I WILL conquer the technology woes!

Some people posted interesting comments about the furniture on the side of the streets, ready to be crushed in the garbage trucks. 

Some thrift stores will take that furniture, but you must deliver or pay for delivery. A friend's daughter was getting rid of a bedroom suite. It would cost $200 to have it delivered. She paid for the delivery! Thank you! And some family will thank her! But most of the furniture, sadly, goes into the landfill. 

And I see someone had a rare family dining set valued at $12K US several years ago. Today? She sold it for $375. 

That's the thing -- something might be valued at a specific price, but if there is NO BUYER, the item is worthless. And if the market is gutted with similar items, the items lose their value. As much as it hurts, we just have to face the fact that most of that furniture will end up in the landfill. 

I have a round wooden table that belonged to a great-grandparent. They bought the set from Eaton's - the tag is still on the back. The set is worth NOTHING except sentimental to me while I'm alive. When I'm gone -- it'll go in the dumpster. Sad but true. I'm OK with that as I get lots of use out of it in the office. I'm using it to store things, so I guess that counts as use! I plan on making it a working space one day this year as I vow to finish clearing the office (two surfaces) by the end of the year. At the rate I'm going, that will happen! 

I'm back home now -- that was a short and fast retreat, but our minds were so blown by all the possibilities that we could not have done another day! I asked many questions, took notes, and hope to putter around with some stuff on my own. The theme was journal-making, in case you forgot! More on that in a bit. 

I have a love/hate relationship with my printer. It's in another room, but that's OK -- I get bonus steps having to walk from the desk to the printer. As you know, my computer recognizes it to scan, but not to print. That is the weirdest thing. There are times when the printer gets hung up and won't print. I try to turn it off and back on again, but sometimes, my impatience takes over, and I unplug it. Then I plug it back in. 

I then get a message saying the printer was shut down incorrectly, which could cause damage. OK -- but then shut down in a reasonable amount of time. So this morning, I turned it off, using the POWER switch, and then back on, and got the same silly message. See what I mean? Love/hate!!!

I need to take control of my computer and all those files. I was so focused on the distribution lists that I didn't get a chance to do a lot of cleanup on the files. However, look what I saw this morning. 

NOOOOOOO -- not again!

Seriously?? My storage is BACK in the red? How can that be -- I swear I turned off the backup sync with OneDrive. 

Well, no worries -- I attempted to MOVE, but the command got changed to COPY, a bunch of files in the OneDrive backup on my computer to my external hard drive. 

Copying, NOT moving files

Then, I deleted the files that I just copied (very important). But unless I was prepared to turn the computer off, that really didn't free up any space, so I emptied that temporary file, and now look -- I have almost 40 GB of space!!!!!! WOW -- power to me for taking charge of my computer and cleaning up this mess so things will work properly. 

Lots of free space

I'm still working on it -- I have more files from that OneDrive backup to move, and I need to delete many files from my email. Then, I need to figure out why I lost so much disk space so quickly. I suspect the OneDrive is still connected, but it said it wasn't. 

But, I'm on top of it -- I CANNOT let this happen again. This whole mess with distribution lists was insane. I think I now have everything I was working on in good shape. I didn't get a single email yesterday saying they didn't have the correct information. YEAH!!!!! 

I still have to update two lists - and only keep the people who paid to stay in digital cutter and out of the box; then there is one list to recreate TODAY, which is for the Heartfelt quilt, which is happening tomorrow. 

I think I'll print a copy of each list -- just in case. I still have a lot of cleaning up to do in that contact list. MANY email contacts need to be deleted as they are years old. I am double-checking the most current email for many people- it's a horror show, to be sure. But I'm working through it; the most critical stuff is done. Whenever someone sends me an email, I automatically save them to my contact list. 

Now, to get that Outlook book out and make sure there aren't some tricks that can help me. 

