Decluttering the office

I had a super productive day yesterday. I really wanted to start and finish one project that needed to be done. I almost completed it, but it's still likely to take another two hours. It involved some quilting, and at 7:30 pm, I was exhausted, so I went to read for a bit. I'll be able to finish this morning. 

As a result of going to bed so early, I was up VERY early and decided that while also doing some writing, I'd send out some emails. After I sent them, I forgot that people could see the time I sent them. Ooops!

I really do not have any issues with sleeping when it works and being up when it works. Thankfully, I don't have a day job that requires me to be awake at certain times! Then I went back to bed and had some very bizarre dreams, which were sort of based on the emails I sent! 

Thank goodness, Murphy understands the word "bedtime" and will go lie down when I don't want her bothering me!

I procrastinated a wee bit before getting started on my project. I looked around the office to see what that status is. Here are the pictures. 

What is hilarious is that I posted pictures on January 1, and I really don't see much of a change! I actually think there is more stuff on one of the desks! But this year, I intend to do something about the mess. Well, I have to find those documents and fast, so I might as well tidy and sort at the same time. 

And of course, the inspector arrived just as I was taking pictures!

The bookcase

The pile of paper on the TV tray is new from last year.

The filing cabinet, the desk, and a TV table

The piles on the floor are also new from last year, as is the computer box, which is still unopened. 

The computer desk and two cabinets

The buffet

The table

Behind the table

There are two sets of doors into this room, so this door is not being blocked. And I can definitely say that this area is much neater than last year. There were piles of boxes here, and they are all gone! 

To tackle a colossal mess, one needs a plan. I decided to look through the filing cabinet drawers to start with. If I don't have room to file stuff, then how will I clean off the desk? 

Inside the filing cabinet

The filing cabinet is NOT jammed with stuff, as you can see, half of that drawer is empty! I pulled out a ton of paper. I quickly sorted through it and made sure that everything was in a separate file folder. I know there are bills and other paperwork that can be thrown away, but to get started, I'm going to file "like" paperwork together. Don't worry -- if I know it's not worth keeping, I'll recycle it, but it will be faster if I can just put like documents together and file them. Then grab one at a time and do a refined sort. 

Folders that I sorted through

Oh my -- I know I'm going to find lots of paper like this. I found these two pieces, and even after reading them, what the heck was I even keeping them for? One was a pattern for a particular line of fabric. I don't have that fabric! Sigh........   

Why did I keep these?

This particular drawer doesn't look much cleaner, but it is definitely more organized than it was. There are two more drawers for me to tackle, and I've grabbed a handful of papers to sort and then file. 

The drawer is now sorted

I also found this, which I love, but sometimes you have to do the crappy jobs to prevent the mess. Then you have space to deal with the non-important stuff. Wouldn't it be nice if we could be in the Non-Urgent, Important category all the time? I hope to spend less time in the Urgent/Important category. That seems to be where I've spent a lot of time, and I don't want that anymore. 

Weed out the bad to have time for the good! 

I've become totally obsessed with my space. I find I'm putting stuff away the instant I'm done with it. I don't even wait for the project to be complete. I used to NEVER put the stuff away, which caused many issues. But my brain wants spaces to be clear and tidy so it can function these days! It's the same with the kitchen. I would be bored to tears if I spent a day cleaning the kitchen, but now I take five minutes each morning to do something. It might be reorganizing one drawer - now that we have less stuff, five minutes works. Or I wipe down door knobs, or sort and clean a pantry shelf. Those little jobs are making a considerable improvement, and I love the quick tidy-up! One day, I'll be able to do that in the office! 

Only four clubs this year and all are full, so that's a good way to start the year. There are two ongoing classes, and I'll be adding the scrap class that will begin in February. It is NOT a project class and will only last two sessions. I'll post more details on that next week. 

It was a crazy day weather-wise in our neck of the woods! We had giant, beautiful snowflakes for part of the day, then the sun would come out! You didn't know whether to shovel or wait! When I did go out to shovel, it was at the tail end of the snow. But at one point, the snow was coming down harder than I was shoveling! At least it was a light, fluffy snow - the first of the year. 

Beautiful snowfall

Guess who wanted to be outside? The girls and I caught them lying on the deck side by side. That never happens!

