Studio B is looking great!

Yes - I need to get that oven fixed so I can bake my own muffins. We eat more processed foods than I would like, but really it's not a lot. BUT -- I need to be more mindful and be more aware. I didn't have time yesterday to discover how much sugar is in my other two gummies. I'll investigate, and I MUST call about the oven!

I forgot to share this photo with you yesterday. 

The first row of Down on the Farm

During Monday Sewing, I managed to get the top row of Down on the Farm together! And it looks amazing! 

Yesterday, I forged ahead and got all the blocks together. 

The blocks are together for Down on the Farm.

It's an absolutely adorable quilt! A lot of work, but well worth it. In that picture, you can't see my light grass at the bottom that I substituted, but you can certainly see the turtle in the pond! 

Now comes the question of adding the borders, and I was hoping to do that yesterday; however, after searching all my greens, I couldn't find one dark enough that I had enough of. 

Auditioning for a border

Shoot—I really don't want to have to go buy any fabric. I might try a dark brown or even black to see if either of those would work. I have large pieces of both. But it definitely needs something dark between the inner part and the border. It will take a bit to get that outer border together, since I will have to piece it because it's directional and I'm working with two large scrap pieces, but I'm determined to use it up! The binding will be the same color as the inner border. 

The other piece of good news is this. 

The underside of the second table

That second table went together so much faster than the first one. I even took the time to wind up the excess cord and tuck it into the open rail along the bottom of the table. I also attached the control holder to the underside of the table. I did NOT do that on the first one, because I couldn't figure it out upside down. 

DH and I seemed to have a harder time flipping this one, though! It was HEAVY!

Now I have to attach the holder on the first table and tidy up the cords. It was much easier upside down, but I'll manage. If it doesn't get done right away - hmmmm - two thoughts on that. It doesn't really matter, but the tools are out - let's get it done because it will be one of those jobs that is easy to set aside. 

Now there is even more packaging in the garage that needs to be tidied up! I'm working on it, and it was garbage day yesterday, so some of the garbage went. There is a lot of cardboard, and next week is recycling day, so I'll be sure to fill up the bin. I need to do that quickly, as it's hard to maneuver in the garage, as I've been opening the inside door and winging things in! 

Right now, I have three embroidery machines (only two are set up with the embroidery unit attached), the serger, and one more small sewing machine that I need set up later today. So instead of removing two of the original worktables, I only removed one. I set the other one up at the other end of the two new ones. That makes it a bit squishy in that area, but I think it's going to work just fine. It's not permanent because at some point, one of the embroidery machines and the small sewing machine will go away. 

The current setup for the work tables

But oh my goodness—there is so much stuff sitting out that needs to be addressed. By addressed, I mean it needs to be finished! It would be great to have an extra closet to put it away, but there isn't room, so it must be dealt with. The question is: how do I tackle it and get it done? One piece at a time! I need to start working on my UFO, which I haven't touched all summer. That is on the agenda for today!

Now to get the long arm back in action, and then all my tools will be in place and in working order, and I can get down to some serious work. 

I also need to reattach my table decoration rod so I can hang up a few things on it. 

I took a few minutes yesterday to work on my logic puzzles. This book sits on my jigsaw puzzle table, and now that the other table is up, the puzzle table is usable again.

My logic puzzle book

There are 50 logic puzzles in this book, and there is one storyline throughout the book. This style of logic puzzle book has become extremely popular. I think I've done the first 6, which so far are very easy. I can do them in under a minute! But the puzzles will get harder. The first ones in the book use a two-by-two grid - well, that's hard to explain. Here's a picture. And with only four clues, they are pretty easy to figure out what goes where. 

A two by two grid for the logic puzzles

Some of the later ones are in a three-by-three grid, but I didn't check the number of clues. And some of those clues can be very convoluted, and you need to use two or more clues together to figure out what goes where. 

The three-by-three grid

I have some logic puzzle magazines that use many clues and a four-by-four grid! It's a great diversion, and I'm trying to scroll less! 

Although I am consumed by reading these days. Either an audiobook or an ebook, I seem to be constantly reading. I currently have EIGHT books in my active reader, which is NOT good. One is done, so it must be returned today, and four of the others are partially completed - some had to be returned as they couldn't be renewed and ended up back in my inbox. And three are brand new. I hope to get that caught up soon. 

