OH -- thanks to Heidi - I just downloaded a new app (well, new to me) to my phone. It's called LibraryThing and allows you to catalog your books. I know there are other apps, and I do keep lists of books that I've read in another database, but I didn't want to type in authors, etc. This allows me to scan the bar code and go from there. I'm going to try it! 

At the same time, it would be great if I could sort some of those books into categories! It would make it a whole lot easier to find the books. Just not enough time! But I did get some sorting done yesterday, and WOW -- Studio B is getting better and better every day. 

First -- I should let you know that the quilt is gone! I walked it over to the post office yesterday. There is a constant stream of people there mailing out envelopes or packages! A man wanted to mail an envelope. He simply asked for an international stamp. Well - you have to clarify that a wee bit. Then when his envelope was weighed, the price was more than he had found online. Did you know that there a fuel surcharge on everything you send? Yep - and I bet that wasn't included in the online price he saw, nor was the tax. Anyway, he didn't send his envelope. The difference was a couple of dollars. 

I did feel bad for him because the clerk did NOT explain why there was a difference in the price: total miscommunication - sigh - not my problem. 

This is a box of stuff in the office. At some point, it probably held quilting stuff and then got emptied and filled with stuff from the office - just to get it off a desk. 

A box of paper

I wanted the container, so I dumped the contents. Oh my -- I found some magazines which promptly got filed in the appropriate spot on the bookcases downstairs. 

I found a disk for my Silhouette, which I donated a long time ago. That went in the trash. 

An old CD disk

I found a piece of fabric from a shop that's been closed for many years. Why was this in there? No idea! It's now with the other linen blend fabrics. 

Fabric bought years ago

I found a clipboard with To-Do lists—good grief -- not detailed at all - names of people or a title of something. I didn't have time to process any of the paperwork in there, so the stack left after I sorted out stuff is on the table. The next nice day - I'll cart it out to the gazebo and sort through it. With a recycling bin handy! I'm sure that I will find a lot of useless paper in some of these boxes and other containers. Sigh................    If I could just FINISH one box at a time - I'd be in good shape! I'll get there - I'm trying - I'm really trying! 

Old To-To lists

However, one must NOT get overwhelmed by the mess. It's little bits at a time. It's all going to come together. And besides, it's spring! Look at the leaves on the trees. Trees are in bloom - it's glorious!!!

The leaves on the trees

I got the backing sewn for that other quilt top, so this one is ready to be quilted this month. 

A quilt backing ready for quilting

It was time to get back to Studio B to tweak a couple of things. And if I think back to what Studio B used to look like - well, there's NO COMPARISON. It didn't happen overnight, and I lived with some of the mess to see what worked. So slow and steady is going to make this come together. 

I have a lot of stabilizers that I use for decorative stitching and for machine embroidery. While they were all contained in one area, I wasn't happy with how they are stored. It's still not perfect - better, but not perfect. 

I thought that plastic container would be perfect for storing some of the rolls of stabilizer, and YES - it looks awesome. You see - the problem with this area is that it's right by the stairs, and LOTS of dog hair comes rolling down and settles on this stuff. I need containers for everything, so it's easy to keep clean. 

The stack of stabilizers

I emptied another container (more on where this one came from tomorrow), and I could put the shorter rolls of stabilizer in that one. 

Shorter rolls of stabilizer in another plastic container

And now, this is what the stabilizer area looks like. I would like to find another container like the one on the bottom. I know I have one around here - I just need to locate it and empty what's in it. Then I can get rid of the wine box, and then I need a larger container for the longer rolls. I'm sure I have something around here for that. It's just a question of what in the container, and can I find a better home for it?

All the stabilizers are now together

Part of the problem was that some of the rolls of stabilizer were in a cabinet under the cutting table. They were not handy to get to, so they never got used. Now everything is in one spot. It would be great if it could be sorted by type, but at least they are all together. They were CLOSE as the cutting table is right beside that area. 

Now I have an almost empty shelf under the cutting table!!! I could move those boxes of plastic bags to the shelf below, and the roll of stiff products could go with the others in the stash room. Hmmm - now what can I put there? 

Inside the cabinet under the cutting table

It's so fun and so easy to tweak things now that the main structure of things is set up. I'm sure there's going to be more tweaking as the days go by. 

I had to laugh when I watched the final episode of The Quilt Show in series 400. These were filmed in 2009. Oh my -- look at this person. She had asked a question, but there was NO mention that she was a famous person. Perhaps she wasn't famous yet??  Do you know who this lady is? 

Who is that mystery person?

It's Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero. She's appeared on Quilting Arts (a TV quilting show - long gone), and her big thing was using Kaleidoscope software to make quilts from photos. I have that software - I don't think I ever used it. 

So you may not know her from that. But you've ALL seen her work. She's big-time into photography, and her biggest accomplishment? She's the designer (creator) of the Dream Big panel. 

I got a chuckle when I saw her in the audience when they panned the audience at one point, but I was surprised when she asked the question, and they didn't say anything. But then, it also wouldn't have been the place since their focus was on their special guests. That's like attending one of my events (hosted by a specific shop), and the attendees keep mentioning other shops. That happened last night on more than one occasion, and I had to shut her down!! I get it - but this is hosted by a SHOP so let's talk about this shop!

I found a great interview with Jeanie if you want to learn more about her.  I haven't had a chance to read the entire thing, but it's interesting from what I scanned. 

OK -- so we had Monday sewing, although I spent half of it on an infomercial for stabilizers!! From a competitor, no less. Hey - you can learn from anyone and then translate it into what you know!

I had a presentation as well last night that was awesome! So much information!!!

I also looked at the calendar for the weekend, and it's chock a block full of events. That means I'd better get my act together and get some sewing done. 

I now have ONE of four borders done for my UFO project. 

A border for my UFO project

Two more Snail's Trails blocks are finished. 

Snail's Trail blocks

Here's what the mini design boards look like. I now have 15 of 48 blocks done. Slow and steady progress, and that's all I care about!!!  These will get done and then onto the next thing. 

The rest of the Snail's Trails are cut

I did some more tidying yesterday, which I'll share with you tomorrow. It all means that I now have room to spread out what I have ready to sew without things falling all over the place. YES -- I'm very spoiled, and I know it. But I'm OK with that. I've worked very hard to get the room to this state!

My sewing area

Wow ---- One day, I'll be up to date on what I'm sewing. You can stop laughing now! It'll happen, and that table of current projects will be under control. Then I'll really be able to focus, but for the moment, I have loads of room, and I'm training myself to keep things under control should I ever have to downsize. OK - when I have to downsize. So this is all good, and I'm so glad that I've finally got this whole mess figured out. It's only taken 20 years!!!

On that note, I'm out of here. It's another gloomy day, so no sneaking out to the gazebo. Which is OK - I have three presentations today. Well, one presentation and two software classes. Let's not forget that there's some paperwork (writing) to take care of! But that's almost under control (OK - you can laugh at that one!)

So what are we going to clean today? Pick ONE item in your house that you've been to sell. Take pictures and post them on one of the sites for selling things. You know you've got stuff that someone else can use. It's time to take pictures and get rid of whatever it is. I have stuff, and I'm going to try and do that today. 

On that note - I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!