Patience is a virtue!!!

I am glad to hear I'm not the only one who lived through "hardships" as a kid. Life was certainly different if you lived in the country or a small town, and probably also the geographical location. I think it developed a certain resiliency in us!!! 

Also, I do not expect everyone to be able to stand up and sit down without using their hands at this point in time. Maybe you are recovering, maybe you are building your strength, so you have to start small and build up your strength in your legs, your core, and your upper body. But do NOT for a minute think that just because you are "old" that you are excused from keeping that strength up! The strength thing is probably MORE important now that you are older than when you were younger. 

If you don't believe me, imagine this, and it won't be pretty. You walk to the washroom. Phew --- that's step number one. Then you need to get undressed for your task. You then need to sit down, and some places don't have handholds. You could use the seat itself to lower yourself, but that could be yucky. OK -- so you have maneuvered yourself down, now you have to get up. Imagine you are all alone!!! Imagine your body weight. There are many factors involved here. 

The issue is that if you cannot go to the washroom on your own, you have lost your independence for a very important bodily function. Please do NOT be one of those people. My Mom is now entirely dependent on my Dad, and that means he is no longer able to do the one thing in his life that he loves. That is a HUGE issue!!! And for the moment, Mom is lucky to have Dad around. He has his own issues and could easily become less capable than she is. What if he gets hurt or sick? 

I think we put the fear of god in her, but perhaps a bit too much, which is why she thought she could just get up and try to walk on her own. Not if you have let your leg muscles atrophy! But she doesn't get it! Sigh....................

I'm not trying to use this scenario to scare you, but just to face reality. And as the clock ticks, our bodies are happy to not listen. I just don't want to see any of you in that same position. It's not pleasant. 

As I dug out my laptop this morning in yet another hotel, I had to find a plug to plug it in. You would think that all hotels would have learned by now to put a plug on the desk so we don't have to search under the table for one. That takes me back to all those days so long ago when we had to hardwire our laptops to the internet in the hotel. And that plug-in was usually UNDER the table, not on top. 

While I might be a big traveler to some of you, DH does a lot more than I do. But if I were to think back on all the business trips over the years, there were lots and of course, loads of stories to share! And crap - I packed everything, but forgot to bring the charger for my Fitbit, so that battery is going to die today, but I certainly won't be getting any steps in today, so it's not a big deal. 

We had two great sessions in the morning yesterday. My current project for Many Blocks is Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt. This was assembled by Jennifer Chiaverini, who is the author of the Elm Creek Series. If you click that link, you'll see MANY quilts made by other people. The blocks have very different construction methods as they were compiled from 72 different people. 

There are 140 blocks in the quilt, and I taught this back in 2012 at Ruti's Needlebed. I know I recently mentioned that. After doing my recap a while back, I found I had made 100 blocks, leaving 40 blocks still to make. The blocks are 6," and altogether, they will make a very large quilt. I don't want another large quilt, so I'm going to make three quilts -- two of them will require 56 blocks each, and with sashing and borders, the quilts will be lap size. The third quilt will use 30 blocks and will be slightly smaller. It means I will have to make 2 blocks for that to happen. 

The big question is, will I make all the blocks in the book? Some of them are pretty complicated and require a lot of work. The answer is YES!!! I want to say that I have made all the blocks, and there is something to learn from the ones remaining. 

What I don't understand is how some of the blocks got abandoned. This block was all cut out and just needed to be assembled. YES -- there are a lot of Y-seams. 

The pieces were cut for this block.

A little bit of patience, and it was together and pretty square. You just take one small seam at a time. 

The bridal bouquet block is together.

Then the next one had the fabrics selected in a bag, but not cut. That was easy enough to cut out. I have all the skills for these blocks!

The next block is ready to sew.

And there was the bow tie block, which also required Y seams. I must have left all those Y-seam blocks for the end. And before I knew it, those two blocks were complete as well. 

Two more blocks

This hunter's star block needed a bit of repair work, as I had put one of the fabrics in the incorrect place. It is paper pieced. The first part of the paper piecing (the thin lines in the middle that form the stars) was done, but the larger triangles still needed to be put on. I made a mistake with the fabric colors and had to fix it. 

Another block is complete.

So with very little effort, four blocks were made. And that completed the first page of the blocks listed in the book. 

