Quilted jacket must watch videos!!

LOL --- communal sleeping, as in at a retreat, is not for everyone. I have very few issues, although I like it when my roommates are quiet! Even sleeping in my own bed doesn't preclude me from getting a good night's sleep. The night before, I slept like a log. Last night? I was tired at 8 PM, but by the time I got into bed, I was wide awake and couldn't fall asleep. Sigh......

Now that I'm back home and have access to a sewing machine, the big question is where to start? I decided to get some of those bindings out of the way since they are taking up a lot of room. 

I'm happy to say that I have the binding on this quilt, which was the largest and heaviest of the seven projects waiting to be bound.  

The binding is on this lap quilt.

I'm not sure how much of this quilt I shared with you, but it was one I made while working on samples for my Facebook Live on felting with the embroidery machine. The blocks are made from denim that has been felted, using snowflake patterns. I put Fireside Fleece on the back, so it's nice and heavy. I put it on my bed last night, but even that weight didn't help me sleep. 

The details of the felted snowflakes

And there is my lovely tag on the back of the quilt. This is the side that shows. 

My personalized label

And this is the underside. While it's not a full-blown quilt label with all the information, it works for information purposes. Yes, it could be easily cut off, but it works for me. 

The underside of the label

Next on the list was to get the binding on Dear Jen, or should I say my abbreviated version of Dear Jen. 

The binding is on the Dear Jen wall hanging.

And there is the back with the little white tag. This one will become a cover for one of my sewing machines. 

The back of the Dear Jen quilt

I got lucky because this was all the binding that was left! About one inch! 

Barely had enough binding.

Before I put a quilt in the "to be quilted" pile, I always make the binding, and sometimes I worry I haven't made enough. There was a lot left over from the snowflake quilt, and barely any for this one. If I actually run out of binding for any that have been put away, I'm sure I'll figure something out. 

Then it was on to the next project: the mitered-border print table runner. 

The binding is on the mitered table runner.

I decided not to put the white tag on the back of this one. I may or may not keep it, and if someone wants to use both sides, they won't have to worry about the tag. 

The back of the table runner

I got three of seven quilts bound. Well, I should say projects since there was only one quilt and the rest were small. I have to deal with a sleeve for two of them, and I don't think I have anything prepped for that, so I hope to get at least one or two more projects finished today. 

I needed to take a break. I stood for two days at the retreat, cut itty bits of fabric, and had no issues with fatigue. I sewed three bindings on, and my back was tired! Go figure!

Later in the day, I went back to the sewing machine and decided to work on one of the two jackets that needed some machine stitching. 

Sewing the seam allowance down with the sewing machine was NOT an easy feat, but it was doable, and I was happy to have my PFAFF creative icon 2 handy to deal with all the layers. 

Sewing the seam allowance down by machine

This was my view as I sewed. I had to sew from the inside of the jacket to make sure I caught the seam. 

A challenging seam to sew

Then I turned it right side out and realized I had used BLUE thread on the red fabric. Good grief!!!! What a silly person I am, so I'm in the process of ripping that out and will redo it with blue thread on the inside and red on the outside. And there's another reason why things take so long! I repinned the seam before I started unpicking, then it shouldn't be so hard to redo. I have to finish grading the second seam before I can sew it down. Then all that will be left is to add the snaps, but I need to get a table press first, and there is some hand stitching to tack the facing in place. 

The wrong thread color!!!

Not a super productive day compared to what it could have been, but I'm happy I got those three bindings on. 

It was sunny, and the girls spent a lot of time outside, even though it was chilly. The two of them can handle a bit of cool weather. 

R&R for everyone!!!

I know a lot of people poo-poo YouTube as a time-waster, and it sure can be, because there is a lot of silly stuff on it. And just because people can make an educational video doesn't mean it's worth watching. However, I happened upon this series of videos, which, if you are in any way thinking of making a jacket, you NEED to watch this series. Grainline Studio, the design company of the Tamarack Jacket (the pink-and-purple one I'm making), has made a 15-video sew-along. Jen starts with an extremely detailed list of everything you need, then moves on to printing and assembling a PDF pattern together, sizing, and so on. 

Yep --- I should have watched them BEFORE making the jacket, but I have managed just fine. BUT even if you are making ANY jacket from quilted fabric, you will find those videos amazing!! In just 2 videos and part of the third, I have learned so much that I want to remake the Tamarack Jacket, or I'll likely make a different style, but I'm fired up to try out a few things. I'm not a fan of the curved bottom of this jacket and would like to change the pattern to make it square. I wonder why she designed the bottom that way? 

My Tamarack Jacket

You can't see it in the pictures, but it's curved along the side seams, which, to me, is just a lot of extra work for no gain. Maybe it sits better when you sit down? 

Anyway, here is the link to the first video; the following ones appear automatically, in order. They are very well done. Hopefully, that will introduce you to YouTube's educational side. As I've said many times, my dad spends an enormous amount of time on YouTube learning how to rebuild parts for stationary engines. 