Let me share some of the stuff we worked on this week. On my way there and back, I debated what to do about the FOUR week-long retreats I had booked for 2025. Should I keep that many? I seriously debated canceling one of them. But then I thought I could do one as three days of journal-making and four days of quilting. You can come to one or the other or both!!! 

So, if you are interested in a journal-making retreat, send me a note! I'll put you on the list. 

I forgot to take pictures of my journal, but these are some of what the others did and some of the instructor's work. I asked permission but decided to leave their names off. They know who they are. 

The covers are made in numerous ways, and this one is "plain," but they can be decorated with anything. 

A journal cover

But look at all the fun stuff on the inside., Some people write in these "junk" journals; others simply fill them with pretty things. Or photos, or whatever you want. I'm more about the process -- I love playing with everything and am not so good at writing in them. That is partly because my handwriting sucks! SO I need to get over that and pretend these are my china tea mugs. Let the paint fade because I put them in the dishwasher. Enjoy them EVERY DAY, not just the day I  make my junk journal. 

Some inside pages of the junk journal

They are absolutely stunning!!!! This one had a predominant rabbit theme going through it. 

Here's the cover of another of the instructor's books. I think that is modeling clay on it and then tied with a sari silk ribbon. 

Another junk journal cover

And this is a page in that journal. Note the pockets and stitching along the edges. Anything goes! 

Journal pages

This is the center collage page from one of the attendees. Oh my --- it's so artfully done, but this person has a LOT of photo/art/collage background, and it shows. 

Art collage page

This is the center collage of someone else. It's a bit simpler, but still very beautiful and done with paints, decoupage, stickers, and I'm not sure what else. But what fun!!!!

Another art collage page

My center collage piece is very linear. I'll take a picture tomorrow! I struggle with this stuff, and yet I love it, so I'd better start putting in my 10,000 hours!!!!

Here's the cover of someone else's journal from the workshop. So fun to find bits and bobs of stuff and put it together. 

A journal cover by a participant

What can I say -- we had a blast, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. So that's why one retreat will be sacrificed for this in 2025. I'm the retreat organizer and can do whatever I want- well, I ask the group first! Trust me, we discussed this yesterday, and it's a nice break from quilting. 

Although I wanted to stop at a store along the way to get some supplies, there was no time, as I had a meeting at 3 PM. That meeting was for work, and now I have many things to prepare for February 2024. But part of that getting ready is dealing with ALL the presentations from previous years. I need to cull them. I  need to ensure I keep the sample pages, but I do NOT need 10 copies of the same thing. So that should be a joy, and I'll try to do one subject or something every day. But there is a lot of duplication, and let's not forget my laptop has some files and a few copies on USB sticks. That should all be placed on the data drive (into appropriate folders). It's not a job for the faint of heart, but it'll save time - eventually! Yippeee!!!!! I can't wait to start on that mess. 

On that note, I'm out of here. It's a busy day- nothing on the agenda, but prep work for classes on the weekend and starting to work on sorting those files, and I have writing blog posts to do!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

On making a journal

Well, the whirlwind that is my life is ramping up! And we talked about the "next week" syndrome yesterday. "It'll be quieter next week - I just need to get through this week." Well, that quiet next week never seems to arrive! But it's all fun, and I love what I do, making the chaotic schedule much more doable!

However, I'm at a retreat, yet I'm not at a retreat. I'm at home this morning. I swear DH looks at my calendar and says -- "oh, DW is away this week, so I should go on a trip!" Because I don't know how many times it happens that I'm away, and he needs to be away as well. Since he earns a bit more than I do, I must accommodate! 

Thankfully, he was away just for one day, and my retreat was close. So, I made dinner for the ladies at the retreat and came home. Let's say the girls and the boy were happy to see me when I arrived. And they were pretty upfront that waiting two hours for dinner is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Oh, those silly dogs. 

