Spiders are not afraid - are you?

OK -- I see I have some gardening to do in the fall!! I spent another hour yesterday removing more creeping vine from the rocks surrounding the pond. That is always a precarious job because you are standing on the rocks, staring down into the water, and if you slip - well, then it's time for a dip amongst the water lilies! 

I would say that over half the backyard is cleaned up now, but the gardener guy is still going to come this week, as there is the side yard and the front that need to be taken care of. And at some point, I need to go into the forest and trim back the stuff that is attempting to encroach through the fence. 

An hour a day or even half an hour works for me!

We had some bad excitement near our house last night. A house fire quickly spread to two other houses, and they were ablaze. Lexi and I had just walked past those houses yesterday morning! One "elderly senior" was taken to hospital with critical injuries, but otherwise, I think everyone is OK. 

Such a terrible thing to happen and to spread so quickly to other houses. We have had our share of house fires in this neighborhood, and they all seem to start upstairs, although one of them started in the garage. To my knowledge, just within several streets of my house, this is the fourth in the last ten years, which seems like a lot to me. 

I have friends of mine who live in the neighboring city, and they live in a townhouse. The townhouse beside them caught on fire and they escaped unharmed, but that was in September. They are still not back in their house and may never go back. I don't think they have even started to fix the roof. What a shame, and what is causing the delay? 

Speaking of fires, Lexi and I noticed that the fire hydrants in our area (not all, but some) have been repainted GREY. Why is that? To make the neighborhood look prettier? The darn things just blend right into the background. Actually, from where this picture was taken, the houses are just across the schoolyard. As I suspected, this is just the primer coat, and it will be red soon. 

Grey fire hydrants

Well, onto happier news. 

I let Lexi dictate where we walk each morning, within reason. But she hadn't made her way to the forest, and I like to brush her each day in the forest. There are mounds of dog hair in several spots, but when I reached the tree that I attach her to, I spotted this giant Daddy Long Legs spider!!!1 He was big, and he wasn't afraid!!!

Daddy Long Legs

It made me think of my recent little wall hanging that I made. 

I'm not afraid of spiders, so I was OK. 

We had a lot of downpours while I was away last week, and of course, the gravel paths in the forest are rutted once again. The tractor was just there the day I left to grade the previous ruts down. I must dig out my pictures of what they do in Spain on the steeper paths because this is ridiculous. They need to probably rip that hill apart and compact the crap out of it with sand and gravel, or just pave it over. That would be much more efficient than just grading the ruts out. But what do I know? 

New ruts AGAIN on the path

 Oh my god—Lexi is protesting. Murphy knows that Lexi's dish is OFF limits if there is food in it. The moment that the dish is empty, Murphy is there licking it out. Twice yesterday, Lexi left a few pieces of kibble in the dish, so Murphy wasn't able to lick it out! I had a good chuckle over that. 

MOM - tell Murphy to keep out of my dish!

Besides the gardening, I managed to get some machine embroidery done. The tree is felted, and the stars and the presents are stitched with thread. I didn't stabilize it enough when it was time to do the stitching. I hope when the back is cleaned up that it will be OK. I want to add something else to it before I trim the background away. 

Felting with the embroidery machine and stitches

And then I also stitched this one out, which included felting, thread, and ribbon. All done with the embroidery machine. These are designs in the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC 3 but require the Special Techniques Hoop. I love this one and need to find a word or saying to add to it. I will Google it!

Machine embroidery with ribbon, felting, and thread

There was an issue with the third design I wanted to stitch out, so I must report that.  

One of the goals on my visual To Do list was to thoroughly investigate felting with the embroidery machine. I think I can safely say that I have thoroughly investigated it, as I had done quite a bit before with designs that can be done in any of the embroidery hoops. 

Before I cross that item off the list, I must finish all the samples. Then it will be done. 

I also managed to get one block and part of another done on the pattern that I'm testing. I saw Lorna (Sew Fresh Quilts) post her progress on Facebook last night, so I'm showing you the pattern. It is adorable. 

Down on the farm

Lorna and I were furiously emailing back and forth as we worked out a few small issues! I love pattern testing but it requires a lot of thought and concentration!! 

I hope to get another block complete and to finish cutting the next one out. It's absolutely adorable and would make an excellent class for teaching! That makes TWO that I have on the list for next year! 

After gardening, I spent the remainder of the morning in the office clearing up paperwork. I am just gob smacked at how quickly it accumulates if you don't take care of it. At least when I need to file something, that is easy, and I try to do that religiously! 

I'm off to volunteer today, and that should be an interesting experience. I will NOT take my credit card to the puzzle warehouse! I will NOT take my credit card to the puzzle warehouse! OK - I need my card because I have to get gas for the car!

