I'll do it MY WAY!!!!

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who believes that if you fill your retirement with busyness, it's not right! WAIT --- I get it -- it's your retirement, and you can do whatever makes you happy, but why would you want to be filling the days with running around and not have time for spontaneous stuff? Nope --- I will not let that happen to me. 

And I stand corrected, the movie with the book communication is called Interstellar! Thanks for the correction!

Speaking of free time, I sometimes have to double-check my calendar to make sure I don't end up rushing to get something done! Yep -- it's been so full, with always something that needed to be done, that I struggle to realize I'm free! Or much freer than I was, and trust me, I do NOT want to go back. 

I read yesterday, took a walk, and then had a long nap, yet still got my planned work done for the day. That is a huge luxury!

I pulled out all the threads I'll use for the Cherrywood Challenge, and I got all the appliqué stitching done, though I might redo some of it today. I'm not 100% happy with it; some parts look a bit clunky, so I might redo it with a different thread weight or a different stitching style. It's not much to rip out, so it shouldn't take much time. It's something I can do during Monday Sewing. 

Threads for the Cherrywood Challenge

Then I have the next step to do today, which, again, shouldn't take too long and fits within today's workload. I must remember to get to work on my UFO stuff as well. 

Now that we've had our reveals over the weekend, I can share some of the stuff I've been working on. I set myself four goals on the Visual To-Do list for the Many Blocks class. Well, it's not really a class; it's like a UFO group. I have completed Farm Girl Vintage and Vintage Christmas so far this year, and I have even stitched the labels in place. I sort of double-dipped and used these as UFO projects as well. I don't care - they are done! 

Farm Girl Vintage - DONE

 Both of these were taught as a sew-along in recent years. 

Vintage Christmas - DONE

The third quilt on my list in the Many Blocks is Dear Jen, which I taught a couple of years ago. Now, Dear Jen is one of the few quilts (of the 80 in total) I taught this way that didn't make me happy. I don't know if it was the pattern, the style, or the coloring, but for whatever reason, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Others felt the same about the quilt, and I kept teaching the class. A few students did all or most of the blocks, but many made the quilt smaller. 

I didn't want to have a UFO hanging over my head, so I decided to make the quilt smaller. In total, I made 25 blocks that I was happy with. I added a frame to each block in alternating black and white. The initial frame was wider than this; I have now cut it down, and the top is almost together. 

My smaller than the original Dear Jen quilt

I like the quilt, but the other blocks just weren't cutting it for me. So it will get quilted, and I'll have another quilt to use as a machine cover in Studio B. 

Here are the rejects! I tried making the quilt with a black background, but it still didn't grab me, so I will use the blocks as the backing. 

The reject blocks will make the backing.

And then I can cross that one off my list. The point is -- if something doesn't grab you and you are not enjoying it, then STOP - think how you can use the blocks that you've already made and move on! I did, and I am NOT going to regret my decision. That is part of learning—know when to throw in the towel. Not everything we do is going to work out! 

This is going to be the LAST SAMPLER quilt I ever take on. I've done quite a few, and I'm done with that style of quilt!

When that is done, there is one more quilt in that category, but I suspect it'll take me until the end of the year to finish it. So all is good! 

You know that Dede and I have been working on our Terrifying Tower - the 3D machine embroidery project from OESD. Well, we got together last week to do the final bit - the assembly!

You should have heard us - we were like two kids playing with toys. I'm sure DH was rolling his eyes!!

But seriously, after a bit of sewing and then some hammering as we punched out holes and cut slits, we started. And we had only made the porch and were totally in awe of its cuteness. 

The porch to the Terrifying Tower

It's three stories high, and so we continued. We learned a lot and had to use various tools to assemble the pieces, but oh my - we couldn't stop admiring it as we built!

Here are the two houses from the front. While we used the same black vinyl, we chose different greens and purples, and our thread colors were slightly different as well. 

The front of the houses

YES -- there is a small balcony on the roof of the first level. 

One side of the houses

Some of the windows have "broken" glass, and others are draped in spiderwebs. 

