Makers are going make!

 

It's going to be a glorious day! I'm making great progress in Studio B in getting some of those silly little things tidied up. I'm going to be making a list of the additional samples that I want to make. Nothing that'll take a long time, but it would be nice to get some of those basics out of the way. The cutting table is not completely clean; however, it's looking great. 

The cutting table in better shape

Oh, it's Monday sewing today, and I've got a pile of projects cut and ready to sew. It amazes me how little time we actually spend sewing compared to prep or clean up time. 

Sewing projects for today

The best news of all? The arcs for the Double Wedding ring are all trimmed! At least, the B arcs. Now to get to work on the A arcs, but that's in two weeks when my presentations die down. I think I have 11 this week. Yikes - I'll be hopping, but mostly everything is prepped. 

The last of the Double Wedding ring arcs are trimmed

I've got to get the last set of instructions out for Christmas Fig - one of our online projects. I prepped the outer framing required for some of the blocks, and it's ready to sew today!

Frames for a Christmas Fig block

The white scraps are being moved to the Long Time Gone project box. Yep - nothing like getting totally organized and keeping everything neat and tidy. It's all possible when things have a home. If they sit on the cutting table or the ironing board because they don't have a home? Well, that's clutter, and clutter is not good! And the reason there is so much scrap leftover is that I used 5 or 6 different whites. 

All the scrap from the Christmas Figs quilt

I was chatting with a lady the other day who teaches at an outdoor school. How cool is that! She teaches the younger kids, and they go out to various areas in their neighborhood (properly dressed, of course), and by revisiting the same area every day, the kids are taught to notice their surroundings. Hmm - that must have happened to me. 

So this is what I saw in the forest yesterday. The garbage bin was tossed over again! Why?? And it looked like someone had tried to put the bike in the garbage bin. Meanwhile, the real garbage is still strewn all over that area. I just don't get it. What's the purpose of this? I'm not about to pick up the garbage when I have Miss Murphy with me, but I should grab a pair of work gloves one afternoon, pop over and pick it up. I'm just afraid that if I do, it'll be all over again the next day. 

The garbage bin is over once again

And then this. Seriously?? Someone light a fire in the middle of one of the paths? Do these people not have anything better to do? It drives me crazy. 

The remnants of a fire in the middle of the path

Now here's something interesting. I spotted something white in the middle of the forest, and I was with Miss Lexi this time. So we had to investigate. Hmm - a laundry basket on little sticks. What's that all about? 

A leaf catcher

Well, after reading the sign, it's supposed to be a leaf catcher. However, not sure if someone took the leaves out or the leaves choose to not go in the basket. But there were no leaves IN the basket, but plenty around. I read the sign attached to the basket - some kind of leaf study from a local university. I wonder if I should e-mail him and let him know that there are no leaves in his basket. 

The sign on the leaf catcher

That brings up an interesting discussion that we had yesterday. After a harrowing 24 hours when we first got Lexi, and she escaped, both dogs wear a dog tag with my phone number and our address on it. Yep - Miss Lexi got driven home one day after she got her new tag. Apparently, a worker in the backyard hadn't shut the gate properly, and she decided to take a walk in the neighborhood. By having a phone number and an address, it was easy to get her back. The first time, we found her through Animal Control and Kijiji. Long story!

So someone just recently got a cat and wants to put a tag on a cat collar with her phone number on it. Someone else suggested that she get the animal microchipped (yes - good idea, but I believe the cat is already microchipped). So here's the controversy. If you spotted a stray animal, would you take it to the vet to see if it was microchipped? NO - I know that I wouldn't. I'd call animal control and have them come and catch the pet and let them deal with it. But if the dog or cat came right up to me and I saw a tag? I'd call the owner. 

I came across something very interesting on my Virtual Walk across Canada. It's absolutely fascinating to see the landmarks, hotels, parks, stores, etc. along the way. Well, I left Thunder Bay a week or so ago, which brought back a lot of memories. When I was on my REAL cross Canada bike trip in 2013, two people were killed the day we visited the Terry Fox Memorial just outside Thunder Bay. They were killed close to Nipigon. I'm in Nipigon right now. As I approached Nipigon, I noticed that the area where they were struck by a car has been twinned!!!  Yep - I'm not sure what the double highway's length is, but it's in that very area. It looks to be about 20 KM. 