What? 

Notice how different their ears are! Both of them were primed to hear anything out of the ordinary in the house -- they just do it differently! 

Best buds!

While the sidewalls are NOT clear, they aren't overly slippery, but I'm not trusting them. I keep a watchful eye on where I walk. It was a bit windy and cold in the morning, but pretty decent in the afternoon. I had to go to the pharmacy to see about filling my only prescription. It mustn't have been a busy day because they asked if I wanted to wait. It would be 10 minutes. Since I had nothing else to do and needed a break from my project, I said yes. 

I noticed this on the little table in the waiting area. I got a chuckle and was tempted, but then I thought, some little sick kids have put germs all over that. I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole!!

A puzzle in the pharmacy waiting area

This morning will be heads-down, as I have a private Zoom lesson, and I need to finish my project and complete the writing. That should be easy to do, as it's pretty basic stuff to complete! I will say the project I created yesterday is adorable! Actually, everything in this series is cute! I'll let you know when they will be published online! 

And we will have a Virtual Retreat this afternoon. I think I forgot to put that on my blog yesterday, but it was there two days ago. The Zoom starts at 3 pm. I know I will NOT make it to midnight - that is not my thing, nor is it a thing for at 44% of the population, or so I heard a while back. 

Here's the link. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86965821331?pwd=QwdKXQA5i2iuYHkVZbtjQ5tboL7dGG.1

Meeting ID: 869 6582 1331
Passcode: 423224

If I don't see you on the call, have a wonderful New Year's Eve. 

Have a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Looking out for each other!

OH - I love the comments, and I need to ask a few more questions, so I'll be answering them this morning. I didn't get the reference to the matches in the bathroom? Am I missing something? 

I got an email in the afternoon about one of my posts that said to call them because I might be going down the wrong path. Yikes!!! It concerned the vinyl we cut for the Terrifying Tower, which we're going to machine embroider in a couple of weeks. 

Here is the picture and the wording that scared several of my savvy friends. 

The heat transfer vinyl with cut shapes

When we want a shape, we simply peel it off the plastic topping and place it where we want it!

OK --- I agree 100% with them, that the way I worded that is NOT the correct way to use heat transfer vinyl. The shapes are half-cut, so they stay on the sticky, clear plastic topping. There's adhesive on the back, and the PROPER way to do this is to weed out the background, place the shape where you need it, use heat to adhere it to the fabric, and then remove the plastic. 

While I had never used heat transfer vinyl before, I knew enough from the Digital Cutter club. However, we did some testing the day we cut the vinyl to see if we could remove the shape (and the adhesive backing), and we could. Here's what happened in our experiment. 

We took a scrap of HTV (heat transfer vinyl) and cut it at a full cut. You can see that the circle was cut entirely out of the rectangle. While this isn't entirely incorrect, it makes it difficult to remove the plastic coating. I have a story to tell you about that plastic coating another day! Since we are using these shapes for machine embroidery, I would stitch a placement line, then fuse the circle inside the placement lines, and then peel the clear plastic coating away. That could damage the edges when removing the plastic. 

Our experiment with HTV

The other option is a half-cut, which is the second sample. That was easy. Place your vinyl with the clear plastic side down on the mat, so when you do the half cut, you are cutting through the adhesive and the vinyl, but NOT the transparent plastic coating. 

Then, instead of weeding out the background, as is the most preferred way, I removed the shape from the clear plastic. And it worked. There could be an issue with stretching, but the piece of vinyl we had did NOT distort due to its thickness and the adhesive on the back. BUT not all vinyls are created equal, so thereis a risk of stretching if you do it the way I described. 

I could remove the shape from the clear coating with no stretching

You can see the clear plastic coating after removing the shape

OH -- and we fused a sample just to ensure that there was, in fact, fusible on the back of the vinyl, and there was. 

Testing the fusible

After the conversation, I will rethink the process slightly. Instead of pulling the shape off the plastic and then ironing (using a press cloth, as I've done with other HTV vinyls in the past), I'm going to rough-cut around each shape, which will be a challenge in some instances because the shapes are close together, but we have room. Then, weed out the background to reveal the shape. Stitch out the placement line, place the vinyl piece on the fabric within the placement lines, press it well, and THEN pull the plastic off. 

