Preliminary thoughts on organizing quilting UFOs

We all survived the weekend! There were five Zooms, which I hope will never happen again. I have no one to blame but myself. But all is good! Going forward, it will be different. In the fall, I've decided that I'll do my teaching on two weekends, and that will leave room to schedule them so they don't fall on a weekend with a special event, or if I need to move them because of travel, there is some flexibility. No more than two a day, and so on. I have set guidelines, and I won't exceed them!

We had the UFO Club yesterday, and something good emerged from our discussions. From time to time, I need to locate a project in the UFO bin. The big issue is that there are many bins, and the projects are randomly placed in them. As mentioned yesterday, I want to sort them, categorize them, and make them easier to find, just like I did with the "to be quilted" bins, of which there are 22. 

Going through them would also be a good opportunity to sort out those I will likely never do. By that, I mean those with a pattern and fabric, but I have never started. I have to get serious about this clean-up. It's time! After this coming week, I will contemplate what has to be completed this summer and then attempt to start. 

Let's say there are many areas where those UFOs are stored, and I need to tackle those areas individually. Even if I could complete one area this summer. YES -- there are MANY UFOs, and I need to deal with them. One of the UFO club participants uses a spreadsheet to track her UFOs, and she shared it with me, so I'll take a look and see. It would be nice to have the ability to categorize them or at least have more information about each. Let's face it, when I went through the tubs the other day, I found many I had forgotten about and lots that could quickly be done. 

It's a job to tackle when I'm not in a hurry! 

I quilted a big quilt yesterday, but I can't share it with you—not yet. However, I did one last week that I couldn't share, but now I can. It was one of the Spice Market quilts for a customer, and here it is. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Several completely finished Spice Market quilts were at our show-and-tell on Saturday! Sadly, mine is sitting in a heap on one of those tables. I don't think I'll have time until the fall to get back to work on it. 

Here's the circular edge-to-edge pattern I put on it. 

Quilting pattern for Spice Market

All is good in the quilting department, and I still have four customer quilts in the existing queue. A new queue is starting, which will be done by the end of July. I am maxed out for the summer. Anything new that comes in will have to wait until September! 

I got a chuckle when I was quilting yesterday. Everything was going great—the quilt was behaving, it was large, and the tension was excellent. Then I went back to the machine at one point, and there were no stitches. I stopped the machine and checked—there was still bobbin thread. I went to rethread the machine, and OH—I see what happened. I ran out of top thread. 

No more top thread!

I grabbed the second spool and got it working again. But then, at one point, I had to change the bobbin, and the machine was way at the back, so I had to stretch down and back to get to it. This task is a piece of cake with my new stretching regime. Then the bobbin pulled out of the case, and the case went somewhere. I had to search for it, but it was on the back of the machine! 

The bobbin case went flying!

The large quilt is off, and the next one will be loaded and quilted today. Then I'll be done quilting for about two weeks as other things take priority! Well, I won't be here—I guess that's a good enough excuse! 

We have one house on our street that is a total disaster. A single person lives in the house, and we rarely see them—heck, we've rarely seen them in the 20+ years we've lived on this street. Sadly, the front yard is a mess. I snapped these photos two days ago. 

Front lawn before

The grass and trees are so overgrown, it's hard to think anyone even lives there. 

The boulevard before

Perhaps someone saw me take those photos because yesterday, when we walked past, the lawn was hacked off. Oh, it was likely mowed, but because of its length, it looked literally hacked off. Let's not bother to clean up the grass clippings on the sidewalk or the driveway. And what's the sense of picking up that broken branch? I bet the next-door neighbors on both sides are happy. If it were me, I'd call the city whenever that grass got slightly overgrown. 

The front lawn - after

A little trimming might be in order here! 

The boulevard - after

I need to learn how to use our whipper snipper, and perhaps I can walk down to this tree and give it a whirl!

I talked to my parents yesterday for quite a long time. My mom was very talkative because she had things to discuss - they've had a lot of company in the last couple of weeks, their fridge died, and they got new house cleaners. The story about the cleaners frustrates me to no end, but I'm not even going there. The bottom line is that they are happy with these new people. But my mom thinks they have a self-cleaning house and that my 92-year-old dad is doing a good job cleaning. Sigh..............

Dad, of course, just goes on and on about the museum. It is his life, and I am very thankful he has that outlet, as he wouldn't survive without it! Let's pray that he stays healthy enough to get there on his own for a long time! Without him, they wouldn't get much done in the way of repairing the old engines. He says he's not a leader, and maybe he's not. But he's an influencer and a silent leader, or perhaps a motivator would be a better word! 

He does not see that or will not admit it, and that drives me mad! But they all have a grand time at the museum, so I am forever thankful for that outlet for him. 

There are two days before setup day at Quilt Canada! Oh my --- time goes quickly. I'm mostly prepared, and yet I'm not. A few things still need to be prepped for the concurrent show, and I hope two days is enough. Well, two has to be enough! Making lists and doing things so you can check them off is the best way to remain in control. I haven't made a physical list of the remaining things to do - it's small enough to keep in my head! 

If anyone wishes to come to the show and would like to volunteer a couple of hours looking after my show, let me know. I'll buy you a ticket to the show or reimburse you for the one you bought! elainetheriault@gmail.com. There are a few open spots on the agenda. 

I will say that this upcoming vacation will be an "issue" for me. To enter the country, we must list every place we stay for the duration. That requires planning, which I don't care to do. DH and I sat down last night and saw that I need to intervene in his planning. He is going on childhood memories and has no clue what to do in each place. It took me less than 5 minutes of internet searching to find some cool things to put on the list!

Well, I'm off to spin class this morning. Then, I'll have a crazy busy day as I pin sleeves on quilts, which will be a good job to do at Monday Sewing. Then, some more paperwork work, and I'll be in good shape!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!