Who turned out the lights?

Should I or shouldn't I? That's the big question right now about my phone. After our Monday sewing, I went to the mall to chat again with the Bell folks. I could get a new phone, but the S21 is obsolete, so that's not an option. This means I'd have to go with the S22, which requires a new case. Why? Because someone is going to make more money that way! The guy in the store even said so! That is very wasteful as my phone case is perfectly useful, but who will want it? 

They recommended I check in with a phone repair shop in the mall. So I did, and they cleaned my microphone, although they said it looked pretty clean. I spent several hours yesterday and the day before on the phone, and there were no issues. So, let's see what happens. 

And wouldn't you know it, I took a call in the evening, and it crapped out. So I switched to the home phone (I know -- why do we still have one), and that battery was dead in 20 minutes. It's so old, it doesn't hold a charge. So back to the cell phone, which was fine for the rest of the call. 

I will call the carrier today and see what they say, but I think I will just suck it up and keep it. It's a lot of money to replace it, and the repair service thinks I might be losing service -- but how can that be? It's not like I moved into a new location -- I can be in ONE spot, and my voice comes and goes? I don't buy that. Anyway -- I don't spend hours on the phone, so I'll leave it. But I will make one more call. 

But while I was at the mall, I checked out Calendar Club to see if they had any EXIT games. Nope, they did not, but they had puzzles on sale for 25%. I know -- I should NOT have bought one, but I did. 

It was super cute. Really -- the price of a jigsaw puzzle is good value. For $20, you can get hours and hours of entertainment. 

My new puzzle

But I loved the saying at the top, which is mainly why I bought it. OK -- so the dogs are cute! 

Everything you can imagine is real.

I have an empty worktable at the moment, and it's become my puzzle station as well as a quiet spot to contemplate that puzzle advent calendar. I'm still on Day Two, only because I have yet to have the time to look at it. While I still have some classes, and meetings, for the most part, things are quieting down. 

My puzzle station

And I will need to get some light bulbs replaced and SOON. This is the situation right now. The completely dead one is over the puzzle table, so that needs to change. The center one is fine as it is. 

Three dead light bulbs

Two of these three fixtures are fine, but the third one in the front is over the cutting table and needs to be replaced, but it's the light fixture, not the bulbs, that is the problem. I need to get an electrician in the house. Where's my list of things for them to do? 

A dead light fixture

And just yesterday, one more bulb went in the third set of lights, leaving seven bulbs dead and eleven still working. I still have lots of light, but it's time. I buy the bulbs by the box, and I got the more expensive LED ones, so if I were to replace all of them? I'll need sunglasses!

Two more dead bulbs

I got another quilt done - this time, it was a very small one and belongs to a YOUNG, brand-new quilter. She did an excellent job on the piecing, and she's got a good teacher (grandma) to help her.

Customer quilt - DONE

The next quilt is loaded and ready to go this afternoon. I want to remind people that when you sew a seam, ensure the two pieces are ATTACHED. This is the backing of the quilt for today. About 3 to 4 inches on one end are simply not secure! Fortunately, the backing was wide enough, that I moved the quilt over. This is a very common error, and if that's on the quilt top, it can become a HUGE mess. 

A bad start to the seam

I put away two more things from those shopping bags. A roll or a beautiful orange cork. This is the good stuff, and I LOVE it. I might do some embroidery on it and make a table topper. 

Orange cork

And I bought a roll of faux leather. This is gorgeous, and I can't wait to make a zippered pouch or something creative, or I could use it for applique. 

Faux leather

I have some papers sitting on the cutting table to deal with today. While there are a few small extra things on the cutting table, I finally have it the way I want. There are things on it, but those are the things that I can easily clear up in ONE day or the project that I need to work on THAT day. The rest of the stuff is stored on the current project table, and as I need it, I'll grab it. 

But I now have a big open space to work, and I LOVE it!!!

I glanced in those tubs of paper; there are FIVE rolls of brown paper. Good grief -- perhaps I was going to use it to wrap parcels. Remember when we used to do that? Now, we just send the box with a label. 

Five rolls of brown paper

Could a school use it for drawing or coloring for the kids? I certainly do not need it. 

So when I tell people about cleaning up, if you don't want to get rid of your fabric, I'm OK with that. But what about the stuff that you will absolutely NEVER use. That's the stuff you want to be getting rid of! I've gotten rid of a ton of stuff, and I don't miss any of it! And it's giving me more space to enjoy the things I want. The freedom of movement and the peace of mind I'm getting is PRICELESS, and I'm so happy. 

Here's another reason it's so hard to part with things, I can hear my Mom's voice as I write this. "But it could be useful to someone or maybe to me one day!" Yep -- I get it, but if you haven't used it in the last year, it's probably not going to be useful EVER! At least to you! Then it's time to find a home for it. No need to trash it; just start looking for a home and then ACT on it! 

And yes -- even though I used my seam ripper this morning and I will likely sew this afternoon, it went back in the box. It took mere seconds to do that! I'm still a LONG way from having it exactly as I would like, but now that the bulk of the work is done, I can focus on small areas at a time (and have room to sort), and it doesn't take up huge amounts of time, which gives me more time to sew or do whatever I want!

On that happy note, I'm out of here! I only have two commitments today (a meeting and a pickup), so I have much more flexibility in what I do! I can't wait to get started! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!