Chilling out after dinner

But after they were fed and had gone out, and I had dinner, we settled in the living room to enjoy the evening together. It's hard to see, but the little guy is in the big dog bed in the window. Of course, you can see the pretty fluffy dog on the floor and Lexi in the big bed. 

She loved that bed when it was beside the sofa in the family room, but now she prefers the couch. So I moved that bed to the living room, and now she sleeps in it more than on the couch. Oh, Lexi!!!!

Thankfully, the roads were clear and dry last night, and I made good time to get home. The weather should be good today because I'm going back! Even though today is checkout day, I'm still working on my project, and I can get in about 3 hours of work before we have to pack up. Yep -- it's worth it for me. 

I get to spend more time with friends, and everything is laid out with lots of available supplies. It's definitely worth it. Besides, I gave someone a lift, and she needs to come home with me! 

It's all in how you look at it. One must be flexible, and I'm certainly flexible. 

Our instructor is a journal-maker extraordinaire. She has gone above and beyond in making the supplies available to us (we paid a kit fee). I'm not sure I'd want people rooting through my tools and supplies like she has given us the freedom to do. THANK YOU!!!!

If I ever organize this workshop again, you should RUN to sign up because it's been absolutely amazing. We've had so much fun, and making the journals was incredible. It was a pleasure to work on something other than quilting. OK, we did some sewing (on paper) and used fabric in the journals, but it was a fantastic experience. SUPER CREATIVE!!!!

I might just offer it again if there is enough interest. WAIT -- I'll show you some of what we're doing. I don't have any sample pictures, but I'll share my book tomorrow, and then you can decide. I have some retreat days booked for 2025, and I might just play with those dates! 

I love how organized our instructor is --- brushes are labeled! 

Everything is labelled

I'm working on a piece of art to put in the middle of my book. I must confess that this mixed media art will take me many tries. When I do this, I'm very linear. And while there is nothing wrong with linear, I'd like to be a bit more NON-linear. For me, doing this kind of stuff is like learning to quilt all over again. I'm OK at it, but I would like to be better. 

Making mixed-media art

So what does that mean I have to do? PRACTISE. Make MISTAKES and learn by doing. Yep!!! And I'm excited to give it a whirl. 

Playing with fun stuff!

Now, to confess, I have a whole area in Studio B dedicated to scrapbooking stuff -- basically the same supplies we use to make our journals. But I never seem to get to them, even though they are pretty nicely organized. And we talked about having smaller sessions where we could just sit down and paint and make tags, pockets, and all kinds of cool things. 

Someone suggested that I convert Studio U to a scrapbooking area. ACK!!! I never thought of that, but wow -- wouldn't that be cool. I'd love to spend more time in that room since it's got this gorgeous big window, although it doesn't have good Wi-Fi access. That might be a good thing! Well, that's something to contemplate, and I'll look at all the stuff in Studio B to see how I could make that happen. 

Does anyone have this book? I bought mine many years ago when I was taking Home Ec (sewing). The cover was getting pretty crappy. So, with the help of an extra pair of hands, we put Mactac on the cover. It's not perfect by any means, but it works, and now the cover is more protected than it was!!!

My "new" sewing book

I have tried ONE MORE TIME to get those dreaded distribution lists correct. I see that I had people's OLD e-mails on some of the lists, and I have forgotten some people. How did that happen? I swear I checked and rechecked the lists. 

Thank goodness there are only six, or I'd go mad. I'm going mad about it as it is. I resent the TWO UFO groups this morning, so hopefully, everyone on the list got the e-mail. I also updated the Machine Embroidery list, and a confirmation went out this morning. PLEASE let me know (you have all been so patient) if you didn't get any of those and you were supposed to. 

And a gentle reminder to anyone who has a question. I have zero problems answering a question - as a matter of fact, I love questions. And no question is too silly. But I must know what you are talking about! If it's sketchy, take a picture, send it to me, and then ask the question. I can't read minds and figure out what you are doing. This does NOT happen often, but it does, and I just scratch my head! It also requires many back-and-forth e-mails, which would be unnecessary if I got a picture. I'm good with pictures!

