Merry Christmas and two steps back!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Thanks to all of you for supporting me in so many ways this past year (OK -- that's something I should say on New Year's Day), but I appreciate all the comments and feedback and know that many of you read the blog over morning coffee! No pressure on me to face an empty computer screen every morning and drum up something! I LOVE it! 

I hope that your day is whatever you want it to be. Our day has always been quiet - no big families or groups of friends to celebrate with. And there is a blessing in that - there is never a disappointment. Yes - it would be nice to be with family, but I was with them last week, and I'm good with that. I'll talk to M later today and give a few people a call, and I'll be good. 

Our big plan is to go to the movies this afternoon; otherwise, it'll be work as usual! Technically, what I''m doing is not "work" but the usual in Studio B - having fun! 

However, I will say there was a MINOR setback yesterday. It's nothing I can't handle, and I had a good laugh over it. 

I'll be doing machine embroidery next week, which requires working with foam. There will be two of us working on this project. I said, "No problem, I have loads of foam bits, so don't buy any." The day I spoke with my friend, I went upstairs to find the bits but could not locate them. 

Yesterday, I went into Studio U (yep -- we've all forgotten about that place - haven't we?) I opened the closet door, which is full of batting scraps (all labeled) and other filling things, like pillow forms, etc. Well, there was the container of foam pieces, so that part is good. I looked right at it when I went to find it before. 

Then I looked at the sewing tables and thought - what a mess, and what is all this stuff? OH --- there are boxes of stuff that I "stole" from the office, and I was sorting them out there because there was lots of room. ACK!!!!! That was so long ago, and while I accomplished a lot, a few boxes were left. 

Crap from the office in Studio U

Now, before we all panic -- the three bigger boxes are empty! And the rest should be pretty easy to go through. And I found the box of jewelry I was trying to find, and I swore it got put on the desk, but it wasn't there! 

However, I need to deal with this before I move ahead with any more sorting. Three small pockets of stuff are still on the kitchen table and the kitchen island. I NEED to deal with these three areas BEFORE I bring out the next batch of junk to sort. 

One pocket of stuff that needs a home

This is an exercise that we should all undertake. Some stuff is easy to deal with - it has a home, and we simply have to walk it to that spot and put it away. Then there is the stuff with no home. Do we keep, throw, or sell? Or do we simply put it in a box to deal with another day? That has been my philosophy in the past, but I can no longer do that. I MUST deal with it today. That's my new rule. There's no urgent deadline, but I'm tired of seeing the same old stuff surface year after year. 

A small pile of stuff to sort

Those piles were much bigger two weeks ago! There are just a few things left, and if I got myself in gear, I could probably get it all done in 30 minutes. I'm not sure I'll do anything today, but I will deal with it this week. I'm trying to be very disciplined about this! I WANT it dealt with - once and for all. 

The third pile of junk to sort

I very much "resent" the packaging we get for electronics. Those boxes are "pretty" and very hard to break down. Do they need to be filled with unrecyclable materials? I bet most of them end up in the garbage. 

Boxes to recycle or toss

We had the Virtual Retreat yesterday, and many people joined. We had a great time and loads of great conversations. I dealt with a good part of the stuff that was sitting on the table. Dealing with cut-off edges of quilts and who knows what else. 

My work table is much cleaner

But I also had the LAST bucket of thread from the great thread sort a couple of months ago. This kind of thing gets left, and no one wants to deal with it. So, I "forced" myself to deal with it yesterday. Cathy and I discussed the various threads left - some we knew, most we did not. Some didn't even have labels on them. No brand name, no thread content, no thread weight! 

The last spools of thread

I managed to find a home for everything! There were some decisions to be made -- where should this go? What kind of thread is it? And maybe it got put in the wrong spot, but it all got put with like kinds of thread, so I'm good with that. And one more container was empty!

Just getting those niggling little jobs done is HUGE. This doesn't take a lot of time, but it takes effort, and I'm tired of having rogue anything around. It needs to find a home, or it goes! 

I had some scraps of quilted fabric left over from cutting out a jacket - that still needs to be finished! 

Scraps of quilted fabric

What does one do with this? So, I decided to join the larger pieces with the "quilt as you go" method. Then, I'll cut them into rectangles and make zippered pouches. It seems a shame to throw all that away. So now I'll have a zippered pouch (four of them) to match my jacket! The jacket is on the cutting table, and I plan to get it ready this week to do the next round of hand stitching on the welted pocket. Yep -- I've decided there will be another Virtual Retreat next weekend. It'll be on New Year's Eve, starting at Noon. Hey -- let's face it -- we're too old to go out. 

Nope -- that's not true -- I don't WANT to go out. I'm just not into the small talk and all that, so quite happy to stay at home and chat with you! I'll put the link up later this week. It's one thing to be with the ladies and quite another to be in couples. We don't do well in groups of couples. Long story! 

Then we discussed a particular fabric that Northcott put out years ago - Mrs Bobbins. I happen to have some, and I was trying to find it. It was NOT where I thought it was, but look what I found. Enough panels and border print to make something similar to this!!! I know just the person who would like this, but waiting for approval before I go ahead. This would take NO time to make, and I might just shift gears in the next couple of days. 

Pattern for a kid's quilt

Speaking of Mrs Bobbins -- if you have any of the fabric with the little panel cartoons and no longer want it, I know someone who does. And I'll try to find my bundle. It likely got put in a project box, which might take some time to find. 

And then, yes -- I got a customer quilt done. This one quilted up beautifully.

Customer quilt - DONE

With all the fussing with the backing, there wasn't much backing on any of the sides, but I managed to make it work!!

Only one minor mishap that was totally my fault. I left my tape marker on the first row, and the machine quilted through it. No worries -- I removed all the tape, and no one will ever know. It's better to use tape than a pin. Ask me how I know! 

Oops - forgot to remove the tape marker

So here is Lexi on her morning walk. Yep -- she looks full of energy and ready to go. 

MOM - -there are squirrels in the forest! 

But this is Princess Lexi in the house. She's a slug! That couch is now totally filthy from her hair. Not my problem - I don't sit there! And her hair? Oh my gosh -- I keep trying to brush her, and it's coming out by the brushfuls!!! 

Mom - kind of busy here! 

When I let Murphy out at Noon, I made Lexi get up and go out as well. Oh my gosh -- you'd think I was asking her to run miles. She gives me a look that could kill, but I make her get up anyway! Then she went outside, sulked on the deck for a bit, and pawed at the door to come in!

Mom -- I'm MAD at you! 

Oh, Lexi -- you are Daddy's girl, to be sure, and we won't go there!

Anyway -- I wish you all a happy day today. Enjoy the day with family and friends or even by yourselves, as we will do by choice! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!