The art of writing

This morning, I made a list of everything that needs to be done this week. Hmm—there's not much time for sleeping, so I'll have to be efficient with my time! However, there are two things that I will not skip: writing the blog and going for that afternoon walk! 

Did you notice that both of those things involve ME time? Yes, even though I might give up some ME time in other areas, these two will always happen—unless there's a significant issue! 

Both of these are for my mental health. And when I say mental health, I don't mean that I have issues - I don't. But to keep it that way, I need to express myself - which I do via the blog. I think it's a way of clearing my mind. I get those thoughts on paper (screen), and then I can let them go! Otherwise, they would build and build, and poof - I'd be in a mess. The walk also helps to clear my mind. I work out MANY frustrations on those walks!

I think the art of writing is becoming a lost art. Who writes letters anymore? If you have no reason to write (work, sending letters to loved ones, school, etc.), why would the average person write? And now, with the Chat-GPT - there is even less reason for someone to write something. What if everyone wrote something - it's easy enough to type it out. You don't have to keep it, but just write. I think it's a very thought-provoking exercise that will definitely keep our brains healthy!

Don't know what to write? Here are some suggestions: 

• Write some interesting stories about your life - your kids and grandkids would love to read them when you're gone!
• Write your family history.
• Write about your frustrations in life - then delete them so no one needs to see that.
• Pick a subject and write down everything you know about that. 
• Write a letter to your best friend or your worst enemy. You don't need to mail either one of them. 
• Write about your favorite quilt.

Anyway, that list could go on and on. I've been writing for years. I have no idea how many emails I've written or how many quilt-related articles I've put together. And the blog has been going strong since 2007 or something like that. 

I checked Grammarly, which has checked many words for me since 2016. 

And the average novel is 80,000 words. You do the math! OK -- I had to do the math - that's the equivalent of 190 novels! I could be as prolific as James Patterson! OK -- so writing a book is a LOT different than writing a series of short essays, which would be the equivalent of writing a blog. It takes a lot more skill to write a novel than an essay. All those plot twists and character development! I don't have to take care of any of that! 

But I'm also lucky that I can crank out a 1,000 + word essay the moment I jump out of bed. 

So this happened yesterday. It was a good day, but I had to chuckle as I was snapping a few photos for this morning. Some people like to work on one thing at a time, but that doesn't happen at my house. 

I finished another customer quilt. Not many are left, and I plan to finish all by the end of this week. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I was working on a quilt that needs to be out the door by the end of this week. This is all I'm going to show you of it. Let's say I'm a bit behind. I need to make two more blocks, and I've started sewing the quilt together. I worked on that while quilting - back and forth between machines. 

Part of my "urgent" quilt

Once the long arm was done, I fired up the embroidery machine to do some embroidering. I was able to finish this project, which made me happy. You won't see more than this until my machine embroidery class sees it. No, I still haven't found that missing file. 

Embroidery project - DONE

It was more of the same—back and forth between machines, but the machine was a bit closer this time. However, I should wear my FitBit one day, just in Studio B. I bet there are days when I can clock many kilometers, walking back and forth between machines. They are not necessarily efficiently placed, and that is good. Stand up/Sit Down—that is good for you!! I can only work one automated machine and sew at a time! 

While piecing those quilt blocks, I worked on my ender/leader project. I completed all the centers of red with the light round, and they were even trimmed as I headed out for the night. 

Trimming the ender/leader project

I've started making the longest logs for the outer round of the dark centers. It's going to take some time to complete them. This is one of the inherited projects from a while back, and while it was all cut, there's still a lot of sewing left. But this is a good way to make it happen. 

The results of ender/leader sewing

In case you're wondering, DH and I arrived on Day 24 of the EXIT Game Advent Calendar last night. Oh boy -- this was a tricky one. We looked at each other and then plunged in with what we thought the answer might be. OK - so step one was done, and it looked like a mess. Then I said, let's take a leap of faith and assume "this," which was correct. A quick look around, and the next thing we knew, there was Door 24. 

Day 24!!!!

We'll finish the game tomorrow. Yep, we're almost a month behind, but with travel and evenings out for DH with clients, we haven't been able to keep on track. We're totally fine with that. Christmas will be here soon, and all will be well. 

As much as I like the games, I must take a break. But I'm away next week, and he might be away all this week, so that would be almost two weeks. I'm good with that. However, I have a lot of evening Zoom sessions coming up in February and March, so there won't be much time. 

Once I was done in Studio B for the night, I came up to read in the living room. Murphy and Lexi are happily sleeping in the family room with DH, but NO - the second I come upstairs, Miss Murphy follows me to the living room. Sigh -- I can't have a peaceful evening to myself! 

However, she is entertaining. She loves to play with the blanket in the dog bed. She pulls the dog bed out from where it's supposed to sit. She loves to "throw" the ball, especially if it goes under the furniture, so I have to get up and get it for her (stand up/sit down—good dog Murphy!). If I don't, she barks! And then this happens from time to time. What is she thinking? 

Dear ball - I LOVE you!!!

You just can't help but want to caption this photo. Is Murphy waiting for the ball to move? Is she admiring it? Admiring the fact that the blanket is out of the bed and the ball is in? Is this her dog god? I don't know, but she is entertaining! 

Tonight, we start the monthly Zoom classes for mySewnet Embroidery Software. If you are interested, you still have time to sign up. This class is hosted by Stitch by Stitch in Kingston. 

I have a list of other machine embroidery lectures and hands-on workshops to share. I'll do that tomorrow. I'm off to spin class this morning. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!