My two circles - neither is distorted

PHEW — thanks to my eagle-eyed digital cutter friends with more experience than us for catching that. We probably would have run into difficulty and then had to rethink the plan. Now it's already rethought! And we're ready to roll! 

In our defence, we did samples! And our circles were NOT distorted when we pulled it off the plastic!

Hopefully, I got all that down correctly, and when we are ready to stitch, it will be totally uneventful. 

But we are good to go, and I can't wait until the next play date! 

Here is the situation outside the window to the stash room. The "erosion" from the water was pretty deep. It rained and rained, and water just tumbled off the roof straight onto the ground. But all was nice and dry that I could see, so the weeping tiles and good basement foundation are working! 

Erosion from the water falling off the roof

Here's Murphy in her relaxed rabbit stalking mode. There used to be an opening to the underside of the deck right underneath her. I think the rabbit can still get in, but she can't. And I think the rabbit knows that and is taunting her. So Murphy stays there to ensure the rabbit can't leave. Although if the rabbit is clever, it will go to the opposite side of the deck and out under the fence. 

MOM -- there is a rabbit under the deck!

No picture of Miss Lexi this morning, but as I was working at the computer early this morning, I heard one mournful, long howl coming from her. What the heck was she dreaming about? 

The weather was rather challenging yesterday. As I was looking out the front window and petting Murphy, our neighbor walked by with his dog. Oh great --- make me feel guilty that I didn't go out in the afternoon for a walk! And Murphy was jealous that Crosby got to go for a walk, and she didn't! Well, she had already been out in the morning, when the weather was windy, but warm and with zero ice on the sidewalks! 

And while it was a crazy day with lots of wind and bits of snow, it did try to clear up a couple of times. This was the sky as the sun set! 

Sunset on a stormy day

More projects were finished, and more writing was done. I'm almost finished, and it's going to be heads down today!

I recently got a request for a pattern I wrote a while back, so now the hunt is on to find all the parts. That means tackling the desk: I found some of the parts in digital form, and the rest is in paper format, but where? 

I need to tackle this mess

I found a 300-piece Dowdle puzzle on the desk. Why? I've no idea, but after I complete the 500- piece, I'll tackle this one - it will be super easy! And that's one more thing off the desk. 

A "found" 300-piece Dowdle puzzle

Then I grabbed a small bunch of loose papers to go through. Oh my—artwork from a drawing class years ago. I put it all in the recycling bin. If I want to take another class or draw a face, I'm sure I can find all that online or in a book. 

Artwork found on the desk

I also found some of the neat things I used to have hanging in my work office when I worked outside the house. I LOVE this saying, and I kept it and placed it on my visual goal rack. 

Neat quote

Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone felt this way? How relaxed we all would be. 

When I tackle that paper, I NEED to deal with every paper and not put it back on the desk. That is going to be super hard! I must continue to ask myself the question -- will you ever use/need this again? If yes, then it needs to be filed. If NO, then it needs to be recycled. ACK!!!!! But it's going to be the only way to get through that mess, and I NEED to make that happen because I need to find those documents. If I don't find the documents, guess what? I get to recreate them, and I don't want to. I know they are there, as I remember cleaning up the folder when I finished my version of the quilt. Wish me luck!!!

A small handful every day. Perhaps I should go through the filing cabinet first and empty out all the remaining crap? OH ---I'm so confused! BUT -- I will devise a plan and focus. I want this done - I'm so close to having a clear space to work in! 

OK -- just grabbed a couple more pieces and dealt with them. 

And on that happy note - it's going to be a busy day. I cannot procrastinate any longer. I now have promises to people, and I need to keep them, as I wish them to keep theirs to me! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

The visual to-do list

Tick tock -- the end of the year is creeping closer and closer. Am I ready? Yep - pretty much. I have my schedule more or less organized for the first 6 months. WAIT --- that's at least as far as the things that I can control go. I have a couple of lectures to add and am just waiting on a response from someone before I schedule them. That's the sessions on scrap quilts. There will be one in February and one in March, so that's not an overly onerous addition to the schedule, and the prep time should be relatively minimal. OK—who am I kidding—that will likely be a one-day prep for each lecture. 