My goal for the year was 52 books - one a week, and included fiction and non-fiction. I'm happy to report that I have read 56 books! So could I possibly make it two books a week? No—I'm not on track for that, but I could be on track for 78 books, which is 1.5 books a week. I don't really need a goal - I just need to keep reading. 

I see M posted something about being anti-competitive, and she is right. We are so quick to compare ourselves to someone else - I need to read more than my neighbor. No, you don't! You read what fits in your schedule. You should be reading for enjoyment, and NOT to keep up with anyone else. The same goes for quilting, jigsaw puzzles, walking, whatever - you have to do what works for you! 

Since the puzzle table is now free again, I decided to open up the next puzzle. Typically,l I just lay out those pieces willy-nilly on my design boards, and I need five of them for a 1000-piece puzzle. 

For whatever reason, I laid them out in rows (more or less), and I only need three boards and a bit! Hmmm --- that's something to remember for speed puzzling, where you are limited to a certain space or working on a giant puzzle. Neither of which I may do, but it's good to learn new techniques. 

The pieces are neatly laid out on the design boards.

Before I closed up shop last night, this is what I got done. There is an American flag in the top corner, and that was easy. I'm still missing some border pieces. 

The border is mostly together.

BUT - I needed to finish my chapter in my book, so I grabbed a few more pieces, and this is how I ended the evening. 

WAIT - I did more!

I definitely put the design boards and the box on this one. I MUST not touch it during the day. If I find myself getting distracted, I may have to relegate myself to using Studio U for puzzles. 

I spotted this on the morning walk. 

The sunbeams through the trees

I'm not sure how much of that was mist or dust, but it was pretty! And I see it's pretty misty/foggy this morning. It was humid yesterday, and it's supposed to be humid today. Then I think it cools off again. Fortunately, our house is pretty decent, and with the new fans, I don't find the heat/humidity in the house an issue at all. 

Very foggy this morning

I also noticed the ground in the forest is littered with acorns and acorn bits. The squirrels are having a grand time in the oak trees.

Acorns and acorn bits litter the ground.

I also got a lot of paperwork done yesterday. The next time I decide to host more than one class at a time, remind me that it's not the teaching of the class, but the paperwork to get all the lists set up! Actually, I don't mind, and I'm happy to report that three of the four classes I'm teaching this fall are pretty much ready to go. I have one more distribution list to put together today. 

If all goes well, I should have everything out by tomorrow. Phew. And I started researching/prepping for the presentations, which start next weekend. NOT this coming weekend, but the weekend after. I can hardly wait, but first, I need to select fabrics for my quilts and get my act together. 

Actually, I should do that today and see if I'm missing anything, like backgrounds; if so, it might be time to make a trip to the quilt store. Then I could get that dark green. But I'll check the brown and black first. 

It's going to be a busy day, and I'm off to the gym as well. My sciatic nerve is doing so much better, and the weakness in my left leg, while I still don't trust it, is so much better as well. I will never get rid of the arthritis in my knees, but if I can make the situation better, then it's worth doing the exercises. 

It is going to be a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Hidden spots for refined sugar

Here's hoping for a good start on the day! I have resent emails to the class groups for Show and Tell, 40 Shades of Grey, and My Kinda Town. I just sent them a few minutes ago. If you did NOT receive an email about one of those classes, and you have signed up, please let me know. And this will be the FINAL call for signing up! You can also forward the class link to a friend if you want, but I need to firm those lists up so I can move on to prepping the classes. 

The scrap quilt confirmation will be coming by tomorrow. 

I goofed in not searching my inbox for those emails I missed in my initial sorting process, and some people signed up for two or more classes in the same email, and it's kind of hard to put one email in two spots. But I believe all is good. 

Speaking of medications, what about supplements? I take a few of those, and I guess you could go crazy as you stand in the drug store scouring the shelves. I take a couple of gummies—I know—it's silly. But the other day we had a chat about gummies in our sewing group. 

Someone mentioned that the gummies are full of sugar, and one person, who takes a gummy, said she washes the sugar off, and then it's OK. Seriously? That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard. Some gummies come with sugar on them, while the others are just a gummy. I'm sorry - a gummy is a gummy, and it's loaded with sugar.