A reminder: if you want to participate in my focus group for machine embroidery, I'm running a session tonight at 7 PM and one on Monday at 3 PM. Send me your email if you want to be part of that. I'm really looking for what kind of machine embroiderer you are. What designs you like to buy/make, what you like to stitch on, and how much hand-holding in the form of step-by-step projects you would like to see.  (elainetheriault@gmail.com)

And on that note, I'm out of here. 

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Save the planet

Art is art! Oh my—I love Tammy's comment about the CN Tower from yesterday's blog. The person who criticized the block recognized it as the CN Tower. Mission accomplished!!! I NEVER think of the good comebacks at the time. 

Imagine if we were all quick on our feet and could put the "Karens" in their place immediately!! I have to work on those witty comebacks! 

And it was time for our UFO Club. The amount of UFOs that most of us have is obscene, but slow and steady, and we will whittle them away. That's my philosophy, and sometimes, if the UFO is huge, it's a good idea to plan it out. Maybe work on it for a month or two. If you get bored, switch it up, BUT leave yourself good notes about where you are, what you have done, and what the next steps are. 

And here's the other thing about UFOs. You do NOT need to be a hero and finish everything you started or wanted to start! If you no longer are excited about it, or every time you pick it up, it's a chore, or you are procrastinating about it - guess what? Find a new home for it. I'm not a fan of throwing stuff out, but if no one else wants it and you don't - why should you be obliged to finish it? Can you do something different with it? 

Move on to the fun stuff, because if you don't—here's a great quote by Henry David Thoreau. While the quote is about books, it applies to everything in life. 

"Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all." 

And I just spotted another quote that brings a serious situation to mind. 

"All good things are wild and free." 

This makes me think of the recent pictures of Mount Everest. May is summit season on Mount Everest, and over the years, many people have reached the summit. But if you look at this year's pictures, they are discouraging, disheartening, and disgusting! There are literally LINES of climbers inching their way along the paths. You could get through Tim's line much faster. Or how about a line at the bank on Friday afternoon? 

This is the problem with any of those "great" hikes - The Camino, Machu Picchu, etc. We now have so much more disposable income (not everyone - I get that), and they think it is their right to visit these sacred places and, in many cases, leave them in worse condition than when they arrived. The garbage situation on Everest is disgusting, and while some organizations are making inroads in cleaning it up, the people who made the mess should be the ones cleaning it up. 

And I've never understood the "importance" of people wanting to get close to places like Antarctica without ever actually setting foot there. I just think about the environmental impact of the ships in those waters - just so people can see ice floes and penguins. 

I guess I'm just a simple person. It makes me NOT want to go to places like that. Find the less popular places to go. Those are the gems now - the other stuff? Tourist trap and garbage dumps! 

And there are many other amazing quotes from Henry David Thoreau. 

How about this one: "Your life is frittered away by detail. Simplify. Simplify." 

How true!!!! 

Yesterday, during the Virtual Retreat, we got onto the topic of travel and how to protect your possessions, whether that's your checked luggage or your valuables. It's so simple—just don't take your precious stuff, and don't take lots. I will never travel with checked luggage for pleasure - NEVER! I have to check luggage when I'm traveling for work because the sample suitcases are too big and heavy to carry on. 

When I see those huge suitcases at the airport, I would love to ask someone to open them up so I can see what's inside. I'm dying to know! How many clothes, shoes, and purses does one person need? 

I'm all about simplicity, but I sure would love my life to be a lot simpler in terms of possessions, and I'm working on it, so that is good. 

Here's an example of the kind of thing that makes me sing. When I went for a walk in the morning, I spotted this on the ground. 

Moss in the forest

Do you know what it is? The picture doesn't do it justice. It's just a patch of moss. Its color was spectacular in the light drizzle. I don't need cathedrals and gold to make me feel inspired -- give me a forest any day. I've talked about forest bathing many times, and yesterday, when I started walking in the forest, it was incredible. I could feel the energy pouring into my body (OH god -- I'm starting to sound like James Redfield in The Celestine Prophecy), but seriously -- when I entered the forest, I was thinking about the day ahead. As I walked, the pieces of the day just fell into place. I felt calm, but energized and eager to get started. 

Please don't laugh until you have tried it!!!! Walking in a forest - if everyone could do it, you would see how soothing, relaxing, and energizing it can be. BUT -- you can't just walk in the forest. You have to put your cell phone away. Then you use your ears to HEAR the forest, and you use your eyes to SEE the forest. Don't just look and listen—be in the moment! It really does make a difference!

And the other thing --- don't be in a hurry! Why is everyone in such a hurry? There's no need. Just take life as it is. We are teaching our children and grandchildren to be in a hurry - start earlier, so you don't rush. How many times have I seen a parent fly down the road, often right through the stop sign, only to turn into the schoolyard to drop off her kids? 

I also spotted this snail on the way to the forest, and OK -- so doesn't it make you wonder how long it took the snail to get in the middle of the sidewalk? Where did it sleep all winter? Will it make it to the other side before someone else comes along? 