The only thing missing is what happens with my "day" job. That's a free-for-all, and I'm at the mercy of those who book as to what happens. I'm going to be pretty adamant that I don't want the same chaos as last year, as that almost killed me! While it was fun, it was a considerable task to prep and present up to three Zoom lectures in one day!

And my visual to-do list is prepped and ready! Doesn't it remind you of "caged" projects, and once they are done, they will be released from the cage! I can't wait to release the first one! Which one will it be?

My visual to-do list

There is a small title at the top or side of each category, followed by a picture of the things I want to accomplish in that category. Yes—it appears to be a lot, but it's all doable. Nothing on that list is a super large task, and it would be amazing to get them all done. I believe that most of that, if not all, is sitting on that current project table. Imagine how empty it will be if all that can be accomplished? I would like to thank M for leaving this amazing wall art behind when she moved out! 

So I'm going to keep my eye on the prize: a totally blank to-do list, except for the titles! I've already started on some of the things, and I'll hit the list with a vengeance on January 1! Getting that completed was a big task. 

I have a bit of paperwork to clear up before the end of the year that relates to the few clubs I'm running in 2026, and I must get that done as well! For anyone in those clubs, and you know who you are - I'll be sending out guidelines and dates before the end of 2025. 

I'm trying to burn those pie candles out! And I use books of matches to light the candles. Do they even make these anymore? Remember when they were a thing? My brother used to collect matchbooks, but this one goes in the recycling. It is VERY OLD - I would have got it in 1979. OK - that's not that old, but still! It was from a vacation I took to Cancun! WAIT --- I must dig it out of the recycling. This would be perfect for my junk journal! OH GOD -- it's small, it must have fallen to the bottom of the container. Now I have this massive mess of paper on the floor as a reminder to find that thing!

A matchbook from Cancun

I had to make some pet mat bags because there was a paper bag of fabric bits that needed to be dealt with. I'm trying to get the "bones" of Studio B back in order before the new year. So I had the serger out to make the bags. I use pillow cases and simply cut them in half, while sewing a bottom into the top half with the serger. One seam, and the pillowcase is cut, and the top half has a bottom! Does that make sense? It's so easy! 

Husqvarna Viking Amber Air S600

I didn't even notice that I had run out of upper looper thread. You can see the empty purple spool in the picture and the lines of needle stitching, but no looper thread around the edge of the seam allowance. I see my right needle is going to run out of thread soon, too!

Oops - running low on thread!

Now, usually, this would be a big ordeal, and it would take hours (OK - maybe not that long) to rethread the machine. Actually, there was a white thread on the serger when I turned it on. Notice - I just had to turn it on - it was ready to go, not tucked into a closet! I keep a small quilt on top of the serger to keep it somewhat clean. The amount of dust and lint in Studio B is crazy! But I need to vacuum it out later today. 

However, because it is an air threader serger (Husqvarna Viking Amber Air S600), it was easy as pie to get back up and running. You do NOT have to rethread all the needles and loopers, only the one that has run out! That is just beautiful! And I went from three-thread overlock to four-thread overlock, which isn't a big deal - simply had to add an extra needle! 

Air threaders!!! LOVE!!!!

I love the fact that I am pretty knowledgeable about what a serger does and how to make it do what it's supposed to. Did I take a class? Of course not, I simply sat down and experimented. I am not an expert by any means, but I know how to make it work, use all 26 stitches, and why! Just want to remind you that, as an educator for a sewing machine company, we get very little training. We get the tools and the machines and total free rein to see what we can do with them. I will forever be learning something new! And I LOVE it! 

Here are some tips if you have a serger and you have no clue what it does or how it works. First, try to find a home for it somewhere in your space. If you have to haul it out of the closet each time you want to use it, that's not good. But the real tip (for me) in learning what all those threads were is to buy FOUR different colors of serger thread in the same colors on the threading paths. Thread each path with the appropriate color thread. Then when something doesn't look right, guess what? You now know which thread you need to deal with! It's a brilliant idea (not mine), and it helped me enormously to figure out what was what! The four-thread overlock is pretty straightforward, but some of the others are less obvious! And I found a fantastic book at the library, which I later purchased because it helped me enormously on my learning journey. 

