Challenges

Have you ever wondered how "easy" life would be if we didn't have challenges? Now I should explain that there are two kinds of challenges -- those that we intentionally dive into - like my virtual challenges and, of course, quilt challenges. And then there are those that we don't want to come into our lives. 

Like this....................

Yes -- I got an e-mail in the middle of the night about the latest UPS box I sent. Are you kidding me? I double and triple-checked that all the paperwork was complete. And now the darn parcel is held up again. I like UPS, but this is getting ridiculous. Let's see how quickly this can be cleared since I know how their system works (or not!). 

That was NOT a good way to start the morning. 

And how about the folks that own this house. When I walked past yesterday, it looked like they had removed more brick from the side. Seriously? I would never want to live there. Not sure if you can see the sag in the roof, but it's close to the peak and runs right down the roof parallel to the eave. All that will need to be replaced. It's going to take forever to get it fixed! 

A house under repair

We were chatting about the movie theatre at Monday sewing, and someone asked when the theatre would open in the mall. I took a walk by -- it's getting closer, but it looks like they still have a lot of work to do. They're working on the entrance, and all the outside needs to be closed in. 

Construction on the movie theatre entrance

Oh great -- I see in that photo that some idiot has left their garbage. Seriously?? How hard is it for people to take that home? I just wonder what goes through their mind. It's OK to keep their car clean, but not the parking lot? Who are these people? 

And there's a HUGE space near the building that isn't complete. What will go there? 

A huge space not finished

While I was searching the internet to find a new opening date for the theatre, which I didn't find, I found a picture of the comfy chairs in the new VIP theatre that we went to the other day. 

The seating in the VIP theatre

Let's just say that they are very comfy recliners. I think they should keep the reservation system. That way, if the chairs get damaged, they can track who sat in them. I ran across an article about some of those recliners getting damaged in Vancouver. Again - why? 

I had to move my sewing machine yesterday, and OH MY -- look at all the lint underneath! It's all cleared up!

Lint under the sewing machine

OK -- so let's talk about the fun side of a challenge. A fun challenge is to push yourself to do something you never thought was possible. How hard you want to push is your choice! Somewhere along the line, I got the motivation to push myself. Like cranking out at least 30 KM in the spin class or walking at least 11.5 KM every day. Is it easy? No - some days are harder than others.  But in the end, it's the satisfaction that I didn't let a bad mood or laziness win! That's hard to explain, but I get a lot of satisfaction from that. 

Then there are quilt challenges. Those are super fun and are NOT physical at all. I've participated in many quilt challenges over the years. Some have been more successful than others, but I learned a lot doing each of them. 

• They are small, so it's not a lot of wasted time or material if you go down a rabbit hole. 
• They allow you total freedom of expression (within limits of the challenge). 
• They allow you to try new techniques. 
• They push you to learn something new!
• You can keep quiet that you're working on a challenge, so only you know about it if it doesn't work out. 
• Be PROUD that you took a dive into making a challenge. 
• Quilting is a hobby, so it should be fun, but pushing yourself a wee bit is also fun!
• Don't overthink the technique or the way you'll depict the theme. Sometimes - simple is best!

I LOVE working on a quilt challenge. The new ideas that pop in your head, then figuring out how to transfer that idea into reality are exciting and give you something to mull over. Trying new techniques, goofing up on fabric choices, and having enough time to switch them out (always YES!). But I would say that where I am today in the quilt world was greatly helped by participating in challenges. 

Do I want to win? A ribbon would be nice, but that's not my goal. Finishing the challenge makes me a winner. 

There are tons of challenges around -- they can be as simple as those colored backgrounds that I worked on in the summer, and while I haven't forgotten them, I haven't had a chance to get back to them. But there are also guild challenges or challenges from other companies. 

The most important thing is to READ the instructions, note the sizes, what fabrics you can or cannot use, and the DATES. Write down those dates!!!

If you want to go BIG, there's the Cherrywood Challenge. This year's theme is Grafitti, and there's a bundle of fabric that you have to buy (this challenge is NOT cheap). I will get my bundle next weekend. I haven't done any research on graffiti yet, but I'll be starting soon so I can mull ideas around in my head.

There are four challenges hosted by the Canadian Quilter's Association. One is the Trendtex challenge and the colors this year are gorgeous! 

There's a guild challenge, a youth challenge, and an individual challenge. The individual challenge uses black and white fabrics. 

So I'm in for THREE challenges -- the individual challenge, the Trendtex, and the Cherrywood challenge. 

I need to review the requirements, check the dates and start thinking. And it's important to not leave any of this to the last minute! 

