Bedtime is important

I feel like a slug this morning. Why? Oh - I slept last night, but I went to bed about one hour later than I normally do. And when that alarm went off at ridiculous o'clock this morning, I just said NO - I'll wait until the second alarm. Even then, I still didn't want to get up! 

But I'm better now that I've been moving around a wee bit. And what's with the temperature? It's COLD. I did start wearing long pants earlier this week. And I'll definitely have a jacket on to walk the dogs this morning. 

It was another busy day, but not a whole lot to show for it. I was trying to save some pictures that I had taken so I could put them in a presentation. Remember, some of these are the ones that I moved and deleted from my phone. Well, because I brought them over in their original state, my computer, for whatever reason, could NOT save the large files. I guess I needed to shrink them. Anyway, it meant that I had to retake some of the photos. GRRRRR  - doesn't matter it's done and the presentation worked just fine. 

I had to run out and do a couple of errands. I stopped by Chapters. Oh - that poor greeter who has to say the same things to everyone who enters. I'm surprised they still have a greeter - but then maybe all stores do. I was tickled to find two magazines with my quilts in them. The one on the left has a Halloween quilt in it and the one on the right has a barn quilt in it. I need to share the story of the barn quilt soon, so you can run out and buy that magazine. 

Current issues of Love of Quilting and Quiltmaker

Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped at Value Village to see if I could find anything interesting. Sorry - Katheleen, there was NOTHING exciting. I did buy a couple of items that I could practice machine embroidery on, but nothing exciting. I should have spent more time digging, but I'm getting good at seeing what is worth buying and not. Besides, I needed to get back home. 

I looked at the travel book section. I wonder how many of those books were actually used or were they mostly purchased and then donated? Oh - the dreams that that shelf holds! I have a few travel books myself, but I think we used most of them. I'd better check before I call the kettle black! I'm very good at buying stuff and then not using it. 

The travel section at the thrift store

Speaking of that, I've started a new non-fiction book called The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker. I probably don't need to read the book, as I'm already in the downsizing mode, but I thought I might pick up a couple of tips. I absolutely connect with his philosophy. We watch all those home makeover shows and we see and buy all the pretty things that everyone (advertisers/decorators) tell us that we should buy, but does that make us happy? Perhaps we need to learn to live with what WE LIKE and forget what others say. I'm all for that! My house isn't pretty, but it's comfy and that's what I want. 

Did you know that the amount of storage space per person in the US is obscene? There are over 50,000 storage facilities in the US - MORE than Starbucks, McDonald's, and Subway combined. Seriously???  That's so scary. That works out to 73 square feet of storage PER PERSON in the US. How can that be?? I'm so against a storage unit unless you have a very good reason for one. Like you rotate seasonal items, or you store stuff that you actively use. But to store stuff and basically throw the key away, but keep paying? Oh boy - don't get me started there. 

It's like those four tubs of samples that ended up at my house and let's not forget those bags of "scraps" that came to me for pet mats. I do NOT like or want to deal with stuff that someone else doesn't want to deal with. I still need to deal with those four tubs. Perhaps later today. And I still have four bags of scraps to go through, but there is no time at the moment. I've made huge leaps and bounds in that area so I'm not too worried. 

Yes - I keep saying that I need to tackle the office and I just don't have time right now. That is NOT an excuse. Well, it is, but it's so lame. I need to get off my butt and get it done. I'll try to stop talking about it until I can make the commitment to make it happen. Reading books gets in my way! But enough is enough. I know that I'll feel better once it's done. And I'll be able to find things much more readily, like the instructions to change the battery on that front door. 

Shoot -- I could have taken that box of stuff and donated it! Next time. 

Speaking of buying stuff, when I was at the grocery store the other day, I was looking for candy. I know - that's shocking! It wasn't so much for the stuff inside, it was for the packaging. I know - I've gone crazy. Well, if you were at the last virtual retreat, you know why. You have to wait a day or so to see what I do with it. And I guess, I could eat the contents. I like chocolate and I like peanut butter!

Snack food bought for the packaging, not the contents

I did manage to get this customer quilt done. I have two to trim now so I hope to get them done today so they can be picked up. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And the last two pieces of the border are now on the snails' trail quilt! Yeah!! This is the LAST UFO from my 2017 list. Yep - I'm a wee bit behind, but that's OK. I just counted and with the multiples of certain projects on that list, there were a total of 22 quilts that got made from the 2017 list. That's 22 quilts that were languishing in the UFO pile for years. They are done!!!

Snails' trail quilt done - DONE

I got smarter in 2018 and only have 12 projects on the list. There are four quilts left on that list and I'm on track to get one of them done this year and I'll be picking one of the others to work on for UFO class and Virtual Retreat days. There are eight projects left on the 2019 list. I'm working on two of those right now and should be able to finish those up this year. Then I'll pick one more from that list to try and finish before the end of the year. And then there's the list from 2020. There are still 11 projects on that list. Hmm - that's worrisome. I've been working on two of them and I should get those finished this year. I'll try to get two more off that list before the end of the year. There's a couple that won't take long to finish. If I didn't have those lists, it would be so easy to work on something more current. 

I needed some binding for the snails' trail quilt. The piece that remained wasn't large enough. So I dug through the brown basket of fabric. Hmm - I found more fabric of the same print, but look at how different the colors are. The one on the right is the one in the quilt.  

Same print - the colors are quite different

That brown on the right is a bit of a bizarre brown. The one on the left is much richer. Upon opening up the one on the left, there is just enough to make the binding. I'm using it - I do not care that it's a bit off. Good grief - it's just the binding. Let's move on! I'm not sure if the colors are supposed to be different or it's a different dye lot. 

Fabric for the binding

I dug through the backings and found this bolt of fabric. Oh my - I bought it YEARS ago - look at the name on it - Lyndhurst Studios. That doesn't exist anymore. 

Lyndhurst Studio on the label

Not a perfect match, but it's shades of brown. Close enough. The binding and the backing are cut and I'll get them sewn up later today. 

The backing for the quilt

It's another mini sew day. I can't wait to have a bit of a break from writing and prepping. 

I'll have to prep later this afternoon as I have two classes tomorrow - well, one class and one presentation. Neither will take too long to get ready for. 

So I have a dilemma and I think I know what I should do, but at the same time should I really? There's a situation that is bugging me and I want to speak to the person who has created the situation. It's NOTHING serious, but it's more the principle of the thing and I'll say a wee bit of FOMO and bullying involved. Bullying sounds like a strong word to use for adults, but it's true. I did the cowardly thing and wrote an e-mail - don't worry - it's not sent yet. Perhaps I should say it in person - that would be the right thing to do.  Some of you and part of me say that I should NOT say anything, but I'm tired of sitting back. It involves two people that I know well. 

I hope that by writing it out (and not sending it), that it'll make me feel better, but I'm tired of people getting their own way by pushing others. Sigh.......................  I'll talk it over at our mini sew day and see if we can come up with a solution. 

Don't forget the Virtual Retreat tomorrow and Sunday! Tomorrow is a bit later start than usual. It starts at 2:30 PM. 

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87628087473?pwd=QjE0Q1Ntc2o2anpvVEl5Y2Z2dFArQT09 Meeting ID: 876 2808 7473 Passcode: 072178

On that note, I'm out of here! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!