And then the BIG tip would be: get an air threader with auto-tension, and all your problems will disappear!!

Then I had another project basket that had been pulled from the closet with those little ornaments in it. There are a few ornaments that are almost completed, and some that are in progress. I took a few things out of the basket, put them in the right place, and then put the basket back into the closet. I'm not sure where the basket came from, but I found a spot in the closet. 

Sorting another basket

There is also a massive pile of small squares that I cut because I was going to make kits for these small ornaments. What was I thinking? Now the question is what to do with a bunch of black, white, and other-colored squares? Anyway, it's not on my radar list at this time. Maybe as a bonus UFO, if I finish the four projects on my list, I can bring this out and truly deal with it. 

The Designer EPIC 3 requires a hoop adapter for legacy hoops, since there is now a very nice clip mechanism for the new hoops. I LOVE the new connection! But I was forever putting a hoop away with the adapter attached, and then I couldn't find it. I'm happy to report that I'm now in the habit of returning that adapter to the accessory box, and no danger of misplacing it! It's all about things becoming a habit! 

The hoop adapter on the accessory box

The Globe and Mail publishes a diversions section just before the holidays. Every year, there is a giant crossword, and it's gone untouched. That section is for DH to unwind over the holidays, and this year, he tackled the crossword with a vengeance. Every time I come upstairs, he's back at the puzzle! I LOVE crosswords, and that used to be a big pastime of mine, but there is no time at the moment. I'll get back to it when I give up sewing, which might be never! What you see is one quarter of the puzzle.

The giant crossword

For the moment, the jigsaw puzzles are for me. I made a bit of progress before bed last night. But I might just sit down and have a go at it this afternoon. As with all Dowdle puzzles, this one is busy, which can be good or bad! 

Progress on the current jigsaw puzzle

And Miss Murphy is on the hunt again, while Lexi couldn't care less. There is definitely another rabbit in the backyard. Look at how intent she is. 

MOM -- there is a rabbit on our property again! 

And look at her face when I tapped on the window! 

MOOM - nothing to see here! 

It was funny on the Virtual Retreat last night. Lots of people on the call, but very quiet! I was distracted by getting things done and didn't have much to say. WHEN has that ever happened? 

And we have another one scheduled for New Year's Eve starting at 3 PM. I will NOT be staying up to ring in the new year -- but if anyone else wants to, I'll leave the call open. 

Here is the link for that Zoom. 

Wednesday, December 31 - Starts at 3 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86965821331?pwd=QwdKXQA5i2iuYHkVZbtjQ5tboL7dGG.1

Meeting ID: 869 6582 1331
Passcode: 423224




On the writing front, progress is being made. One more is out the door, all the pictures are ready for the next one, meaning I got another project completed yesterday. That one was a total experiment, and well, it turned out pretty darn good considering I had no clue what I was doing! Actually, two projects were completed, and most of it was new stuff. You'll get to see the results in a couple of weeks. I'm going to make a big push today and tomorrow to try to get it completely done. I need to move on to other things. 

What about that weather yesterday? It rained like mad. I don't think we've ever had such a rainfall in a very long time, and certainly not in winter. The pond is quite full this morning. Last night, the rain was coming down so hard that, with snow still on the roof, the eavestroughs couldn't handle it, and it just spilled out on all sides of the house. I could hear the rain coming down hard at the window in the stash room, which was a little disconcerting, but all seems to be OK this morning. 

 It was a bit slippery when I went out for a short walk at lunch. Why tempt fate? 

It's warm this morning, so I'm off to spin class, but when the temperature drops, it's going to be a nightmare out there! Stay safe!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

If you're going to do something, do it WELL!

Haven't we heard that many times? Well, that situation came up several times yesterday, and I should KNOW BETTER. 

I'm working on a project that isn't hard, but it involves MANY steps, and I've had to get super creative to make it work. I'm sure there's a better way, but this is the way that works for me. When I completed the first part of the project yesterday, I was happy, but I was a bit disappointed that I had tried to economize on the process, and it wasn't quite what I envisioned. OK -- let's be realistic - it looked like an inexperienced person had completed it.  

I thought about it all day, and I remember commenting on the work of an educator for another machine company, saying I would never show what she was showing in public. When you have the best tools in the world, you'd better make the sample look like you used them. Mine did not! 