A snail - first of the season!

We must stop thinking about silly stuff and start clearing our minds! 

I didn't get as much sewing done as I would have liked, but that's OK. This morning, I was up early and crammed all that loose stuff into ONE MORE panic-packed bag for the retreat. I know -- I should not have done that, but I needed a bag to put two power bars in, and well, some stuff just got thrown on top. 

I managed to get this backing pieced for the next community project quilt. The light fabric on the right is a single piece, and the long strip on the left is as well. But the section in between is made up of nine pieces from the leftovers of another quilt backing. The cutoffs after the quilt is quilted. I wanted the strips to be vertical—it made more sense —and voilà, I got a new piece of fabric. 

The scrappy backing for the next community project quilt

You can see the backing and the piecing a bit better here. Again—why are we in such a hurry? Make everything a puzzle to make it more fun, like turning fabric scraps into fabric. I don't know about you, but I value my resources way too much to toss things out. I'm happy to sit, rip things out, and make something new. My parents, as I'm sure many of your parents, grew up in the depression and had NOTHING. The Earth was in somewhat of a good way at the time. Now, we are in a throwaway society, and if we no longer want something, it's easy to just toss it and get it out of the house. 

My pieced backing

My pioneer roots (thanks, Mom and Dad) tell me that you can have fun with creating new fabric from scraps and save the planet at the same time! 

The other thing I mostly did was tackle that stack of Half Square Triangles, and they are all done! Remember that little grouping I did the other day with blue and green? I found more of the same blue and similar greens in the tray beside the sewing machine, so I'm going to add to that pile. The ones in the stack on the right are randomly made, and I found one large one. 

Trimmed half-square triangles

And yes -- My little group of four worked out just fine, with the fourth one in the last group being the large one. 

It worked out!!!!

I'm sure after you read the above, you are wondering where the heck my brain is going. But I have always said - I am a simple person, and I have a child-like curiosity. I'm OK with stopping to stare at a snail on the sidewalk and then taking a picture. If a neighbor sees me, what the heck do I care? I really don't care what other people think of me and what I do. What is important to me is that I enjoy each and every minute of my very limited time on this planet. 

When I visit some place, I want to see the people behind the scenes. That is way more fascinating than seeing the main show. Take me to a Broadway show and put me behind the scenes, and I'd be a happy camper. Put me in a seat out front, and I'm bored. 

We are all different, and that's a good thing, but don't be afraid to explore, to get down on the floor (if you can), and to ask questions. Lots and lots of questions. You'd be amazed at what you can learn. And how people will change their reaction to you. No one wants to hear your companion conversationalists go on and on about themselves. Unless you ask, be careful, because some people don't know when to stop!!!! I could go on and on about that! 

My portable office is packed as soon as I pull the plugs on my portable hard disks. I love that everything is portable now and just plugs into whichever computer I'm using. We discussed that last night as well, and many people no longer have a computer. I still have TWO and an iPad, and I use them all. 

All that remains is to pack my food, but first I'm off to the gym for 30 minutes on the bike and a wee bit of stretching. It's actually kind of refreshing to do the spin "class" on my time instead of waiting for a 60-minute class. 

Have a super day. I'm off to a quilt retreat for a week. Don't worry—I have my portable office with me, and I'll tell you all about it!!! 

Ciao!!!!

PS -- there is good news about my knees. The slow walking, the reduced distances, plus one pill a day, have made me feel like a million bucks! Murphy is NOT happy with a bit shorter walk, and I think that is part of her problem. She feels cheated, but I feel better - I can practically fly up the stairs (OK - I'm exaggerating), but a few simple things I changed have made a difference. I'm off for an ultrasound next week. 

Good things come in threes!

What is with this weather? It's May 12, and we have frost warnings! The heat is still on in the house, and I am mostly wearing my Patagonia down sweater when I'm out walking the girls - with mitts on! At least it did warm up in the afternoon, but I see we have a frost warning again this morning. 

That is life, and one must get on with what we do! It would just be nice to sit outside for a bit! Without being bundled up in quilts and jackets. And the girls are desperate to have that back door open all day! So am I!!!!

I made out OK at my private spin class. I just sat on a bike in the main exercise room and cycled to my heart's content. I notice others from the old class doing the same thing. That is just terrible, but I'm glad others are boycotting the class. I MUST write my feedback to the company. That should be a priority for today, along with completing the Census. 

I'm not sure I even want to voice my opinion about what some people have mentioned about the Census. The Census does NOT represent the current government! How silly can people be? I've found that people no longer have a tolerance for anyone they dislike. WAIT A MINUTE --- that's a very general statement, and I know that lots of people have tolerance, but many do not and are quite happy to vocalize those opinions. I don't want to turn this into a debate, but please—fill out the Census. 