If you have ANY inkling of making a quilted jacket, please watch those videos—the techniques she talks about apply to ANY quilted fabric jacket. They are well worth your time. 

And on that note, I'm out of here as I want to get a lot done today, and we'll see what happens. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!

MOVE OVER MOM!!!!

OH - I love the fact that puzzles helped calm someone down. I can see that. I find it extremely relaxing to sit and work on a jigsaw puzzle. I am going to try to always have one on the go since I have learned how to tackle my addiction to them. 

MOVE OVER MOM!!!! 

Hello everyone, this is Murphy and Lexi, and we have something to say. 

It's the girls -- Murphy and Lexi!!!

We love our Mom, and she is very good to us, although we do NOT get nearly as many treats as we need. We are starving, and she won't do anything about it! That is why I, Murphy, am scrounging for garbage every time we go for a walk. Mom says she hates having to dig in my mouth to remove yucky stuff, but I love yucky stuff. 

Mom even took us for a walk together in the afternoon, and we were up to our old tricks. I (Murphy) walked fast, and Lexi walked slowly, so Mom was pulled between our two leashes and looked like a fool! It was so much fun to play tricks on her!!! 

BUT please—can you tell our Mom to stop talking on the walk? It's annoying. She says she is practising for her felting presentation. Well, we don't care about machine-embroidered felting; we want her to talk to US, about US, and be there for US. 

She says it helps her to work out the bugs and get the topics in the right sequence. We call it annoying! 

And then look what happened to me (Murphy). I was hanging around Studio B (my space, which I just let Mom share with me), and I got fuzzy bits on my face. Mom didn't even clean it off. It's so hard to get good help these days!!

MOM - I got fuzz on me!!!

STOP — OK, girls — you've had your fun. You can go back to sleep now, and sorry -- but I have two more walks to practise the sequence of my presentation. Sorry!!! 

Yes -- I do talk about my presentation when I'm walking. It's a great way to work out the logistics in my head and realize, oh, I don't have a sample of that, and so on. I love doing it, and I'm sure many people think I'm crazy. But I could be talking on my phone, which I'm not!! 

The walk with the two of them was challenging. They just do not walk at the same pace, but it was such a beautiful day, and I had no errands, so I decided to bite the bullet and take them together. We had fun, despite what Murphy and Lexi say!!!

And when we got back, I sat in the gazebo to finish Smartphone Nation, and Miss Murpjhy plunked herself down under my chair and had a good snooze, while Lexi went to lie beside the house in the sun. 

MOM - I'm getting old. I'm exhausted!

Speaking of puzzles, before I was so rudely interrupted, I'm making great progress on the green one. And while it is tempting, especially so close to the end, I have it covered and did NOT touch a piece until it was time. 

I walked past it countless times on my way from the cutting table to the embroidery machine, but I did NOT touch it!!! 

The puzzle in plain sight, yet I did NOT touch it

However, in the evening, when I only had to wait for the embroidery machine to finish, I took the puzzle piece board in my hand and started working. This is how it looked when I went to bed last night. 

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

There are holes all over the puzzle, which doesn't typically happen, but there are so many small things in this puzzle that it's hard to finish one area. I am now to the point where I fussy-pick a handful of pieces and can pretty much put them in the puzzle. WAIT --- if only it were that easy. NOPE -- I need to scour the picture to see where those pieces go. It's a challenge in that way, but not an insurmountable one. 

My spotting skills are getting quite sharp! I love it, and it's such a fabulous break from sewing. I was tempted to continue last night, but what's the rush? There is none, so I should be able to finish tonight and maybe even crack open the next one. 

I had a couple of border pieces mixed up, but I got that straightened out. It looks like I'm still missing a border piece. It may be missing. And YES—I saw that fabric from Northcott that is similar. I wanted some, but did not cave. What would I do with it? 

I've got a lot of stitching to do on the embroidery machine today, and it's all laid out on the cutting table. I just need the machine to stitch faster!! I could open up the second embroidery machine, but I'll stick to one. I'm good on the scheduling. 

The next hoopings are prepped and ready to go.

I LOVE experimenting with machine embroidery. It's been so much fun, and I've learned a ton. Did I mention that I'm doing the felting presentation tomorrow, and learning all about felting on the embroidery machine is one of the items on my Visual To Do list? Yep --- Nothing like double dipping, but hey --- it works, and I'm killing two birds with one stone. I'll take it. 

It wasn't without some casualties. What are the chances that the section with the price tag is the one I used? Thankfully, no one will know that. And I removed the tags from all the other pieces. 

Oops - the tag got chopped up!

Here is the link.   Please note the link will NOT open until exactly 3 PM EDT. I will wait a few minutes to let everyone on. There are two buttons on that link, and I'll see which one to use to join the call. 

Then a bad thing happened. I was chatting with the Monday group about my upcoming quilt retreat in two weeks. It's not one that I'm organizing, and I'm happy as a clam about that. I'll go to any retreat these days, but I won't organize any more than I already have on my plate. There is a lot of cutting to do on the current project tables (more under than on them because of the size of the containers), so I have decided to take only handwork (cutting mostly) to this retreat. I'll take chair risers and my cutting mat so I won't disturb anyone who wants to cut, and I'll get a lot prepped. 