Here's the label on my Jamieson D3 (1000 UI). 

Notice that the FIRST TWO ingredients are sugar!!!! 

I went to the website to try to find the sugar content for the gummy. These ones, by the way, do not have a sugar coating. I found the answer in the Q&A because someone asked about the sugar content as they were diabetic. I find that kind of sad that someone had to ask instead of it being displayed on the website, or why not even on the label? 

The amount of sugar per gummy is 1.5 grams, which is just less than half a teaspoon. It's not a lot, but when combined with the rest of the food we eat in a day, this could add up. For someone wanting to eliminate refined sugar from their diet, getting rid of the gummies is probably a good idea. I'm going to use up what I have, and then I'll resort to a different format. 

 For my information, I'm also going to check the sugar content of the other two gummies I take. I know - I don't eat candy, but I'm happy to eat a gummy supplement. That's kind of silly if you ask me! 

Speaking of sugar, look at this!! I'm starting to hate those labels on food because everything I like has a label with high fat, sugar, or sodium! It's not that I won't eat those bran muffins because of the high sugar or sodium content, but it's the combined quantity we eat in a day! I might track my food intake for a week and see where I stand. I should really get my butt in gear and bake muffins. WAIT - I need to get that oven fixed first. Why can't they just bake muffins that are low in sugar and sodium? WAIT -- the consumer wouldn't buy it because it would taste like cardboard. There has to be a way. Hmmm --- when I get my oven back, perhaps I could experiment to find a solution I'd like that is lower in sugar and sodium. 

My bran muffins are high in sugar and sodium.

I must add that (getting the oven fixed) to my list! I found a clipboard yesterday and started a list, as many things are floating in my head, and I need to get on top of them. Adding the oven situation to the list is important. 

My clipboard with important papers! 

Speaking of candy, I don't buy candy, but when something comes into my house, I may or may not (most likely MAY!) eat it. 

I had ordered the new power cable for the camera switch box that I lost months ago. It arrived yesterday, and they included a sucker! Of course, I ate the sucker. 

A gift with my power cord

And then I tested the power cord. It works!!!! That's music to my ears. 

The power cord works!!

And now that power cord is included in my bag of cords and cables necessary to do a Facebook Live. 

The power cord is now in the bag with the rest of the cords and cables.

Even though I said I would not pick at the paper bits on Tequila Lime, I did! But no more - I'm done. Apparently the link to the quilting design didn't work yesterday, so here it is again, with a second one. I don't know if I can manage to figure out how to do that on the long arm, but it will be a good learning experience. These designs are digitized specifically for this quilt. 

Here's a picture of the first one. 

And here's the second one. 

And OH MY—there is a third option. 

I'll have a closer look at all three and then order one. I don't think any of these patterns include an extra border, so I may rethink my plan to add another border to the quilt. 

Although you can't really see it in this picture, the air was heavy yesterday. A lot of humidity - it was so thick, it was like a mist! And we had light rain for most of the day, so it was very humid. 

The air was so heavy, you could see the humidity.

And of course, our silly girl seems to like sleeping in the rain, so she was wet for most of the day. 

MOM - I also like being in Studio B with you!

I had to clean one of my sewing machines yesterday, so I dug out a new needle. AHA -- more Diane Phalen designs on some tins. The unlabelled one is my needles, and it goes in a specific spot, so no need to label that one. I checked - none of these are the same as the puzzle I just finished. 

More Diane Phalen quilt tins

And for those of you who think I need an intervention with jigsaw puzzles, think again. Look at this. This is TWO of six bookcases where this person stores their puzzles. Oh my!!!!!

And look at this!!! Someone posted this picture - they are at a Ravensburger store in Kiel, Germany! That would NOT be a good place to go. Who knew that puzzle companies actually had their own stores? Ravensburger is a high-end, amazing-quality, huge company that sells puzzles worldwide. Just checked the map - Kiel is a town in the northeast corner of Germany, with a population of about 250,000. Big enough for a Ravensburger puzzle store!  

Ravensburger store in Kiel, Germany

Ravensburger is a German company, and their puzzles are made in Germany and the Czech Republic, although they're widely available in many shops here in North America. Well, if you dig a bit deeper, the Ravensburger company is located in Ravensburg, Germany! AHA - I did not know that. 