I'm curious because I don't remember, but do they teach politics in school? By that, I mean: do the students learn about what the Prime Minister's office does, the opposition's role, MPPs, etc.? And there are multiple levels of government as well. There needs to be respect for our levels of government and for how they all work. I will confess that I am rather ignorant of all the workings. 

You've heard the expression that things come in threes? Well, I'm now in big trouble! Issue number one is that I found the Puzzles Canada warehouse, which is about 40 minutes away from me (Georgetown), and they also ship if you need. Then someone told me about Puzzle Nerds, which is about 30 minutes away, but in Toronto, so traffic and parking can be nasty. They also ship, and sometimes, I swear, with the hassle of driving, parking, and the time it takes, it's way more efficient to have things shipped. NEVER from that online store -- I want to support the little guys! Even if it costs slightly more—seriously? Support local!!

Anyway, there are many artists designing artwork for puzzles these days, and I now know two Canadian artists who do. And it was through one of the artists that I discovered a third shop! This one, called The Occurrence, is located in Merrickville, Ontario. One of the artists that I know (simply by buying her puzzles and messaging her a couple of times) introduced me to this company. 

The Occurrence

In case you can't read it, this is their slogan. And YES—their puzzles are made in Canada. Surprisingly, there are 21 puzzle companies headquartered in Canada, but their puzzles are produced elsewhere. This one makes their own, and if you want a custom puzzle, they can do that! Now that is something that would be super fun. 

The slogan for The Occurrence

Once the day was over, I spent the evening finishing the puzzle I had been working on. As I mentioned the other day, this puzzle is drawn by a Canadian resident, and their company is Canadian (The Paperhood), but the puzzles are made in the US.  

Jigsaw puzzle - DONE

You can buy all of The Paperhood puzzles from The Puzzle Nerds. What I love about The Puzzle Nerds is that they have a page that lists many puzzle brands, where their head offices are, and where the puzzles are made. Here's the link if that's of interest to you! 

I just found out that FOUR companies make their puzzles in Canada!!! The rest are predominantly produced in China, the US, and other countries worldwide. How cool is that! 

Anyway, I have the next puzzle lined up, BUT I am not allowed to set it out until I get some actual work done!

I had to take the car in for servicing and to get the tires changed. It was a three-hour appointment, which I find excessively long considering our tires are on the rims, but if the time expectation is set up front and you are prepared, it's not a big deal. They take in so many cars that I suspect each car spends a lot of time unattended while they try to do mass activities on multiple cars. Like one mechanic is specialized in buzzing the lug nuts off, the next guy removes the wheels, and so on, until all the tasks are completed. It's not one person working on everything on your car. 

I swear someone tried out all the bells and whistles on the car. The mirrors were not in the right place, and the seat was all weird. But I got everything back to normal. 

The service shop was busy, and I took my laptop and watched some videos as I prepared for the jacket class in two weeks. Well, not quite two weeks, but in two weekends. I'm learning so much by going back to rewatch those videos, and I'm taking notes. Making a quilted jacket really isn't difficult. Fitting can be an issue, but Jen (Grainline Studio) has amazing tips for fitting the quilted jacket. 

This will be my final call for anyone who would like to discuss the information in those videos. My discussion is free, and so is watching the videos. The information applies to ANY quilted jacket pattern. If you are interested, send me an email. If you were in my quilted jacket class that ended in April, you are already on the list. There is no need to let me know unless you do not want to be on that list. Now I need to make another jacket (or finish a couple) before I forget all this wonderful information. 

I did get some sewing done! I got a few more HSTs trimmed. What a long, boring process that is! I will no longer sew and sew those little things together and then store them to trim another day. I think I've almost got them all trimmed. The trouble is, I keep finding bags of them stashed away!

More HSTs trimmed

I got all the shapes for one of the blocks on the seasonal quilt ready to be cut out. I had to trace a couple more shapes. Why didn't I do this on the scan-and-cut? Because there are so many little pieces and only one or two of each, it isn't worth the trouble. And it's only one block. 

The shapes are ready to cut out.

And I got the first round on the log cabin blocks. 

Round one of the log cabin blocks

I will be much more focused today!! But I have another distraction that arrived yesterday. Since I started quilting (25+ years), I've worked on wooden banquet tables, which have served me well. I think I paid about $50 for each, and they are amazing. The perfect height for me to sew on, they are reasonably lightweight and easy to move around. However, with those large embroidery machines on them, they can shake like mad during some types of embroidery. 

I'm afraid they'll collapse one day. So I bit the bullet, and after a big discussion about tables in our embroidery class, I bought two new ones. They were delivered yesterday. 

I warned DH about the delivery since I was away in the afternoon, but they were delivered before I left the house. I knew they would be a hassle to deliver because of the weight - these tables can handle a load of 450 pounds, and each one weighs over 100 pounds itself.

