It's all about the puzzles!!!!

 OH—rushed for time this morning—I'll read the comments later, but I see comments about the wedding, which is quickly approaching! 

Well, Brooke has a conflict this morning, so I read the comments. I LOVE the idea of the movie wedding! How cool is that! And since I'm not off to the gym this morning, I managed to get quite a bit of work done on the presentation for Saturday. 

I think I have walked into a giant rabbit hole. Funny how that happens with anything I do! So, you all know I love doing jigsaw puzzles. I always have, but never took much time throughout the year to work on them because of sewing deadlines. Well, now I have time to work on them a bit more, and I try to keep it to the evenings since I still have sewing stuff to do. 

I hope this link will still work for you (I think it was a reel, so it may be gone), but someone sent me this link about my favorite jigsaw puzzle store in Georgetown - Puzzles Canada. Turns out there are puzzle competitions in Canada, including one sponsored by Puzzles Canada. It happens to be next weekend, but I won't be around. I don't even know if they are open for spectators. That led to finding the Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association on Facebook, which I became a member of. 

Update: I sent an email asking if spectators can attend, and I got a response almost immediately. YES --- spectators are encouraged, and of course, Puzzles Canada will be there, and of course, they will have puzzles for sale! I can go to the Sunday afternoon events on my way home. Hmmmm --- I think I might put that on my agenda - what do I have to lose? It will be loads of fun and informative! It's noted on my agenda! 

Let's just say that I'm getting a ton of Facebook posts about puzzles! Oh my!!! A new (to me) company that has some amazing puzzles is Villager.  Oh my --- I spotted one for Salt Spring Island. As so it goes!!!! Here is the link to their new puzzles. This is a Canadian company, and all the artists are women! 

I do not need to buy any new or used puzzles at the moment, but oh my --- the possibilities are endless. I guess I know what I'll be doing to take a break from sewing, as I can't see myself sewing all day, every day. Making a puzzle doesn't take up much room  - a 2-foot by 3-foot space is more than enough, and put the pieces on some make-shift boards made with felt and foam core, and you are set! 

And I spotted a virtual event that was based in Canada! It happened on May 9th. Who knew that all this stuff was happening? I've been so focused on quilting!!!! WAIT --- I also see there is another virtual event coming up. Hmmm! I might buy the puzzle they just worked on and do a practice run to see if I can actually work under pressure. And do I want to work under that kind of pressure? It would be fun to try once. 

Speaking of puzzles, here is the status of the one I'm working on. I have certainly gotten my money's worth from this one. This was after about two hours last night.  

Progress is being made on my existing puzzle

The holes are filling in, but the border is still not connected in some spots. I should be able to finish it by the time I leave for the retreat. OK -- that's doable! 

I spotted this photo on Facebook, and well, we need one of these in our neighborhood. What a great idea! 

Jigsaw Puzzle exchange library

Before I go, here's an interesting thought about puzzles versus quilting. You get loads of entertainment, it's probably no more expensive than quilting - actually, probably cheaper since it doesn't require any special tools. And once you are done, you can swap the puzzle or give it away. You don't have to worry about any UFOs. Hmmmmmmm 

OK - enough about the puzzles, let's get on with sewing. I think I mentioned that I finished all the applique for Color My World, but since the sewing machine was set up for applique - such a tough job to set it up - NOT!!! I continued with applique and completed all the stitching on this wall hanging. 

The hexagons are all stitched down

The fabric hexagons and one cardboard template were cut on a digital cutter (Momento) in mere minutes. I love that I can take an entire fat quarter and cut it with the Momento! The hexagons have been fused to the background for a couple of months. The edges are turned under, so I needed to do machine invisible applique as I did for the house blocks. 

That is done, and I still have more invisible appliqué to do later today, but first I have some piecing to do. No—wait—I think I have to do the appliqué before I do the piecing. Anyway, I have no choice now but to work on the homework - I've delayed it as much as I can. I got some of the presentation work done for the weekend, but I'm a wee bit behind. 

I got one more customer quilt done. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I have to call it quits on the long arm for the time being, until I finish preparing for the weekend classes. Although the machine works on its own, it's still very time-consuming and requires focus. So I don't get a ton of work done. Today is the day for focus!!!