While I was able to return the light and order the final electrical product we need, I didn't get much else done. No table assembly, nor the leader on the long arm. Hopefully today!

I'll leave you with these words of wisdom. 

This is so true, and after some of the recent world events, we are rich beyond our means just for having a roof over our heads and clean water to drink. The world can be a scary place these days and extremely volatile. We must never take anything for granted!!

OK—here's to hoping all the class emails went to the right people and we can get started sewing on our new projects shortly!! It's September -- where did the summer go? 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!

The "fun" side of paper-piecing!

OH MY!!!! It's not that I don't want to take those meds -- that particular one is just not working in my schedule! BUT -- I did accommodate it yesterday by eating later, so I think that is the best temporary solution. And when I book the physical, I'll mention it to the doctor so she can prescribe the non-restrictive medication next time. I think she wanted to do another bone density so we can see what's happening as well. 

I got some emails yesterday about missing confirmation emails for upcoming classes, and will deal with that today. And YES—there will be a confirmation email for the scrap class as well. 

Our girls are pretty silly. This is Lexi in the morning, and that pilot light is still on in the fireplace, so it gives off some heat. It's not cold in the house - cool but not cold. Doesn't she have a fur coat? What will she do in the winter? 

MOM - My butt is cold!

This is the situation I had to deal with yesterday. Both of those tables are being replaced, and that is a lot of heavy stuff to move - well, find a temporary home for, then pack up the tables and put the new ones in. Thankfully, there is very little crap on the tables, so it was all machine stuff. 

All this has to go!

Pretty soon, the two work tables were gone. Of course, Miss Murphy was there to guide me and did not move until the one table was in place. Seriously - I had to step over her, but I wasn't going to move her. Then I got the Swiffer, and then the vacuum, and I cleaned the floor. I also did some spot washing, so it's all clean. 

The two work tables are gone.

Next I moved the new table into position. Yes—I'm not a fan of that extension cord on the floor, and when I get one more electrical item (it's taking a long time to order, which I plan on finalizing today), I'm getting the electrician to come back and at that time, there are a few other things that will get done, including the installation of a plug in the ceiling so the cord can drop down and not be unsightly on the floor. Don't worry about a cord hanging from the ceiling because I have a decorative table rod that can disguise the cord. It will look just fine. 

The new table in place

While the angle of the table in the photo above and the angle of this one aren't the same, you can see the table at its lowest (above) and highest (below). Good grief -- a very tall person could work at that table. I wouldn't be able to work on it at that height. But it is sturdy as a rock! Even at the highest height. 

The highest height

And thankfully, I went with the table width I did, as the embroidery machine fits like a glove. That was the big issue in finding a new sturdy table - I needed a width of 30" (the width of the old tables), and everything was 24", which is too narrow for those big embroidery machines. It seems to be a wee bit shorter (it's not) than the previous table, but once I get to do some embroidery, I'll get everything settled in place. The second table I'm replacing is 12 inches longer than the new table, so I'm going to miss that space, but I have a plan to accommodate it. 

The embroidery machine on the new table! 

I carried all the components for the next set of legs downstairs and got DH to help me bring the tabletop down. That helps clear some of the crap in the garage, but it's now filled with packaging. I need to get cracking and break down some of the boxes, so I have room to walk. And continue sorting the stuff and get a load to the recycling depot. But all is good! 

The second table top is ready for assembly.

I did not get any work done on assembling the second table, and I hope to get that done later this afternoon, although I also have to return that light. 

Speaking of garbage and recycling, I don't understand how the city lets this happen. It looks like a bedroom and a dining room were just dumped on the edge of the street. Surely the city charges for this to be picked up. 

Why bother calling a junk service - just dump it!

I know when I take garbage to the Community Recycling Center (it takes garbage and recycling) that I get charged by weight. No charge for recycled items. So hopefully the city adds this to their taxes, or do they just get away with it? I could not do that. 

I had a walking errand in the afternoon, and that's when I spotted all that furniture. I stopped to browse in a store along the way that has a lot of artwork, and I spotted these two items. Speaking of donuts!!! This is 3-D wall art depicting donuts!!! I guess if you like donuts, this is a cool piece of art. It's very modern/contemporary and is actually quite nice. As long as it doesn't encourage you to eat donuts. I have a love/hate relationship with the definition of modern and contemporary, especially when it comes to quilts! 