Packed for the retreat

There are tubs of fleece scraps to be cut up. Well, the bottom tub already has cut squares, but there is one more tub, a laundry basket, and a small white tub with more scraps. It would be amazing to get all of that dealt with. And I may have a home for those squares, or I'll make them into children's blankets. 

There is one bag of batik scraps—I'll tell you more when I start cutting —and I have the perfect project for them. 

Then someone asked if I was going to take my 365 quilt and cut more blocks. That's a BRILLIANT idea, so there are two bags with the fabric for that project. 

Will I get bored? Absolutely not - I love cutting, and I have a binding to finish on my Mom's hexagon quilt, and I also have a small pouch with hexies that I'm making. I've been working on that for 15 years! But it's the perfect thing to take, and I'll take it on my trip to visit my parents. I need something small to work on at their place. 

I have another call with Microsoft this afternoon, and I need to double-check my Outlook to see if it has any other issues. I think we might be done, but I must check before two PM. 

The rest of the day is mine, but I still have more samples/projects to finish. I swear, the more samples I make and the more I talk myself through the presentation, the more I want to make!!! That's the problem with making samples, but I'm learning a ton!!!

As for the missing labels? Seriously??? This is the message I received from the only contact I have - through their Etsy Canada page. 

If you received my package back -- then why didn't you contact me? And I'm not even sure they have my package. I'm pretty frustrated with them. I had no issues the first time, but I really want those labels. I love the quality of them, I love how easy it is to order them, but getting them? Well, I must keep following up with this person to see if she can give me a firmer answer than this. 

I finished reading Smartphone Nation, and it was an excellent read. It makes you look at your phone in a whole new light. I know I pick up my phone very often each day, like most people do. But when I start to evaluate what I do with it, it's all active stuff. OK --- a few minutes of scrolling happen. So far this morning, I've taken 30 pictures and emailed them to myself. I emailed the pictures for the blog this morning, and that's it! I haven't checked messages - there's no need until I have time to respond to them, which will be once the dogs are walked, and the embroidery machine is running. 

NO ONE needs me urgently. No one!! I'm not a doctor or first responder; my family members all live far away, and nothing is urgent that requires a message or phone call immediately. 

I noticed I checked my phone for messages (three spots—Messenger, texts, and WhatsApp) multiple times, and almost every time there was NOTHING to respond to. YEAH!!!! I did check Facebook and Instagram a couple of times during the day, but probably spent less than 2 minutes each time. Unless there was a video from one of the people I follow, I watched that. Since I don't follow many people, it doesn't take much time. 

MY PRECIOUS TIME is MINE!!! Why should I give it up to watch mindless videos and reels? I was picky with my time before; I'm going to get even more selfish with it!

I check the temperature on my phone before walking the dogs, so I know how to dress for the walk. 
Good grief -- it's PLUS 11 C. 

Looking at social media and the political situation, it makes you wonder who is governing whom? I've often said that over the last couple of years, although I said BIG companies, not social media. It makes you wonder!!! I don't think our governments have as much control as we think they do, at least in some countries. Big companies, tech companies, have a lot to say about how our countries run. And guess what? It's all in the name of marketing/advertising to us (and mining our data) to do so, and making money for themselves. 

The fact that these companies market to us, whether it's food or social media or whatever, with one goal in mind to make more money, regardless of whether we become obese from eating the wrong foods, or we become addicted to whatever substance/behavior they are pushing, is bad. 

It was a cold, sober thought when the author said they are mining our data and tweaking the algorithms to such an extent that the algorithm knows what we want to buy before we even know we want to buy that item. 

I say—be MINDFUL of how you use your phone and interact with social media. Or the internet. Be MINDFUL!!! And SET A GOOD EXAMPLE for the younger generations. Talk to them about ACTIVE and PASSIVE use of your phone. Don't discourage them from using their phone - just make them MINDFUL. 

On that note, I'm out of here. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!

The Artist's Way

I fell into bed last night, totally exhausted. After the heavy upper body workout with Brooke in the morning, working with the embroidery machine and the giant quilt, plus a walk to the dollar store and the grocery store, I was done! But that's OK -- it was a productive day! Plus, I finished listening to a book, which I have to share the details with you. 

Let's start with the giant quilt! It is 109 by 109 inches. It is done, almost trimmed, and ready to be dropped off later today. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I am leery of larger quilts because they can go on the machine wonky (my doing), or the borders are wavy or whatever. Lots of things can go haywire with a large quilt. I'm happy to report that I got it loaded straight through to the end, and the piecing was bang on. I had no issues with quilting it, other than it took a long time! And now it's done!

Then I decided, why have one automated machine working, when I can have two!! And there is no longer any procrastination in my house. Make a decision and get it done! I sent the Zodiac constellations design to the EPIC 3, and it happily stitched for a good part of the day. 