The backs

The other side

But seriously --- that is adorable! It's about 14" high. I was going to take mine apart, but after all the work to put it together, I don't think so. So I'll wrap it in plastic to protect it from the dust and bring it out when the time is appropriate, or I could just leave it out and admire it!!

I had purchased battery-operated tea lights, which make it look super cute!

The houses lit up at night!

I even had time to deal with more digital files. I know - it's going to take forever to get that done, but the more I do, the better I feel, and it's just making me happy. I had to search for a file I'd recently written and saved. Where the heck did I put it? So there are still lots of decisions to make before it's all done. And yes - DELETE is my favorite tool these days. 

What I'm enjoying is looking back and seeing some of the fun things I did. OK - some of them might not have been fun. But I found documentation on the quilt shows that I was part of the organizing team. That show was in 2013 or thereabouts. All that documentation is now gone! 

And I stumbled upon this! 

The logo for Quilter's Quest!

There are a few people around who may remember what this is all about. But in May 2010, a (then) friend and I organized a road rally for our Monday Sewing group. YES -- the same Monday Sewing group that I still run, although almost everyone on the original list has passed, or they are no longer part of my circle! I am NOT going there - it was a messy divorce! 

That road rally was so much fun and brought back some pretty wild memories. I must have blogged about it. Let me see if I can find that. FOUND IT!!! Check this out -- it was a fantastic day!

While I am no longer friends with the person who helped me organize it (not my fault), we had a blast, and it involved finding a castle, interrupting a Mennonite church service, and many other shenanigans!!

So—yes, I could have deleted that folder, since I knew what was in it, but the memory from opening the files—priceless and well worth it. That is why delete is a good tool, but NOT until I do it MY WAY!!!

While it is a lot of work to go through all those files, I'm thrilled. That methodical process makes my brain extremely happy, and I could sit at the computer and do that for hours. Good thing, since I forecast many hours spent sorting files. 

To give you a sense of the mess, here are the stats from my folder titled "Embroidery Designs to Sort."

Look at the SIZE of that folder and look at the number of files!! That is OBSCENE, and it will be interesting to see how many of those are no longer needed. 

I still need to move files between the three hard disks, but I should probably stop and focus on cleaning out this folder, as it's my goal for 2026. But I'll check how many more high-level folders I need to deal with, and I may continue sorting the stuff among the three external hard drives, or I may just stop for now and get into the machine embroidery files. A decision for later today. 

What I am loving is that as a semi-retired person, I have the time to do that at my leisure! I never had time before, which is probably why it's in such a mess. Do you know how luxurious that is? The freedom to finally do the things that I want to do? 

And the ability to travel without having to rejig my entire calendar? Oh yes—NEVER again will I overbook myself. I'm free!!!!!

OK -- enough about that, as I need to get myself to spin class. 

And TOMORROW, it's supposed to be plus ONE!!! What do you think? Will it happen? It's still cold this morning, but two degrees warmer than it was this time yesterday! 

Have a fabulous day!!!!

Ciao!!!

And your excuse is?

Oh my goodness -- I love hearing your stories about decluttering! Yes --- it was great to take notes when you are learning, or find tips in magazines or patterns you wanted to make, but at some point, you get past the point of needing/wanting that stuff. When we accumulate so much of it, and it gets tucked away, it gets forgotten. 

KUDOS to any and all of you who are whittling away at that crap along with me. I just don't buy it when people say, "OH, my kids will take care of cleaning my mess." Why? Why would you say that? What if your mother said that to you! Besides that, it is a very immature thing to say. 

This is YOUR mess, and you alone should be responsible for cleaning it up! I totally get that you might no longer physically be able to, but then you need to hire someone, cajole your kids or friends into helping, or whatever, but to leave a mess of your stuff for someone else to deal with? In my mind, that is the most irresponsible thing that people can do. 

YES - I totally get that those messes are embarrassing. So much so that some people won't let anyone into their house. I get it --- my kitchen table was completely full at one point, and we each had a small area to eat on. Stacks of newspapers used to fill the office. We get it and are willing to help! There's no need to be embarrassed - just say, "I need help, and move on."