The pallet

The two tables I ordered came on a 6-foot-long wooden pallet, which added to the weight. The poor delivery guy struggled to get that pallet up the slight incline in our driveway, even with his pump jack! It was a LOT of weight. Probably close to 500 lbs in total! 

That's a long pallet.

Last night, I unwrapped the pallet to assess the situation. OK -- each table has three boxes -- two with the legs and supports, and one with the tabletop. Even the small box in front weighs a lot, and that is only the center supports. That's good because they are supposed to hold 450 lbs! I opened one of the small boxes and took each support downstairs separately. 

Three boxes per table

That's as far as I got yesterday. I'll open the long box and bring down all those parts in several trips, and then I'll have to get someone to help with the table top. Not only is it unwieldy at 30" by 60", but it's over 1" thick! It's going to be heavy. It is recommended for a two-person build, but I'll do what I can before I call in DH. 

I'm excited about the new tables. Now that I'll have two free tables, I have a bit of moving around to do, and I'll have a couple of wooden tables to sell, but they are a different style from the ones I originally bought. I'm keeping those, but I bought two more a while back. They are homemade, but still work amazingly well and are very stable. 

Most of the books I'm culling are sitting in various spots in the kitchen. I happened to glance through a small journal and found this!!

How true!!!!

OH MY!!!! That's hilarious! I'm going to keep the small journal, but it accidentally got brought upstairs! I must get those stacks sorted and into bags as well. Then I have a bunch of stuff to take to the garage in preparation for the upcoming quilt retreat. It's all in the living room right now, and it can sit in the garage until it's time to pack. 

Are our trilliums late this year? I noticed the trillium patch was in full bloom yesterday. I thought I had missed them, but nope - I did not!

The trilliums

We've had to make some changes in our household. I've been very lucky that DH took over the cooking a few years back. He was home, and I guess he was bored or he was fed up with what I cooked for dinner. Anyway, after changing jobs a couple of months ago, he is no longer working, and half the time there is nothing to eat in the house, or he is ready to make dinner at 8 PM. So I have taken back control of cooking dinner! Sigh...... no pressure. 

Last night I commandeered KU to make potatoes in the air fryer while I made broiled salmon! And it was good. I'm a good cook - I just choose not to exercise that set of skills unless absolutely necessary! Of course, DH comes in to inspect as if we don't know how to cook. Good grief—where has he gotten these crazy ideas? 

But I had to laugh because his piece of salmon was a wee bit thicker than the others, and part of it wasn't cooked enough. So he put it back in the oven, and next thing we knew, the juices on the tray were flaming!! Yep --- it was quite dramatic! And today, I get to clean the oven. It's in desperate need as it hasn't been cleaned in years, but it's self-cleaning, so let's see what happens. 

And on that exciting note, I'm out of here!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!

A puzzling day!!

Happy Mother's Day

I must say, it feels great to get back to sewing, and, well, I just picked a "random" project to work on. Actually, it's on my Visual To-Do list under UFO, so I'm allowed to work on it! I had picked five projects under the UFO category, and my plan is to finish them all this year. They are in various states of completion. 

When I first started the sew-along quilts, in year two (2004), we did something different. Instead of choosing one large quilt, we picked two small quilts from a four-season collection. The fall and spring quilts (two of each) are waiting to be quilted. I have no idea if I started the summer one or even where it would be. But I knew that the winter one was not done. WAIT -- I will confess that at the time, I NEEDED to make two of everything. Why? Because I'd have one ready to show and the other was in bits and pieces to show the progress, or at least that was my plan. 

Well, neither of the winter ones got done! Here's what's in the box! There are some completed blocks and some embellishments, though I don't think all of those embellishments belong to this quilt, so I'll do some investigating later today. 

What was in the box

I put the completed blocks on the design wall for both quilts. 

Progress on both quilts

Some of the fabrics (larger pieces for backgrounds) were pulled, but lots of fabric is missing. So as I watched a presentation, I was sorting through my blue scraps. You don't know how handy those scrap bins are, and because they are sorted by color, it's easy to find what I need. And can you believe I found some scraps for the fabric I was working with? Yep—this quilt was started in 2004, and I still had some scraps. That fabric is now history!

Digging through the scraps

As I was putting the scraps back in the container, I wasn't paying attention, and OH— the darn thing fell on the floor. So the scraps were put back in the container, but the lid doesn't fit as well as it did when I started. 

Oopsy!

However, I got all the pieces cut for my two cardinal blocks. 

Ready to sew the cardinal block

These four seasonal quilts are made with the stitch-and-flip method, which requires extensive marking of diagonal sewing lines. BUT, now that I have a projection line on my sewing machine, I no longer have to draw lines. That speeds up the process a wee bit. 

The projection line on the sewing machine!

While I was working, I was sewing the scrappy half-square triangles as enders and leaders. I came across these in the tray. Hmmm -- the minimal size I work on now is the one in the bottom right. The ones on the left are far too small, and I do not know why I even considered sewing them. 