I scanned one picture from Katimavik and sent it as a sample to Radar's brother. The old printer still works very well as a scanner, and I hope to use it to print something today, as I don't have time to set up the new one. Here's the new one - a white printer! 

Update --- No go on printing with the old printer. After leaving the cartridges out, they have dried up. So I have opened the box on the new one, and it's sitting on the kitchen counter. I need to print a few pages, and then I'll find a home for it tomorrow. 

The new printer

As I was looking through my Katimavik photo album, I spotted a group photo of all of us in the military option. They did not have that option very long. I'm not sure if it lasted only one year. But I counted, and there were close to 50 people in our group. I think the full program only ran once. They offered shorter programs in other years. 

The Katimavik military option group

It was an exciting and life-changing experience, and even though it was tough, it was NOT as tough as the boot camp the regular force goes through. But it was tough. I found lots of pictures of the girls in the hallway in their underwear. Why I took those pictures is beyond me, but it's a good memory. But why in our underwear? Because our uniforms were pressed and cleaned, no one wanted to get them dirty or wrinkled before inspection. Our barracks had to be clean as well. So we did that cleaning in our underwear, then got dressed! Perhaps that is why I'm not good with rules and authority! 

That group then got split into three groups - one for communications, one for infantry, and I can't remember what the third group was. Or maybe there were only two groups. It was interesting because most of the communications group were females, while the infantry were males, and we ended up at the same base (Valcartier, Quebec) for the final three months of the program. More than one couple resulted from that program. 

Hmmm—be careful what you wish for! The weather has been cool, with lots of rain and no sun. Or that's how it seemed. Then we had three HOT days with humidity. A cold front moved in, and it's back to freezing again. It's currently 7 degrees C. That's a 30-degree difference from the "feels like" 36 we had just a short time ago. 

This is the alarm pad in the house, and I don't know where it gets its data from, but I think it's a bit off! Even though it's cold, it's not this cold!

Hmmm-- where is this data coming from?

So that was a weird way to write the blog, but it got done. I have a very busy day at the sewing machine. But the first thing is to get that new printer fired up because I need a pattern! Then I'm off to work. I still have a couple of videos to finish reviewing for the weekend and quite a bit of sewing. I've been working on stuff, but not the right stuff! Typical me! 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Conquering roadblocks

We still have beeping in our house. It's not the smoke or carbon detector. I have a suspicion it's the sensor in the side door that needs a new battery. It's powered by something, so there must be a battery. 

One more thing to deal with! It's these niggly little things that are time-consuming because you have to figure out how to fix them! And yes -- I checked the thermostat -- the batteries are fine. 

My stretch session was excellent. I sure wish they would have classes for stretching. I know -- it's easy to do at home. Well, if it's so easy -- why don't I do it? Because I don't think of it. So I must put this on my calendar! 

So, let's zip back to what I did the day before since I ran out of time yesterday. 

Here's the customer quilt that was done two days ago. I MUST trim these quilts later today. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And I got another one done yesterday, so there are three to trim!  

Customer quilt - DONE

And I plan on getting another one done later today. 

Look how forward-thinking I am. I pulled out TWO jigsaw puzzles to work on. But I can only work on those once the December classes are done! I know -- I'll be teasing myself for two months, but that's OK. It's something to look forward to, among MANY other things. 

My winter jigsaw puzzles are lined up

Last night, we had our Jen Kingwell remedial class. Oh my --- I can't tell you how excited I was. So many of the tops are getting finished. A few of us are still working on our Kingwell quilts. Some quilts are even quilted and bound, while others are currently at the long-arm quilter, waiting to be quilted. That remedial class was a great idea!!

I have worked on FOUR Jen Kingwell quilts, three of which are entirely done thanks to the remedial class. But the fourth one remains - Green Tea and Sweet Beans, which has applique. Now, I love applique, but I have a mental block sometimes that applique takes forever, and it's hard. Why do we wind ourselves up like this? 

So, I got myself organized on Thursday night. I set up the computer to watch the finale of The Great British Baking Show, and I prepped all the applique pieces for one of the two remaining blocks for this quilt. 