Ready to stitch the constellation designs

What was even more helpful was that the design looked like it was made especially for that large hoop—260 by 465 mm. I mean, the design literally filled it. Otherwise, I would have had to hoop the fabric several times. Oh my—I planned that perfectly! OK — I got lucky: I designed based on the size of fabric I needed and was not restricted by the hoop size. It was my lucky day, as they were essentially the same size!

I considered using white thread, which would have looked amazing, but I was thinking of the gold thread on the border print, and I didn't like the two together. So gold thread it was. My machine wasn't particularly happy with the gold thread. It didn't break - the needle just kept coming unthreaded more often than I would have liked. I'm not sure why that happened, but it didn't matter - I was downstairs anyway, so I just kept rethreading the machine when it needed that to be done. YES -- I slowed the machine way down, and other than the needle coming unthreaded, it stitched out beautifully. Patience is a virtue -- no need to get frustrated - just slow and steady, and it all came together. 

The completed design

I forgot to take a close-up, so I'll do that later today, but I love it! I trimmed all the threads and removed the stabilizer last night while I waited for the giant quilt to finish. All I need to do is give it a good press and cut it to the correct size. I didn't trust myself last night to do that task. Perhaps this morning. 

And here are some half-square triangles that I trimmed the other day. All up-to-date on those. Just lots more of them to sew!

Trimming half-square triangles

I had some time to spare (GASP), so I dug out the scraps of solid black I had discovered while finishing that table runner. It's hard to believe, but all of these are sold as BLACK!!!! I'm going to make the pieced backing for my Abreviated Dear Jen quilt. I don't care if the blacks don't match—I just want this fabric used up!! I cut the first pass and will potentially sew the rows together this morning. 

The many colors of black

This is my next machine embroidery project, and it's much smaller than the Zodiac, but it's going to be fiddly, I think! The first step is done. YES --- those rings are all machine embroidered - the last step is to assemble them, also on the embroidery machine! 

The next machine embroidery project

I'm taking KU to a quilt shop that is some distance away, so the afternoon will be a lost cause for getting work done, which I'm OK with. It's good to take a break. However, the Pony Express will be active this afternoon, as I have two drop-offs near our destination! But I have the morning to get some stuff done, although I should be focusing on some paperwork. I'll see how I feel after walking the girls. 

Speaking of the girls, we now know who the culprit is who thinks that walking on the pond is a good thing. 

MOM - I'm ice fishing!!

And it's not enough for her to walk on it, I spotted her in the afternoon like this. 

MOM - nothing to see here!

Yep -- why just walk on the pond when you can have a ly-down on it! That dog is nuts about the pond and water. It's supposed to be warm today, so hopefully she knows enough (she does) to stay off the ice! 

I got a chuckle from her in the morning because she "accidentally" tossed one of her balls under the desk beside me. And she tried desperately to get it. She must have found this position comfortable because she stayed there for a while. What a silly girl!!!!

MOM - just hanging out!

And then while we were having dinner, Lexi rescued me again from Murphy begging to play ball. They had a good tussle, and everyone was entertained and happy. 

MOM - I'll keep Murphy away from you!!
MOM - HELP!! Lexi won't let me play ball!

Wait -- Murpy "broke" her ear!!!! Well, Lexi probably did this to her, but it was so cute. Every once in a while, that happens, and I managed to get a picture! 

MOM -- Look at my ear - Lexi broke my ear!!!

KU and I walked to the dollar store in the afternoon—it was a glorious day. She may regret living with us because I walk everywhere. No going by car to do errands! Anyway, we were looking for these felt portfolios. Which we found, thanks to KU. We at last found the right department, and I didn't see any, but KU moved a book and VOILA -- there was ONE left. 

The felt laptop bag

Hmmm—I think I need better friends, or more explicit friends. Whenever someone finds something at the dollar store that others in our group might be interested in, we NEVER get the right department. "OH - I think it was in the office supplies" section. So I went and couldn't find it there. Turns out it was in the ELECTRONICS section because it's a tablet case. Sigh......

So the bottom line is that if you find something you think someone else will like, PLEASE take a picture of it on the shelf or note where you picked it up. People then say, well, they could be in a different department. NO --- when you see the folks at the dollar store unpacking boxes, they have a MAP of the store in their hands, and each product in each store goes in the same department. It might be slightly different, but the employees do NOT make those decisions. 

I'm not sure if I should go shopping with KU, as she could cost me a lot of money! We were also looking for this - not to buy it, but just to check it out. This was in the crafts section. So if you want inexpensive markers for your blocks or rows, you could use this. And if the letters come off, get out your hot glue and glue the letters back on!

Letters and numbers on clothespins

When we were at the mall the other day and waiting for the movie theater to open, we had popped into one of my favorite clothing stores, and here is the pair of jeans I bought. KU found them. They are so not like a pair of jeans I would typically buy, and certainly a lot more money than my $6 thrift store find. HEY -- I LOVE my thrift store jeans, and they fit like a glove! 

OK -- I finished The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron this morning, and I can finally cross that book off my list. I never need to get it from the library again. 

