More of the same!

OK -- so I've developed a routine, and it's pretty boring! But have you ever noticed how much of your life is routine? And routine is good -- it allows your brain to focus on other things; otherwise, we would be exhausted making decisions all day long! 

Things happened, although it was a "fairly" routine day. The first excitement of the day that resulted in my good deed was when I walked Murphy. I saw a vehicle back out of the driveway (I was practically beside the car, but it was NOT ever a danger to me). But they backed slowly out of the driveway, and instead of turning sharply, they kept backing up and hit a van parked across the street. The van was parked on the street because their driveway was being worked on. 

The vehicle stopped momentarily and then drove away. Seriously??? They never even checked for damage, but I saw a LOT of fluid pour out of the front of the parked vehicle. I didn't stop then, but on the next walk with Lexi, I stopped and rang the bell and told them what had happened. You could see a long scratch mark along the corner of the front. And as we were chatting and inspecting the damage, the white vehicle drove back into the driveway. I think it was a young driver driving his brother to school. 

I left it in their hands, but I'm shocked that that fairly innocuous bump caused that tank (radiator fluid? Windshield wiper fluid? to rupture. 

Then I was home and ready to quilt. And if you think I tried to get all nine of those quilts done -- think again. I might be in a routine, but I'm not that good! Here's the first one done. 

Community project quilt -- DONE

I did have an errand that took several hours, but then I was back and got a second one done. 

Community project quilt -- number two - DONE

And I decided to keep going and got one more done. 

Community project quilt - number three - DONE

And since I'm on a roll, let's go for one more! 

Community project quilt number four - DONE

Yes -- I know they all look the same, but they are NOT! These are 43" by 51", so they took a bit of time, but I'm a whiz at getting them on, quilted, and off. 

They are all trimmed, and the bits are taken care of! That leaves FIVE small quilts to go. 

There is NOT enough polyester batting for one more quilt, so I'll put this into a pet mat, and I'm done with polyester batting! 

The leftover polyester batting

I don't need to worry about batting now, as I have TWO more partial rolls designated for the charity quilts. I had to pull out the one roll yesterday to get some batting for those quilts. These two rolls are NOT the Quilts of Valour quilts, as I have two full batting rolls for those quilts. 

The next roll of batting to use

And talk about a working studio and keeping the floor clear! It's a great place to put stuff in progress, but it doesn't stay there long, and I'm trying to put everything away that I can. I'm doing a pretty good job! 

Using the floor as an extra surface!

This floor space is clear once again! But here's the stack of trimmed quilts. I wonder if the table will collapse? 

Trimmed quilts are ready for binding! 

And I also have a closet of batting ends that I can use for those charity quilts. So running out of batting won't be an issue -- at least for a while. 

Batting ends in the closet

Here's something to think about when you are tidying up your space. What do you have that you can repurpose? I have this plastic bag hanging off the shelf in the stash room, and its job is to hold the supplies (fusible tricot) to make the tape to join pieces of batting. 

An ugly plastic bag in the stash room

A plastic bag? Good grief -- I have a ton of bags I could use. And I spotted this purchased orange tote bag that I could use instead. There was nothing in it -- it was just hanging on a hook. So it's been repurposed, and the plastic bag will get used in the kitchen! We have hardly any plastic bags left in our house! They have all been repurposed for something, and we are diligent about using reusable bags when out. 

A repurposed tote bag

And inside is the black and white fusible tricot (fusible interfacing for knits) that I cut into strips and use to join batting pieces. It's WAY BETTER than sewing as sewing often stretches the batting; the fusible tricot does not. It even worked for all that polyester batting at a lower temperature. 

The black and white fusible tricot INSIDE the tote bag

I think I have most of the next five quilts prepared, more or less. I have three battings and two backings that need to be worked out. Will I get these five quilts done today? I don't have any errands, so you never know. But these are LONG days! I'm not getting to bed until almost 9:30, which is very late, and I'm up way before dawn! But the next quilt is loaded on the long arm and ready to go!

So what happened to the sweatshirt? As you know, I decided to rip off the collar so I could bind the entire perimeter with bias binding, but I was getting this very noticeable ring of light color. 

Unpicking the collar

How to cover that up? 