Prepping the applique pieces

I had finished the applique prep long before the show was over. See what I mean? We get these roadblocks in our heads, and it's really not a big deal when you set yourself down to do the task. 

I HAD AN ISSUE when I went to glue the pieces in place. The darn glue was very much dried up. Well, not so much the glue, but the applicators. I HATE these applicators --- the long needle-like spout is a pain, yet I LOVE it for the fine tip; but does it need to be that long? I suspect they used some already existing part, and rather than shorten it, they left it as is. 

Dried up glue bits

So I got some boiling water and immersed both of the applicator tips. 

Soaking the applicator tips

While they were soaking, I pulled out the NEW bottle with a shorter, plastic applicator tip. 

New design of glue bottle

While this tip doesn't get clogged, it doesn't give quite the neatest glue dots like the metal ones. But it's better than nothing. After soaking those tips for quite a while, I still could not get them unclogged. Hmmm --- I might just use this small one, and then I can transfer the glue to the small one when it's empty. 

The other thing that helped me enormously was to switch sewing machines. That wasn't a big deal, but I'm doing an invisible machine applique with a small zigzag, and I would love to be able to stitch with a width of 1.0, but I can't. Wait -- I didn't even try it yesterday. DUH!!!! 

So, with the Husqvarna Viking brand of machines, I can set my stitch width to 1.5 or 1.0. I want a number in between those two. I am sewing on my PFAFF these days and can set the width to 1.2. This is PERFECT!!!!

The other thing that immensely helped was the new magnifying lens I can install directly on the machine. 

Magnifying lens

So, as I was working, it was easy to see exactly where I wanted that needle and thread to be. 

So easy to see the detail

OK -- I love these magnifying lenses; the set has three strengths. Yes -- I could wear reading glasses, but then I have to find them. This thing attaches directly to the machine! And since I have it -- I should use it! It only works on the large-bodied machines on either Husqvarna Viking or PFAFF. 

There are four sections to Green Tea and the borders. I have two sections completely done and sewn together. I pulled out another section, and that was my focus. I was hoping to get it done for last night's class. 

A section of the Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt

But as the day went on and I plodded with that challenging block, I was THRILLED beyond belief to get the block completed, and I had 30 minutes to spare before the class started. 

THE roadblock block

You can see this block's challenge as some of the applique pieces were underneath other pieces, and the whole background was pieced. So it was a bit crazy. 

Some CRAZY assembly required

The bottom line -- the block is done!!!!

One more part of the section is complete

I need to add a few more leaves to the dancing flowers on the bottom left and fix the bottom of the block on the bottom right. Then, both of those will need to be trimmed. I have a few more strips to cut for fillers, and this section can be sewn together. 

There is ONE more applique block to finish the final section. Can I get that all done before the next remedial class? I'm going to try, and that will leave the applique borders! I want to make them, but I'll see how it goes. It would be nice to get this quilt off my plate by the end of the year. 

The presentations for today are ready to go - OK -- so there is one more picture I want to add. I have one thing left to finish for tomorrow's UFO class, and I need to finish my challenge piece for next week. I've abandoned that to get all this other stuff done, but hopefully, it will be easy to finish off. I might be hand-stitching on the plane! 

If anyone has signed up for my classes at The Hobby Horse (Free-motion quilting and panels), I will send out confirmations sometime next week. Hopefully! I'm away, so I will see how it goes since I won't have my contact list with me, but I should be able to make it happen. 

If you are in the panel class -- you want to search out ONE panel you want to work on and send me a photo. It can be anything, and it doesn't have to be for the first class, but it would be nice. 

If you are in the free-motion class - you will want to have your machine set up with practice quilt sandwiches ready. 

Those take little time to prepare!

In all of the homework prep, I'm still sewing and trimming those little triangles. I have a few on the cutting table to trim, which I'll get to later today. 

Trimmed half-square triangles

This little guy is everywhere! He's downstairs with me and the big dog. 

Little dog - big dog

Then he went outside with the other big dog. 

Little dog - big dog

Did you notice he is always in front of the big dog? That's because he's so small; we wouldn't see him if it were the other way around! 