And here it is -- according to Google Maps, here are all the places I visited last year. Coast to coast in Canada, with multiple stops along the way. Once down to Florida and then to Europe for a month. 

2023 travel in a nutshell

Who knows what this year will bring? 

Despite the subject, I'm enjoying The Escape Artist (about the concentration camps during the war). What I find fascinating about it is how so many people survived, particularly this young man. When you read it, you can see why he was different. Did he have faith? It wasn't his time? Or did he have a purpose and was determined to live to fulfill his purpose? 

On a smaller and less dramatic scale, that's our lives. Especially people who are retired. What is our purpose EACH DAY? Do we have a goal? If we don't, what drives us? What motivates us to keep going? 

It's also interesting to read this book about how "friends" helped each other. It is hard to succeed on your own; people are usually behind you. That's the same with our lives. Yes, we could live independently, but it makes life more exciting and fun when someone has your back. Someone to talk to and lend a pair of hands (like fixing my book cover). We CANNOT survive alone. 

I think that book would be an excellent read (and discussion) in our schools today. ACK! God forbid we talk about history, but this kind of history is important. Well, all types of history are important, but knowing what happened and how people got the will to survive --- we need those kinds of discussions in our society today. Those prisoners had life-threatening struggles -- what we experience today is nothing. 

For some reason, I think I would like to visit the site. I know that sounds morbid, but the emotions of this event are so strong. I'll always remember my visit to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam or the exhibits at the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg. We cannot let history repeat itself - at least not on this one. 

Well, enough about that today. Sorry, I get carried away. I have ZERO connection to this part of history, yet it's a very compelling story. 

I'm off to get the girls and the boy ready for their half-day home alone while I return to the retreat to finish my journal!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Making JOURNALS

And so another day at the retreat is over. Sadly, the end of the week is coming, and I'm not even looking forward to going home! We are an amazing group, and they are great to hang around with. OH -- wait -- we had one incident where someone (not going to mention any names) closed the door to the sewing room, which is an add-on to the house. Now in these frigid temperatures, that room became like an icebox overnight, and it took a long time to warm up. So we got that problem resolved, and it won't happen again, or that person gets voted OFF the island!!!

I've got to know these ladies a bit better, and all around, we've had oodles of fun. I did manage to get some work done for a writing assignment, so I don't have much to share with you, but you'll get to see it next week. 

I have LOADS to share with you as we worked on our journals in the morning. Not before I went to the grocery store and made a Tims run. I wasn't sure my car was going to start - it took a long time before the engine actually turned over because of the cold. This is a push-button start, and you don't really have the same control as with a key. I wondered if it would keep going and run the battery down, but after a few seconds of whirring, it kicked in. Then I had a wee bit of shoveling to do, and the snow was hard-packed. But I managed to get out, and everything was OK. 

Except when I got back to the house and distributed the drinks, only to find that they made a decaf coffee, not a tea for me. Sigh...................

At least we are getting some beautiful sunrises in the morning - cold but beautiful. It's cold again this morning, but the house is quite toasty - I was a bit worried about the sewing room, but it seems to be just fine as long as SOMEONE doesn't shut that door. Not even going to go there. 

The sunrise

Katheleen is just the best -- she brought a TON of journaling-making supplies for us. She was so organized; I can see why she was loved at her job before she retired. Anyway, we had loads of fun. THANK YOU, Katheleen!!! 

The calm before the storm

We got to sew our journal covers (made from paper) on the sewing machine. 

Sewing the journal cover on the sewing machine

Katheleen demonstrated how to put the pamphlet seam in the book to hold it together. A whole new vocabulary to learn and neve remind the new words that we made up to accommodate our feelings of the world around us. That way, we can talk and not offend anyone!!!! 