I decided to forge ahead because there is very little free time between now and the next class. OK -- I have no idea what was going through my head. This next block is also paper-pieced, and all the components were done!! All that remained was to trim the components and sew them together. Seriously????

One more block

Why --- can you tell me why that block didn't get completed? And I've looked at the next one, and it's the same scenario. It's paper pieced, and all the components are together!!! It just needs to be trimmed and sewn. My brain obviously works in mysterious ways!!!

But then I looked at the next couple of blocks, and fabrics had been selected, but the pieces were not cut out. Well, I'm doing a presentation today on the Singer Momento, which is the 24" digital cutter, and guess what? I needed some samples. So I fussed around, and YEP—I cut the next block with the digital cutter. OK -- so it took a bit of time to figure out how to make that happen, but it took mere seconds (no kidding) to do the cutting. 

I don't have the block together, but it will be easy when I get to it later this week. I have prepped several other blocks that are fussy to cut (appliqué), and it will be good practice to cut them on the Momento. 

Like everything, there is a learning curve, and once you get that under your belt, the rest is easy. Yes --- I am cutting fabric without any stabilizer (fusible) on it, and it's cutting like a hot knife through butter. If you are in the Ottawa area, you should come and see what I'm doing this afternoon!!!! I'll be at Quilty Pleasures in Orleans, and that demo will be from 2 to 5. In the morning (9 - Noon), I'm talking about the Creativate ecosystem and what you can do with it, as well as the Creativate embroidery software. So much fun!!!

For those in the Creativate embroidery software world, here's something new!!! You now have access to this embroidery software on your tablet or iPad. yep --- you are no longer married to your laptop for that. You cannot make modifications, but can you combine and design? Yep -- you have that ability. When I was at my parents' one day, I only had the iPad with me, and I played around with designs from the online Design Catalog and created what would go on the back of my jacket, which I need to finish this coming week for the wedding. 

You just need to select the EMBROIDERY tab from this menu, and you are in!!!

The Creativate app on the iPad

My brain will never (and never wants to) stop learning. There is always something new, and I admit that sometimes it's hard to keep on top of everything, but you just go with the flow. What you don't know, you ask, you find out what resources are available for learning, and then you experiment. Trust me, I have never been so frustrated in my life as I have slogged through some of the learning stuff. But the minute I get it figured out? That is better than winning the lottery. And sometimes we are so impatient because we want it now. I totally get that, but teaching ourselves patience and practicing it is such a useful skill. 

The current generation has not learned that! OK—some have, but not everyone. We all need to learn to MAKE things with our hands! 

I don't know about you, but I am watching tons of videos about the four Artemis 2 astronauts, and wouldn't it be fun to think about going back and redoing your life path? WAIT --- I'm very happy with my life path, and I don't regret it, but can you imagine what life would have been like if we were encouraged from day one to do anything we wanted? As I was growing up in a small town, my path was to become a teacher, a secretary, or a nurse. Those were about the only jobs I had been exposed to. Seriously??? I could have done so many other things, but I had no clue!! 

I eventually became a teacher—who knew that would happen? I'm happy, but if I come back to this world in another life, I'm going far! I guess the important thing in all this is that I found my passion, and I can't complain one bit!

It's unbelievable what you can do in this world. I've been messing around with learning how to create files for 3-D printing, and well, I'm not really at liberty to show you what I did. Well, I can show you, but not in the context. I'll do it another day, when I've got it perfected. But it's been a learning experience, and I'm in love with more opportunities to learn. I'm using the program Tinkercad, and it's so easy to learn. 

During our machine embroidery club yesterday, one of the ladies showed us this, which was printed on a 3D printer for her sewing machine. 

A 3-D printed thread stand

It's a 3-D printed thread stand to keep your thread from falling off the table and to keep it lined up by color. The stand snugs around the handle and is brilliantly designed. 

When you start investigating the world of 3D printing, you will find all kinds of stuff that have already been designed, and you can buy or use for free. Take those files to your local makerspace (I went to the library), and they will print for a nominal charge. The item above would take a fair bit of time, and I'm not sure it could be printed on a public printer. It was printed on someone's home 3D printer. 

My Dad and I were having great discussions about it, of course, and it was because of him and his work that I was inspired to create my own file. It's super simple, and I'm still making a couple of prototypes. Remember --- patience is important!!! You can find tons of already-made files on Thingiverse.com.