Donut art!

This is the second piece that caught my eye. What does it remind you of? Yep—the printer trays that are probably becoming harder to come by. I have one for my thimbles above my desk. The art in this one is behind glass, so you leave it as is - or you could take it apart and personalize some parts of it. 

New printer tray art

We had a Virtual Retreat yesterday afternoon/evening, and I am so thankful for all the ladies who popped in to chat. I set up a spare table so I had a surface to work on as I removed the paper from my Tequila Lime quilt. That is a long, boring job, and I thought I would never see the end of it. Thankfully, others were doing boring jobs (and some fun jobs) while we all chatted. 

Removing the paper from Tequila Lime

Periodically I took the quilt top outside and gave it a good shake to remove the loose bits of paper. I was down to two and a half star points, and I was about done for the day. But we still had an hour and a half to go, so I persevered and VOILA!!!! All the paper is gone!!!! I finished shortly before we closed down for the night. 

All the paper is removed!

After ripping out the majority of the paper in an area, I took my tweezers and a pair of hemostats and removed what I could from the tight corners and seams. It would take years to actually remove all the tiny bits, so I'm calling this DONE!

Now I can add a final border to the outside, find some backing, and make binding. Then it gets moved to the "to be quilted" pile. This one is on my Visual To Do list, and I'm not sure I can get it quilted this year. I was hoping to try one of the custom-made designs for it. Here's an example; it's a digitized program you plug into the long arm computer. 

I need to get my butt in gear and get back to the long arm. Tabletop today and long arm tomorrow. Both need to be done by the end of this week! 

And this was the mess on the floor when I was done. The garbage was overflowing, and I just let the paper fall where it did. I'll clean that up this morning. 

The mess from removing the paper

OK—I'm feeling energized again to get back to work. I have Down on the Farm to assemble, and I haven't touched my UFO at all this summer, so I have no time to be slacking off. I also realized that if I want to use the design boards for the backdrop for my Facebook Live next week, all those T-shirts are on them. Yikes—I need to deal with that too. But I have a Plan B for that area, so I may not have to move them. Still, I need to get working on that quilt. It's also on the Visual To Do List. 

I can tell that unless a miracle happens, not everything on the Visual To Do List will get done. But you know what? I'm OK with that. So far this year, I've made excellent progress, and I'll keep working on those items. It gives me focus, and I've also made a lot of new things for work or whatever. I'm doing just fine! 

It's Monday morning, and I need to get my butt to the gym. I need to incorporate some fat-burning cardio back into my schedule. I miss the spin classes for that, and well, it doesn't take much for fat to appear if you are doing nothing to combat it! As you all know, it's a constant struggle. 

And on that happy note -- it's going to be a GREAT day today. 

Ciao!!!!

What's in your basket? And how did you load it?

If you can't beat the system, try a different way. Seriously? This darn bone density pill and I have a love/hate relationship. To remember to take the darn thing, I left my pillbox on the counter yesterday to remind me all day that I needed to take it this morning. Then I put the pillbox on my phone so I would remember first thing this morning. 

Then I had a bad night, couldn't get to sleep, and woke up several times. As a result, I slept in. Now you think that I would take the pill in the middle of the night, but you are not allowed to lie down for 30 minutes after taking it. 

I got up at the time that I would typically make breakfast, so I just threw in the towel. I took the pill, and I'm waiting 30 minutes before I eat. But seriously? This pill is the bane of my existence, and if it ruined my sleep, then I certainly need to do something about it. 

I need to make an appointment for a physical, and I am demanding that they wipe that prescription from my file. I hate the restrictions associated with it, and my brain is rebelling, and I don't need or want that! Another medication does the same thing without the time restrictions. 

I don't care that I am going to throw some of it away to get the one I can take without any restrictions. At this point, the medication isn't doing me any good. 

Phew -- I got that off my chest!

OK -- if you are in my Show and Tell, Forty Shades of Grey, or My Kinda Town class, you should have received an email yesterday from me. If you did not, and I just realized I forgot to do an email search, so I may have missed an email or two, then let me know, and I'll add you to the list. I'm preparing the information email that goes out to the groups, and I hope to get those out soon. 

