A day of diversions

I had to chuckle as I went to bed last night. Someone sent me this in the morning, and that's how my day went!

I needed a picture of a package of needles, so I dug out my bag of needles. 

A mess of needles

This is my bag of needles, which I use in presentations. I decided it was ridiculous to keep rifling through them when looking for a particular package, So I sorted them. Oh gosh - -I'm just remembering that I forgot to mention the needles in the article! LOL - what an idiot! 

The needles are sorted by type

Husqvarna Viking and PFAFF each have many SKUs of needles, as you'll find 5-packs and 10-packs of the same type and size. 

Five and ten packs of the same needle size and type

I dug out my sorted bag of plastic bags and put each needle category into a separate bag. 

The needles are now bagged by category

And there's the bag of bags on the left and the sorted bag of needles on the right. I got my photo, and the bag of needles got sorted. I need to do that with my PFAFF and Singer needles, but I'll leave that for another day. 

A bag of bags and a bag of needles

And that bag went back into the drawer with the rest of my needles. YES -- I have a drawer for my needles. It's insane! 

My drawer of needles

But I'm happy to report that almost everything in Studio B has a home. One or two small things might still need a home, but it makes putting things away or finding things much easier. 

In my organizing book, I read that we spend at least 30 minutes every day looking for something that isn't where it's supposed to be. That's a HUGE timewaster, and I don't want to spend my time looking for things. That's partially why I'm on this kick, and it sure makes it less frustrating to go to a drawer or wherever and find precisely what you need. 

So then I got to thinking about those fleece scraps. I knew there was more fleece in the storage room, contained within five containers, but what was there? 

It was too challenging to bring out the five tubs, so I had to sort and move them within a tiny space, but I managed. 

A tight space to sort

I even had a helper - of course. When is Murphy not around trying to sniff out something for her!

MOM - is there food in there? 

There were two tubs like this, and I switched them around without moving them. Don't ask!  

Two tubs of fleece and plush

I managed to sort the pieces - I now have plush (Minky) pieces in two tubs, one clear and one blue. The Fireside fleece went in the other blue tub. Yes, I should label them, but I'll remember that they are sorted and that it's easy to pop the lids off. NOTHING is sitting on top of them. 

Three tubs sorted!

I brought two tubs out, including all the fleece pieces. It's now sitting in the middle of the floor space. I intend to measure the larger pieces and cut up the smaller ones. 

The pile of fleece just got larger

While rummaging in this storage room, where most of the community project quilts are waiting to be quilted, I thought of Diane, who pieced many of those quilts and has been a HUGE help to me. Diane is very ill at the moment, so let's keep our thoughts and prayers with her. I would be so lost without all the help she gave. Get well soon, Diane! quilts

I want to use up the fleece, so I'm going to leave it handy in the storage room. As I quilt some smaller quilts for community projects, this fleece will be used as backing. I would like to get rid of all non-cotton fabric in my house. Fleece, Minky, flannel—I want you gone! So there's a plan! 

As I was working on the long arm, I noticed (finally!) how dark it was. Well, I did before and had pulled out the box of new light bulbs. So, in total, I changed four light bulbs. I have one spare bulb! Most bulbs have been switched to bright daylight LED bulbs, which are amazing! It's like the lights have finally been turned on! I may just swap out one more of the old bulbs to get rid of the box. 

Dead lightbulbs

I have one ballast that needs changing. It's dead, and I have a list of things for an electrician. I must call - it's been years since that ballast died! 

When changing light bulbs, I decided to clean one wheel on the long arm. So I got out the necessary tools and cleaned it up. Hopefully, the wheel won't flake anymore! 

A flaky wheel on the long arm

As I was searching through stuff, I found a drawer with a few more camera things. AHA—that's where I put the multi-port USBs that I was searching for the other day. So this drawer is on the table, and I'll sort through it and amalgamate it with my other tub of camera technology. Sigh—how does this happen? 

A drawer of camera equipment

I think that was all my diversions in the day! However, I managed to get post number three out the door, so that was good. I still have two more, and I need to catch up to where I'd like to be, but it's life. 

I was working on another customer quilt when I had a small glitch. It had nothing to do with the quilt, but the machine made a grinding noise and then continued. I happened to be standing there, and after two minutes, I realized the pattern had shifted off. 

I have no idea what happened - well, I know what happened, but I'm not sure why. All I can say is thank goodness I was standing there, and I was able to stop it. But what took 2 minutes to stitch out took 35 minutes to rip out. 

The pattern has shifted

Then, I restarted the pattern and did not have any trouble getting it back in place. The quilt is so busy that you won't notice that tiny bit of overstretching. I love it when I know how to use my technology to my advantage!!!

The pattern is almost 100% on

Here's the quilt. It's gorgeous!!!

Customer quilt - DONE

The next quilt is loaded and smaller than this one, so it should be quick. This is good, as I need to work on the last two blog posts. 

Help me! But I caved when I was at The Hobby Horse the other day. I bought this pattern. I do NOT need this pattern, but it's DOGS!!! How could I leave it in the store? 

Dog Park pattern

I swear there are three designers who are producing the SAME style of pattern. And they all seem to have the same animals—if one has a llama, then another has a llama, and then the third will have a llama. I don't know how they can get away with it, or should I say, how they sell patterns when the three designers are so similar. It's not my problem. This pattern is on the shelf, and maybe I'll make one someday. 

I also looked at some more books on the shelf. Yikes! There are so many books, and well, I'm being ruthless. I found this book in the family room, and it still has the plastic wrap on it!! Why is that? 

A book still in plastic wrap

I found some books on digital photography, which are going, but after I read the section on STORAGE, who knew that I already possessed most of the information I needed but was too lazy to read the books I bought? I'm stunned at how I got into such a mess. 

I honestly believe there was something "missing" in my life, so I filled my time with retail therapy. While I was careful in what I bought (at least I was interested in the things), I think it was something to pass the time. I was already a quilter at this time, so I'm not sure where this downtime came in! 

Anyway, I now see the light, and it's time to get rid of stuff. But if it takes a bit longer to read certain books or parts of books, I'm OK with that. I'm not in a rush, so I have the luxury of doing that. Thankfully, I'm not having to move in three weeks as most of this would just get shoved into a box and moved. I'm not paying to move all these books!

We had more rain in the evening! Where is all this rain coming from? The non-weeded part of my garden is getting greener and greener, and the weeds are getting taller and taller! Hopefully, tonight, I can get out there and do some more. 

Speaking of patterns, if anyone is interested in getting the Spice Market pattern, the best local place to do so is through Hyggeligt.ca. She has some copies in the store and will order more from Australia. So if you don't have the pattern and want to order it, that's your best bet. It's not cheap, but the shipping is included. The class will start in October, so there's time, but I would let Chantal know that you're interested or order it online so you are sure to have a copy. 

Spice Market pattern

The class will be cheap—likely $30—and you can definitely use scraps for this project. So get your pattern, and I'll set out the sign-up information in a bit. 

Even with the diversions, I'm making excellent progress, so that's a good thing. It's incredible what I can get done when I'm not rushing to deadlines. But my organizing book said I should write down a to-do list. I have a love/hate relationship with to-do lists. But there are certain things I need to accomplish today, and I kept thinking of those things last night. I should have gotten up and written them down! 

Did I accomplish three things yesterday? A customer quilt, labels and quilts all ready for pickup for another customer, and a blog article—plus bonus stuff! What three things will happen today? 

On that note, I'm out of here!!! Remember those darn drawers. They pop up everywhere! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!