YES -- I totally get that hoarding (let's face it - it's hoarding) is a mental illness. We struggle with it in our family -- both my Mom and Dad, as well as my two brothers, are hoarders. I get it -- but I also think we can stop using that as an excuse and get to it! I did! It's taken me years (over ten years) to get to where I am now. 

And YES --- if you need to read every receipt or piece of paper, then read it! I don't necessarily read everything, but I need to touch everything. At the beginning, I did need to read everything; now I can look at something, and my brain says, "Seriously, Elaine! If you think that a 15-year-old CAA magazine is worth your precious time, then go ahead and read it. But quite frankly, it's a waste of time." I can finally let my brain do some of the work for me! 

Decluttering is a personal journey. And YES - I would love to be spending time sewing or reading, but seriously? Do I want to? And what I have found is that the more I declutter, the more space and energy I have, and the less emotional baggage (guilt) I carry, so I actually have MORE time to read and sew - guilt-free! 

Anyway -- thanks for sharing your stories!! We WILL conquer our messes - it's just not going to happen overnight. And we need to celebrate EVERY SUCCESS—it's the little ones who count the most. It's the ones where we start learning to let go that count the most. It's those where we learn to stop procrastinating that count the most. Remember -- I CAN & I WILL - WATCH ME!!!! You got this!!!!

Oh my - speaking of the bunnies and the snow, look at this. 

Bunny tunnel

The clever little things have carved a tunnel under the trees in my neighbor's front yard. We had a lot of sun yesterday, and I'm happy to report that the driveway is looking pretty clear. It still has snow in some spots, but the main part is being cleared off and dried. The neighborhood streets are still snow-covered and likely will be for a while. It looks like we are going to have a very cold and sunny day, so that will help again! It's so nice to have the sun, so I don't mind the cold. Just dress appropriately, and you'll be just fine! 

Miss Murphy can't wait for the warmer temperatures, and neither can I. She just seems so agitated these days and even more needy than ever. She needs in, and then she needs out. She doesn't sleep in her bed by the front window any longer, and she won't go upstairs anymore. She has no problem going downstairs, and I often find her hanging out in the stash room. I have no idea what has gotten into her. And when she does get out, she will lie in the snow and yipe small barks. I've thought of taking her to the vet, but what do I say? My dog is needy and more neurotic than ever. So she just gets extra love, and we'll see what happens. 

MOM - I need someone to play with me!

Ten of the ladies in our Zoom sewing group went for lunch yesterday. What fun to see everyone, but OH MY -- what a noisy group! DH says that my voice projects loudly, and I hope I wasn't one of the loud ones. I did NOT attempt to overtalk, nor did I talk to those at the opposite end of the table! But we had a nice lunch, and I sure didn't need a snack in the afternoon. As far as the Pony Express goes, it was a madhouse. People were exchanging things - I think everyone had stuff to exchange. I took ONE envelope and an iPad to pass along. In return, I got two quilts to quilt, two EXIT Games, a bag of cars and trucks, a book, and a small bag of stabilizer. Some of that was for me, and some of it was to pass along. 

Then it was home to finish quilting a customer's quilt! 

Customer quilt - DONE

And I had to laugh because when I finish one, I set out the next quilt so it's ready for loading, which I'll do later today. This one is a GIANT of a quilt. So I'll load it today and quilt it on the weekend. But when I looked at the backing, which doesn't show well in this photo, my first thought was: this is exactly the fabric I need to find for one of the quilts I'm making. I wonder if the customer would mind if I took half of the backing!

The backing for the next quilt

But no - I'm off to shop for something today. I know I won't find exactly what I want, and that's OK. I just need a dark blue; any nice, darker shade will work. 

I also got some machine embroidery done. I had made one of these hot mats many years ago, and it was completely finished. It's a project in the hoop (except the binding), and that binding is a challenge: it's bias, narrow, has a nasty point to turn, and no straight edge to do the join! 

Finished hot mat

I was using it as a teaching aid in my machine embroidery workshop, and I had two others partially done. One was stitched entirely but needed trimming, and the other had only two pieces of fabric stitched in place. 