It was a very interesting book, and I'm glad I finally had the chance to read it. To clarify, by using the term artist, she refers to anyone - whether you are a painter, a quilter, an office worker -- anyone. So don't think the book and its methods won't apply to you. Secondly, the book is based on many spiritual teachings, which is OK, and she addresses those who don't believe in a higher being at the beginning. She has MANY lists in the book—I mean, MANY. And she quotes a ton of people. So be warned. She also talks about the "recovering or blocked" artist and rarely mentions those who would like to become artists. But I guess those people are considered blocked because they can't make the first move. 

Anyway, despite some of the things mentioned above, which are NOT negative, but a lot of filler, perhaps the filler is necessary. Anyway, I highly recommend reading the book if you haven't. 

WAIT --- before you jump into your library app to find it, here are a couple of things. First, the book didn't really help me. WHAT????? Why am I recommending it? Because I've already done most of what she said to do. I am NOT a recovering or blocked artist. The ideas are flowing out of me faster than I can write them down. BUT I did learn a few tips from the book, but I mostly got 1000% affirmation that what I'm doing is the way to go! And sometimes we need that. 

Things to keep in mind before you start to read this book: 

1. If you are serious about unblocking yourself, get the WRITTEN copy of the book, and I think there is a workbook to do the exercises. 
2. It's a 12-step program—do each step over 1 week. I think it's harder to do the exercises in audio form, and you won't have time if you have the book on loan for three weeks.  
3. It will be a lot of work, but it's good work. It makes you think deeply about what you want to do in life, how to get out of a rut (art, love, travel, daily living, health, etc)
4. Try to find a group or a buddy who can help you. Someone who will support you, not cut down what you are trying to achieve.
5. Believe in yourself- you are creative - everyone is creative, if they let the creativity out. 

OMG -- I just created a list. But there are only five items on my list. Julai's lists have twenty items on them!!

What are some of the things that I already do that she mentions in the book? 

1. Make mistakes! They are good for you! 
2. Affirmation of who I am. Yep — I'm not afraid to call myself an artist with a studio and toot my own horn about how good I am. 
3. Find your passion. I was fortunate to have found my passion almost 30 years ago, and I have never looked back. 
4. Teach others—yep, I've been doing that for 25 years. You will learn from teaching, not just about the subject at hand, but about yourself. I've learned so much from teaching - it was the best thing I have ever done!
5. WRITE --- it doesn't have to be a novel, but even nonsense, as she talks about for the Morning Pages, is good. Get your brain working, get that crap out of your head that you are struggling with. Get rid of it by writing it down. Never to be read again! I've been writing the blog for almost 20 years! Some good days, some not so good!  
6. Don't be afraid to do what you want, even if it means doing it by yourself. Yep --- riding a bike across Canada (with a group), walking across Spain on the Camino, climbing Kilimanjaro, etc. Many more adventures await me, and I wait for no person. If I had to find someone with similar interests to do those adventures, I'd still be waiting. 
7. LOVE yourself and be selfish a little bit. You need time for yourself, you need to learn to live with yourself, and to entertain yourself. I am the most important person in my life, and I'm proud to say it out loud. 
8. Stop procrastinating. This one is fairly new to me, and it took a very long time for me to get to the point where I just make the decision and go with it. No regrets -- just decide and move on. Life is too short to let details get in the way. For me, it was my visual to-do list and the desire not to leave this creative mess for someone else to clear up. 
9. Find a support group. Can you believe that I have found that in my Monday Sewing group, which has been going for almost 25 years? There were issues -- MAJOR issues, and the group got ugly at points with back stabbing, a police complaint filed against me (YEP  - that is not a lie), and moving from in-person to going online. It doesn't matter; the backbone of the group has held together like glue. Can you believe there are still three people from the original group (including myself) who started in 2001 who are still participating? 
10. Don't be afraid! While you probably can't do everything you want to do, don't be afraid to try new things or do things alone if no one is around to go with you. I used to be the most shy person you could imagine, and I have gradually cracked that shell. Thank god for that! START SMALL on this. 

OOOPs -- another list!!! 

But you get my point—I didn't need to read the book because I'm already there. But WAIT --- you are never there --- life is a constant journey, not a destination!!! Learn to make the most of it - stop and smell the roses along the way, take what comes with a grain of salt -- why let someone else ruin your life because they make silly choices? Nope --- your life is all about YOU!!!! 

OK -- I have to run, but seriously, if you are in a rut and want to make changes, the book is good. BUT WAIT --- here's another thing to keep in mind. You HAVE TO WANT TO CHANGE. If you think the book is going to help you, it can only do that if YOU ARE WILLING to change. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Patience is a virtue!

And the busiest weekend for February is over! I survived it, and all the work got done on time, so my new time management is working out. By time management, I mean I have reduced the number of classes, which made time management so much easier. I didn't juggle my time better - I just had less to do. There's a huge difference, and I feel so much better!

I will always have things to do, but I will always ensure there is time for me!

If you remember, I talked about doing a couple of Zoom sessions on scraps, and the thought of scheduling them right now just didn't appeal to me. It's not so much the one-hour Zoom, but the hours of prep. While I want to do it, I didn't want to take away from my leisure time. 