Katheleen demoing a journal making technique

Here's just a sampling of the paper that she made for us. Well, she didn't make the paper, but she created the vintage look, and WOW -- I have so many ideas now - I can't wait to get started using my own supplies. 

Paper to make our journals

I had fun with the sewing machine, creating little pockets to put writing tags in. I didn't finish mine as I'm going to add the tags as I write in the journal. This is going to become my gratitude journal. I need a good writing instrument to get started. Katheleen suggested a pencil, and that might just do the trick. 

My journal

After the journals were assembled, it was time to decorate the covers. This is what Helen Anne's looked like. So cute, and Tish had brought some supplies along, and she shared those with us. Helen Anne found a button with the letter H on it beside her little love owls. So adorable!!!!!

The cover of Helen Anne's journal

This is the cover of my journal. I kept it simple -- like me!1! And I got a little dog charm from Tish. I may add something more to my cover, but for the moment, it's done. 

My journal cover

This is one of Katheleen's journals. She brought a few to show us what she does, and she made one while we were here. Notice how the pages are falling out the bottom. 

Katheleen's journal cover

This is another one of Katheleen's journals. It is stunning and made from NOTHING, just ordinary paper supplies she has dressed up. Very clever. I felt like I was back in kindergarten, and there were NO rules. 

Katheleen's journal cover

And one more of Katheleen's where she has added lace to the book's spine. 

Another of Katheleen's journal covers

This one is Kathi's with birds and flowers adorning the cover. 

The front of Kathi's journal 

The back has lace and more flowers. Oh my -- we had fun with punches, paper, putting in grommets - the whole thing!

The back of Kathi's journal

This one is Tish's -- lots of little extras on that one. 

Tish's journal cover

Here are the little charm things she put on hers. She'll have to remove them to write in the journal, but they are easy enough to take off with a little clip!

The trinkets on Tish's journal

Here's the back cover of Tish's.  

The back cover of Tish's journal

OH MY GOSH  -- we had so much fun. Yep - this little merry band of quilters and journal makers had a blast, and it's not over yet. But look at the table. What a disaster !!!!!!  You know how it is, though -- the messier the space, the happier we are!

The table during the journal making process

Speaking of messy spaces, this is what my table looked like last night. Not too bad, if I may say so myself. That pile of hourglass blocks is diminishing -- I forgot to take a picture of my trimmed units -- that's for tomorrow.  And what???  What's in that glass at the bottom of the table? 

My sewing space last night

Yes -- that is a glass of wine. Kathi, Helen Anne, and I had a few glasses of wine, and then we all ended up in the living room chatting, and well, we solved the problems of the universe last night. So just call us if you need anything! 

My glass of wine

But it was awesome for all to sit and participate in ONE conversation, and the topics were varied. I can't believe how well we have gelled. It's been so much fun, and I was able to brainstorm about some quilting problems, and I got two excellent solutions. I'm ready to go home and try them out because this problem has been sitting in Pandora's closet, and I might just be able to advance it enough that I don't have a huge tub of fabric sitting there. 

Helen Anne and I went out for our walk, and it was a glorious day. Cool, but glorious as the sun was out, and we were dressed for it. But then Helen Anne and Katheleen went out for a walk to the end of the drive, and I snapped this picture of them. I love the silhouette effect!!!!

Helene Anne and Katheleen out for a walk

And on that note, it's time to get the day started. I made good progress yesterday, but I still have a lot of sewing to finish today. No writing today -- I'll finish it up at home tomorrow, but I want the pictures to be done. 

And if you ever have the opportunity to go on a retreat -- DO IT!!!!  Just pick your retreat people wisely, and you'll have a blast. 

Have a super day1!!!

Ciao!!!!!!!

Journal making!!!

 A quick note about the snow back home. So the neighbor at the end of the street had complained about the snow plowing or lack thereof in front of her house. The level of service was deplorable, to say the least. She had been told that the backhoe would be back yesterday morning to clear her out. The backhoe arrived around 8 PM last night. 