The next two hotmats - ready for binding

So last night, I finished all the stitching on the second one and trimmed both of them. I dug out some fabric to make the bias binding from. Good grief -- more binding. I have a lot of binding to do, but that means the last stages of completion! There are SIX projects now that need binding, but I'm still waiting for my little tags to come. I won't put tags on these small projects, but I will on the wall hangings and table runners. I have the tracking number, but the package is coming from France, and it must be on a slow boat! 

I also had an audiobook I needed to finish. I listened to the last of it with one hour to spare! That's a bit close, and I need to give myself a break from reading/listening for a while. But I have three books in my Libby App. I need to stop with the audio and e-books and focus on some of the physical books on the shelf!

I finished one part (of nine) for that pattern, and the rest should be relatively easy. It's all the graphic placement of stuff that takes time. But since the main graphic is the same for all the parts, I just need to fill in the blanks, so to speak! I'm going to try to get most of that done this weekend, so I don't have to worry about it. I need/want to move on because I have one more pattern to write and a sidebar, and those need to be done ASAP. 

Thank goodness I love to write, and I'm good at it! 

Brooke is away again this week. They were in Mexico for an event, and their plane got canceled last week because of the snow, so they decided to stay an extra week. This morning is one of the coldest days of the year, and I'm on my own. I was tempted not to go. But seriously? Why do I need to take a break when there's no need? Going to the gym on my own is NOT new to me, and neither is the cold weather. So get those big girl panties on and get in the car. I'm half dressed and have eaten my energy bar, so I have to go now, or I just ate 230 calories that I wasn't supposed to eat today! 

Have a wonderful day, stay warm, and keep decluttering. I have faith in you!!!!!

Ciao!!!

TEAM work!

For our American friends who celebrated President's Day yesterday, we got to celebrate FAMILY Day! I don't even remember when they started that day or why. Was it because we needed a stat holiday in February, and Valentine's didn't cut it? 

AH -- If you check the history, it started in the province of Alberta in 1990 to recognize the importance of the home and family of their founding pioneers, and it has been adopted by most other provinces since. We've had Family Day in Ontario since 2008. 

Oh, you will be sick of me talking about the EXIT game, but we solved the puzzle last night! It was a team effort, to be sure. I got the first part of it -- super easy. But now, what the heck do we do with this? I had a brilliant idea, and that got us one step closer. Now what? We were still perplexed. Then I discovered the next step- this is a process of talking aloud and hoping something will pop out of your head!

OK, so I got the "sentence" code, but what do I do with that? Then DH came to the rescue and solved the final part! A total team effort!!! We would NOT be able to do these on our own. I can't wait until we start the "hard" ones! 

It was a bit of a puttering day while I listened to the ladies on Monday Sewing. By the way, even with all the puttering, that section of the cutting table is CLEAR!!!

Messing with quilt backs while on Monday's Zoom call

I had been determining what backing I would use for that large play-panel quilt. Now that it has a home, I wanted something somewhat nice and consistent on the back. Thanks to the group, I found what I was looking for online, and it was ordered. I have two panels left over, and they found a home yesterday, along with the fabric I was going to use for the backing for this one. I didn't have enough, so that was the problem.  

I would NOT have been able to do that on my own. It's TEAM work. So that was a very exciting moment when I got that problem solved. 

I was also looking for a backing for that bicycle quilt, and I dug through my two (shhhhhh!!!) baskets of bicycle fabric as I knew I had a couple of large pieces. I found this in flannel. Hmm -- that's pretty bright and doesn't really go with the front other than it has bicycles on it. So I returned to the two baskets, and YES -- I found another piece of flannel bicycle fabric that was more suitable.  

Flannel fabric for a quilt back

I didn't take a picture of that. Because it's flannel and the top is cotton, I washed it and just heard the dryer shut off! Done!! I may have to do some fancy piecing to make it fit, but at least it's not directional like the orange one is. 

Since I was on a roll, I searched for another UFO I'd tried to find. I was pretty sure I knew where it was, but I hadn't located it the last time I looked. This time, I looked HARD, and guess what? I found it!!

Another UFO surfaced

This also has a home now, so it's time to work on it. Those are HAND-EMBROIDERED (by me) blocks that I did YEARS ago. 