He is such a goof and actually a cute little guy. I will confess that in the past, I never felt his personality. That's a mean thing, but while he was cute, I don't think we had bonded. OK -- now we have connected, and he isn't allowed to return home! Home -- this is his home! We have a routine!!!

Speaking of the big dogs, look what Murphy did. I have no idea how she split that bone apart. I've never seen that happen before, so there must have been a crack in the bone? I sure hope her teeth are intact. Needless to say, she wanted the stuff inside, and she got it! 

Murphy figured out how to split this bone

And there's the new roof line on the one half of the Loblaw store! This was on my way home after I stopped at the thrift shop to pick up a few things I had spotted the day before, but since I didn't have money with me, I hoped they would still be there, and they were! I had a 20% coupon (from donating some stuff), so that was great. I think I can get a rebate of $2 by answering a survey, so if I do that, I save a lot of money!

The new roofline

That's it for today! I'm so excited about my Green Tea quilt. Getting that block done was HUGE; hopefully, the floodgates are open to finish it. 

What obstacles do you have to overcome, and how can you get motivated to overcome them? I had a deadline, and that was good enough for me. I had to laugh because a few others were in the same boat as me, and I think a lot of work on Jen Kingwell quilts happened yesterday!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

It's all about applique!

I did little in the cleaning department yesterday. Too many other more exciting things, but I did some more laundry, and I'll share the story of a quilt tomorrow. 

Here's a couple of exciting things about applique. Yes  -- I'll share my progress on Enchanted Autumn later today. 

I'm notorious for keeping small bits of things. They WILL come in handy one day - I know they will! So I saved bits of fusible web, and one day, I sorted through my fusible web bits. All the larger pieces were stacked in the cupboard, and all the bits got put into a bag. 

When it came time to work on the Enchanted Autumn quilt at a retreat at K&A Quilt Studio in August, I took the pattern and the bag of bits and traced almost all the pieces from those bits. I don't know how many different brands there were in the bag, but definitely, there was Steam a Seam and Heat and Bond. There were probably several different weights as well. 

I'm almost done, and I've not had any issues with the needle gumming up. I've heard horror stories from others that they couldn't even stitch through their appliques. I've never had that issue -- I wonder why? I don't use a special needle; this is the same needle I would piece with. I use an open-toe applique foot to see into all the nooks and crannies. 

Two days ago, I noticed some gumminess on my needle. It's hard to get a picture of it as it's so tiny, but it's actually picking up small bits of thread.

A bit of thread link sticking to the needle

And here's more -- it seems that the thread lint was getting stuck to a bit of gumminess on the needle rather than the glue itself, which is usually what I get. 

More thread lint on the needle

It did make for a slightly messy edge on some of the pieces, but this quilt is so busy that I doubt anyone will notice. 

A slightly messy edge of the applique

This edge is much cleaner. 

A much cleaner edge

Hmmm -- I need to go back and do some experimenting to see which product worked the best. Seriously, all products worked just fine, but one of them was a bit worse than the others. It could also depend on the product's age, as I bet some bits had been there for quite a while. 

Most of the bits are used up!! And going forward, I'll keep on top of those bits. 

Circles are very time-consuming, and there were a lot of circles on this quilt! 

Circles appliqued in place

I have access to many toys for the sewing machine, including the machines themselves. If you are a lover of applique, here's a couple of things that you'll love! If you're in the market for a new machine, you might want to check these out. 

There is a LOT of pivoting required for applique. Whether around curves, inside points, or outside points, or wherever. It's rare that we only work on straight edges with no bends in them. 

Getting the points and corners nice really makes the applique shine. So if you have the Exclusive Sensor System on the machines from SVP (PFAFF and Husqvarna Viking -- not all levels!) and use the needle down feature, your machine will stop with the needle in the down position (in your fabric). The presser foot will raise ever so slightly so you can pivot HANDS-FREE!! 

There is NO need to touch the presser foot lever because there isn't one! My "grown-up" embroidery machine (HV Designer 1) introduced me to this technology over 20 years ago, and I LOVE it. 

All the function buttons are right on the machine, right above the needle. 