Srappy triangles to sew or throw!

In addition to rifling through the scrap bins, I had to dig through the blue yardage bin to attempt to find more of that one background fabric. Shoot—I don't have any more. And if I had been paying attention and not made several miscuts, I would probably have had enough. But I fixed it, which you'll see in a moment. 

Rifling through the blue yardage basket

Those two cardinal blocks were major puzzles, and I had to pause the audiobook several times to read the pattern and figure out the order of partial seams and flipped corners. And then my two blocks were done!!! I believe the legs have to be embroidered, but otherwise - done!

The cardinal blocks are done!

Here's what I did to address the fabric shortage. 

A wee "patch."

There are six more blocks to make for each quilt. I might as well keep at it, as I was on a roll and enjoying the process, and I'd like to get one more UFO done and one more thing off the current project table. 

So last night, before shutting off the lights, I pulled fabrics for the next set of blocks, which are some log cabin blocks. 

Fabric pulled for the log cabin blocks.

And this morning, I cut all the pieces to make 8 blocks - four for each quilt. 

The log cabin blocks are ready to sew.

I still had some time, so I decided to prep the next block, which has some piecing and appliqué. 

Prepping the next block

My goal, though it might be a stretch, is to get all the piecing done for both blocks today. And I hope to trace all the appliqué. I feel much better and seem to have my sewjo back, which is great since I have a lot to do. And it's good to take a rest from it every once in a while. 

I also got a lot done on the jigsaw puzzle. Oh shoot - I did look at the artist's name, and I've forgotten it, but they are Canadian. (Malika Pannek - a German-Canadian illustrator who lives in Canada). Oh, shoot—I just saw on her website (The Paperhood) that she has two new jigsaw puzzles. 

For the longest time, that building on the left was just floating, but now it's attached to the side, and I'm working on the building on the right, as well as the big tree. I'm not nearly as neat as when I worked on some of the others. There are pieces everywhere, but all is good. 

Good progress

Here are a couple of things I discovered on my morning walk. The for-rent e-scooters are back on the sidewalks, although they seem to be different models from last year. I noticed this sign on them that you can't really miss while riding. Do you see what it says? "No riding on sidewalks," and yet every one of them is ridden on a sidewalk. It's a disaster waiting to happen. 

A note on the for-rent e-scooters

I also spotted the little white e-car again. The driver must live in the retirement home down the street, and there is a multi-purpose path (right beside the sidewalk) that connects the retirement home to the gas station. He always parks in the handicap parking, which looks ridiculous since his car is so tiny, but it's close to the entrance. I have never seen the gentleman outside the car, so I wonder if he drives there and gets them to bring out what he is buying? Or does he just park there to have a rest? 

He has followed me several times down the multi-purpose path (I typically walk on the sidewalk), but he comes up slow behind me, until I hear him, and then he zips past. Now, if only we could get the e-scooters to do the same thing. 

Talk about gas prices jumping. When I walked Murphy past this station before 8 AM, the price was 190.0. Half an hour later, when I walked Lexi past the station, the price had dropped by 18 cents! Please note that our prices are per liter, not per gallon, if you are reading from the US. There must have been some good news about the supply to cause it to drop that much! 

Fill up the car!!!!!

Then, as Miss Lexi and I were forest bathing, we turned the corner, and I spotted something white high in a tree. So we went to investigate, and OH MY—there was a cat in the tree. It didn't seem stressed and was as quiet as a mouse, so I guess it didn't need rescuing. 

Cat in the tree

While you can't see the cat in this picture, it was quite high up!

The trees where the cat was sitting

And Miss Murphy—well, she is not happy these days. Because the weather is still quite cool, and I wasn't outside. However, she can see me sitting in the kitchen while I ice my knee, she decided that we should play ball. She grabs the ball, throws it in the pond, then gives a sharp bark, and stares at me!!!!

MOM - Let's play ball

And when I didn't go out, she sulked. I felt so bad that I went and threw the ball a couple of times for her. She is 10 or 11 and shows no signs of slowing down, although I think she is having a bit of trouble with her back legs. That is a common issue for this breed and this age of dog. I must consult the vet or check online to get her something to help with her joints. I probably should have done that a long time ago. 

MOM - I'm so sad....... come play with me!!!!

But then we had quite the storm later in the afternoon, and she was frantic. I finally had to put her thunder shirt on her to try and calm her down, but it didn't seem to be working. 

MOM - I'm scared!!!!!

She was trying to find a quiet, dark place to hide. I opened all the doors to the closets and rooms in hopes she would go into one of the spaces and settle down, but that didn't happen. And what's wrong with the stash room? When the lights are off, that room is dark, and she hides behind the shelf. But dogs can feel the storm in the air, and that was not making her happy. 

MOM - it's so scary!!!!

Thankfully, the storm didn't last long, and she was back to her happy self. 

