When things go right

I don't know what to say this morning, and that's a first. 

OK—I'm kidding, but I had a very eye-opening experience this morning. If I were of sound mind (which I'm not), I'd go downstairs and take every pattern in those boxes, bundle them up, and take them somewhere. I don't know where, but somewhere. I have NO RIGHT to even consider starting a new project. 

What happened to traumatize me? I'm working on this MASSIVE project for my concurrent show next week at Quilt Canada. It's called Celebrating 25 Years of Teaching Quiltmaking. You know me, it's not enough to hang quilts, but I'm preparing a surprise for all the students who have ever attended one of my multi-part classes. It's a surprise for me as well! 

It's been an enormous job, and anyone who sees it will be stunned! Plus, it'll be a little walk down memory lane. I'm having a blast making it, but oh my goodness. I have unearthed a "few" UFOs that I completely forgot about, and if I only worked on my existing UFOs, it would take more than my lifetime to complete them. 

What have I done? Don't tell me to give them away or cull them. I'm working out some plans, and one of them is cutting my workload, which will give me more time! 

Anyway, I'll share that project with you after the show for those who cannot attend. Let me just say that it'll blow your mind! 

What blew my mind this morning is that as I was digging through some tubs of UFOs looking for a specific project, I came across this small tub. I opened it up, and OH MY—not only did I find a pattern that I didn't know where to search for, but I found this!!!!

My Template Set A - Marti Michelle

That is my Set A of the Marti Michelle templates. I had been searching for them for a couple of YEARS. Who in their right mind puts a template set in with a UFO? DUH!!!! I was jumping up and down with joy when I spotted those. They are on the cutting table and will return to the pegboard with the rest of the templates! 

Yep—I really need to make a list of things that are lost. It would give me great satisfaction to cross those items off as I find them. It wasn't even 6 a.m., and my day was made!!!

Yesterday, on my walk, I decided to stop at the dentist to see what they would say about my tooth. The dentist wasn't in, but the hygienist took a peek and an X-ray, and the office will call me today. The break is only the cusp, so it's not serious, but serious enough that it shouldn't be left. The bad news is that this is NOT the tooth he is watching; he is recommending I get a crown. It's the one beside it. I know he will say, let's crown both of them. CA-CHING!!!!

Then I walked over to the bank, as I had a banking question. I had to wait a few minutes, but someone came out and answered my question, and all was good! I cannot tell you how excited I am that all (or almost all) of my people are within walking distance of my house. I walked to the doctor the day before—that's a 35-minute walk in one direction, but that's OK. 

Wait—the one thing that is not close, and that's probably a good thing, is an ice cream shop! I've been craving an ice cream cone. Now, I suppose I could go to McDonald's (there are two within walking distance), but that's not my kind of ice cream! 

I did not get a happy email telling me my Cherrywood Challenge was accepted. You know what? I'm thrilled. I knew it wouldn't get in because I used a lot of machine embroidery, which didn't focus on their fabric. I don't care. I absolutely love the piece. Because it's not going to the US, I can hang it in our booth at Quilt Canada. It'll be in the Husqvarna Viking booth, so stop by and see it in person. It's stunning! 

Again, I'll share that with the rest of you after the show. I'll also be able to use it at the Buckhorn Quilt show on September 5 and 6, where I'm the featured quilter and will showcase machine embroidery in the quilt world. I'm excited to share what I do with my quilts and an embroidery machine. 

For those that think I am not a planner, trust me, I have lists all around the house that I'm using for Quilt Canada - both for samples I need to take to the show for the Husqvarna Viking and PFAFF booths, but also for the concurrent show. I have lists of things for the Buckhorn show. Yes - I know - I'm planning way in advance, so I don't want to plan anything for this vacation. It's a vacation -- I plan too much in my day job. 

I also need some supplies for a project I'm writing about in July, so I need to organize that as well. And I laughed yesterday as I did not work on a 60-minute-or-less project or turn on the sewing machine. Nope—I worked on lists and identified what needed to be done for these next two big events. 

After those two events, there shouldn't (please pray for me) be any more super big events! These are one-of-a-kind events, so you never know. Both were too good an opportunity to pass up! 

I got this giant customer quilt done and accomplished something concrete. 

Customer quilt - DONE

All the quilts that have been quilted are trimmed and ready for pickup! The list of customer quilts is very short, and I'm right on track. All is good! I have to say that I'm just in my happy place as I watch the quilts being quilted. It's time-consuming, which is why I don't get a whole lot of other things done, but that's OK. 

Oh, the other good thing that happened is that for this massive project, I had to find a new software program to help. Thankfully, it wasn't that hard to learn, but I did start out badly when I went to test printing. Oops—I had the wrong format, and I had to start over. I even worked with my printer to see if all was good—yes, so we can continue! 

When I got home from my walk, this is what happened. It was a glorious day, and I sat in the gazebo, listened to the wind chimes, and watched the wind sculpture. It doesn't get much better than that. And the best part? It's a five-second commute! I do not need a cottage to find a quiet spot. We are indeed extremely lucky with our location. 

Enjoying the day in the gazebo

Miss Murphy and I played catch for a bit. Actually, it's not catch since I throw the ugly, disgusted fish into the bushes behind the pond, and it's her job to find it. She loves that fish, and it still has its squeaker, so she goes insane when she finds it. There's no danger of our not knowing she found it! 

MOM --- pull the fish out of my mouth! PULL!!!

Miss Lexi is just fine. I took her for a short walk in the morning. She slept a lot yesterday, but she looks back to her usual self this morning. Her bloodwork is fine. As a bonus, they clipped her nails while she was under! Yes -- she's behind my chair begging to go for a walk. She's her usual self! Without the bad breath! 

I was scouring the internet for stuff and scrolling back through my blog. Do you know how much good stuff is on that blog? I use the back posts for many reasons, and they've come in extremely handy! You'll see why later. Anyway, I found this. 

How true is that! I want to say that, but I'm so over that. I do NOT want to do anything that anyone else is doing. I just don't. I only want to do what I WANT. Yesterday, I had to chuckle as someone sent me a photo of a small sewing basket with bicycles printed on it. She said, "I should get it," and you know what? There wasn't even one ounce of "I need/want that." Not even a twinge. I'm cured! 

I have become so comfortable in my skin that not much bothers me. I march to my drum and no one else's, which makes me very happy. I know our brains all work differently, but I swear this daily writing has helped me so much in coming to grips with my life and what I do with it! It's helped me work out the letting-go process of many things. 

Everyone has been super helpful with tips and other tidbits of knowledge. I thank you all, even though I don't write for you—I thank you for being there. If my life-changing stories have changed your life, I am grateful for that. 

WAIT --- I forgot to mention that my child will be married one year from now, on June 11, 2026. I forgot to mention that yesterday! So, I guess I know where I'll be in one year! Planning? It's her wedding, and it's her job to plan! I just plan to attend! 

OK—it's going to be a busy day, with likely admin work all day! Oh, yippeee—that's my favorite kind of day!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!