Then, it was time to trim some HSTs. I don't know why that came up, but it seemed the right thing to do. And they have to be trimmed at some point. 

One basket of HSTs to trim

I need an electrical outlet at my cutting table. I had to cut on this table,, which is way too short for me, but it was OK for just the few I trimmed at that point. I lost power to my laptop with no warning. I saw a message: "battery is low," and poof - it shut down! 

Trimming HSTs

But even after the call waoverne and I had a few minutes, I continued to press the little things. 

Pressing HSTs

And during the day, I managed to get quite a few done. This is only part of what I accomplished. 

My trimmed HSTs

In the future, my goal is to trim as I sew, and that's what I've been doing with the Barn Star Sampler HST leftovers. So, no more accumulation. That seems to be a significant problem for quilters. We prepare things for a rainy day, and that rainy day never comes, and then we end up with a HUGE mess!!!

In my sorting, I unearthed this little bag. It's a fishing tackle bag, perfect for hand work. Since I'm not doing much of that these days, I decided to empty the bag. 

Time to empty this bag of handwork supplies

I found needles, buttons, a seam ripper, floss, and an OLD $20 bill!!

OH -- a found treasure!

I'll hang onto the bag as it's an excellent little travel case and quite sturdy!!

Then, this was also sitting on my cutting table. 

My Laurel Birch hand bag

I have used this bag for many years,, and it's starting to look sad. It's been put away somewhere and I dug it out the other day. 

The corners are worn out

DO NOT yell at me, but I hate to throw it away!!! I've considered taking it apart and rescuing the front, even though it's faded. But then what would I do with it? So help me, but I'm a hoarder for this kind of thing. Partially worn out, but I hate to throw it away. If I throw it out, I WILL keep the wooden dog tag. 

Speaking of dogs, look at Lexi! She is shedding hair like it's the middle of July! I brushed her daily for a while, and she looked pretty spiffy. Now? She looks like a molting chicken! I must get back to the daily brushing, but I hate doing it in the house, and it's cold outside! 

MOM - I need some grooming!

OH -- speaking of outside, have a look at this! Can you figure out which footprint is mine? 

Who owns that giant footprint

Yep -- that would be mine on the right! Those HOKAs are WIDE. Well, the sole is wide, but the actual space inside isn't quite that wide. But these shoes are perfect for people with feet issues like mine (and mine are mild). I've almost lost the little mohawk calus on my right baby toe. Yes -- they look like boats on my feet, but if they do the job, I couldn't care less!!

Even with all the puttering in Studio B, I managed to finish my tasks for the day - well, almost. I set up my equipment for my Facebook Live tomorrow, and I HAVE A PROBLEM. So, I need to resolve that today. One piece (the MAIN) piece isn't recognized by my computer. Sigh!!! But the rest of it is fine - I have all the cables and whatnot, so I should be ready once I get the computer to recognize the switch box. 

There are so many cables on that table - there's barely room to put a sample! 

While I could say there is a lot of the schedule today, there is only ONE critical thing, and that's to solve that technical issue. If that gets solved early, then I have a "free" day!

On that note, I'd better get moving as I have the girls and a boy to walk this morning. OH -- I should mention that all the snow we had received in the last couple of days - just a couple of snow squalls, really - it's all gone! The sidewalks are BARE, which I love for walking. It is not so good for moisture in the ground, but it is great for walking!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

The GREAT Fabric Swap

Here's a random thought I had when I woke up this morning. 

It's all about learning - what else! When we had small children, what did we do for them? We encouraged them to explore, experiment, and color OUTSIDE the lines. We were willing to spend thousands of dollars for ballet lessons, swim lessons, university, books, and so much more. 

So what happens when we become adults, and our children are gone? We seem to think learning and spending money on education is a BAD thing. I once had a lady who said she could NOT waste some fabric to practice cutting with her digital cutter! How much does a fat Quarter cost? $5 if you buy good quality. How much does a university textbook cost? How much does a coffee cost? 

