Green Tea and Sweet Beans is DONE!!

I am dangerous around a computer. I know enough to get around and potentially get into trouble, yet not enough to solve problems. 

My computer has gotten sluggish again, and yes, when I checked, my email had grown to 106 GB from 104 GB, and I'm down to less than 45 GB free on the C drive. How is this happening? 

On top of that, when I went to download a document the other day, it did silly things to my setup. It was not a virus, but it installed a different web browser, and I was struggling to do any searches as Google just wasn't doing what it was supposed to do. 

So last night, against my "will," I decided to tackle the issue. I deleted ALL the other web browsers off my computer. I only use one. Hopefully, the others will never reappear. I played around with a few other settings and decided to tackle the email issue. By the way, the computer is much more responsive this morning, and I now have the REAL Google web browser, and it's back to its fast self. 

What happened? I've no idea, but all is better. And, of course, Google being Google, that change that happened the other day was reflected across my devices, which I didn't want. 

It drives me crazy if I don't understand something, so I went onto Google to do some research. There is a folder in my email called IMPORTANT. It seems to contain every email I've received since the beginning of time. What exactly is this? And why do I need it? 

Granted, I have accessed emails from that folder that I needed because I deleted them or couldn't find them in my other folders. But I don't think I need that anymore, so I checked online to see what it is. It appears that Gmail will predict what messages are deemed important based on your habits. I don't think that was happening; it literally put every message in there, so the important folder is HUGE. 

What I need to do is be brave and EMPTY that folder. And that is what I'm doing. ACK!!!!!! But even if I deleted the message in my inbox, it wouldn't delete from this IMPORTANT folder. 

I tried two other things first. There's a setting in the web version of Gmail that you can turn off to prevent emails from going into that folder. That's important because it will stop the flow of emails into that folder. I checked this morning, and the few emails that came in since I switched the notification did NOT flow into the important folder. YEAH—we're on the right path. 

Then, last night, I tried some other function to get rid of duplicate emails. Well, a lot of what's in that folder was already deleted from the main inbox, so it's not duplication. 

The IMPORTANT folder

There were many more emails than 5744 in there, and I think that number only reflects the ones that were unread. I'm not sure about that. 

As it started that task, it started moving duplicate emails into the trash, but stopped at 262. That can't be right. 

Reducing redundancy

Oh that task was called "cleaning up important," and while it was important, it wasn't what needed to be done. 

Trying to clean up the emails

Seriously??? I just checked my computer storage, and nothing changed! However, I believe one other step needs to be done to remove files from the computer. I checked the Recycle Bin, and it's empty. But there's another place, and for the life of me this morning, I can't remember. And I might need to reboot my computer to make any changes. But even after deleting all those messages, the space used by my email is still 106 GB. SIGH...

OK—if you are a tech nerd like me and want to see how that darn Gordie Howe International Bridge is being put together, you should go to the videos on this page. It's absolutely fascinating. They talk about the bridge deck completion and how much care is being taken to ensure the two ends meet. Check out the video called "Closing in on Bridge Deck Construction." 

The lead engineer walks through the process, and what they are doing is amazing!!! 

We had our show and tell yesterday, so now I can show you what I completed. I'm supposed to be working on a different quilt, but that just isn't happening. But I managed to get the top of my Green Beans and Sweet Tea quilt done!! 

Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt top is DONE

I did not like the original border on the quilt as I felt it was too wimpy. 

The original

I took the motifs from the border (oval flower with a center and the leaf) and brought them into mySewnet embroidery software, which I then digitized as machine embroidery applique. 

The vine was stitched down in sewing mode. The shapes were precut! 

Then, after 32 hoopings, the quilt top was complete! It took some time, and what a learning curve—I am thrilled with the process. 

But I almost ruined the entire top last night. It was sitting on a stool beside the cutting table, and I came trotting downstairs with a HOT CHOCOLATE. Yep -- it started to slosh, and as I neared the cutting table, I realized the danger, and I managed to avoid the top - almost. 

ACK!!!!

Good grief—how did that happen? A quick trip to the sink to give it a rinse, and all is good! Phew!!!

Now, I need to make the binding and backing and move it to the "to be quilted" pile. That pile is getting a bit on the unruly side—I must start tackling it!

While I have loads of stuff to prepare, I needed some downtime, and I needed time to unpack all the stuff I had used last week and put it back. 

Cleaning up the mess from last week

I emptied bag by bag on the cutting table and slowly worked my way through to ensure all the bits for each accessory were back in the correct box. The finished samples went in one spot, and the unfinished samples went in another. Most everything is back in place! 

This is good because I need to repack those suitcases for later this week when I'm doing a guild talk (modern quilts) and a workshop (curved pieced) at the Georgian Bay Quilt Guild. 

I received this as a gift the other day. It was very thoughtful of the giver and notice it's in my favorite color! It's a notebook cover and there's a small notebook on the inside which is perfect for taking notes and making lists!!!

A notebook

I also received this as a gift. It's a multi-connection gadget for charging devices with various connectors. This is perfect and it's also what I happened to use the other day to charge my phone. The PERFECT thing to carry along with a block! I LOVE it! I think there are four different connectors on it and all in one place! 

A multi-connection device

When I was fabric shopping the other day, I spotted these needles. You'll remember that I purchased a set a while back, but one of the needles was missing. So I bought the full set. 

Darning needles

The big question of the day is what the heck did I do with the other set? I wanted to put the two of them together and I can't find it. I suspect it's with my other bodkins which are upstairs and I must check that to see that everything is in the right place because what's the sense of having homes, if you can't remember where they are? 

I have to chuckle at myself sometimes. I seem to go from one small calamity to another! Whether it's tech related or mssing items, there's always something that seems to go awry in my world. 

Well, I'm off on another adventure today. While adventures are fun, they sure eat into your sewing time!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!