much attention to grammar when I was in school. Why is that? I didn't have a great teacher? Or I didn't care? Anyway, I have most of the grammar down, but this passive voice thing is driving me crazy. OH - I'm lying - I get dangling participles and other crazy stuff, but not often! The passive voice is my worst culprit.

I had to proof a document that I had written a couple of weeks ago. Once I figured out how to use Grammarly in the Office version of Word (it was quite easy - but it wasn't working, and I felt naked without the grammar checker), I got a ton of PASSIVE voice errors. That's something that I need to study. But I do think that I've learned a lot from that program, so that's a good thing.

And I've certainly written a lot since I started to use it.

That's a lot of words

That's amazing. Hmm - I wonder how many novels that could have been? Did you know that the average mystery novel has 60,000 to 80,000 words?? A more lengthy thriller would be 100,000 words. By my calculations, I could have written 58 thriller novels in that time! Of course, that's just the words. I didn't have to worry about plot development or anything too complicated. I just write from the heart!

I've thought that it would be fun to write a novel, but I don't think I have it in me! One never knows until one tries, but there's no time at the moment.

As usual, I was out walking last night, and I haven't had any incidents lately, which is good. Although I hear that a child was hit at one of the intersections that I walk past twice a day. The 4-year-old was hit last night at 8:30.  I was at that intersection at 7:45. I don't know any more details, but that's sad because it was more than likely some idiot trying to turn right on the red light. Apparently, the driver stayed at the scene, so that is some good news.

I did have a moment with someone on the morning walk. But it wasn't because of his driving. This car stops at the corner of the street and puts his blinkers on. An older gentleman gets out of the car with two small bags of garbage, which he proceeds to put in the container at the corner. Seriously??? I yelled at him. Told him that he wasn't supposed to be putting his household garbage in that container. He stared blankly at me. My luck - he probably didn't speak English! I said I was going to report him and whipped out my phone to snap a photo of his car. Of course, I'm not that fast, and with the two dogs on leashes, I didn't get a picture, but hopefully, I scared him enough to not do it again. Why??? That's all I ask is why when we have scheduled garbage pick-ups at our door.

I did manage to snap the photo of the other cool grate that I had seen on my walk. I've walked past that darn thing a hundred (or more) times and couldn't remember where it was!

A fish-themed grate 

So, where does the rescue mission come in? No one is allowed to judge me on this. I've made tote bags in the past - when I didn't know what I was doing. I've acquired a couple of other bags from other sources - bought or was gifted. While I may have used them a wee bit, I've always hated them because of wimpy handles or wimpy sides because they were not made with interfacing.

What does one do with bags like that? I love the bags, I love the thought that went into the making of them, but I won't use them. Yep - I'm a certified bag snob!!  So............. I feel the need to take them apart and remake them. WAIT -- no eye-rolling, no sighing and saying, "Oh, Elaine!"   NO - none of that is allowed.

I recently took this one apart, and I have one more that's apart, and I'm going to get them prepped and put them in the retreat basket. It won't take long to put the bags back together again with the proper interfacings, and I'll be much happier!

A bag that's been taken apart

I can't help myself. I just can't deal with wimpy handles! It's sad!!! And as I say that, I'm laughing because it's the most ridiculous thing to do. But I love ripping things apart if I know that they can have a new life. I rip out when I'm on the phone or on Zoom calls. It's perfect for keeping my hands busy. That is just the weirdest. I guess I should be shopping at the thrift store and remaking clothes that no one else wants!!!

I'm going to be offering a tote bag class in September. It'll be a virtual class and probably in two parts. If you're interested, you can send me an e-mail or just watch for the official notice with dates and descriptions. I'm also going to be offering a double wedding ring class. Can you believe it? I've been asked for that a LOT. So that's two classes for sure for the fall. If there's something else that you'd like, let me know.

Speaking of learning - here's something to watch today. Soni is the top GURU for learning at Husqvarna Viking. She knows her stuff inside and out. This is going to be a class on sewing machine feet. Mostly the basic feet, but you never know when you're going to learn a thing or two. I'm going to watch it - just because she's that good and I'm sure I'm going to learn something.

Here's the link to the Facebook page. Be sure to watch it. That would be 3 PM EST. 


While I was sewing yesterday, I was listening to an audiobook that I need to finish in the next couple of days. What speed do you listen to your audiobooks at? I know two people who listen at 1.5 or higher. I couldn't do it. My brain is already struggling to listen at the normal speed. I'm not in a hurry. There's no prize for how many books one reads. I like to savor things, and I shall remain listening at 1.0. I'm just curious. Am I the only weird one who doesn't want to hurry life along? Things go by so fast as it is. I like to do things slowly and methodically.


I guess that brings to a close today's post.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!