Productivity is on the rise

It was a super productive day! I love those kinds of days. If you're like me, you just can't sew fast enough to keep up with the ideas in your head. And these are NOT new ideas. These are just things that I find around the studio that I think will only take a few hours to finish, and well, days later, I'm still working on them. 

I decided it was time to get something finished instead of just thinking about finishing it or advancing the project.

The first thing to deal with was changing that light bulb at the bottom of the stairs. There are quite a few pot lights in the basement, so I thought I'd steal a bulb from one of those. The pot lights have all been disconnected, and I now have fluorescent light fixtures. Those silly lights are very hard to dislodge from the ceiling. I needed a putty knife and a chisel to make it happen. Yes, the ceiling got a wee bit damaged, but I got the darn bulb out. Don't worry - it's not noticeable unless you're looking for it.

All that effort and the lightbulb was dead. Some of the bulbs had died, so I decided to not keep going to find one that worked.

Removing the pot light from the ceiling

After lunch, I went for a walk to get a new bulb and to go to the bank. Our branch was under construction earlier this year, but it's open now. I see we have a new ATM for a total of 3.

Buying light bulbs is NOT my favorite thing. I always take one of the old ones with me to compare. I found this box and bought it. Lightbulbs are NOT cheap - two bulbs were $18 before tax. They are supposed to last 15,000 hours. What exactly does that mean? Well, if I left the light on 24/7, I'd get almost two years out of the bulb. I don't plan on leaving it on 24/7, so it should last a LONG, LONG time. We'll see - I find that the life listed on those lightbulbs is nowhere near what's advertised on the boxes. 

The new box of lightbulbs

I just need to write on the box what fixture the remaining lightbulb is for, and then it goes into the laundry room with the other bulbs.

I'm sure that all of you have been out shopping at some point since the pandemic. If you have, then you've seen all sorts of plexiglass barriers between cashiers and customers. Well, this is the most substantial barrier I've seen yet. It makes sense at Rona, where I hope they like to build things.

That's a plexiglass barrier!

And here's the new light installed! No danger of falling down the stairs in the dark!

The light is now working again

So lots of things have happened this year. Totally crazy things that none of us would have predicted at the beginning of the year. It's been since the middle of March that things went whacko in our neighborhood. What is the new sign of the times??? 

Social Distancing Marker

That would be the physical distancing markers that are EVERYWHERE!!!!

Well, I knew this was going to happen, and well - I'm prepared for it. My gym opened last week, and well - I signed up for the spin class next Wednesday. Loads of rules. Locker rooms are open - more rules. I'll see how it goes, but I miss the gym, and I can't wait to get back. Am I afraid? Of what?? There's nothing to be afraid of. Just be careful!

I started the day by finishing to trim the little half square triangles. These are all the triangles that were created from making flying geese in the Christmas Fig quilt.

Stack of trimmed half-square triangles

This is the bag of little half-square triangles so far. I'm not sure if there's going to be more. Now to come up with something to make with those.

All the half-square triangle cut-offs from Christmas Fig

Speaking of which, I don't think I posted the latest Christmas Fig blocks on my blog.

Block One for August

Block Two for August

I still have to stitch the applique shapes down in the second block. That's on the agenda for today. Yep - today is going to be another day of cleaning stuff up.

Next up was binding. I have that stack of quilts for Quilts of Valour and for Project Linus, and I need to get them done. So I started with this one, and the binding is now entirely on!

The binding on a Project Linus quilt

Yep - that one has plush on the back. Not sure where the plush came from, but it wasn't mine, so it got used as the backing e back of the purple quilt.

Then it was onto the next one. The binding for the purple quilt was already made. This massive length of binding was already prepared for a couple of fleece quilts, which are slated for Project Linus. I took squares of fleece and sewed them together and backed it with another big piece of fleece. The two layers of fleece got quilted - no batting.

A massive pile of binding

So the first of two fleece quilts got the binding completely stitched in place.

The binding on quilt number two

It feels great to get these quilts DONE. I've sent an e-mail to a contact person with Project Linus but still waiting for an answer. I hope she gets back to me soon as I would like to get these quilts out of my house.

I was on a roll and listening to an audiobook, so I continued on. I got the binding on the second fleece quilt, but only on the back. I'll stitch it to the front later today.

Binding is sewn to the back of the second fleece quilt

OK - time to change things up. I decided it was time to get to work on those UFOs of mine. The date is fast approaching for our next meeting - well, it's two weeks away, but I have FIVE things on my list.

Time to get that red and white log cabin done. The top is DONE. I didn't bother to put it on the design wall. I did NOT worry (too much) if the same fabric touched itself where the blocks joined. It's a scrappy looking quilt - get over it. The bottom line - the top is DONE.

Log cabin quilt top - DONE

I dug out some backing and got that done as well. And this morning, I made the bias binding for the quilt.

Making the bias binding

That was a LOT of bias binding, but starting off with a square is so easy!

And that's one more project that gets moved to the "to be quilted" pile.

Moved to the "to be quilted" pile

Yahoo - one item off my list for the UFO's this month. AND one more thing off the UFO list in the Task Master book. This quilt was on the UFO list for 2017. So I missed that deadline by a couple of years, but it doesn't matter. It's done.

There's ONE project left on the 2017 list. That's very exciting, and it's called Sleeping Dogs on the list, but it's actually the snail's trails block, and we know that all the blocks are done.

One item left on the UFO list for 2017

Oh yes - I'm thrilled with my UFO progress. Even though I'm not getting everything done in the year it goes on the list - I'm OK with that. Although there are 13 projects listed on this list, in fact, there are 22 quilts. Some of them had one, two, three, or four quilts on one line. So getting this list done is HUGE. I'll get that last quilt done soon, and then it's onto 2018, where there are only four items left on the list. And other than one quilt, I'm making progress on the other three.

All is good in the UFO finishing world.

I also got the 80 foundation squares cut for the next blue scrappy quilt. I'm leaving that out as I'd like to get that one done.

The next blue scrappy quilt ready to sew

Then I had to go shopping Chez Elaine to find some fabric to make the binding for a couple more quilts. And Diane needed some fabrics to finish off a couple of community project quilts. I hope to make a delivery to her today.

Don't worry - I had time to read, went for that walk, and even did groceries on my way home from the hardware store. I only pick up a few supplies since I'm walking. I'm perfectly OK with that. I didn't have to go for a walk in the evening, so I got more time to read.

The lilies in the pond are still blooming like mad. Some of the outer leaves are starting to die off, but it's bloomed furiously all summer.

The water lily is still blooming

And look at all those fish. It's always a feeding frenzy at lunchtime.

Fish feeding frenzy

 I did get some hair cutting scissors in the pharmacy at the grocery store. We have a few dogs around here with unruly hair, and so we had a little trimming session in the backyard.

Hair trimming scissors

 I would love to have a couple more days like yesterday. That should clear up quite a bit of stuff in Studio B. I hope to have a repeat today, but I'm also working on a custom quilt that I loaded yesterday.

Don't forget that NEXT weekend is the Virtual Retreat. That's Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23. The start time is 9 AM EST. I can't wait!!!!

Well, I've got to get going.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!