I also got a customer quilt loaded on the long arm, but by the time things settled down at the house, it was getting too late in the day to start, so I'll be at work on that today. 

And I took KU out to lunch as it was her birthday. We went to the crepe place in the mall and OH MY --- the crepes are to die for!! They have sweet and savory options, and it's so hard to choose which to have. And they are super filling. If you're ever looking for something different and are near the mall, you should try this place. I only go there for special occasions because it is way too decadent to eat often. It is also busy and slow as they cook each crepe to perfection. 

While I was at the doctor's, I asked for a renewal of my medication (bone density), and I got a call that it was ready for pickup at the original drug store, which I changed at least a year ago. And the pills are not the same. I checked this morning, and they are the original ones she gave me that must be taken 30 minutes before eating. Sigh...................   I have to call her and get her to give me the other drug, which allows me to take it with a meal. 

The sad thing is, there was NO warning on the drug packets that the drug needed to be taken 30 minutes before eating, and that you are not allowed to lie down for 30 minutes. 

On that happy note, I'm out of here! There's a lot on the agenda today, including Mother's Day brunch, so I must get things happening! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Somebody's been sleeping in my bed!

I think I'm in big trouble, and I need medical attention. Not mental health medical attention, but physical. My leg has been bothering me a lot, and it's time I did something about it. I could barely walk yesterday - at least without pain, and that is affecting my good leg, so there is no time to waste. What do I suspect is the issue? Well, where do I start? Issues with the PCL, which is a tendon on the back of the knee, and the sciatic nerves.  

Don't you love how I'm self-diagnosing? I'll go one step further and say that I need an MRI from the waist down on the leg. It's a hot mess. Yes -- I'm icing my knee and need to get back to serious stretching, but something doesn't feel right, and I need to get it fixed. Can you imagine what it would be like if I lost my mobility this way? 

As a result, my brain just wasn't as focused as I would have liked yesterday, but I still accomplished stuff. 

This is the state of the quilt bookcase. It's not full, but getting full. 

The shelves are almost full.

I still have piles of books to put on the shelves, and it looks like I might run out of room! ACK!!! If I do, then I must cull. I am NOT putting any books on the other side. But there are lots of little gaps here and there, where I can tuck a small book category. I should be good. 

This is what is left to put on the shelves.

But you would think that with moving the scrapbooking stuff and culling as much as I did, I would have plenty of room. Not so! Sigh.................

This is one stack of what got culled. 

One stack of books that needs to go

And another. 

These are mostly about dying fabric or painting on fabric - sigh..............

One more stack. Any would-be artists out there? These are all about learning to draw, perspective, and related topics. 

Books about drawing

The duplicates. 

Duplicate books

And also these two piles. 

General craft books

I guess it was very deceptive about how many books were mixed in with the piles of magazines. Well, this is a lesson to myself! I will NEVER buy another quilt book again. I know -- never say never, but I will think very long and hard before I buy another one. 

My goal is to get all the books back on the shelf, and then I can sort each category one at a time. I just need those books off the floor - I have run out of steam for this decluttering at the moment, and my next goal will be to deal with all the culled books before I move on to anything else. Where are those boxes and bags? 

And if you have a request for a book, let me know, as I might be able to help you. Two people contacted me yesterday; I was able to help one, but not the other. And at this point? I don't really care about keeping them. I just want them gone. 

I took one shelf on the top right and filled it with things that I want to deal with next. There are some books that I need to evaluate and will likely let go, there are some binders with patterns (actual ones and some from magazines), and all that will likely go. So I'm working on it—it just takes time, energy, and enthusiasm, and right now I've lost my enthusiasm for this project. BUT - I accomplished a lot on the first go-around, and the next one will not be nearly as bad. 

I have one last book to try and flog on the blog. If anyone wants this, it's yours. 

Featherweight book

To break it up because I was losing steam, I decided to start prepping blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt. I think there are 32 that need prepping. I got one completely cut out, and I traced the applique shapes for four more onto fusible web. 

Prepping blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler

So that was good!! I think I now have all the applique blocks covered; the rest are pieced, so I have all my scrap fabrics laid out on the cutting table, and I'll try to tackle a few each day. The pieces are small - the blocks are 6½" and well, I'm just going to forge ahead and make this happen. 

Oh -- I also trimmed some HSTs that were languishing on the cutting table. It's not perfectly clear, but it's not in too bad shape. 

HSTs trimmed

As I walked the girls through the forest yesterday, I spotted that little plant that I rescued from its restraints. 

The one on top is the rescued one, and you can see from the bottom plant what it's supposed to look like. 

What happened to the plant that was restrained

But you know what? It doesn't matter -- this one will be a bit warped its entire life, but it still deserves a chance. It's kind of like people - we are not all perfect, but that makes us unique in an interesting way, and beauty is NOT in perfection. We should keep that in mind when we are quilting -- perfection just isn't always possible, so we do what we can. Learn to rescue the mistakes. And this poor plant's mistake was to grow inside the hole in a dead leaf, and it wasn't strong enough to break the bond. 