I will have the rest of my class information by FRIDAY of this week, so I'll be able to post everything over the weekend. Sometimes things are beyond my control! 

I'm happy to report that I got some machine embroidery and serging done yesterday! Progress was made at the sewing machine, but I can't share the work with you as it's all for classes or blog posts, or presentations. But soon, I can start to share with you. Let's just say that I"m a happy camper, and I've got so much room to work that it's dizzying!!! 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Winter Wonderland

 

What a difference 24 hours can make. I snapped this photo when I was returning from our morning walk. I think there's a bit of a mixed message here. 

Let's get both meanings of Christmas in the same scene! 

The meaning of Christmas

It's a bizarre display, but if it makes the owners happy, then it's their right to put this on their lawn. Just wait for the "after" pictures of outside at the end of the blog. But notice how green the grass is in this picture.  

As I searched for something the other day, I found this small quilt that I had made for a challenge several years ago. The theme of the challenge was Gone Viral or something like that. I think the theme was related to quilting on the internet. I think it's appropriate for our current situation! It's a bit difficult to read the word, but there's a word on it. 

My Gone Viral challenge quilt

When people saw it, it reminded them of a virus, so they didn't like it. Well, it works now! I was ahead of my time!

OH MY GOSH -- we had so much fun at the Virtual Retreat yesterday. We had some new people join us, and well - the day literally flew by. I'm not kidding - do you know how much more fun it was to sew with everyone than it was to sew alone!  Some people stayed most of the day, some people popped in to say HI, some people popped in and out as it suited their day. We got to see some amazing show and tell, answered some questions, solved the problems of the world, and just had FUN!!!! A HUGE thank you to everyone who logged in. 

The next one is scheduled for December 19, and 20 so get it on your calendar so you can stop by and say HI!!! 

What's even better is that I accomplished a TON of work, and I was a happy camper!!!

I started the day by going shopping. I needed some backing fabric for those two small red/white quilts that I finished a couple of weeks ago. I dug out the basket of red fabric and searched through them for something that worked. 

Shopping Chez Elaine

I found some red and white striped fabric, and that works for me. So this is the small quilt that I made with the four leftover blocks. The binding and the top were done, and now the backing is ready as well. So this got moved to the "to be quilted" pile. 

A mini-quilt ready to be quilted

I had enough of the striped fabric to use for the backing of the larger quilt as well. Hmm - that high-contrast could be a problem in those white setting triangles, but I don't think it'll be that big of a deal. The striped backing stays, so one more got moved to the "to be quilted" pile. This quilt is only 23 by 27 or something like that. 

A second mini-quilt ready to be quilted

I see that I"m missing a few pictures this morning. I was so focused that I didn't snap a lot of pictures as I was sewing. I must do that today!!! I need credit for everything I do! I was just so happy to have a day of personal sewing that I completely forgot to take pictures!!! But I swear I took pictures. 

I got quite a bit of stuff put away as well, which was GREAT. I have all the other Art-To-Heart books, so I had to have it when I saw this latest one. It's now on the bookshelf!

New Art-to-Heart book

All of the thread that I purchased this past week got filed away into a drawer, so that was good. I hope to fire up the embroidery machine this week, so I can get started. 

New thread purchases stored away

I also had some other spools hanging around, and now everything is in the same cabinet. Yeah!!

More thread

Even though I said I wasn't going to sweep everything off that cutting table, that's what I ended up doing. I got a block cut out and sewn together, so that was a huge thing to happen. You can't see the block, but you'll see it later this week. I love having the Zoom link on my laptop because I can move the group around as I need to in the studio to keep talking to them. 

Cutting out a block

Oh, for gosh sakes - I just found the four missing pictures. I finally emptied the scrap box, which was a little bit overflowing. I filled two small pet mats but haven't dug the serger out to close off the end yet. 

The overflowing scrap box

I had a customer who wanted me to add the border to their quilt before I quilt it. So that got put on as well. It's a GIANT quilt. 

Adding a border to a giant quilt for a customer

Here are the two Halloween quilts that I finished off a couple of weeks ago. Now the backing is ready, and I made the binding for both of them yesterday. Two more quilts get moved to the "to be quilted" pile. I have to confess that I've not been filling out the book but just stacking them in a pile. I'll deal with that once my time crisis is over. 

Two more small quilts added to the "to be quilted" pile

And speaking of the time crisis - yes - we all know that it's never going to get better at my house. I'm just a busy person - it's my nature. I knew November was going to be a crazy month, and it didn't disappoint. However, I'm happy to report that December and potentially January will be "quiet". They'll be quieter, so that will give me a bit of breathing room to catch up on some stuff. I'll be busy, but with no deadlines, it allows a lot more flexibility. 

