Twirling is an obsession

Don't worry -- I'm not moving! The neighbor who just sold her house is a single person and lives in that big house all by herself. It was time for her to move, and she had talked about it for years. We are NOT moving! My girls love their backyard, we love the backyard, I love the location, and as Jannette mentioned, if you sell, where the heck will you buy? The prices are crazy everywhere!. 

I spoke to another neighbor who had been thinking of moving, but they've looked in smaller towns and decided to stay put because of prices. I don't blame them. 

After the last one sold, we had a real estate agent knocking on our door, asking if we wanted to sell. Nope! I didn't even take her literature. Besides, I did contact a real estate agent a couple of years ago to give us some tips on what to do with the house. And he is my best buddy! He texts me the asking and selling prices of houses on our street and checks in from time to time. He's just waiting for the day when we decide to sell, and he's been good, so I would call him. 

Progress is being made on the Cherrywood Challenge. Not fast enough, but progress is being made, and that's all that counts. I need to finish the quilting, but there are still hours left before that is done. If I could get it done by the end of the weekend, I'd be happy. It's mindless and boring but looks amazing, so I'll keep plugging away at it. 

I just need a good audiobook, and that should keep me focused. I've never been good (physically) with quilting at a domestic sewing machine. I can do about 15 minutes, and then I need a break. But that's OK. 

And speaking of good audiobooks, I'm reading Apples Never Fall by Lian Moriarty. Notice that I did NOT direct you to that other review site owned by that massive conglomerate. I'm trying to find alternatives. I won't be able to rid myself of Alexa, however. Sigh..........   Lian's books are amazing -- there's not really any drama in them, well, there could be, but we don't know yet, and it's all dialogue, but the way she writes is amazing. What happened? What secrets? Her books are all about secrets, which no one talks about, but everyone has secrets! 

Last night, I presented my scrap quilt lecture to the Hamilton Quilter's Guild. Oh, what fun we had, and their quilt show is coming up at the beginning of June, so be sure to put that on your calendar! I can't wait to go -- they have a ton of quilts in the show and vendors, a mini quilt raffle, and much more. 

Spin class was uneventful. That girl went back to sitting in front of me, and all was good. I was careful of my throat clearing!

I created a virtual challenge for myself of 8,000 cardio miles for this year. This includes cycling (indoors and outdoors) as well as walking. I'm almost ¼ of the way there! Can you believe that? I wanted to map that 8,000 KM somewhere globally, and I chose Africa. 

My 8,000 cardio KM journey mapped in Africa

 

I started in Cairo, and I'm currently walking along Libya's coast. This area is NOT mapped by the Google car; however, people have posted pictures along the way. There are not many pictures, but enough to give me an interesting idea of the area. But I'm not expecting a lot of pictures as I start to cross the desert. There are many photos of mosques or prayer areas, the inside of stores or homes. They sure have a different lifestyle from us. 

But here are some interesting sculptures I saw in one of the pictures this morning. 

Sculptures in Misrata, Libya

That looks like a giant domino and a puzzle piece with a handshake in the center. Hmm -- I wonder what this is all about? There doesn't appear to be many sculptures or monuments along the way, but then I am at the mercy of whoever took pictures and posted them. 

This is possible through the Conquerer website with a paid membership. There is loads of stuff to keep one occupied for a long time! I'm about 283 KM behind as we could not do spin class in January, and I had counted that in my planning, so I'll have to make that up this summer on my outdoor bike. 

I've also been playing with the projection system on the PFAFF creative icon 2. There is NO NEED to ever mark lines again! In addition to the green grid (you can change the color), you can project the stitch that you are stitching out. In this case, it's red and is a straight stitch. I should have put something more exciting there. 

The projection system on the PFAFF creative icon 2

Here is the onscreen menu for selecting colors, brightness, spacing for the grid, etc. Lots of options to play with for sure. 

The menu for the project grid on the PFAFF creative icon 2

My biggest issue is when I open the menu for the projector. Then I start pushing buttons, and nothing happens. OH YES --- after this menu comes on the screen, I have to turn the projector ON. One day, I'll get it!

But it's definitely fun to play with, and the fact that no lines need to be marked is super exciting!

I managed to complete more homework for this weekend, and progress is being made - just not fast enough for me! So you'll get to see all that soon enough. Let's not forget the UFOs. ACK ---I've got to get working, and I'm not really good with late nights! And I'm on the road again today -- I did NOT plan those trips very well. But this is the LAST trip for a while, so that is good as I will need every spare moment to complete things on time. 

OH -- the last trip for a while -- make that the last trip for a couple of weeks. Then I'm on the road again! The transition between Zoom and real life is a tough one!

But speaking of the UFO, I decided that I could not live with this. 

The seams are not twirled!

This is a large quilt of which 2 of 9 sections are together, and my UFO is to work on the third. The seams are NOT twirled on the back, and I decided I can't live with that. I know --- what am I thinking? It's not like I have time to redo this. But redoing this part is NOT part of the homework. But while watching the baking show (I do need a bit of downtime!), I've been ripping it apart. 

I need to rip apart the rows, repress some of the seams, and resew them back together. It's not going to take that long, and I'll be much happier with the results. 

The rows are being ripped apart to repress the seams. 

The seams need to be repressed

It's no wonder it takes me a long, long time to get things done! But it's a hobby, and we should be enjoying the slow pace. Quilting is NOT rocket science; nothing bad will happen if someone's quilt is late so enjoy the process! 

The other thing that we really need to be aware of is our commitments. Yes --- I'm in way over my head, and I know that, and I'm not going to hide the fact. But I've learned a good lesson this year. This will not happen again! 

This bad thing called FOMO (Fear of missing out) makes us NEED to sign up for everything our friends or our quilt stores offer. Then we fall behind, and nothing gets done, or we are constantly behind. 

We all need to evaluate the amount of time we want to put into any project. If you sign up for a project that is intense (like any of the Jen Kingwell projects), you know that the homework each month will take several days, while others may only take a couple of hours. That is something you never know when starting a new project. 

You also have to factor in your lifestyle. If you have small children or grandchildren, you may only have a couple of free hours each month. Then it doesn't make sense to take on a big project. Guaranteed, you'll never have time. And if you sign up for more than one project, you're in trouble even before you begin. 

So that's your task for the next couple of weeks. Most of us are in a huge mess now, so we have to look at what we want our quilting life to be like. Do we want extra time to start a random project, or do we want time to play with a new tool, like a digital cutter? How many commitments from your quilt guild, your local store, or whatever can you possibly take on? How many hours per week would you like to sew? How many hours per week can you ACTUALLY sew? 

Start keeping track for the next couple of weeks and see how much time you have. As I put forth the projects for the fall, I will try and estimate the number of hours of homework involved to help people decide which class to take, and the number of classes overall will be significantly less. 

Again -- make sure you mark the Hamilton Quilt Show in your calendar!! It will be loads of fun to get out in person -- I can hardly wait. And they have VENDORS so you can easily shop at several stores in one stop!! That alone is worth the trip. But we need to go with a shopping list! I need neutrals, and I'll buy ONE fun thing as a treat!  

Hamilton Quilt Show -- June 3, 4   

On that note, I need to get moving as I have to be on the road in one hour. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!