Cutting it close!

You do not want to see my house at the moment. A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, and there hasn't really been time to keep things under control. I swear as the day went on yesterday that it got worse!

Here's that heap of quilts that need to be bound. I was hoping to tackle that this morning, but that's not going to happen. 

Quilts to be bound

The cutting table is buried, and I need to cut stuff this morning. I doubt there'll be time to deal with it, so all that will get dumped on the floor. 

There's a cutting table under there?

And the floor, which is usually pretty tidy, looks a mess. 

The floor is filled with stuff

And by the end of the day, it looked worse!

And now it's worse!

I could play "what's different between those two pictures!" Boxes and bags were partially unpacked, and the stuff was unceremoniously dumped on the floor. 

I am comforted in knowing that this is temporary. I remember when this was the norm. Actually, the above looks way better than the norm used to be! So I've made loads of progress. Unfortunately, this is my writing week, and everything else will be set aside until that is done!! And I'm happy to report that one part is finished. 

Oh my gosh --- we had a great class with Green Tea and Sweet Beans, and I'm going to be in the remedial class that starts in January! I'll be working on that quilt, and I'm going to use the remedial class to get my Long Time Gone, Boho Heart, and Wanderer's Wife quilted and bound, in addition to finishing off Green Tea. Watch for those details later this week. 

Look at those girls. They are so unlike each other it makes me smile every time I see them. Lexi has almost given up sleeping anywhere else but on the couch. It's covered in dog hair, and who will vacuum that up? It's certainly not going to be DH, so the two of them just wallow in it! And she does NOT like to be disturbed! 

Lexi, from her new perch

Meanwhile, Murphy is definitely more active and likes to watch TV. But her version of TV is interactive. She wants to jump in and play with whoever is on the screen and has taken to barking at the dogs she sees. NO --- Murphy. Mom said there is NO barking in the house. 

Murphy actively watches TV

But she is so enthusiastic that she barks when she sees other dogs. She's just a vocal girl and can't help herself!

Oh yes --- we had an excellent embroidery club. There were so many pictures that we barely got through it all. I suspect there isn't room in the embroidery club for any new members. But what I love about the embroidery club is the talent in that group. I think we have all the brands of sewing machines covered, from the small to the top of the line in several brands, and everyone is doing something different. I LOVE IT, and it's one of the best hours of the month! I have learned so much from the others. 

Here's what I have been working on. I now have twelve of the fifteen hoopings completed for the quilt backing for my 150 Canadian Women. It shouldn't take long to finish the last three, but I doubt it will happen this week.  

The quilt backing for the 150 Canadian Women quilt

And when I was at Thimble Quilts and Sewing Company the other day, I took the Designer Embellishment Attachment with me to finish up an embroidery. 

The Designer Embellishment attachment

And here's what happened. My partially completed design was in the hoop, and I sat down and realized that I had NOT brought the embroidery file with me. NO!! Hey -- no worries. This came from the mySewnet embroidery library, and I turned on the Designer EPIC 2 and accessed the library through the Wi-Fi and got my file! I was back in business. You can't beat that! 

Anyway, I was adding some ribbon, and I guessed how much I needed. I figured I would have enough, so I hit START to do the second half of the hair. OH BOY --- I don't think there's enough ribbon. 

I'm going to run out of ribbon

So I improvised and hand-stitched some more ribbon to the end of the ribbon on the roll. It was not the most convenient thing to do, but it worked. And can you believe -- my hand-stitched join was 1/2" AFTER the stitching stopped! So I snipped off the end, and no one knows what happened! I couldn't have let that short tail loose on its own; I needed the extra length to anchor the ribbon as it stitched. Phew -- lady luck was on my side!

Just made it before the join

And here it is -- my witch!!! I love it! The face is machine embroidery, the hat is machine embroidery applique, and the hair and the flowers on her hat are ribbon embroidery. 

The witch from mySewnet embroidery library

So many cool things happening in the world of machine embroidery! 

So if what I said about mySewnet went right over your head, be sure to sign up for the sessions at Stitch by Stitch that start TONIGHT. Wi-Fi connectivity is here to stay in the sewing industry!!! And thank goodness for that. 

I'm running a four-part ZOOM session on mySewnet (hosted by Stitch by Sitch in Kingston), which includes the software, Wi-FI connectivity in the embroidery/sewing world, and explaining what it's all about, as it can be very confusing. I had to have it explained to me at least three times before I totally grasped the concept. The first session is TONIGHT. Even if you are not in the market for embroidery or (GASP) own a different brand of machine, this is going to be loads of fun to discover how the industry has changed! 

And here's where I'll be tomorrow. 

November 15, I'll be at Pins & Needles in Listowel, where I'll be hosting two seminars on quilting, so if you live close by, be sure to get signed up for that!

I'll be posting the list of clubs I will host in 2023. You can refer to this blog post if you can't remember what they are. Scroll down to the end --- in reality, there are only four new ones --- EQ8, Digital Cutters, the Jen Kingwell remedial class, and the Many Blocks project. Others, like the UFO Club, embroidery club, and Out of the Box, will continue, and at this point, there are NO or minimal spots open for 2023. You'll get the info by the end of THIS week. 

And if you haven't signed up yet, I'm teaching Goast in PJs on FRIDAY. This is also on Zoom and hosted by The Hobby Horse. It's a two-part Zoom class, so get yourself organized for that. 

In a million years, you will NEVER guess where I'll be later this afternoon. You are going to laugh yourself silly when I share some photos tomorrow! 

On that note, I'm out of here. I'm off to spin class to let my mind whirl away and solve the logistics of the coming week as I spin my heart out!

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!!