So I sat while we chatted on the Virtual Retreat last night, and I ripped for HOURS. It was not a fun task, but thanks to everyone on the call, they kept me entertained. I did NOT put a single hole in the base fabric. PHEW!!!! 

Then I restitched the project this morning. I took my time, eliminated the shortcuts, and I am SUPER happy with the project. Now it looks like I wanted it to, and it shows how valuable and precise those tools can be! So, can you tell me why I make silly mistakes or compromises like that? I know I won't be happy, and it takes a long time to fix! I need to give my head a shake and do it right the first time!

I am equally happy to report that Dede and I had another play date yesterday with the digital cutter. We had no clue what we were doing since we were cutting Heat Transfer Vinyl, and neither of us had cut it before. Well, I was prepared, as I always am now, that if I screw up a mat, so be it. Move on! 

This time, we were cutting the three vinyl colors that will be stitched onto the foam we cut last week. This time, we had the SVG files that came with the project, so there was no need to scan the files. That saved a bit of time, but I don't regret that exercise last week, as I learned a lot about the machine, or more than that, I reinforced what I knew. 

In case you have forgotten, this is what we are making. 

Terrifying Tower machine embroidery design by OESD

The SVG files opened in InkScape, which is FREE graphic design software you can use for any type of graphic design work. Yikes—I have minimal experience with Inkscape or any digital cutter software. Well, let's just wing it and see what happens. 

Since we had three colors of vinyl to cut, I opened one file and deleted anything that was not the color I wanted. Then I imported the next file (note: import, not open) and did the same thing. I also had to remember to FLIP each piece because we were cutting with our vinyl face down. Trust me - we double checked that a couple of times. 

Assembling the first cut page

We didn't know how to increase the canvas size on screen, so we worked with 8½" by 11". I guess we could have Googled it, but our vinyl was mostly in 8½" by 11" format, so we stuck with that. Changing the canvas size is a task for the next time, and there will be a next time! 

We only had to ask Google for assistance once, when I needed to figure out how to rotate pieces. There were tools to rotate, but only at 90 degrees, and I wanted a different angle. No worries -- double click on the right mouse key button and VOILA --- all the rotation I could possibly want! 

Some of the shapes were pretty weird, but I did my best to snug them close and remember to flip them all. Let's hope I didn't mess up! I would have used the rotate tool more in an example like this, but I was resisting until we came to one piece that we had no choice but to rotate. But we know for next time! I can't wait!!!

Another cut page

We worked well as a team again! And once we had one page ready to cut, it was time to set the cutter's settings. FYI - we're using the Brother Scan n Cut for this exercise. Let's not forget our trusty helper. She INTENTIALLY lies right where she will be in the way! EVERY SINGLE TIME! 

MOM - just in case you need to release stress - you can pet me! 

We experimented with a half-cut versus a full-cut. It took us a minute to find the half-cut setting. Why is it always right in front of you, but you can't see it!!

Samples of half-cut versus full cut

As we were contemplating some of the settings, Dede reminded me that I had several books, and I dug out this one, which has a bunch of recipes for cutting various materials. So we went on our tuition and the recommendations in the book. And all looked great! By the way, if anyone is interested, this book and the one I mentioned last week were purchased from my "favorite" online store. They are print-on-demand books, so if your online store has a printing facility (our local one is in Bolton), they get printed close to your house and shipped to you. 

A ScanNCut book

We played with scanning the mat once the vinyl was on it, and then moved the shapes as a group if they were tight on any side. We had to change the background color from light to dark (grey in the photo) so it would be easier to see the shapes. Here's a hint - use the wrench icon! Whenever you see the wrench icon -- touch it -- there are tools in that menu! 

Ensuring the pieces are on the vinyl on the mat

I was wishing there was a nudge tool, and guess what? We found the nudge tool. That eliminated a lot of concentration and guesswork! We could now be super accurate in placing that group of shapes. 

The NUDGE tool

And then we were on our way to cutting. Check those settings first! And we always cut at 1 (speed), which is the slowest. I know—we could have cut these shapes faster, but the longest cut took five minutes. I'm OK with that - we were not in a hurry!