An unsightly white line

I would need a bias strip, and I didn't have any extra. Then I remembered that when I made the binding and cut the strips into 2 ¼" strips, there was a small offcut. I dug that out of the scrap bin and trimmed it down, so it was half the width -- well, less than half the width. 

The bias offcut

Oh shoot -- I didn't take a picture, but it's pinned in place, and I'll stitch it today -- I hope! All the other sewing on the jacket is raw edge, so this will also be raw edge applique. Then I can put the binding on, and the ends of this scrap will get tucked inside the binding. I'm feeling good about this- a great way to finish off the jacket, and no one will know it was a sweatshirt! But it's fuzzy and warm inside!!! And one needs warm these days --- good grief --- it's getting cold outside. 

Once again, I was in the s storage room, moving things around. The two rolls of batting for community projects were sitting on the wooden shelf in the back, and there were baskets of flannel on the floor, making it very inconvenient to get in there. Now the two batting rolls are standing upright, and the baskets of flannel are on the shelf, and it's much neater! The same stuff - just organized differently! It makes a difference!!!!

The community project area looks very neat and tidy

So on my errand, I had to pick up some stuff and realized my car was small. I bought four batting rolls (for me personally), and I could only get three in the car, so I have to go back and get the fourth one. I got some thread as well. 

The result of my shopping spree

But here's the good news -- I also stopped by The Hobby Horse and had a great visit with Gail and Joyce. Why was I buying fabric? Because I have a couple of quilts (samples) to make and I needed some background. I'm trying to branch away from white -- just because. Did you know that the Toscana from Northcott is available for $11.98 a METER???? That's a steal, so if you are looking for blenders and Toscana fits the bill -- check them out. I never thought to check the price of the other blenders, but seriously --- some stores are charging $22 for the SAME thing!!!!

I also got the book I'll be using for the upcoming scrap session hosted by the Hobby Horse. It's going to be so much fun as I LOVE scraps -- it's right up my alley, and we will have fun!! If you haven't signed up, then you should do so! There will be tons of inspiration, ideas, patterns, and discussions on the good, the bad, and the ugly with scrap quilts. Some people think scrap quilts are ugly, but they are NOT. They are gorgeous --- if you know what you are doing! And after this session -- you'll know what you are doing! If you don't want to make a quilt -- I'm OK with that --- this is all about learning what to do when you decide to make a scrap quilt.

Scrappiness is happiness

I discussed with someone yesterday about running shoes and the toes popping out. I know that not everyone walks the same amount as I do, and honestly, before I started walking, I never gave two thoughts about my running shoes. I've learned a lot, but not enough since I had that fiasco with blisters. 

But here's the thing --- there is a life to the running shoe. A typical running/walking shoe has a life of about 800 - 1000 KM, although many serious runners/walkers will change them around the 600 - 700 KM mark. Some of the fancier shoes have a life of about 200 KM. I know !!! You look at the top of the shoes and think -- this is OK. But look at the bottoms. Here's a picture of what I wore just before I left and a brand new pair. These ones are not that bad, and now that winter is close, I might get away with wearing these a bit longer. Why is that? I seemed to be having sizing issues with this shoe style, even though I had worn them for at least a year with zero issues. 

The old and the new

But once the structure and the cushioning inside the shoe start to break down, you might as well be wearing flat sandals! It's hard on your back and your legs. So keep track of when you buy your shoes and how often you change them. You should not wear the same pair for years unless you don't walk much. 

Walking can be an expensive hobby -- if you think that a decent pair (well, the pair I just bought was $200) and I need four or five pairs in a year? That's almost $1,000 in running shoes a year! Yep --- just like everything else -- hobbies are expensive! But that's the only expense with walking, so it's not so bad, and I can do it anywhere!

Well, it's time to get the day moving! I may have to put long pants on before taking the girls out. It's a tad chilly -- 6 degrees C, and with sandals on my feet, it will be cold. I did wear my new shoes in the house for a couple of hours. They feel comfortable, although I could feel some pressure on that toenail after a couple of hours. I wish the darn thing would just fall off. I don't want to take it off, so I keep hoping I'll look down, and it's gone! 

Don't forget the Virtual Retreat on Saturday and Sunday. Check out the separate blog post for the links. It's going to be the perfect weather to join, especially if you live in Eastern Canada where bad weather is coming, thanks to Hurricane Fiona!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!