The drive to Ottawa was fine. I'm not a fan of long drives, but it worked out OK. I stopped twice along the way - once to drop off my Cricut cutter since I no longer need it, and it's one more thing out of my house. It sat on one of my tables, and now it's gone! Then a second time for a potty break. It rained the entire way!!! Yeah!!!

I had a few snacks with me - I love snacking when I drive. Thank goodness I'm not a truck driver because I'd weigh 400 lbs before the end of the first week! But with a very twisted audiobook (My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing) and access to hands-free texting and calling, I made good time. Where do these authors get these twisted plot lines? I swear it is the women who have the most twisted minds. Most male authors used guns and gore -- the women? Not so much. 

If you are going to be kidnapped by someone, I want it to be a man. The women have too many creepy ideas! Just kidding -- I don't want to be kidnapped by anyone! 

When I arrived, I was down to fumes in the gas tank. Well, not really, but my low fuel indicator was on. So I gassed up last night, so I don't have to do it today when I'm finished and heading home. 

But seriously--- I think this is silly. When you fill up, be sure not to put diesel in the car. Some pumps have gas and diesel options on the same pump. And usually, the diesel is highlighted in yellow and is off to the left. I had to look twice before I realized that this was a gas-only pump. It was only the price that alerted me that the left-most one was gas. 

An all-gas pump

And I made it to the hotel in Ottawa (Orleans) and am just down the street from Quilty Pleasures, where I'll be today. 

Oh -- the joys of travel, and even though it was a long drive (5 and a half hours), it was probably faster and more reliable than air travel. By the time you get to the airport early, land, wait for luggage, get a car, and drive to the hotel, I thought it would be just as efficient to drive. I'm glad I drove. I'll likely need a nap on the way home, but that's OK. Plus, I didn't need to worry about how I packed. I literally threw stuff in the car in open bags. And I got to drop off the Cricut as well. 

I think it's going to rain all day today, but it's supposed to be warmer. It was cold yesterday, and with the rain? That went right through you! 

On that happy note, if you are in the Ottawa area, be sure to come and see me today!!! We don't get out and about super often, and we have great stuff to share. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!!

Simple, yet elegant!

Hmmm --- I'll have to try the Sirius radio prize myself! I'm not a huge fan of the radio, and we no longer have radios in the house. Does anyone have a radio anymore? I stream using apps (yep - more apps!), but I find the reception in the basement isn't the greatest, or the app sucks, and it cuts out. So then I listen to nothing or I listen to Spotify. I'll check it out! The same goes for Alexa - I used to use Alexa for the radio, but I'm afraid Alexa has retired from my house! First off, the radio would just cut out (again, I think it's the reception in the basement), so that was annoying, so I stopped using it. 

OH, I should say that DH uses it for a timer. Why did we retire her? We barely used Alexa -- why? I think it's a form of laziness. I'd rather spend the time doing the job or looking up the information than have Alexa do it. While I appreciate what she can do (no, I don't), I think it takes away my brain's capacity to compute stuff, and I'm trying to hang onto every brain cell I can by doing the work myself! Or I get up and move to do something, rather than have Alexa shut something off, while I sit on the couch! So, while I appreciate the technology, that doesn't mean I have to use it. What the heck do people use it for anyway? 

Great news—I may have woken up briefly last night, but I slept through the night. What a relief! I was tired, as we had been to a wedding in the afternoon and got home at 10 PM. I know it was early to come home from a wedding, but the girls and the boy were home alone, and I had NOT fed them before I left. 

All was fine when we arrived, but Murphy's nose was out of joint as she was hungry. That girl is ALWAYS hungry!

I haven't been to a wedding in eons, and I am trying to remember the last one I attended. Of course, I snapped a few photos for ideas to send to M, although I'm sure she has enough ideas already. 

But one thing the mother of the bride said to me, and I'm assuming she said this to her daughter, is that while the wedding day is important, it's not the most important thing. It's the marriage that's important, not the wedding. And I think that is sound advice! 

Here's Mom and Dad walking the bride down the aisle. Her dress was simple yet elegant. 

Mom and Dad and the bride! 

The ceremony was short and sweet! And the venue for the reception was gorgeous—an old foundry that had been transformed into a reception space. I would love to find an old building and convert it into a workspace. How cool would that be? These were some of the fantastic artwork hanging from the ceiling. Shoot—I guess I should have gone up to the balcony to take better pictures! 