It took me two hours or perhaps a wee bit more, and I accomplished all the errands that needed to be done by car. Well, almost. I went to return a light from the lighting store and to check on ordering a lighted house sign that they were supposed to get back to me about. I walked up to the counter with my bill and the light, only to see the Return Policy staring at me, which I had not noticed before. Or maybe I did, but it didn't register. TEN days, and it was now 24 days since I purchased the lights. 

I need authorization to return a light, so I sent an email and got a response that YES, I could return the light, so I have to go back on Monday to make that happen. The gentleman thanked me for my order—yes, you should! It wasn't cheap. 

The other light from a different store was returned, no questions asked. But it's a big box store, so that was OK. 

I stopped at Chapters to see if anything new was in. Oh my, the magazine section for knitting and crafts used to be crowded, but it's not so crowded any longer. 

The magazines left in the craft section

I am surprised that the Golden Media titles are still hanging in there. And I notice that the bookstore staff pepper the shelves with books - like the Sashiko book! And I found this on that shelf. Totally unrelated. 

A puzzle book on the craft magazine shelf

I swear, my brain loves puzzles. I decided I needed this book. OK -- so their strategy worked! It's filled with 50 logic puzzles that I LOVE doing. I've been doing those kinds of puzzles since I was a teenager, and well, if I wasn't a quilter, I'd probably have been doing puzzles for years. 

Logic puzzles

One other thing I spotted on the craft shelves was this GIANT book. I've seen and posted about them before, so it's not new, but this one was HUGE. This is a PAPER book - it's literally filled with stickers, mini books, papers, cardstock, etc so you can make journals or whatever else you want to make. 

A paper book

But look at the price!!!!

Ouch!!

I suppose if you want a variety of stuff, it would cost you the same amount if you purchased all those things individually at the craft store. So maybe it's like our quilting kits—pay one price and get it all!

Then I went to the pet store to get dog food for the girls. They do not eat the same food. I winged my way to the back of the store and spotted an employee from the dog food company as she scouted the shelves. I found the two bags of food and whipped them onto the cart. I always turn them upside down on the edge of the cart so the cashier can easily scan the code on the back. 

Then I decided to mention that to the lady from the company. So the heavy bags are placed face up on the shelf. No big deal -- that's where the pretty pictures are. But as I take them off the shelf, I have to turn them over and place them wrong side up in the cart so the pricing label shows. Then, when I go to the cash register, it's an easy job for them to scan it. 

Why can't that scan code be placed on the FRONT of the bag? Then I only have to take the bag off the shelf and put it on the cart. I don't have to rotate the bag. I can manage it, but what if I'm not as strong as I am? More on that in a minute! 

She thanked me, and I headed out. And never drop a heavy bag of dog food INTO the cart—how the heck will you get it out? I balance the two of them on the top! 

When I do my car errands, I have a route. It's about three blocks long, and it's where I buy the big stuff, like dog food, etc. There is a thrift store along that route, and Fabricland and Chapters, etc. So I start at one end and work my way to the other. I hate driving a short distance and then reparking the car, but it's practical that way. 

When I popped into Fabricland to find the bias tape, I spotted a completely empty spool rack. Hmmm --- is that thread on its way out? 

An empty spool rack

From the corner of my eye, I spotted this fabric. It's a stretch velvet with sequins on it that shone as if it belonged to Dolly Parton on a stage with thousands of lights. It was brilliant. The picture doesn't do it justice. 

A bright sparkly fabric

It came in different colors. I have no use for it, but boy was it brilliant. 

I managed to find some bias tape, so I'll use that for my bag. 

The double-fold bias tape

And I found this Clover tool for making jelly roll rugs. I have seen a video of it, and it looks pretty cool. I still have batting strips, so I thought I would try it. 

Clover Fabric Tube Maker

I bought a pack of buttons and placed the three items on the counter. All of them were face up, with the scanning code on the back! The cashier even mentioned that she had to turn them over to scan them!!! I almost died! Well, she was right, but hey, these items were a lot lighter than a bag of dog food! 

