Check and check

 

Every once in a while, you have a day that you don't want to repeat. Yesterday was such a day. Oh - don't get me wrong, things got done, and I could check them off my list. It was just a wee bit too tight on the timing, is all. 

I'm happy to report the magazine quilt is gone! I should have taken a picture of it sitting on the doorstep. I had to babysit it while it got quilted. Well, that's not really true. There were many threads on the top, so I was cutting threads (it was a scrap quilt after all) while it was getting quilted. The binding got made and put on - I'm getting very good at doing that! And so that quilt killed two birds with one stone. It was a UFO from 2004, and it met the magazine requirements.CHECK and CHECK. That UFO had not even made it to my lists yet. All that remains when it comes back is to put a proper label on it and a proper sleeve. It went with a temporary sleeve pinned to the back. 

The label for UPS was generated, and I taped it into a box. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but it only cost $35 to ship this box. I need to do an experiment, but I swear that the flatter the box, the cheaper it is to ship. That was a bargain at $35, and I thought the prices had gone up for December. It's scheduled to arrive two days behind its due date, but that's OK. I can't imagine that they don't have buffers on their dates, but I do NOT like to be late. 

And how easy is it to generate the labels, pay for the shipment, and do it all from the comfort of your own home? That's one positive thing that came from the pandemic. Otherwise, I would be trundling to the UPS store. 

Then it was time to work on the block. I can't believe that I messed up the order of the blocks that I needed to make, but I did! ACK!! Anyway, that block got made, and the instructions are written up. So that was a good thing. The remainder of the blocks are now in the correct order, and I'm forging ahead to get them all done ASAP, so they are out of the way. But that's not a task for today. 

I LOVE when authors write back! I wrote a thank-you note to Robyn Harding for her great book, and she responded! She even read my blog! Well, I had NO choice yesterday but to finish that book. It was a page-turner, and thank goodness that it was an audiobook so I could listen (and focus) as I worked. The ending blew me away. All I can say is that I'm putting her on my MY MUST-READ list. Thank you, Robyn, and it's always exciting to find a new author, and she's Canadian! Yeah, Canadian authors. 

I'm making great progress on my new Virtual Challenge - the Appalachian Trail. It starts in Georgia and moves up the east coast of the US. I'm now in North Carolina! I'm a wee bit behind as this week was a bit of a challenge to get in that extra walk, but I'll catch up soon. While it's interesting, it's not quite as fun as Route 66. Why? I'm in the mountains the entire time, and there are no Google pictures to see. And no highways to follow. But that's OK - I'm still enjoying it. And it makes me think back to our trip to North Carolina in 2019. I would LOVE to walk part of this route in real life. 

My position on the Appalachian Trail

Remember a while back when I was grousing about the "new" platform for Blogger? I don't even remember what the old one was like! That's hilarious, and that's why we shouldn't be so resistant to change. However, there was one small issue with putting the captions on photos. I see they fixed that! Yeah!!

Christmas is coming! Thankfully, it'll be low key at our house, but I did manage to hang up my Christmas tree quilt yesterday! That was easy! I also had to move all those quilts off the bed, and in doing so, I found my Santa quilt, which I'll hang up later today. This is the FIRST ever quilt that I had published in one of the US publications. That would be back in 2015 or 2016. Needless to say, I was THRILLED beyond belief that it got accepted. Thank you to F&W Media (now defunct) for accepting that quilt. A humble beginning! I should take a picture of the quilting on this one - I LOVE it. It's dense like crazy, but the texture is amazing!!!

The Christmas Tree quilt

Why did I have to move the quilts? Because some company came! Yes - cute Mr. Bear came for a visit, and his handler, M, came along to help him on the plane! It was great to see them, and now we get a couple of weeks to visit. Needless to say, Murphy went ballistic! I've been warning her all week, but she wouldn't listen and saved all the excitement for yesterday. Silly girl. 

Bear and M at the airport

Notice that M is wearing one of MY masks. I made a couple, and she needed some, so I gave her one that I had made. I'll be making a few more over the holidays. I think Mr. Bear needs one! He's so darn cute. 

Speaking of changes, here's another very welcome change. I used to have to go into Zoom and create a Zoom meeting. Then save it to my Google Calendar. Well, guess what? Now I can click on an existing event in my calendar and make it a Zoom meeting. I LOVE it. That saves a whole lot of time. I love it when people try to make our lives easier, and they succeed. 

And that's a wrap for today! While there are no quilts to finish or even make today, I have homework to prep for tomorrow's class and two presentations to assemble, but those are easy to do. And I have a quilt on the long arm that needs to be done today! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!