I've decided to make it a four-part (or maybe longer) session that will run in the fall. My new schedule will include teaching a complete quilt, like Colour My World, and one other, preferably technique class. The scrap session will be the other. So that is on the slate for September/October, and you'll get lots of advance notice about how to sign up. 

I'm looking for quilt patterns for the new sew-along that will start in the fall. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Some appliqué is OK, but it needs to be pieced or mostly pieced. I have one quilt in mind and will be looking for others so I can choose. I will not break down and do more than one! I'm learning!!!!

Let me chat about Murphy first, and then I'll share my quilting stuff with you. This dog is persistent!! And like many dogs, she's smart. She knows when I am sitting at the kitchen table, that I'm there for a while, so she decides to try and get my attention even more, especially with that ball of hers!

She wants me to throw the ball, which I do, but it's annoying. Our ceramic floors are slippery, but she doesn't seem to mind. And if DH is on a call, he doesn't like the noise! He's always on a call! Thankfully, after about 10 throws, she gets overheated and needs to go outside to plunk herself in the snow. 

The other day, I was ignoring her, so she did this with her ball. 

MOM - Lexi is trying to steal my ball!

I didn't get up from what I was doing, so she grabbed the ball and plunked it into Lexi's food dish right beside the table. Of course, that action caused a kibble or two to spill out, so now those were fair game for her to eat! 

MOM - Lexi put the ball in her food dish!

I finally gave in, and then after our requisite number of throws, she went outside. 

MOM - I'm so hot!

She wants me to throw the ball outside, but I'm afraid it will sink into the snow, and she won't find it. OK -- I know that's a silly thing to say about a dog. She often has her head deep in the snow on our forest walks because she has smelled something. 

MOM - I smell a vole!!!!

And then don't forget the cuddles in her bed! I do NOT cuddle with her in that tiny bed in the office; rather, I cuddle her on her mat downstairs or on this larger bed in the family room. She loves it, and I think it's fun to get down to the floor and be with her on her terms!!! 

MOM - thanks for loving me!

You remember what happened when I put my quilt blocks on the floor the other night. Murphy took over rows three and four. 

MOM - I approve of rows 3 and 4

Well, I managed to get those rows together in the afternoon, but when I came down to work, she had commandeered rows 1 and 2 for sleeping. Why are quilts or even quilt blogs pet magnets? 

Mom - I'm testing rows 1 and 2

Such a silly girl. Anyway, the good news is that the entire quilt is together, including the border. It was a bit of an impromptu quilt that I'll use to advertise my upcoming Facebook Live. I'll wait until they post the ad on Facebook and then share the quilt with you. The topic is felting with your embroidery machine and will take place on March 11. It will be recorded, so if you can't make the March 11 date, you can still watch it. I have a "few" samples I want to make, but that's OK because I'm also working on a project on my Visual To-Do list. I wanted to learn all about felting on the embroidery machine as a goal. 

Now I have done felting before, but I don't have a ton of samples, and I want to really explore the technique, so I get to kill two birds with one stone! I told you that I'm becoming a master at this, and there isn't much I don't make that doesn't cover two or more goals!

Let's talk about why something becomes a UFO. In my case, it's often because I haven't thought it through all the way. I get to a spot where I'm stuck, or I try to "ram" the sewing through, think it's going to be OK, and then, when it's finished or nearly finished, I'm not happy. Then the project gets set aside. I have many projects on the current project table because of that scenario. 

It's something I need to learn to live with or remake things properly! If the item is going to be a traveling sample, I simply cannot go out in public with one that looks a wee bit shoddy. Yes - there are times when a shoddy sample makes a good learning tool, and I'm happy to carry those, but there are times when I want the item to be a bit more perfect!!

So here's my latest ripping-out experiment. And YES - this is on the Visual To-Do list. See --- I am FOCUSED!!!! There isn't much, if anything, that I'm working on these days that isn't on that list. 

The theme of the Cherrywood Challenge in 2018 was the artist known as Prince. I loved the color - purple, and I had a great idea. Oh -- that's the case, I have the ideas, but don't always execute to my satisfaction. Anyway, you'll see the piece in a second, or you can check out this blog post. 

I wasn't happy with the placement of the raindrops. It never got finished to enter the competition. I decided to live with it the way it was and figure out how to quilt it. I wanted to use metallic thread, but the piece just didn't match the vision I had. I even tried free-motion quilting so I could just call it a day, and the piece YELLED at me that it wasn't happy. Neither was I. 

I added that challenge to my to-do list, and here is my plan. I need to rip out all the satin stitches around each raindrop, and there are a lot of them. WAIT --- first, I had to rip out all the quilting, which I did months ago. Then I could remove the satin stitches. 

The quilting has been removed.

OK -- now the satin stitches are removed from one raindrop. 

The satin stitching is removed from one raindrop.

Now those raindrops are fused in place, so will the fusing let go? I was able to pull the raindrops off after the stitching was removed. So much for PERMANENT fusing with a fusible web!!

