Who turned out the lights?

I am on the home stretch of the craziness that was September. There are still a few days left, but come Friday, when I don't have to travel for a long time and only have one class to prep for this weekend, it's going to be heaven. 

I hope you realize that I typically have more than one class on the weekend, two of them back-to-back on Saturday. I intentionally did NOT start the jacket class this month because I knew it would be silly from a timing perspective. That one starts in October. Yeah me! See -- I am trying to reduce the chaos that has been my September. 

I also went out last night and filled the car with gas when the price was $ 120.90. I bet it's $132.90 this morning. So I saved myself a bit of money. The gas station was packed, so I guess I wasn't the only one who had planned ahead. 

Before I could pack for this last trip, I had to unpack two suitcases and a couple of bags. Stuff got thrown into the bags willy-nilly, and I had to do that to find samples and supplies needed for this trip.  

Start repacking

The items that were left behind are somewhat organized - samples went to Studio U, and everything else went to Studio B. It will take the entire month of October to put everything back in its place. 

However, as I observed the "wreckage" in Studio B, I am excited to return and revamp everything, bringing it somewhat back to normal. There is stuff everywhere. 

Should I start to tidy up here? 

Not only do I want to put things away, but I also want to start tackling all the samples that need to be finished, quilts that need to be bound, and so on. I also have a week of writing to attend to, so I'll switch back and forth, and there are three customer quilts to quilt. 

While I'm driving this morning, I'll do some planning. WAIT --- I can't do that as I'll be listening to the rest of the Nancy Drew book. When it ends, I can then plan how to tackle this massive job. I'm tempted to start in one corner, clear enough room for a sewing machine, and begin there. 

I suppose I'll just have to wait and see what happens during the planning session.

I also solved a mystery today. I guess Nancy is rubbing off on me. I have three rows of fluorescent lights in Studio B. Each one operates on its own switch and has three ballasts. One of the lights in the middle row - the one over my cutting table - has been out of order for several years, and I just haven't had a chance to get an electrician in to install a new one. YES -- the ballast is toast, not the tubes. 

I've been noticing that one area of the room is rather dark; is that just my imagination? I could see that one tube was getting dim, but not enough to account for the darkness. It was only this morning that I realized this. 

The entire middle section of the lights is not working

Crap --- all three ballasts are not working! I strongly suspect it is the ballasts, not the tubes. The third one in this grouping is the one over the cutting table. How did two of them go like that? And it's probably been a couple of weeks, but I've been so busy, it just didn't register with me. I know --- how silly can I be? 

In addition to October being the month to clean up Studio B, I also have appointments, such as cleaning the furnace before winter and taking Murphy to the groomer, among other tasks. Now, I need to hire an electrician. Hmmm --- while fluorescents work great for lighting, they suck for film lighting. And I do NOT want to go the pot light route. I had them before, and they are "dead" at the moment because we put in the fluorescents. What other options do I have? 

I told Murphy it would be helpful if she started to tidy up while I was gone. She looked at me like I had lost my head! 

MOM -- dogs do NOT clean up after their humans

We had Monday Sewing, and it was so nice to visit with everyone. I did some pressing and trimming instead of prepping, and that was great. 

Remember that bag of HSTs that I had at the quilt retreat? Well, I worked with five at a time, so I wouldn't bore myself to death. I pressed five of them. Notice how my towel is getting crappy on the ironing surface? I need to wick that off and give it a wash, which will be super easy!

Pressing five HSTs at a time

Then I trimmed those five. And repeated the process many times! 

Trimming five HSTs - one at a time

There are many small bits from trimming, and you can see all that I trimmed in the top left corner. Anything that I make is now trimmed to one size -- I cut those triangles down to 1½". That way, they can be used with others that I have in my pile. There are still thousands (I'm guessing) to deal with, but there are not many that are sewn and not trimmed. I'm working my way through the backlog and am almost caught up. I still have loads that can be sewn, but I'll trim as I sew. 

