Cherrywood Challenge

 

OH MY GOD --- I had just finished my post yesterday when I got some AMAZING NEWS. 

The challenge piece that I made for the Cherrywood Challenge got accepted as one of the 200 finalists!!! Yahoo!!!!  I know - you want to see it, but I've decided that I'll hold off posting it until the winners are announced. Not that I think mine will win anything, but just because. So that date is February 22nd. Then I'll post a picture. I'm thrilled with my piece, and regardless of what happens with it - I think I did an amazing job. That makes it TWO years in a row that my piece got accepted into the challenge. I'm quite excited about it. I also want to congratulate Helen Anne, whose piece also got in!!! Helen Anne is part of our sewing group. Way to go, Helen Anne!!!

The show is supposed to debut in Houston in October. Will there be a quilt show?? No one knows. Things sure got derailed last year, and we can only hope that life will slowly start to get back to normal with the vaccine. Well, the new normal. I hope I get to see the show in person, but so far, it's only scheduled for Houston. 

I'm happy to report that I made excellent progress in writing yesterday. The marathon is almost over for this month. Only one homework assignment left to prep, and it's a small one, so that should be easy. A couple more blog posts to write, and I'm caught up. Then the process begins all over again for next month. 

However, I started cutting the February homework yesterday and taking pictures. My goal is to start writing later this week to forward the homework immediately after the class. It's the only way! So today is a day of writing, and then tomorrow is going to be devoted to e-mail. I need to set up more rules, folders, answer e-mails, sort e-mails, and delete e-mails. I just need to set aside the day to make it happen instead of trying to fit in 2 minutes here and 2 minutes there. 

And I've got to double-check those distribution lists one last time. People are still signing up, and I'm good with that - until the end of January! Then no more sign-ups!

So what did you do in the cleanup thing at your house?? I promised to show you my junk drawers. Actually, we have two, and here they are. The first one is mostly batteries. How can one household have or need so many batteries? I'm sure that some of those need to go bye-bye. But they are all together. There are a couple of charging cords, and I really need to label them. However, the drawer is neat and tidy, and not much needs to be done here. 

What used to be our junk drawer

Here's the second junk drawer. Not junky at all. Each item has it's own little container. Oh yes -- I've been at this organizing thing for years. 

The second "junk" drawer

So there will come a time when I'll be bored (snort!), and then I'll go through that drawer of batteries to see what I can get rid of. But how long will that take? Mere minutes. Oh yes - this organizing thing is great. I'm so excited. 

This is what I found at the bottom of the buffet in the office yesterday. Oh god - manuals from a printer that is LONG gone. I guess all this goes in the recycling. 

Old computer manuals

Another manual from another printer that we no longer have. I guess that gets tossed. CDs - I guess they get tossed as well. 

Another old manual

Stuff from a media drive that well? Where the heck is this???  I don't think we ever used it. So the cords will go the electronic waste and the manual in the recycling. 

More manuals from obsolete products

How much of that stuff do you have around your house???  I really must try to get the visible stuff dealt with before I go looking for more in the cupboards, but that stuff will be easy to deal with. 

Then I found this. Not one, but THREE versions of EQ. I probably do NOT need to keep any of this. However, I will keep the EQ8 upgrade and the passcodes from EQ7. The rest - goes bye-bye. Amazing how this stuff piles up, and we think we NEED to keep it, but really??  That's why I'm loving subscription software. No boxes, no manuals - everything is on-line. 

EQ software versions

Speaking of online, I needed to share a video with a group this morning. I have a Dropbox account, and from time to time, I get messages that it's almost full. Full of what??? I checked this morning, and there's a bunch of stuff in there that's sat for years. I deleted some of it, but more to delete another day. Anyway, there was plenty of room to upload the video. 

I snapped this picture yesterday on the walk. It does NOT do justice to the sky. It was glorious!!! 

The sunrise

I managed to get another customer quilt done. Just a wee one, but it's done. 

Customer quilt

And as I've been working and trimming, I've noticed the very cool little images on the selvages. 

So cute and creative - those are the kind of selvages that you want to make something from!!

I'm not sure what I can send you to organize this morning. Hopefully, after today, I'll join in on the organizing if it's an area that needs some tidying up at my house. Once this office is done, I'm golden. The rest of the house is in pretty decent shape. But I want to start doing a second round and be totally ruthless. The day that we need to downsize, I want to already have done the dirty work and be able to just move without having to spend days and weeks purging. Things are on track, so I'm good with that. 

Let's pick the cutlery drawer! Oh yes --- take everything out and wash the tray and the drawer. Before you put stuff back, do you really use those odd kitchen gadgets in there??? If not - put them in the giveaway box!!!

WAIT - before we close off, my blog posts are on QUILTsocial this week. I'm playing around with the NEW Husqvarna Viking Designer Sapphire 85 sewing and embroidery machine. It's amazing. Here's the link to Monday's post.  

Don't forget there's a Virtual Sewing Retreat this weekend. Saturday evening from 6 PM - 9 PM and Sunday 10 AM - 8 PM. I'll post the links tomorrow. 

On that note, I'm out of here!!!!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!