A bit warped, but it'll be fine!

There's my thimble collection. It doesn't take up much room, and it sits right above my desk, so I get to see it every day. Some of those shelves are too short for thimbles, so I may have to cull some of the odd ones if I ever get to that point. 

My thimble collection

Here are the two magnets that we got in Italy. I never did decide on one for Rome, but that's OK. You must be careful because the same magnet can cost between 1 and 6 Euros, depending on where you buy it. 

My two magnets from the recent trip

And that's the entire collection we have. And that's from many years - we haven't culled any magnets. Well, there are a few that need to be glued back together, but only about two. 

There's no danger of running out of room for a long time. My SIL bought us a magnet from Sicily, so that was allowed. No duplicates, although Taormina is located in Sicily. 

The three new magnets from this trip

So our girls technically have their own dog beds, but they can basically sleep wherever they want. The only one that is restricted is Lexi's kennel, but I've noticed that Murphy is getting braver and braver and will poke her nose in to see if Lexi has tried to hoard any food in there. And Lexi doesn't like sleeping on the bed in the window. 

Besides her bed in the family room and her kennel, this is Lexi's third favorite spot to sleep. It's an old quilt I've folded up, and when I'm reading in the living room, she likes to stretch out on it. She often spends the night there. And I suspect she is starting to get deaf or just a very deep sleeper, because when she's out, she's out! 

Once, I went to touch her in the early morning, and she freaked out!!

MOM -- this is my sleeping spot - no blondes allowed!

Last night, as I was sitting in the living room, I didn't see what happened, but I heard Lexi chatting up a storm and looked to see Murphy sleeping on Lexi's quilt. Now technically, this one is for both, but Lexi was mad. Despite all her insistence, Murphy didn't budge. 

MOM - Murphy is sleeping in my spot!

Murphy thinks the entire downstairs is for her to sleep. Actually, she has two spots --- tucked away in behind everything in the stash room in Studio B. I mean - tucked way behind the shelves. And the second spot is under the current project table. 

She no longer spends much time upstairs; when she does come up, she doesn't like to stay there. She has had to learn to slow down on the stairs because she will slip, and she isn't comfortable with that. I think she mostly comes upstairs if there is a storm. 

Both girls have dog beds in the family room, and Murphy's is large enough that I often lie down with her and give her cuddles, which we did yesterday. She also has the bed in the window, which she doesn't use as much, and I suspect she finds it uncomfortable to get up there. And she has one in my office. 

So imagine my surprise this morning when I came downstairs to find this! 

MOM -- this bed is so comfy!!! I don't care if it belongs to Lexi.

WHAT?????? She has never slept in Lexi's bed before. She may have put a paw or two in there, or attempted to search for food (Lexi likes to hoard food), but she has never sat in or definitely not slept in it. Well, what does this mean? Do I need to buy her a raised bed as well? If so, one of the other beds will need to go. 

How forward of her!!!!! And poor Lexi -- she tries to keep things neat and finds little cubbies to hoard food, but it's like Murphy has a radar on her nose for anything edible. 

I had some interesting conversations at the gym yesterday morning, and YES - maybe some of my workout exacerbated my knee, but I don't think so. It's been bad for a couple of days. I survived Brooke's class, and I'm not sore this morning. I'll have to tell you about my conversations tomorrow—interesting stuff! BTW, my knee only hurts when walking, and that's what gets it started. Just hanging around the house isn't a problem. 

I have one last thing to share, and it's about quilted jackets. There is a sew-along by Grainline Studio for the Tamarack Jacket, a basic quilted jacket that covers the essentials of quilted-jacket-making. The videos are very good, though there are a couple of things I might do differently. I'll be hosting TWO one-hour Zoom sessions about the videos and how we can use those techniques with ANY quilted jacket pattern. The sessions are free and will require you to watch all the Tamarack Jacket videos (about 6 hours over 2 months). If you are interested, please email me (elainetheriault@gmail.com), so I can add you to the distribution list, as that is how the Zoom link will be forwarded. 

This will be a discussion, not a lecture, so you will not get anything out of the sessions if you haven't watched the videos. But if you are at all interested in making a quilted jacket, I highly recommend you attend - but watch the videos first. We're going to discuss the pros and cons and offer alternatives to some of the techniques Jen (Grainline Studio) teaches in her classes. I highly recommend watching those videos, even if you don't attend my two sessions. 

They are on YouTube - here's the link. 

And that's it for today. It's a busy day—I have THREE things to do today: a personal workout with Brooke (and I'm going to use the compression pants, which I haven't used for a couple of weeks, to help my knee), a dentist appointment (I've been flossing like mad), and lunch (hoping to offload a few books). I'm exhausted already!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!