Trimming the HSTs

For this grouping, I still have this many to press and trim. That will be a good job to continue with at the Virtual Retreat this weekend. 

HSTs still to trim

There are still this many that need to be sewn, but once I get these ones trimmed, the entire bag will go back into the retreat bag, and I can use it for enders/leaders. Currently, when I have the chance to sew at home, I typically don't sew anything that requires enders/leaders, so it goes in the retreat bag. 

Triangles still to be sewn

I spent the remainder of the day after Monday Sewing, running around the house, unpacking, and packing new stuff. It was insane, but I found everything that I wanted/needed, and I made a couple of new small samples. I need to find a place to store those small samples or create a small project so they are easy to locate. Something to do in October. I am going to need many Octobers to get even a part of that room together and the samples dealt with! 

The important thing is to keep at it and not get overwhelmed, because it can be overwhelming. However, I now have a lot more time to make that happen. 

The staring continues. I don't know what Murphy was thinking here, but I suspect she is still on the trail of a rabbit, and she is trying to be sly by hiding beside the bush. Is she hiding from me, while still watching me through another window in the kitchen? 

MOM -- I can still see you!

And what is she looking at here? No idea - she is staring back at the house. There must have been a squirrel on the roof. Yes -- those little devils will climb the walls and up on the roof. I see them on the neighbor's roof all the time. 

MOM -- I'm a good guard dog! 

And poor Lexi was not happy. I had removed the blanket from her kennel so I could wash it, which I did. Then I had all intentions of cleaning out the dirt on the bottom of her kennel, but that didn't happen. I had to throw the blanket back in, and I'll finish cleaning it next week. 

MOM -- where's my blankie? 

You see, we had a lot of rain the night before, which wasn't a problem because we were in the house. But on the walk, Lexi and I got caught in the rain. Miss Lexi NEEDS to sniff every blade of grass, and I wasn't in a hurry, so I let her. It started to rain slightly, and that was OK, so we continued ambling along. We were about 7 minutes from the house when it began to pour buckets. Within two minutes, my shoes were soaked through and my fleece was getting wet. 

It was about then that she started prancing and wanted to run home. I was NOT running through the deep puddles on the wet sidewalks, so we walked, but she did not attempt to sniff anything. When she got in the house, she wanted to dive right into her kennel, but the blanket wasn't there, so she didn't go in. At that point, I threw the blanket in for her! 

My shoes, socks, and fleece are still wet this morning. I forgot to stuff the shoes with newspaper last night. GRRRRRR!! I wanted to wear those shoes this morning. 

I received my Trendtex challenge in the mail the other day. Hmmm -- what to do - what to do! I can add that to the list of things to plan in the car!

My Trendtex challenge fabric

On that note, I need to walk the girls and then pack the car. Thankfully, it's not nearly as much as I had on the weekend. Technically, it's just a bag of clothes, my portable office, and one suitcase. But I'm also taking a sewing machine for someone else in for servicing, so I have to load that and the embroidery unit in the car as well. It should only take five minutes, and then I'll be on my way. 

Here are the events for the rest of this week. 

September 23 - Stitch by Stitch, Kingston, Ontario, 

    What's new with PFAFF (1:00 PM) 

    What's new with Husqvarna Viking (6:00 PM) 

September 25 - Store Opening: Sewing Machine Magic, Cobourg, Ontario. This store sells PFAFF sewing machines, and I'm excited to present a series of demos that day. It's all about the magic!!!!

    Floating stitches

    Ribbon/yard/bead embellishments with the embellishment attachment

    Circular attachment

    Sequence creator

    The NEW Decorative Fringe Foot

    Maxi Stitches

September 27 - Colour My World (Online class hosted by me) at 9:30 AM. I need to send out an acknowledgment to those who have paid. But you have all the information you need. No supplies required for the first class. 

September 27and 28 - 28: Virtual Retreat - The links will be posted on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to sitting down and having some time to do my homework and catch up with friends! 

And on that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!