Ceiling decorations

Like many people, they had a wedding cake. We did NOT stay to see them cut the cake, but like the dress, it was very simple but elegant. And there were the little statues of the bride and groom. But look who else was on the cake? Their dog!!! Alessia has a brilliant brother, and he took a picture of their dog and, using his 3D printer, created an image of the dog! That is adorable!!!! 

The figures on the wedding cake!

These were the placeholders on the table. Again, everything was simple yet elegant. I hate to see money spent on fancy things that will be thrown away at the end of the wedding. These were cute. I think the bride and groom did a fantastic job at everything. There was a lot of emotion at the wedding, and the bride and groom were choked up as they said their vows! It was so sweet!

Placeholder

Before we went, I had my two Zoom classes. I need to do the follow-up for them today, and I have my Basic Machine Embroidery session this morning. Then the remainder of the day is free! But there is so much to do that I'll be trying to pick what to do first. 

I think I said I managed to get my rolling cart into Studio B by myself. The bigger shelf is still in the garage. 

I have yet to decide what will go on the cart or exactly how I'll use it, but for now, it's housing the most current project (Tequila Lime), which is in total disarray as it's in various stages of completion. 

My new rolling cart

There is a lot of room on that cart, so I may find a small drawer unit to put on it to provide more storage. I'm not sure. 

Look at this elegant lady. Yes - she looks like a lady; usually, she's just a train wreck! 

MOM -- I was in CHARGE when you were away!

I LOVE this quote from yesterday. 

And that about sums up what one needs to do when you can't find something. I discovered something else that is missing. I went to take pictures of my applique bias bars for my class, and while I found two of the three sets I own, where was the big metal set? It was nowhere to be found. Obviously, I've removed it for some reason, but what? And who knows how long it's been missing? 

Well, I'm off to get the day started. I have a few things to assemble before the class at 10 AM and then, let's see what the afternoon brings. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

What a little FOCUS can do!

It's amazing what a little FOCUS can do in a day! I have awesome photos to share with you, and I am so excited! 

I'm not sure if it helped, but I listened to an audiobook and listened to the entire thing from start to finish yesterday -- about 7 hours. The book is called Counting the Cost by Jill Dugger. I found the book fascinating - not because of who the author was. I've never watched a single episode of their shows and know nothing about them. 

There were two things I took away from this book -- the power of a charismatic leader (in this case, it could be the father or the head of the church) the family belonged to. Or the power of a religious belief -- I'm not sure how best to word it. I won't go further than that because so many variables are involved. Let's just say - exploitation, control, and fear all come into play - big time! 

But the second thing was her side of the story regarding the show. It's a reality show - OK -- there are loads of reality shows on TV, and the premise of reality shows is to show what life is like for a particular group of people. What's shocking is how much that show changed the people and how the money they "earned" as a filming family changed their lives. 

By the sounds of it, near the end, the network had paid loads of money so they could go on trips or do things the family would never have done if it had not been for the show. So - how is that reality? And as we've suspected for years, how REAL is any reality show? 

Anyway -- that helped me focus on my tasks for yesterday. 

Of course, I had company because Mom can't be trusted alone! 

MOM - I'm watching you! 

She's a cutie, to be sure, and they were a bit wet after the morning walk. 

Mom - in case you need some loving, I'm here! 

It was time to tidy up Studio B. It had been neglected for several months as I packed and unpacked and had little time to focus on cleaning up. It's time! 

The first thing I spotted was this orange box. It was made with a 3-D printer, and I picked it up along my travels. 

A 3-D printed box

The lid is magnetic, so it stays on. 

Magnets for the lid to stay on

And there's a magnet in the base. I must find something to put in it! 

A magnet in the base

Then, the tidying and sorting started in earnest. The first thing was to try and eliminate one of the two tables that magically appeared to hold extra crap. So one of them got cleared, and YES - all the stuff went onto the cutting table. The table was folded up and put away. 

One of the two extra tables is clear!

I found some things I can work on during the Virtual Retreat. I have ONE box of thread left to sort and put away. I don't know if I'll get to that today. 

A box of thread to sort

The tables where my Zoom stuff happens and is now Puzzle Central got tidied up. The cords were all wound and tied, the table was dusted, and it looked neat. 