Oh - I even handstitched a snap onto my jacket. Well, half of it had come undone, and I stitched it back in place BEFORE it fell off. Wow - that never happens.

My snap is now securely stitched in place

As if that wasn't enough, I also got half of my Summer Moon quilt sewn together. There are two columns on the left and the blocks still to sew together on the right. I'm happy and hope to get it done today as I desperately need that design wall for the next quilt that has a deadline. 

Summer Moon is half sewn together

Shortly after I got back to the house in the morning, it started to snow, and it snowed most of the day. It was so weird to chat with the others here in Southern Ontario and see the snow's progress as it moved east. It was like the day we had the thunderstorms when we were on a Virtual Retreat. 

This is the backyard at some point during the day! A LOT of snow fell. 

The snow in the backyard

But it sure looked pretty last night with the Christmas lights on in the neighborhood. 

A winter wonderland

I'm working on three documents that NEED to be finished off today. I made good headway this morning and hope to finish off later today. So progress is being made, and that makes me happy! 

This week, there are five presentations and four classes, and most of the prep work is done or almost done. Still busy, but a bit more relaxed! 

On that note, I'm out of here! It's Monday sewing, and that's always a good day!

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!

A little help from my friends

 

Have you ever noticed how some days in your house are calm, and others are totally chaotic? Yesterday was a chaotic day. I had two people picking up stuff, so I had to make sure that it was ready for them. The crew was here to close the pond, and that required some conversations with them. Then I had two presentations which weren't chaotic as I was the one in control of that. But all those little time commitments, well, it makes for a chaotic day!

Today, I have two more presentations, but nothing else. It's going to be a quiet day! How will I cope with the solitude? Oh - trust me - I'm going to be happy to putter by myself. 

The internet is behaving itself, so I'm happy. Speaking of the internet, I was checking out some e-mails this morning. I often send myself e-mails as reminders of things. DH had been bugging me to upgrade the internet for a while, so on August 21, I sent myself a note. It was titled - Call Bell. In the text, it said, "higher speeds, sports channels." I'm not touching the sports channel thing yet. But we do need to investigate whether we have the right package or not. Personally, I couldn't care less as I don't watch TV, but I'll check for options. 

I got my urgent document out of the house yesterday. And I was SMART. I opened a blank document, and I gave it a name, and then I SAVED it to the hard disk. When it wanted to do a save, it had a file to save to. I'm not sure why I have an issue here, but that documents are HUGE, and could that be the problem? It doesn't matter - I'm getting smarter in this whole writing business. No time was wasted yesterday with writing, and that was a good thing. 

The file is SAVED

I see that my keyboard is going to need a new battery soon. There's a little red light flashing on it. I noticed it yesterday, but I ignored what the light meant. Now I see that it's the battery.

Need a new battery

Over the years, I've done many samples, and not all of them get made into a project. I don't want to throw them away, but they have been piling up. In some instances, the stabilizer wasn't taken off, and it involved HUGE hunks of fabric. After a while, it's impossible to find anything, and it's getting messy in those tubs of samples.

A sample of a font

SO........   I found a binder and some page protectors, and I'm putting all the small samples in the book. There are lots of stuff already in the book - I've been puttering with that this past week. However, there are still many samples that need to be trimmed down and placed in the book. And then there are LOADS more that I want to make. Who knew that you could do so much with a sewing/embroidery machine? However, I cannot find my monogrammed towel sample. Now, where the heck could I have put that?

My sample book

That's what I wanted the label maker for. At this point, I might create a page with more details about the embroidery technique rather than label it with the label maker. It's going to be an awesome reference book. I see myself carrying this on the road rather than taking a bunch of stuff. That is if we ever get back on the road. I swear that people are getting very comfortable with the Zoom thing, including me! Yesterday, I was in Halifax and Cochrane, Ontario. Now could I do that in person? NO!

My sample book

So this is the state of the cutting table at the moment. I think all the things without a home and that have been hanging around and all the loose samples are now on the table, so I'll just work my way through that for the remainder of the week. 

The state of the cutting table

I love to putter, especially when I'm not pressed for time, and today is going to be a relaxed day. 

I had this huge piece of fabric with some embroidered lettering in the center. Now, why haven't I cut that down before now? I found it yesterday in the box with the bias making supplies. I cut all the excess fabric off of it, and I put it in the garbage. I might rescue it and put it in the sample book - at least for now. I can always toss it later. The excess white fabrics? Oh - it went into the Long Time Gone box. That piece was done TWENTY years ago!! I wonder why I wasn't more responsible and dealt with these sample things years ago?  I think it was because I had no idea what to do with the stuff, and I'm not a throwaway person. I pulled a LOT of white fabric from that sample. 

