A day to reflect and remember how lucky we are!

Today is an important day in history, and for those who are too young to remember (I'm in that category), we need to take a moment today (and every day) and thank those who fought for our freedom. 

And NO to the silly people who always want Remembrance Day on a Monday so they can have a three-day weekend. We are fortunate in Canada that we've not had any major wars on our shores. There have been battles to be sure, but not a war. The current generation (and I, myself included) have no idea what it's like to go to the grocery store and not have choices, the rationing, and other hardships that came about because of wars. Can our current generation even handle such circumstances? 

War is ugly, loss of freedom is ugly, and death is ugly. Please take a moment to say a prayer or offer a thought at 11 AM to those who fought for the freedom we enjoy today. All you have to do is look at politics around the world to realize how lucky we are in this country. I think back to the recent election in Tanzania! Sadly, there is an overwhelming amount of hate and greed in our world. 

Many years ago, another person and I created a quilt with various blocks to represent all the special buildings in Streetsville, one of those small villages that has been swallowed up by the big city. I made a block for the Cenotaph. 

My quilt block commemorating the Streetsville Cenotaph

I support Quilts of Valour for our current veterans, and I am happy to donate my time, money, and supplies to make quilts for this organization. 

Wear a poppy PROUDLY today -- it's part of who we are as Canadians!

WOW --- I am way behind the times with the thread I use on the long arm! I've heard from many people that they use 60wt in the bobbin. Well, it's time for me to change that! I have some Bottom Line thread, and I'll keep the smaller spools for applique, but the larger spools can be wound onto bobbins. 

The issue I am going to face is that my supplier is going to put Superior Threads on the back burner these days due to tariffs, which is very unfortunate. However, the good news is that we have a Canadian Supplier (Wonderfil), and they offer prewound bobbins that fit my long-arm machine. So, I'm going to go in that direction, and I'm currently setting up accounts and other necessary steps to make that happen. I'm super excited and can't wait until every quilt is done with the prewounds. It certainly saves a ton of time babysitting, but I still take a walk to the long arm frequently to ensure everything is well. 

I took pictures of everything, and I'll share them tomorrow. 

OK --- this snowfall we had is just the weirdest. The snow and leaves are falling at the same time, and it's bizarre. We have golden leaves mixed in with the white snow — something I've never seen before. Then the sun came out a bit, and most of the snow melted away, but I see we have a ground covering this morning. 

Falling  leaves and snow

But there is some exciting news about the snow! In the middle of the previous night, I heard a noise. It sounded like the plow went up and down the cul-de-sac. This is exciting. BUT it wasn't the plow for the road - it was the sidewalk snowplow! That will be the FIRST time ever that we've had the sidewalk snowplow hit our street. The entire length of the sidewalk was clear of snow! Now, who the heck am I going to complain about this winter? That's OK -- I'm happy not to complain about the neighbors who don't shovel. However, we still had one person who decided to park their vehicle on the sidewalk, so, of course, the plow had to go around. Seriously? 

The sidewalks are clear of snow

Look at this happy girl! I don't know why she was so happy at that moment, but I got a picture! 

MOM - I'm super happy!

And here's Bear playing with some fake leaves I threw in his bed. He is quite the devil and enjoys getting into trouble. 

Grandma -- are these leaves for me to eat?

And where's Lexi, you ask? That dog is so laid back that she often slips through the cracks. We don't notice her, but I make a point of going over to her bed throughout the day to give her a hug or a pat. If only all dogs were as easy to care for as she. These other two are just trouble! And very time-consuming. 

The quilt of the day is done! 

Customer quilt - done

And I'm happy to report that FIVE of the eight dog quilts are done! The binding is completely stitched on! It's hard to believe that the backing of all eight is dog-related fabric. As well as the tops, and I didn't buy any of it - well, at least not recently!

FIVE of the eight dog quilts are done!

I still need to top-stitch one more binding in place and then use those binding scraps to make two more bindings. I have to set them aside for a couple of days as I have some more pressing things that need to be done. 

I have two presentations this weekend, and there is a lot to prep for those. However, one of them is almost complete. See, I'm working ahead and not trying to do it all at the last minute. I can't, there is too much. 

However, you will be happy to note that with my excellent photo filing system on my computer, I can recycle many techniques without having to redo the photos. I wasn't always this smart, and I had to conduct a thorough search to find some of them, but I eventually discovered the correct images from several years ago. They are now filed in the right spot. 

Remember those sheets I made for my concurrent show at Quilt Canada? Those were the best, and I still need to make a video of all the quilts I've taught over the years. Well, they are sitting on one of the current project tables, and I've been referencing them to assist in finding material! 

Some of the classes I've taught!

I have a few floating pictures that I took a while back, but didn't have time to blog about. You know, I keep this mainly for me. When I need to find something, it's easy to go back and locate the information I'm looking for. That's the beauty of an online journal rather than a written one! 

Anyway, you remember I purchased those table decor rods a while back. Well, I LOVE the rods, but I needed some hooks so I could hang things on the bar when I needed to. 

I'm not a fan of online shopping, but sometimes, that's the only place to find obscure items. There were numerous options, but this is what I chose. 

Hooks for my table decor rod

It features a safety buckle, ensuring it stays in place. I suppose I could turn it around so the safety buckle would hold the hook to the rod, rather than my item. 

The safety buckle

And now it's easy to hang my ornaments on the bar. I have a few other things on the bar at the moment and will have to dig out some Christmas ornaments. I'm pretty excited about the bar and these hooks, as they provide a convenient place to hang decorations without occupying a lot of space. I was worried that it would take up visual space, but it doesn't. I barely notice it's there!

My Halloween decoration on the bar

There's another busy day ahead of me, and well, I can't wait to get started! I have a bit of travel ahead of me, so there are things that need to be done before I leave. There are two trips back-to-back - one trip and one quilt retreat. However, this is the absolute last travel or away time for the year. I also have a couple of events next week.

If you are in the Barrie area (All About Sewing) and want to see What's New with Husqvarna Viking (Tuesday, November 18, at 10 AM or 3 PM) or What's New with PFAFF (Wednesday, November 19, at 10 AM), or learn about Creativate (Wednesday, November 19 at 3 PM), then be sure to call the store and sign up! 

I'll also be at Castle's Sewing in Langley, BC, at the end of next week, and we have a hands-on project with PFAFF (Saturday, November 22)and a chat about Creativate on Friday, November 21! It's going to be a lot of fun! The hands-on project is adorable - I think so, anyway! 

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

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!