And while he did a great job at her end of the street, this is what happened in our driveway. Are you kidding me?? We had ZERO snow for two days, and the backhoe found some snow to put in my driveway? Well, it's confession time. It's my FLIPPING neighbor who does this. She is too cheap to pay for a service to clear her driveway. She lives alone and can't lift the snow, so she dumps it in the street. And then, when the plow comes by, he passes her snow along to the next couple of houses. 

Let's say that I lodged a formal complaint against her with the city last night. I'm sick and tired of that, and I'm sorry, but if you can't maintain your property, then MOVE. Plain and simple -- just move. 

DH got saddled with the latest shoveling, but thankfully, it wasn't as bad as the first night, but still - I was a tad irked when I saw the photos. 

Snow in - AGAIN!!!

Those plow drivers have ZERO common sense in their heads. 

And all of this is happening about 10 feet ON THE STREET -- it's nowhere near my drive, but I need that little space open to get out of my driveway. Now that the temperature has gotten cold, those mounds of snow are there for the rest of the winter. 

This is the weirdest retreat ever. First, it's the longest retreat we've ever booked, so we decided to do some different stuff - more on that in a minute. But we've been here for two days, and NO ONE has left the house. Well, that's not true -- Helen Anne and I have been out walking, but NO ONE has taken their car anywhere!

That's hilarious as in past retreats; we're rarely all in the house at the same time! It's not that we are snowed in, although I think I might have to shovel a wee drift to move my car, and I shoveled the front porch step yesterday as the snow had drifted in there!

Helen Anne and I went for two walks yesterday. Both were just over one hour, so I managed to keep up my walking distance for the day. It's a tad colder today, so not sure, but I'm game. If I were home, I'd walk. For the most part, the roads are great - I see the plow just went by, so the roads are not too slippery or snow-covered - easy for walking. But the walk down the driveway to the road is COLD. The wind just whips up that road. If you can survive to the end of the road, you'll be OK. 

We were hoping to venture out today, and we just might do that. I'll check the road conditions before we go. With the wee bit of melt yesterday and the deep freeze, we now have black ice, and I really don't want to drive on black ice. Not an hour away, but I might venture out to the grocery store or do a run to Tim's. 

I didn't get a lot of sewing done yesterday. I made butternut squash soup for lunch. I had baked the squash before I left home, so all I had to do was chop the other veggies and cook them up. I didn't bring the immersion blender because I thought there was one here, and there was NOT, but I used a potatoes masher, and the soup was excellent. Not as smooth as it could have been, but tasty, and that's all that counts. 

The leftover butternut soup

It was my turn to make dinner, and I made chicken pot pie. I made it from scratch in the crockpot. So no crust required - I baked up Pillsbury biscuits which were just fine!! And the pot pie was delicious. I had precut the chicken at home, so it was super easy to chop up the rest of the veggies and throw them in the pot. So just to show you that I CAN cook if I want to. 

Chicken pot pie from scratch

OK -- I did get a bit of sewing done, but I also have to do some writing while I'm here. I'm making progress on that and hope to be done tomorrow. 

But we did something super exciting yesterday. We are so fortunate to have a journaling expert in our group, and Katheleen came prepared to give us a lesson and do something totally creative. 

The table looked like when Helen Anne and I came back from our walk. The table was well stocked with supplies. That looks so inviting - I couldn't wait to dive in! I tell you -- I sure have the best friends!!!  A HUGE THANKS to Katheleen for organizing this. 

The calm before the storm

And there we are - getting our hands dirty!! Cutting up paper bags, cutting and pasting was positively like kindergarten, and it was so much fun!!!!!

Happy journal makers!

Here's one of the pages that I was working on. Lots of collage and so freeing. I had to laugh as some of us ended up with many words on our sheets; others had different colors or motifs. But I like words, so it doesn't surprise me that this happened. 