BUT -- they've gone one step further. Most of those functions can be programmed into the Multi-Function Foot Control (MFFC). YES!!!!  

Programming the Multi-Function Foot Control

This is a HUGE foot pedal that is heavy, so it stays put. At first, I thought I wasn't going to like it and would end up pressing the wrong function or pressing a function when I didn't want it. But as you can see, without your shoe, there is loads of room on that foot pedal. 

Lots of room for your foot

OK --- so here's what I did and why.

I have scissors on my sewing machine, but I do NOT use them for applique. Why? Cutting with the scissor function results in a short bobbin thread, and you can't control it. I'll come up and get mixed with the top thread and leave a white or black blob on top. I prefer to cut the thread tails myself, so the bobbin thread is LONG, and I bring that to the top when I start. Then I can trim it off close to the start of my stitching when I'm done. 

I almost always use my FIX function at the start and the end of a line of applique stitching, and I programmed that into the left-wing of the MFFC. Instead of touching the function panel, I swing my foot left. 

Then I programmed the Stitch Restart into the right-wing of the MFFC. Because I don't use the scissors, the stitches will just end and not necessarily at the end of a stitch sequence. The Stitch Restart will take it back to the beginning of the sequence. Totally INVALUABLE. 

I still have one last position on the MFFC. I programmed the Presser Foot Up into the heel section. Now when I want to raise the bobbin thread to the top, I tap the foot pedal lightly ONCE, and the needle goes down, as does the presser foot. Then I tap lightly once more, and the needle comes up, bringing the bobbin thread with it. You MUST hold the top thread for that to happen. 

Then I need to get those threads to the back of the work UNDER the presser foot. A wee bit of pressure on the heel of the MFFC, and the presser foot raises up so I can tuck the threads behind the foot. 

It's so seamless with the MFFC and all I have to do is steer the fabric and keep track of the threads. So using that MFFC for applique is HUGE. 

I switch the functions around for other things, but this combination works amazingly well for applique. Best of all, I'm actually ENJOYING the applique process. WOW!!!!

 

Here's a photo of going around a point that can be tricky with a buttonhole (blanket stitch), but I've done miles of it in my life, so it's super easy for me. And even easier with the new tools!

Going around a point

OK -- so the MFFC isn't new, but the way I used it lately is new to me. The best part is that it's programmable, so it'll work for you for whichever project you want to tackle. And I just like the fact that it's large and heavy with a rubber surface on the back, so it doesn't travel along the floor. 

I have threads all over the table, and I'm not putting them away until this quilt top is DONE. Actually, I want to finish my Kimberbell pillow as well, and then I'll put the threads away!

Threads used for applique

And now you want to know the status? Well, one more block is done!! That leaves THREE blocks. And Christmas is almost here. 

One more block for Enchanted Autumn

WAIT --- I got one more block done last night. Yeah!!!!! That leaves TWO blocks. And I've been wise and leaving the smaller blocks to the end. So there's a possibility that it'll get done BEFORE Christmas. 

A second block for Enchanted Autumn

I don't know what happened, but I've been trying to book tickets for the cinema on Christmas Day. Ten days ago, I could see the showtimes, then I couldn't. But after talking about it with Ronda yesterday and I double-checked, the darn theatre times were back! So we now have tickets to the VIP for Christmas Day to see - well, you have to wait for that. But NO Food. I don't think they are serving anything in the theatre, not even in the VIP lounge. Sigh........................

I fired up the long arm yesterday and got a customer quilt done! That leaves TWO left to finish this year. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And this is Murphy's version of TV, although she does love to watch actual TV as well. What a goof. It does irk me (OH GOSH  -- here I go again!) when people decide to walk their dogs RIGHT behind my fence. There is NO path there, and even when my girls go crazy, the person continues to amble through the woods. Let's just say the person and I had a discussion about it. Like -- there's a path, and why wouldn't you walk on the path instead of traipsing over roots and sticks and crap?? 

Murphy keeping an eye on the backyard

I also got all my documents downloaded. YEAH!!! Now it's time to answer some e-mails today - long-overdue confirmation for some classes and events. 