And the raindrop peeled right off the background!

I had to tug some of them a bit more than others to get off, and a bit of residue remained on the background after removing the raindrops. Shoot -- what am I going to do with that? 

I gave it a quick press from the wrong side, and VOILA—except for the stitch holes, you wouldn't be able to tell that anything has been fused and stitched in place. The raindrops came off perfectly!!! 

Wow - the beginning of a clean slate

It's going to take some time to remove them all, as there are quite a few on the piece. I'm OK with that. I swear that sitting and doing this kind of project is perfect for Monday sewing calls, or Virtual Retreats, and it teaches a person patience. Patience is a very important virtue, and many people do NOT have patience these days. I find this kind of thing therapeutic. 

A lot of raindrops to remove

As you can see, I've made a start in that one corner. My plan is to put the raindrops back on the quilt, but in straight lines, so I can quilt straight vertical lines for the rain, hopefully in metallic thread. I was likely in a rush to get this completed and randomly stuck those raindrops on without much thought to the quilting, and then went, "ACK, how the heck am I going to quilt this?" and it's sat like that for years. 

I need to stop doing that! 

Am I upset with having to rework this piece? Not at all. Things happen, and I've learned to let them go. It was not a mistake, just a learning opportunity. I'm wiser now, and because I've made so many "mistakes" and allowed myself to make them, I can recover from them without beating myself up. How many times did famous artists go back and rework a painting? Probably way more times than we realize. So slow and methodical, and I'll get it to look the way I want. 

I'm off to spin class this morning. I'm going to take it easy and will probably only do 30 minutes, just to test out my knee. It's not really the joint, it's the darn tendons, which are not happy campers. Anyway -- more on that story tomorrow because I heard some wild news at the Virtual Retreat yesterday. I have to say that the conversations at the retreats are amazing. The number and variety of topics we cover blows my mind!!! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

The email saga continues

For the record, I do NOT give my dogs people food. Currently, three adults live in this house, and TWO of them think it's OK to slip them the occasional tidbit of food, including veggies. I'm OK with the veggies, though some are not safe for dogs. And for this reason, those two dogs hang around those two people waiting for the tidbits. Trust me, I have repeatedly said, DO NOT FEED the dogs people food, and it falls on deaf ears. Thankfully, it's not a lot of food, but I keep repeating the message. 

Since this behavior is learned, the dogs think that all humans in our house will give them food. So they sit beside me, and then quickly lose interest when they realize that Mom doesn't give in to those puppy dog eyes. When I have cucumbers or carrots (both safe for dogs), I give them a couple of pieces, but it's rare. 

It drives me crazy that the people in my house will NOT listen! I've made such a big deal about it lately that I think they have backed off. 

So no - Murphy and Lexi did NOT get any grapes. Thanks for the reminder! 

I'm happy to report that my knee feels a whole lot better. I did not walk the dogs, but I took a slow walk to the grocery store later in the day. It was NOT a fun walk, but I needed to get out. Then I used ice and heat and stayed off it for the rest of the day. OK -- I was sewing, so I had to stand and cut, but I wasn't walking. It's feeling a whole lot better this morning. 

I will take the girls for a short walk each and see how it goes. 

No word from the engineers, so I'll call them later today if I have time. It's crunch time for the weekend classes, and while I'm making great progress, I'm a couple of hours behind. But I'm OK. It's not a due or die crunch - just scheduled time!

However, you are not going to believe the update on the Outlook story. I'm stunned. I did a little research before calling the support line. Can you believe this? Read the first two lines, and that should tell you all you need to know about my problem!

You read that correctly! There is no ADDRESS BOOK in the new version of Outlook. What?? I don't get that. So when I chatted to the support people, I asked. By the way, I was very calm and collected during the almost TWO hours in total I spent on the phone with them. While I know the support people won't have that information, they did mention that Microsoft is targeting a different user with the NEW version. WHAT? A different user? I don't get that. It's totally useless, although the split between Focused and Other emails is really handy. 

You can bet that I'm going to provide feedback. I've thought ot sending the same message through the Microsoft Feedback channel every day, and I'm going to suggest that anyone else (you know who you are) will do the same. This is utter nonsense. You'll find the FEEDBACK tab under the HELP tab in Outlook. Use it wisely and use it OFTEN!!!! 

Anyway, to keep the details short, it took a long time to switch back to the Classic Version. Why? Because new computers don't come with the Classic version installed, forcing you to use the New version. OK -- this is getting weirder by the minute. So the support guy had to download the Classic version, and then switched me back. 

All would seem good, right? By the way, the call had to be escalated because he had trouble reconnecting me to the server. That resulted in him deleting my account and then reinstating it. Then my emails started to populate the inbox, and I thought we were good. 

Now it appears that ONLY the inbox got populated. The remainder of my very detailed file structure is EMPTY!!! Yep—there are no emails in any of my class folders. NOTHING!!! I'm not panicking - I'm laughing because I wonder how much worse this is going to get, and what the heck good it will do if I get mad. NOTHING. 