Check the settings before pressing START

At one point, I didn't load the mat properly and bent a corner, but I figured out a way to keep it working. Use your stylus to keep the corner down until it loads under the little wheel on the right-hand side! And on our final cut, we had to tape the vinyl down. It was a bit stiff, had been rolled the wrong way, and just wasn't happy. 

Taping the vinyl to the mat for extra security

But guess what? We got all the vinyl cut! It's still in sheets because it's heat transfer vinyl, and we did a half-cut. When we want a shape, we simply peel it off the plastic topping and place it where we want it! By George - I think we did it!! 

My half-cuts of vinyl

And everything is back in the project box, although the sample is buried beneath my vinyl sheets. The project box is back on the current projects table, and we have scheduled two days in January to get together and do the machine embroidery. 

The Terrifying Tower project box

We are sticking to our guns. No buying a new 3-D haunted building UNTIL this one is done. But we are working on it, and I see no reason why we can't finish. My guess is that it's going to take longer than two days to stitch out. There are 22 hoopings, and each hooping averages 20,000 stitches. That's a lot!!! 

When I first went down to Studio B this morning, I was avoiding the job of restitching my project. So I grabbed a container of stabilizer bits and started sorting them. Oh my—there were multiple bags of the SAME type. Why aren't they together? 

My odd pieces of stabilizer

So I sorted them into bags, although there are still lots of bags within bags, but I can live with that. At least, there is ONE main bag for each type. And of course, the lid doesn't close, so I'll further sort and straighten later today. A good job when chatting on the Virtual Retreat later today. It seems a shame to throw all that away, so I'm going to make up new sheets large enough for the hoops we'll use for the Terrifying Tower. I have it, I might as well use it! 

The lid doesn't close! 

Now what to do with those empty plastic bags? Well, a while back, I sorted all the plastic bags I had and gave away a ton of boxes of bags I would never use. I've not missed any of what I gave away. 

Then I sorted the remaining bags by size. Regular size, large, and all the odd-shaped, smaller bags. Each size went into a larger bag, which resides on a shelf under my cutting table. Do you know how much time that has saved me? I am constantly putting a bag back or digging one out, and since I know which bag to grab, it makes my life super easy!

The plastic bags are sorted

I cannot say enough about the importance of being organized and keeping your tools in the right place. Yes -- there is a lot of stuff around, but I'm trying to keep the tools sorted, organized, and in their rightful home. That is HUGE. I think I'm pretty much done with that job, and it took years to get there. I don't find it hard to maintain at all, since I know it's in my best interest. Yes, a couple of things have gone astray, and when I find them, they will find a home. 

Now the cutting table is relatively clear this morning, except for the projects that I am working on this coming week, including my bucket of UFO projects. I need to be very careful, not get too enthusiastic, and bring out more. I can't do more - I already have a lot. I think I'm in excellent shape and that makes me very happy!

My clear cutting mat

As I finished the last of the stitching this morning and put my thread away, I noticed I was only wearing one shoe. OH!!! What did I do with the other one? I found it under my worktable. 

ACK -- how did that get there?

No big deal, right? Well, if you notice, there is NO foot pedal under that table because I was doing machine embroidery, and I generally don't use it when I'm machine embroidering. However, I often have the pedal under the table, as I sometimes like to embroider with it when something is delicate. This morning, I could have used the foot pedal, and I guess that was when I kicked my shoe off. Since I was too lazy (oh dear!) to get up and get the foot pedal, I just slowed the machine right down, and it worked. I need to get the foot pedal out! 

I did a little bit on the jigsaw puzzle, but I had other priorities yesterday. Lots of writing happened, which was good, and I hope to work on the next project and do more writing today. 

I have a virtual retreat scheduled for this afternoon. I swear, these are my salvation! While I did have an in-person session with Dede yesterday, there's nothing like checking in with my friends all over Ontario and sometimes from elsewhere. We solve problems, we support each other, and we help each other. It's such a fantastic network, and anyone is free to stop by. Do you have a question? About anything? We can help! 

Here is the link, and it starts today at 3 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81073536036?pwd=uxRqMnK1aSKrmrcSO78w8QQs5g44eA.1

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

Stay safe as we have some crazy weather coming, but the sidewalks were in great shape for a walk yesterday, and I didn't even wear a hat! 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!