Puzzle Central

The table where the digital cutter sits also needed some TLC. So all the supplies, mats, and whatever else was there were put away, as well as the remainder of my sewing samples that were strewn on the tables. Guess where the digital cutter supplies went? Yep  - into those empty drawers that I had! The cutter mats fit flat in that same one where the embroidery stuff went. So all is good! As I need stuff, I can get it from the appropriate drawer, and the place looks tidy. Also, it's easier to keep clean and relatively dust-free. 

The digital cutter table is clear

Oh my -- that looks amazing!!!! And so inviting when I want to get some work done. 

Did you notice that I got a few extra puzzles completed as well? I did a couple more after this picture was taken, so I think I have six left to do today. 

My Advent Calendar jigsaw puzzles

Then, it was back to the cutting table to try and clear that. And YES -- I made excellent progress on that as well. The fabric on the left is for a quilt backing, which I cut this morning and will sew up later today. There are still a few things on the right, but I did a great job yesterday, and it felt awesome to get those things put away! The key is to have a HOME for things so you can quickly put them away. No home? That's clutter! 

The cutting table is almost clear

This is on that remaining table, and I'll whittle away at this over the holidays. It would be nice to get it all cleared up. I doubt that will happen, but I'm going to try. 

Things that need to be worked on

I found some stuff that needed to be done by hand and got put on a table so I could do that during the Virtual Retreat. 

Things to do by hand

And this is what it looks like to peer into Studio B this morning! 

Studio B this morning!

I had my Swifter out, and the vacuum and the dust bunnies are also gone. There wasn't really anything that needed to be thrown out - it just needed to be put away. I have more than enough hand stuff to keep me busy for the Virtual Retreat today. But I have three movies sitting there to watch, and I never finished watching The Great Canadian Baking Show, so I think I might get it all done while I catch up on those things. 

So, while I made good progress at tidying up, I'm now at the point where I have to sew stuff to move on. And those are on the agenda over the next week. 

On the quilting front, I got the giant quilt quilted. 

Customer quilt - DONE

All the quilts that needed to be trimmed are trimmed now, and I'll send notes to the owners. I had to make the backing for the next quilt. They sent a wide backing, but it wasn't long enough. So, I had to whack off a piece from the width and add to the length. That quilt is now loaded and ready to go this morning. 

I washed one of my fabric mats a while back and was disappointed when I took it out of the dryer. The darn stitches were coming out! 

Stitches disintegrated

The threads broke in many spots

More stitches just disappeared

In random locations around the mat

I have no idea why that would happen, so that is sitting beside the sewing machine for a repair job. While there are other things to put away, most of that must be finished before it goes anywhere, so I think I'll hit the sewing machine this morning and return to my hand stuff this afternoon. It won't take long to fix that rug, but why did so many stitches disappear? Perhaps they just came out with the agitation of the washer/dryer and the bulk of the mat? 

I see my 35K status for Air Canada was awarded last night! Yeah! Now I can't wait to travel with luggage - I can pack up to 70 lbs of anything! 

OH -- I see a couple of people tried to log into the Virtual Retreat last night. We shut it down around 9 PM. People had things to get ready for today, and we were tired! 

Remember that part two of the Virtual Retreat is today. It starts at NOON. And I get the entire morning to myself! No classes, but as you saw - I'm motivated to get to work, and I'll be working - no slacking off!

Here's the link to the Virtual Retreat today - Sunday, December 24th - starting at NOON. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86119598156?pwd=ZDFxcElxS0NmeTRjczdSR2FXd3N2Zz09

Meeting ID: 861 1959 8156
Passcode: 053861

Remember, as the year draws to a close -- do you want to attempt decluttering, sorting, and organizing. Technically, this should be something you do EVERY day - all year. But loads of people get started at the beginning of the New Year. So, if you want to be one of those people, look around your house and see where you want to start. 

You can start small (pick a box or a drawer) or go big and start with a room. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you start! As you move around your house today, look at it from the eyes of your children, neighbor, or stranger who comes into your home because you didn't wake up this morning. What will they see? 

I know that sounds a bit morbid on Christmas Eve, but I want that person to walk into my house and say - Elaine sure respected herself and her house by keeping things organized and tidy. She only kept what she needed (OK -- that might be hard to say about Studio B). As that person grieves, they do NOT have to grieve and clean up a huge mess - they can grieve however they want. 

You might be OK with the mess, but think about the legacy you leave behind for someone else to deal with! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!