Which is a good thing. I vividly remember that day, and it was awful. After waiting for a lengthy time at the campground and knowing that something bad happened (sirens screaming down the highway), we rode our bikes to the local truck stop - the Husky. We were treated like lepers by the truckers as that entire MAJOR highway was shut down for hours. And if you're a trucker, time is money!! It was a bad stretch of road, and so it's nice to see it twinned. At least, traffic could still move if something else bad happened. 

It looks like the construction is just finishing. RIP Bob and Irene. I'll never forget you, and that awful day is embedded in my mind forever. 

The new twinned highway outside Nipigon

The dot in the bottom left is the campsite where we were supposed to stay that night. The Husky station is the first blue dot on the left. I know you might think this is morbid, but I need to write this. It makes me feel better. It looks like the highway twinning stops right at the campsite. 

The map near Nipigon

And now onto some fun stuff. We had another amazing EQ8 class yesterday. I'm amazed at how well we can work something like this into Zoom. But oh my! I wanted the class to have a specific fabric grouping, so I created a file with the FABRICS only and sent it to them. Well, I got a few PANIC e-mails and texts. Yes - they had received the file, but it was EMPTY. No quilts, no blocks. Well, of course, it is - that was their job to make their own quilts and blocks! I had a good laugh about it!

But here's some more of the show and tell that I received. 

Wendy sent me this medallion quilt that she designed. Wow - I love it, and wouldn't that look nice as a real quilt!

Wendy's medallion quilt

Here's a table runner by Helen Anne. That is very cool and was her first attempt at bringing in a fabric. 

Helen Anne's table runner

Diane was recreating a Tree of Life. I believe this is a large quilt, not a block. Looks amazing!!!!

Diane's Tree of Life quilt

Janice used the Christmas fabric I sent in my file and made a Christmas quilt. Very cool. 

Janice's Christmas quilt

Susan is obsessed. She is recreating the blocks from an online sew along and incorporating them into her quilt. Impressive!

Susan's new obsession

Kathi played with various techniques, styles, and blocks, and this is her quilt design. 

Kathi's sampler quilt

Ronda sent me two files with the fabrics we played with yesterday. Simple, but simple can be good. 

Ronda's Christmas quilt

Here's the second panel that we played with. 

The bird panel quilt

And Shelly sent another version of the Santa collection. Nice mitered corners and a great diamond border!

Shelly's version of the panel quilt

It is SO EASY to create quilts in EQ8. We have one more class where we'll delve into some more creative tools, and we've barely scratched the surface of this program. After the classes are over, most people will put EQ8 away and not touch it again, which would be a shame. So I'm starting an EQ8 club in January. It's going to be open to anyone. You'll get an assignment each month, and we'll do a show and tell each month and figure out if there is a better way to design the blocks/quilts. 

It's not going to be a learn to use EQ8, but it'll be good feedback on designing and keeping them motivated to use the program. If anyone is interested in the club, let me know, and I'll add you to the list. It'll be $25 for the six-months. We'll meet once a month on Zoom. 

I read Louise Penny's newsletter yesterday, and she had this quote, which I love. 

This is so true. I had a very long chat with my Dad yesterday. I walked for over an hour in the cold wind, and we chatted up a storm for most of the walk. I just want to thank my parents for giving me the outlook on life that I have. My two brothers are the same way. We are all very creative; we can do anything we set our minds to. My Dad is in his 80s and has recently had a couple of health issues pop up. He normally volunteers at a Museum where he creates tractor parts for old tractors because some of the old parts no longer exist, or he putters with engines. 

The Museum has shut down their volunteer program since COVID hit, BUT he got contracted to return to make some items for their Christmas light display. I told him to send me photos, but he likely will not. He's already made a pair of spectacles and is currently making three pieces for a mini train that will be 20 feet in length. Seriously? This guy is in his 80s and is excited about each and every day!! I want to be like my Dad when I grow up!!

Just remember that only YOU can make a better life for yourself. I just hope that I've instilled some of that philosophy to M. It would be a shame and a total waste if I haven't done that. Like that kid needs to learn to sew!! Just kidding - she has her own talents! And she has Bear, so she's a keeper!

I do have one little pet peeve about my Dad. He talks about how his Dad, himself, and my two brothers are always inventing little things and knowing just how to make things happen. Well, Dad - so do I! But because he doesn't see it or understand what I do, it's hard for him to appreciate that! But that's OK. 

Well, on that note, it's time to get bundled up and go for a walk. It looks cold out there. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!