Thankfully, the escalation guy and I have an appointment today to see how the repopulating went, so he had better call me today, or I will be calling them back. 

What was funny, though, was that at one point my computer automatically switched back to the New version, and that wasn't going to do. I couldn't find the switch to move back, so I had to call again. I am ashamed to say that I got a woman on the call, and my past experience has not been good. But I kept my mouth shut and let her do what she needed to do, and within ten minutes, I was good to go. 

So the saga continues. OH -- the distribution lists have to be moved manually, which I knew, and I need to do that this morning before the escalation guy calls me back. If I have trouble, then he can help me. I know there are other options, but I'm stubborn. I've paid for this darn thing, and I'm so used to it that I'm going to get it working, even if I die trying!! LOL. 

OH - and when I was working on the homework for Color My World, guess what I found? A printout of the distribution list! That is going to make it so much easier to re-enter them, if I need to. Yeah!!!!

The printed distribution list for Colour My World

And one other thing: I really like how the Classic version saves pictures. The New version sucks at that, so I'd better remember to include that in my feedback. 

I'm making my Colour My World from batiks, and this was the ironing board as I prepped for the weekend class. It's all tidied away now, but it was very colorful! I'm loving this quilt, and while it is a lot of work, it's so worth it!!!

Prepping the homework for Colour My World

And OH MY -- I had to get the hammer out because at one point in the day, KU was pressing something and I don't know how hard she was pressing, but that board jumped down a notch or two! Nothing fell, so all was good. But I'm going to tip that board upside down today and see if I can jam the notches in place, and if I need to use a hammer, then so be it! Personally, I think that one bar needs to be straightened. 

While I was sewing and cutting, I also had the embroidery machine running at full speed with this project. All twenty of the blocks are complete! That was a ton of work (OK - it wasn't, but it was noisy), and now I need to figure out how to assemble them into a quilt. Be sure to mark your calendars for my Facebook Live on March 11. 

My machine embroidered quilt block

It's very hard to get good help these days! Murphy just wants attention, and so I stop to give her some loving. As a result, my chair moved backward. When I went to sew, she was still lying on the floor, and my foot was a long way from the foot pedal. What a silly girl!!!

MOM -- I need loving, more than you need to sew

How many keys does your key ring hold? Mine has been sitting here staring at me for a couple of days, and I got to wondering. Remember how we used to have oodles of keys. What did we use them all for? I have three keys on that holder. By the way, don't you love the personalized band? A friend made that for me, and it's fun because it has my name on it, so there's no danger of getting it mixed up with someone else's. THANK YOU!!!!

My keyring

There is a house key on it, but we never use it since we have a keyless lock on the front door. Still handy in case the battery dies, though I get plenty of warning. The mailbox key, which I use every time I get the mail. There is also a smaller key on it, which I have no idea what it unlocks. I suspect a lock for the bike rack!! I must check that out since I want to sell the bike rack. I have zero need for any other keys. WAIT -- the car. That's a big fob, and I keep it in my little pouch. Again, our car is keyless for everything, but you need the fob on your person to do anything. 

I spotted this on Instagram yesterday. Hmmm—I'm not sure I could focus. I think I'll keep those activities separate! 

Doing a puzzle while walking? 

I have to tell you about this audiobook I'm just finishing up this morning. It's one of the ones from that Globe and Mail list from March 2023. OH MY!!!!! If you love a thinker mystery with loads of details, this is the book for you! It's called Malice by Keigo Higashino. It's the first in the Detective Kaga series, but wow!! Actually, the list mentioned his latest book, "A Death in Tokyo," but since it was a series, I had to start at the beginning. 

There is a murder, as is usually the case in a murder mystery. And unlike other books, you get to know the murderer pretty early on. But the why and the how are uncanny! It's like a cat-and-mouse game between the accused and the detective as they both unravel the details. It's quite interesting, and I'll definitely be reading more of this author's books. He has some standalone books as well. 

You need to stay sharp on your toes to understand the nuances of the book; there are plenty of side diversions. Oh shoot—I see I can download the next audiobook in the series. NO --- Just say no - I have three other books in my audiobook reader to read first!!!!

Well, I guess I'm off -- I have so many things to do, but very interesting and exciting things on the agenda for today. I've got some patterns to design, embroidery designs to continue, a huge variety of things to sew, and it's just going to be a glorious day. If Microsoft can find the rest of my emails, that will be the icing on the cake. At this point? I'm not hopeful. I think they got lost in the save when they deleted my account. They might be on another computer, or they should still be on the server. 

I guess that would be a good way to get rid of a lot of stuff! It will be annoying as all get out to find what I need since the ones I wanted to keep were in the folders! But the most critical thing would be the UFO emails, as I had not processed those photos yet. Sigh.............

However, onward and upward!!!!

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!

PS -- Forgot to mention --- there is a Virtual Retreat this weekend. Saturday - starting at 6 PM EST and Sunday at 3 PM EST. I'm not going to post the links until Saturday because Zoom has a fit about posting them on a public blog. So I'll only do it on Saturday and then on Sunday.