My collage piece

And before we were done, it was total chaos. There was paper and stamps, and ink and brushes everywhere, but the five of us were in total heaven. We think we might even schedule a SCRAPBOOK-only retreat. Yep -- I'm in!!!

KIndergarten for adults

Tish had stuff on the floor. 

Tish's stash on the floor

My excess stuff was on a chair. 

My stash on the chair

And we parked the garbage by Helen Anne to grab those tiny bits that we really didn't need to keep. GASP -- we actually threw stuff away? Yes, we did, but not until we asked our fearless leader if it was OK!

The garbage for the bits

We hope to get back to it today, as everything we did yesterday had to dry. None of it was sopping wet but needed to dry before creating our journals. I can hardly wait!!!!!

In the sewing room, well, thank goodness we each have our own table, although I will say that it looks like my bags exploded on my table and they haven't moved. There is stuff everywhere. I see Katheleen's eyeglass case trying to staunch the overflow, but sadly it doesn't have a chance!!! Although it does seem to be holding things back from the bell, which I keep accidentally touching, and then it rings. NO - I don't have a finished project - just accidentally hit the bell again!!!

My sewing table overfloweth

It looked just as messy at the end of the day, and it looks the same this morning. My computer is set up beside the sewing machine, but still!!  I hope to get some of it tidied up today. 

Still messy this morning

But seriously, I've been a bit scatterbrained this retreat. It didn't help that I spent most of yesterday in the kitchen, where I was either cooking or making journals. And then a good part of the rest of the day was divided between walking and the computer. Today will be different unless we decide to venture out. That errand will take a couple of hours, so we'll see how the roads are before we venture out. 

I'm still sitting in the sewing room in the dark! I see Helen Anne is now up, but the rest of them are tucked in their beds! Which is fine -- I might take a nap later today as I was up early trying to get some computer work done. 

Have a super day and stay warm!

Ciao!!!

That's a LOT of blocks

I was off to the gym yesterday! And it was so much fun to be back! Masks are required inside, of course, but once you get to the cycling studio, you can take the mask off. Joseph is the BEST spin teacher I've ever come across. He's tough, but he's good. Even though he doesn't check, he motivates you to slog through the hard cycling. I cranked out 32 KM on the bike without a thought. OH, that's a lie - I thought about lowering the tension on the bike, but I didn't. I feel fine today. All that walking has helped to strengthen my legs.

Things have changed, but not a whole lot at the gym. I love their thermometer, and I'll try to get a picture of it tomorrow. Did I feel exposed? Nope - we need to get over the fear-mongering that is gripping our society. We need to be careful, but we CANNOT let this virus dictate what we do in our lives.

And just to put it in perspective, if you are horrified by the fact that over 1,000 people are dying from the virus each day in the US, look at this.


Every day, nearly 1,000 people in the U.S. die on average from a condition for which high blood pressure was the leading or contributing cause. This includes killers like stroke, heart attack, congestive heart failure, and end-stage kidney disease.


So while we wash our hands, wear a mask, and keep ourselves socially distanced from others to prevent getting a virus that could make us sick, are we doing the same thing to maintain healthy blood pressure? Eating healthier, getting some exercise, reducing stress, and salt, and I'm sure there are other factors. I get it that some people have hereditary heart issues, but many do not. Where's the pandemic for this killer that we have an excellent chance of changing. 

And how many other diseases do we have the opportunity to reverse, but we're not doing anything about it? 

OK -- that's my soapbox for today. But definitely food for thought!


The presentation went fine last night. So many product names to remember! I'm sure I goofed up some of them. But hopefully, the attendees learned a few things as well. There are so many neat things that you can do with a sewing machine that I wish I was sitting there now! I could sew all day and probably not make a dent in all the samples and experimenting that I want to do. 

When the prepping was under control, I took a long nap. I had gotten up extra early to get to the gym, so I needed that nap. 