I sat down last night with my notebook -- yep -- I found my UFO book and made a list of goals for 2022. Wow -- I'm excited to see those goals on the list, and yes -- I'm still a bit behind, but if things go well, I can have FOUR more UFOs off those lists by the end of the year! I'm determined, and next year, I'm going to focus a bit more so I can try and get caught up! Oh yes --- I'm on a roll!

Working on Enchanted Autumn through the UFO group has shown me that I CAN get these big labor-intensive quilts done. That's a huge motivator, and I did most of the work when I was incredibly busy with work. Oh yes -- bring on 2022!!!! I'm ready. 

Don't forget there is a Virtual Retreat on December 26th. We'll start at 10 AM and go until whenever. I'll be working on a different UFO!!!!

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81623159049?pwd=d0M2MmVrb1owQTZVelNrakIvbktndz09 Meeting ID: 816 2315 9049 Passcode: 799934

And that's it for today! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Focusing gets the job done

 Another fantastic day with the Monday sewing group. If you haven't joined an online sewing group yet, you're missing some great entertainment. We chat about everything and anything, and it's just a hoot. We help each other, solve problems and actually get some work done! I think Zoom sewing groups or groups of any kind will never go away. Imagine if a friend moves away - they can still be part of the group. People from all over the world can participate!

I'm playing catchup today with some photos sitting here and no time to post them. 

I took this when I was at Staples printing the Kimberbell instructions, and I haven't been there in a while to print anything. You enter your credit card and your USB and follow the instructions, and you're done! Super easy! or should I say, "That was EASY!" There is a terminal like this attached to each printer. 

The command terminal for the printer

The morning that Dede came to embroidery with me, this was the sewing area. She used one of my machines, and everything looked so clean and under control. I dare not take a picture this morning as there are embroidery threads strewn all over the tables. I'm DETERMINED to finish my quilt, and I'm focusing on nothing else. 

Set up to do machine embroidery

So this is what happened during the Virtual Retreat. I finished all the buttonhole (blanket) stitching on this block. This is for my Enchanted Autumn quilt. Yeah!!! 

One applique block completed

As mentioned, I'm focused, and I want this quilt to be done. It's the last project on the 2018 UFO list, and it NEEDS to be done by the end of this year. 

So I finished another block before I packed it in for the Virtual Retreat on Saturday night. 

One more applique block - DONE

More on the progress in a second.

This picture doesn't do justice to the real thing. This was the morning after our snow, and the sun shone on the tree. It looked like there was a spotlight on it, and it was spectacular. 

Snow on the trees

This was taken on our walk in the forest, and the sun was peeking through the trees. Stunning. 

Early morning walk in the forest

And Murphy has no worries about the sun as she checks out the squirrels. 

Checking out the squirrels

OH -- I should mention that today is the winter solstice. Do you know what that means? We're going to get a bit more daylight each day going forward. Yeah!!!  Winter is almost over! OK -- who am I kidding, but it's a positive sign. 

So I've been lax with the bird feeders in the backyard, but I went to Rona a while back, and this was the best that I could get. It's huge and red! The color and the size will chase the birds away. And so far, it's been empty. HOWEVER, I noticed ONE lone bird happy to sit on the feeder tray and be content. Sit and eat, sit and eat. What more could a bird want? If they need water, the heater is in the pond, and they can get water there. 

One lone bird at the feeder

I'm working my way through all the loose tea in our house. Here I am making more tea bags. One day I'll get through it all. It's incredible how much of this stuff accumulates in the house, and if no one drinks it, then it just stays. My decluttering mission is to use up or throw out or give away. In this instance, I'm using up. I've almost used up all the empty tea bags that we have. Then I'll move to the tea strainer. 

Making tea bags

Some of the flavors have been weird, but I drink them anyway. None of them have been nasty. And one day, I'll be able to buy my own tea. What will I buy? I think I know, and it doesn't involve loose tea, nor is it Tim's. 

OK -- so we are pretty bad at our house when it comes to cleaning. I don't do much in the cleaning department, but I'm faced with a house full of dust. We needed to vacuum all the furniture, and I got the family room couches done the other day; it's onto the living room later today. 