In a class on improving cutting abilities, one lady struggled. The ruler slipped, and she wasn't getting it. So I made her cut an entire fat quarter into 1/4" strips! Guess what? When she left, she knew how to cut!!! 

The next time you are worried about the cost of a new tool, book, or fabric to practice on - think of it as your LEARNING budget! That doesn't give you license to spend needlessly, but look at what you do in a different light! Do not be afraid to color outside the lines! 

The other area we should focus on is knowing the tools we currently own. I'm guilty of this, as there is still one thing I haven't figured out on the car. But I'm constantly surprised at the number of people who do NOT know how to use the SIMPLE functions on their computerized sewing machine. I'm not talking top-of-the-line here -- just a basic mechanical machine. OK --- even those with a mechanical machine sometimes need to learn how to use it. I once had a student using the stitch width (set to a straight seam) to attempt to change the stitch length!

That's why there are manuals! Sit in front of the machine and TOUCH the buttons. Play with them. Take a page or two in your manual at a time. Or take ONE FUNCTION at a time. If you can make your sewing session that much better and faster - why wouldn't you do that? Don't give me the excuse that you would rather have a class --- read the manual FIRST, play with the machine, and THEN come to a class. You'll be amazed at how much MORE you'll learn!!!

Do NOT be afraid of touching the buttons. I have yet to hear of a single incident where someone pushed a button, and the machine blew up!! Have you heard of that happening? Me neither! 

As for that car? I know exactly how to switch from the radio and Android car play! Oh yes --- it's not intuitive, but thanks to a friend's help, I got it figured out. That's another thing -- if you get help from a friend -- you should ACKNOWLEDGE that fact! Don't take credit if you didn't figure it out! The "last" thing I need to learn about the car is something I've looked at, and the settings seem to be right, but it doesn't appear correctly on the screen. So I must get some help with that one! 

It was a great day, and I'm working through my weekly task list. I didn't accomplish too much on the list yesterday, but I got done yesterday what I was supposed to do today. Now, to play catchup - I have a meeting and a couple of in-person errands, so it will be another busy day! 

This is what happens when you get dressed in the dark. I decided I needed a clean pair of pants, so I reached into the drawer and pulled out what I thought were black jeans. Well, I'm bright -- you can't deny that. I think I'll be finding another pair of pants later. These are not my hanging around-the-house pants! And I will have to settle down and get some sweatshirts washed or fixed; TWO need repair, and two need washing, leaving me to wear a sweater! 

Dressed like an elf today!

Yesterday was Monday sewing, and we had a great time as usual. This was the quote in my Happiness Journal. How fitting. Strong social ties are so important!!! 

So, while we were on the Monday call, someone was cleaning up. They had just finished a major project and had two buckets of scraps they no longer wanted. After much back and forth, it was decided that another person would buy the scraps, so they were bundled up to begin the great Fabric Pony Express. As we continued to talk and shared our show and tell, one of our group members made tote bags from farm fabric that she donated to raise money for their agricultural society. I remembered a project box filled with FARM-themed fabric. I'm DONE with farm-themed quilts, so I dug it out, and it's now going to join the great Fabric Pony Express as well. 

And several other things got on the Fabric Pony Express. This stuff is too heavy to put in the post, but via Pony Express, as long as you don't need it tomorrow, is a great way to get stuff around. None of us live super close, but we have the opportunity to travel, and with future plans, the Pony Express will get everything to its new home. How cool is that? 

Here's the bundle of farm fabric. Some of those are brand-new cuts (still with the price tag). How silly is that? 

Farm fabrics - GOING

I bet most of us have fabric that someone else can use - it just needs to be swapped, traded, or sold. But I REFUSE to give or sell fabric to someone who will just keep it in their stash. If they won't use it, I won't part with it. I know the farm fabric will be used. The excess scraps will come back, and I'll make a quilt top for that same person that they can use as a fundraiser. Or I'll find someone back home who could use the quilt!

I was attempting to clear stuff off the current project table, and look what I found!!!! This embroidery hoop has been missing for eons. Well, it was in the bottom of a basket, which was a bad place to leave it. I had another in the same size, but when I sold my embroidery machine, that hoop went. Now, everything is where it needs to be. One more thing crossed OFF the list of lost items. How many more things are on that imaginary list?