Then I was onto Staples, where I dropped off our shredding. I have a drawer in the office where all the personal papers go, and when the drawer is full (it's not a big drawer), then I bundle it up and off it goes. It's usually once a year? Maybe twice this year because I tackled the drawers in the filing cabinet. Yes - I could have a shredder at home, but I found that any shredder we had in the past didn't last long, and it was boring to sit there and shred stuff and then you had to find a home for it. I paid $6 to drop off four pounds of paper. The only negative thing is that you have to shove it through this narrow slot. 

The narrow slot on the paper shredding container

But seriously? I'm getting very good at it and have no issues. So the paper is gone, and that was my last errand. With access to this kind of service, I would NEVER consider having a shredder in the house. 

Wait -- there was one more thing to get. When I returned the second light at the hardware store, I checked for the drill extensions, but I needed to go to the washroom, and I didn't want to make any "major" decisions as there were many options. So I walked to the hardware store near the house in the afternoon. And look what I found! A set of extended screwdriver heads with two extenders. This was exactly what I needed. 

My drill extenders

My drill is old - I didn't spot anything Black and Decker in either store, but the Dewalt ones work just fine. 

And then I got to work on my table. 

Soon, I had most of the leg assembly screwed to the table top. YES—there are cords involved because this table is electric! It is an adjustable height table, and because of the size I wanted and whatever, I couldn't get a crank version for that size. I tested the legs when it was like this, and they work!!! This way, I can sit and sew, or I can raise the table to do machine embroidery! I can't wait to try it out. I still have to tidy up the cords, but I'll do that later. 

The leg assembly is almost done.

Then the leg bases went on, and I waited for DH to get home. I was certain we wouldn't be able to right the table because it was so heavy; I could barely lift one end off the floor. 

The entire leg assembly!

But he used his engineering skills, and we flipped the table on its side and then righted it!!! With two people, it took very little effort. 

My new table

Oh my --- that is a sturdy table. It's supposed to support 450 lbs. I just need it to be stable when doing machine embroidery! I now have to move two machines so this table can slide into the back area of the worktable area. Then I can put one machine on it, and I've started to bring the components of the second table downstairs, and I hope to get it mostly done today. I need to do that while the assembly is still fresh in my mind!!!

But I think I'm going to love them. How will they ever get out of the basement if we move? That's another story!

I got a chucklet earlier in the day as I spotted a gold thread - a long one this time on my quilt top that I was going to work on during the virtual retreat. There's always a gold thread somewhere.

A long gold thread

That new table surface came in very handy last night as I spread my Tequila Lime quilt out so I could remove the paper from the back. It turns out that I was working on the four corners and the four middle sections. At one point, I thought I was done, so I took the quilt into the backyard to shake all the wee bits off. 

Removing paper from Tequila Lime

No - I had done 6 of the 8 sections. But that was good progress, and I was working on the final one last night when we shut the retreat down. I will continue to work on it today, and hopefully I can get the center star points (8) done today. 

There's my little garbage bin of paper. This was near the beginning of the process. 

My bin of paper

And this is what it looked like when I shut down last night! I'll have a mess to clean up when I'm done. So better to get all the paper out in one go and clean up once. 

What a mess to remove paper from a foundation pieced project

And my new turtle is done. I just need to remove the old one from the rest of the block and replace it with the new one. That should be an easy job today. You can actually see the turtle's head now. 

The old turtle and the new

I grabbed this picture from one of the Facebook puzzling groups. This is a small portion of this person's puzzle collection. Mine pales in comparison. 

A small part of someone's puzzle collection

I guess I feel about puzzles the same way I feel about novels. Once you read them, there are so many to read/do; why would you want to reread the book? Or redo the puzzle? Unless it had a very special meaning. Nope -- get the puzzle done, read the book, and GONE!!!!

OK - I waited an hour and just made breakfast. That will work! I'll just change my schedule on Sunday morning and use up those ridiculous pills! 

I noticed people were asking questions about my upcoming Facebook Live on the PFAFF creative icon 3. That was on the Embroidery M.O.M Facebook group, and she reposted my event. Oh my --- no pressure to do a good job! But it's going to be fun, and let's just go with it! 

And yes—we have a Virtual Retreat today, from 3 PM to 9 PM. Here's the link. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89869001291?pwd=h57kT9axwTnd2xtJvuO0z2UOmUo45w.1

Meeting ID: 898 6900 1291
Passcode: 136711

And it's going to be another great day!!! 

Ciao!!!!