The lettering sample

I trimmed a few more of the double wedding ring arcs as they are on the cutting table, and I'd like to get them trimmed so I can move onto the next section. Baby steps!

Trimming the double wedding ring arcs

I got two more blocks on the mini design boards, all set to sew together. So when the sewing machine gets back on the worktable from the film studio, I'll be able to sew those later today. 

Two more blocks to sew

Even though it was raining all afternoon, I went out for a walk. I dressed accordingly, with rain boots, a raincoat, an umbrella, and gloves. I didn't get wet, and I was toasty warm. It's such a good time to reflect and to think. My brain would be so mixed up if I didn't walk every day. Besides, I had a book at the library to pick up, and so did DH. 

Look at the book - it's so cute!!!! I haven't had a chance to read it yet - it's a children's story. Ronda alerted me to the book. I was going to buy it, but haven't had a chance yet. It's written by Riel Nason. She's a Canadian author. She's a textile artist and lives in Quispamsis, which is in New Brunswick. 

The Little Ghost who was a Quilt by Riel Nason

And I'm super excited about my Virtual Walks. Why? The end is in sight for the Route 66 walk. Remember, I started this walk on January 1. The total distance of Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles is 2,280.3 MILES. That's a long way. I initially set my goal to finish in 12 months, meaning I had to walk an average of 6.5 miles a day. So I added an extra one-half mile each day, and guess what? I'm almost in LA. Amazing what an extra half-mile can do for you. I'll finish about 45 days in advance of my deadline. 

I'm just leaving Barstow, California, and now, at least looking at the map, it's all downhill to LA. 

Almost in LA on Route 66

Soon, I'll be out of the desert and into the city all the way to the end. There are just over 150 miles to go. If I keep up my pace, I'll be done in THREE weeks. 

I'm so pumped! I'd love to finish now, but slow and steady. My knees couldn't handle more distance each day! Yep - I have knee problems, but then I've had knee problems for the last 6 or 7 years, but I don't talk about it. Take a pill and move on! 

I almost forgot to share this with you. Many months ago, I made a quilt for a challenge for the Canadian Quilters Association. I never posted it because I knew it would be - well, it was supposed to be at Quilt Canada. That got canceled, and it was supposed to go on the website. Well, I almost forgot about it, and the judging for Viewer's Choice is almost over. So you MUST get yourself over to the page and look at the amazing quilts. The challenge was called Try-A-Triad Challenge. You were to use THREE solid fabrics - red, yellow, and blue. So you can pick your favorite and vote for that - or you could just save yourself some time and just vote for mine! Hye - I'm sure I'm not the only one that solicits votes!!!  HA - that makes me smile, especially at this time. 

There are some fascinating quilts, and it's so fun to see how everyone used the three colors. If you want to save some time searching, my piece is in the last row on the left-hand side. It's called Tri-Color Slash. Be sure to vote! We need to support our local organizations, and voting for the on-line show is part of that. I don't care if you vote for someone else's quilt - just get over there and VOTE. We need to show our support!! Anyone can vote - you don't have to be a member. The link to the voting is on the top of the page. 

Oh my gosh - I had to laugh. I send myself pictures from my phone via e-mail, and I went back to e-mail to find the pictures for tomorrow, but instead, I found the pictures I took of my Try-a-Triad Challenge. So to save you from searching for mine, here it is. 

Tri-color Slash

And here's a detailed picture of the quilting. I quilted it on my domestic machine with the built-in walking foot. I LOVE how dense it is. It turned out beautifully!!!

Detailed photo fo the quilting

Shoot - I had something else that I wanted to share with you today, but there isn't going to be enough time to do it justice, and I NEED your help with that as well. So I'm going to find the pictures now and get them organized for tomorrow. So much to say and so little time. 

OH -- have I seen anything weird on my walks lately? I have seen the homeless guy a couple of times but not on the corner. He was walking down the street next to ours yesterday. He seems to be intent on getting somewhere, but where? 

On the corner where he usually hangs out is this wooden palette. The palette has lost slats over time, gained some green painter's tape, and now there are some slats of engineered hardwood flooring. It's like an active art scene. What will it look like the next day? I make a point of checking it out each morning to see if it's different from the day before. 

The artistic wooden palette

Well, it's time to get the day started! Lots of puttering to do and prep more stuff for presentations. 

Have a super day!!!  Remember, even if it's raining, you can go out! Or call someone! But don't veg in the house by yourself all day!

Ciao!!!