My LOST embroidery hoop

I had also lost the remaining instructions for the Gree TEa quilt, and guess what? I found them in the same place. 

My lost instructions for Green Tea

Oh, that Murphy is pretty persistent!!! Look what she accomplished last night!!

MOM --- I don't know how - but the top came off! 

I'm reading an ebook. I shouldn't be because I have a ton of physical reading material to go through. But I'm reading this one anyway. I'm not sure how it got on my reading list, but good grief, I'm 13% into it. Well, where is this thing going? 

Hopefully, they are nearly done documenting the ENTIRELY dull life of this person, and we can now get to the exciting way she escapes. No wonder she wanted to escape!!!! The book is set in Toronto, but I'm not sure how much that adds to the story. 

OK -- I owe one more follow-up to a class, one small project that needs to be finished this morning, and some photos sent. Then, the rest of the day is "mine" to chip away at that list! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Tidy up time!

I'm making progress. Slow, but at least I'm going forward, so that's all that counts! And we're back to Zoom classes online as an SVP EDucator, and I have two of them today! I have a few things to tweak in my presentations, and I'm good to go! It's exciting to get back to it, but it's only going to be for a couple of months, and then we're supposed to be on the road! 

We had Monday sewing, and catching up with some people we hadn't seen in a while was great. There's always lots of stuff happening. 

What did I get done? Well, there is no sewing going on! I'm trying to get everything put away, which isn't going to happen for a few days. But bit by bit -- it'll get done. 

Here's the mess I'm dealing with. This is the empty table that sits in the Zoom area, and it was covered with the leftovers from my free motion quilting class on the weekend. 

A mess from a free motion quilting class

And now it looks like this. 

Back to normal

The table from which I do most of my Zooms looks like this. There is some stuff on it from my software class last night, but I'll get that tidied up this morning. 

The Zoom table is clear

The ironing board is a disaster. 

The ironing board is a disaster

Most of that got moved or put away yesterday, so only one or two things are left on it. 

One of the sewing tables looks like this. A total mess of stuff left over from before I left and some stuff that got added when I got home, and it all needs to be put away. 

A mess on one of the sewing tables

I take comfort in knowing that NONE of this resides on the table. It's a result of being in a busy work studio, and only some things get put away immediately. But by the end of the week, I plan to have it all organized. 

However, the floor is another matter. This is stuff that I have to deal with. Everything that was in the hallway is now downstairs.

Stuff to be put away

That suitcase is like Pandora's Box. Lots of bits in there, so that's going to take a while to sort out. 

More stuff to put away

I didn't get a picture of the cutting table before or after, but it's pretty clean, as I need the space to work. So I'm in good shape, but there's lots of work. 

I also managed to get that large quilt unpinned from the long arm, and here it is. 

Customer quilt - DONE

It's a beautiful quilt. 

And as I'm working on the tidy-up process, and as things get finished, they get moved to the stairs so I can take them upstairs and put them away if they don't belong in Studio B. 

Things to take upstairs

I got my new medal in the mail from the latest Virtual Challenge - it's part of the Lord of the Rings series. I just got a medal (more on that another day), and I'm not used to getting them so close together as all my previous challenges have been LONG. This one was only 240 KM or something like that, which I ripped through. 

This is the box that the medal came in. 

The box containing my medal

There's the medal. 

The medal

And you can open up the envelope, and there's the ring! If only we could have a ring with powers like this one! Invisibility! Well, that might be a bad thing. 

The ring

But their medals have become elaborate compared to when they first started, which was only a couple of years ago. 

On my mapped route, I'm in the middle of Africa, in Nigeria, and the roads are crazy. One minute I'm on a "road," although I don't think one could really call it that. The next day, I'm on a divided four-lane highway! 

Four lane highway in Nigeria

The road system is all over the place, to be sure! 

Well, there's much to be done today, and I'd better get started. You know when I say that I've already been up and at work in most cases! Thankfully, I go from 0 to 60 in no time, and I don't need to work my way awake -- thank goodness for that! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!