The big thread merge!

OK—so what do you do when the book you're listening to is depressing? The book is "When the World Fell Silent," by Donna Jones Alward, and it is about the Halifax explosion (1917) when they were in the midst of a war. I totally get that times were tough. Many people died in the war, the explosion, and the Spanish flu. It just seemed that the two women in the book were saddled with EVERY possible calamity. Even the prologue foreshadowed terrible things. 

I hate abandoning a book, so I persevered. I'm now down to one hour, and at least some positive things are happening, but it's still very sad. I'll get through the last hour later today, and then I think the next book is happy!

I accomplished a LOT yesterday in Studio B, which is very exciting. 

WAIT -- that's after I accomplished a lot of paperwork, so it was a bonus day! 

The first thing I tackled was the threads. Incorporating the two stashes of 50-weight thread wasn't so big of a deal. 

The red/pink drawer looked like when I was done. 

The red/pink thread drawer

I got a chuckle out of my mismatched socks (intentionally) because they were the same color as the thread. About the mismatched socks, I swear my child used to buy socks (OK, so I paid for them), and then she immediately tossed one sock in the garbage. There are oodles of mismatched socks in the house, so rather than throw them out, I wear them. Who cares if my socks don't match? I surely do not! 

Mismatched socks

There were enough blues to fill another drawer. 

The blue drawer

And greens filled yet another drawer. 

The greens

The browns and the purples went into the fourth drawer. 

Purple and brown

And here are the oranges and yellows. A few oddballs are in this drawer—those variegated ones in the corner. 

Oranges and yellows

Because there are so many black, white, and grey threads, they are stored in two other containers—light and dark. The remainder of my threads are sorted by weight—30 weight, 40, 60, etc. 

I had to empty two drawers to combine all the colors, and those items fit into a plastic container, which went into the thread cabinet. 

Specialty threads

So, all the threads are organized. They already were; I just added these new additions. I can always find the thread I'm looking for. It's a huge relief, and I'm never in a panic because I can't find a thread. 

Speaking of thread, look what arrived in my mailbox. It arrived early in the morning, as our mail is delivered around 9 a.m. I ordered it on Wednesday afternoon and paid $20 for Canada EXPRESS post. That was an amazing deal and right on time!

My thread arrived

There is the old spool on the left and the new one on the right. I see the new one is shorter and more compact. Hopefully, that means the spool won't disintegrate. There is a lot of thread on the old one, but it is totally useless with the break in the middle, and the thread keeps catching. 

The old and the new

To give you a sense of the size of that spool, here it is on the long arm, and I'm holding one of the small spools in my hand. It's BIG. I use a regular thread in the bobbin, and I've never had issues with the tension when using this monofilament thread. It's great for quilting—especially when the pattern is spider webs!!

That spool is big!

The minute I put that spool on the machine and started it up, it worked like a charm, and I never had an issue with the thread. It was the broken spool that caused me grief. 

Here's the finished quilt, which has already been picked up!

Customer quilt - Done

I thought I had better return to my UFO, due tomorrow. I do not want to cough up any money! 

I managed to get one column of the T-shirts for the back assembled. 

One column of T-shirts

The other two columns are sitting on the ironing board, waiting to be assembled later today. 

The other two columns

While I was piecing, I decided to dig out those black-and-white with red center blocks and use them as enders and leaders! I need 60 blocks of each colorway, so I grabbed this set to start. There are 36 blocks completed, and 24 are in various stages of completion. I grabbed all the bits and did a great job last night. More importantly, I had FUN as it's been quite a while since I pieced anything. I've been doing a lot of embroidery and applique. 

Piecing some blocks

I have to laugh because the old rule was that you had to piece the same project on the same sewing machine. Not me. I've used MANY machines to piece the same project, and I use whatever is set up for piecing at the time! There are no issues! It's all about knowing how to get that ¼" seam! 

Then, as I was preparing this morning for my in-person class at The Hobby Horse, I pulled out a box to find a small sample. OH MY --- that would be interesting to use for my next UFO. I had something else in mind, but I might do this instead. I'll share it tomorrow. 

I still have three tubs (the blue one is only half full) of stuff to sort and put away. All is good, and everything so far has a home. 

Still to sort and put away

I found a couple of things that someone might want. Do you know what this fuzzy thing is? 

What is this?

It's something to put on the handle of your sewing machine. A few models have a sharp ridge on the handle, making carrying the machine uncomfortable. I have two, so if anyone wants one, let me know. elainetheriault@gmail.com

Cover for a sewing machine handle

I also found this hand embroidery kit. The pattern and the fabric are included. I'm not sure about the embroidery floss. If anyone wants that, let me know. Remember, I want people who are serious about doing this—do not COVET it just because it's free. 

Hand embroidery kit

The last thing for today is these brand-new gloves. I have a pair, which I need to dig out and use. The size is small. I think they would provide good support for arthritic hands, which is why I bought them, but my hands haven't been bothering me lately. 

Support gloves

I have other stuff to share, but there's no time! I need to be out of the house with my things by 8:30, and those girls will not be happy if they don't get a walk. 

I hope that everyone's thread stash looks neat and tidy! If not, then why are you still reading the blog? Hop to it and find some containers or whatever so that you, too, can have a nice, tidy stash of thread ready for you when you need it. I used organizer trays or small baskets in each drawer to avoid a huge jumble. I've used that for years, and it works just fine!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!