Then I went back to binding those quilts. I got one more done for Quilts of Valour. 

Binding on Quilts of Valour quilt

And I got the binding on the last of the four Quilts of Valour quilts. Yeah - now I can get in touch with my contact and arrange a drop-off. 

Another quilt finished for Quilts of Valour

I still had a bit of time, so I got one more Project Linus quilt done. That leaves one quilt to bind, and then everything quilted will be bound! 

Project Linus quilt - DONE

I hope to make the delivery sometime today or tomorrow. Then it'll be tine to start that process all over again!

I thought that I'd do some work on one of the FIVE projects on my UFO list for this month. Two of the five are already done, so I'm in good shape. This one is going to take a while to sew together. It's also on my UFO list for 2020, so there's a second reason to get it done. 

It's a disappearing 9-patch. The nine-patches were made eons ago, and they were cut, but then the blocks sat. 

The blocks for a disappearing 9-patch quilt

You have to keep in mind that those squares are TINY. They measure 3 ¼" square. The pattern called for the quilt to be made with 2 ½" strips, so their blocks ended up at 2 ¾". Yikes. Totally crazy. So a total of 238 blocks will make a SMALL quilt according to the pattern.

I laid out my blocks according to the pattern. Yikes - this is a slow process. 

Starting to lay out the blocks

OK - even with the slighter larger blocks, that's still a small quilt. I think the pattern says 39" by 51". Too small to be useful. 

The quilt blocks are laid out

BUT look - I still have this many blocks leftover. 

Leftover blocks

Obviously, I decided to make the quilt larger, but by how much? No idea. There are NO NOTES in the pattern as to my plans. I HATE when I do that. 

And this is how it looks now. That's going to be a LOT of sewing to get that in one piece! And I still have to cut the setting triangles as the quilt is on point. 

The blocks laid out

I still have some leftover blocks, but not enough to add an extra row. I've probably goofed up on the layout somewhere, or I just made extra, which is entirely possible. 

Leftover blocks

I even have a couple of bundles of FQ of this same collection - Frolic by Sandy Gervais. Now, why do I have the extra fabric? Was I going to make the quilt even larger? I think I'll use it for binding and call it a day. I may use the extra to add a border if there's enough. My goal is to try and use it all up. No leftovers!

Extra yardage

So, Katheleen, has me wanting to do more journaling or art journaling. She is a whiz at it and can turn anything into a gorgeous creation. All it takes is the time to start. 

Here's the cover of a journal that she just "whipped together" with bits of leftovers and items she purchased at Value Village (the Dresden block). 

The cover of Katheleen's book

It's so darn creative. I love it, and I've wanted to do this forever!!!!

I have a couple of ideas in mind and was chatting to my Mom on the way home from the retreat last week. I wanted samples of handwriting from various family members. Well, I got way more than that. 

This package arrived in the mail yesterday. 

A package

In the package were scads of pictures (sorted by family members, of course) and loads of samples of handwriting, all labeled as to whose writing it was. 

Samples of handwriting

Yep - my Mom is trying to show me that it's a good thing to save stuff cause you never know when your kids are going to want something!!!

Now I need to get my butt in gear and sit down and actually do some of this stuff. It's all about setting priorities and well - I seem to have too many priorities. I love to read (yep - almost halfway through another book), I like to sew and so many things to finish up or try new stuff, walking in the neighborhood. Well, I'll see what I can do to squeeze out a bit more time to do some journaling. My Mom would LOVE to see the book. I know she would, and well, so would I!!

On that note, I'm out of here for today.

Don't forget the Virtual Retreat on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend. Here's the link for the Saturday post.

Saturday, August 22, Starts at 9 AM EST.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86077887280?pwd=V2FoTkJvT3NpTDYrZHVqaWhFR1FEdz09 Meeting ID: 860 7788 7280 Passcode: 721457


Have a super day!!!!


 Ciao!!!!!