That means we need the attachments for the vacuum. I know exactly where they are, and I pulled out this bag from the laundry room.  

A bag of vacuum attachments

WHAT?? They don't fit!  Seriously???  Back to the laundry room and found another bag of attachments that work with the central vac. I even emptied the container in the garage to get maximum suction. So, where did the set of attachments above come from? No idea! We certainly don't have another vacuum that takes attachments. Oh well -- those are going. No need to clutter up the shelves in the laundry room. 

We chatted about cereal shortages during the retreat, and if you didn't know, there's been a strike at Kellogg's since October 5, and some cereals are in shortage. I had no idea since we don't buy cold cereal. But someone was looking to make Rice Krispie squares, and I found this at my grocery store yesterday. 

Rice Krispies with brown rice!

And there was a package of organic regular Rice Krispies! But this was the cornflake and Rice Krispie section at the grocery store. Empty!!

The Corn Flakes and Rice Krispie section at the grocery store

 I think I'm good for oatmeal for a while as DH had gone grocery shopping and bought two instead of just one. That's perfectly fine by me, as I'm grumpy if I don't get my oatmeal. 

My private cereal stash

And look at that bird feeder. It looks like the SAME bird. He is obviously not telling his friends, and why would he? If he says nothing, he's guaranteed food all winter long. Smart bird!!!

Different day -- only one bird

I had to pop out to the library yesterday to pick up a book that I'm excited to read. A recommendation from someone -- sorry, I can't remember who mentioned it. But it's called Let the Elephants Run by David Usher. It's a book about letting your creativity run wild! 

I always check the featured bookshelf and look at what I found. 

Another potentially interesting book

I wasn't going to pick it up, but it's a small book and not very thick. I think I'll be gloating the entire time I read the book. I used to enjoy buying books from them, but no longer. I will only buy from them if it's the last resort. I don't care how much cheaper they are or how fast they deliver. I do NOT need anything that bad that I willingly support them. I'll tell you why after I read the book. I prefer to shop in person! 

If you want to read a sort of spoof about the direction of the world as this particular company gets even more extensive, read The Warehouse by Rob Hart. And it all kind of reminds me of 1984 by George Orwell. Hmmm -- I might reread that book; I've just put the audiobook version on hold. 

OK -- back to the Enchanted Autumn quilt. Before the retreat was up, I managed to get another block done. 

One more Enchanted Autumn block - DONE

And I continued while we had Monday sewing, and this block got finished, as well. I told you, I'm on a roll -- this needs to be done.  

And after Monday sewing was over, I pulled out my audiobook and kept going. But after a while, I needed a break from the book, so I set up my laptop to watch The Great British Baking Show. One more episode down and one more block ALMOST finished. I ran out of time this morning. 

Appliqueing and watching The Great British Baking Show

I'd like to keep going on it, and I'll for sure finish this block today, but I also have some cleaning to do, a Zoom session with someone, a dentist appointment that I swear was scheduled for January. There are deadline quilts to make and quilts to quilt for customers. 

So it's going to be a busy day, and before I start cleaning, I'd better pop an allergy pill, not that it helps, and I'll be wearing a mask. I can feel my nose sniffling this morning, and that's not a good way to start the day. It's not a cold -- it's just all the darn dust in the house. 

How is your goal setting coming along? I've been thinking about them but haven't set anything on paper yet. I've got to start doing that. The goals don't need to be big, nor do they need to be many, but having a plan gives you a great sense of accomplishment when you complete it. 

Why not try a walking goal? It doesn't have to be huge -- there are some short virtual walks -- as short at 42 KM, and you have 18 months to complete it. I think most people could accomplish that! If you do sign up at the Conqueror for a medal or buy it as a gift for someone, mention my name!!! 

Don't forget there's a Virtual Retreat on December 26 (Sunday). So if you've nothing to do, pop on over to the Zoom link and say hi!!! As you can see, it's a neat way to stay focused, and I've been getting a tremendous amount of work done. 

Here's the Zoom link. 

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81623159049?pwd=d0M2MmVrb1owQTZVelNrakIvbktndz09 Meeting ID: 816 2315 9049 Passcode: 799934

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!