Anything is possible if you believe in yourself!

OMG—I am stunned, and I'm exhausted. But I managed to finish everything I planned on getting done! If I had had that extra day, I might have finished the two samples I knew I had run out of time for! 

I'm thrilled to death. Did it help that I started listening to a hilarious detective story? I don't know, but whenever I was doing something mindless, I listened to the book, and it helped to keep me on track. 

Let me share the samples that are done. 

You already saw this sample - it's the tablet case, but I had to saturate the front flap to get rid of the water-soluble stabilizer. That resulted in some creative drying, but not before I used a towel to absorb most of the moisture. I tidied up the inside, and it is stitched back together. 

Drying the table case

I must admit that it took me a bit to get started this morning. I just saw everything that had to be done today as a daunting task, and I really didn't feel like getting anything done. But then I opened up my tea bag and looked at the quote. 

My motivator for the day!

That was my incentive to get myself together, get downstairs, and get to work! 

The first thing I had to do was to remove all the excess water-soluble stabilizer from the linen table runner. 

Removing the excess stabilizer from the table runner

That was a very time-consuming job as I didn't want to cut the linen. And I was able to remove most of the errant stitching I had done, and there was no need to fix it after those stitches were removed. 

Then I threw this and the napkin (thanks Elle and Torry) into the washer to get rid of the excess stabilizer. 

Then I ironed the napkin again, and it looks stunning. That darn thing just doesn't want to photograph well. 

The napkin

Here's a close-up of one of the flowers. I'm very happy with this. 

A close-up of the napkin

Next up was to work on the zippered pouch. It went together like a hot knife through butter, and I'm very happy with the results. That flower (the same as on the tablet case) is on both sides. 

My zippered pouch

Here's the inside of it. 

The inside of the zippered pouch

I like to make a box corner on the bottom of my pouches, but I was working with a smaller piece of denim, and there wasn't really extra space. So I decided to round the bottom corners, which gives a much nicer look than square corners on a flat pouch. 

Guess what I used to round the corners? My new corner tool. It worked like a charm, and I was able to use my rotary cutter on it. I am a VERY HAPPY customer. I love it!!!! I will definitely be using this a lot!

Rounding the corners with the corner ruler

OH - -I also got the cuffs on the shirt, and it got hemmed. But when I went to put the pearl snaps on it, there was no tool in the snap boxes. That was a separate tool. So back to the fabric store, and they didn't have any!! I looked at other tools for grommets, eyelets, and other fasteners, but none looked like the one I needed. There is no time to get frustrated - as I stood chatting with the salesperson, my mind was already moving ahead. I will wear the shirt as a jacket, and I have a great belt to wear with it! No problem. Let's just move on. 

Then it was time to tackle that linen table runner. I must say that I have been avoiding working on it, and I don't know why. The fear of the unknown? How does one hem a table runner nicely? Well, I sort of had an idea, and so I just went for it. And here is the table runner. It's about 25" wide, so about 50- 60 inches long.

The linen table runner

While it has a few peculiarities, I'm very happy with it overall. I love working with that linen, and I have ideas for something else. That was supposed to be the linen for a wedding outfit, which didn't happen. But now I can use it for something else, and it's beautiful to work with. But this runner does need to be washed again. The water-soluble stabilizer that remains is keeping it nice and stiff, but not too stiff. 

The hem turned out nice - I hemmed it towards the back and mitered the corners - of course I did. That is the mark of a quality table linen. 

I had some experimenting to do with the embroidery machine, and I got it done and figured it out. This was the only area where I wasn't happy with my initial results. Well, when I did things a bit differently, it came out beautiful, but I learned a thing about using different types of fabric for the base. Let's just say that denim with spandex is not easy to use! I must make myself some notes on that technique when I'm back home. 

By this time, it was about 7 PM, and there remained ONE last item to be quilted and bound. Without so much as a second's hesitation, I set up the PFAFF icon 2 for free-motion quilting. The piece isn't that big, so it didn't take that long, and the binding was already made, although I had to add one more strip. And VOILA - the last piece is completed!

My wall hanging is complete!

As for unfinished stuff? I prepped the one item that I want to quilt, and if I get a chance, I'll do it at the show. If not, it's ready to do when I get home. There is one small wall hanging that I need to embellish further, and my success with my experimenting tonight means that I have some ripping to do and then I can redo that part on my shirt. WAIT - that's a different shirt than the one I made. This stitching was on a ready-made shirt. Oh shoot -- I need to throw that thread in my bag in case I get a chance to do it at the show. I will NOT have time to do anything - I know that, but just in case. 

The suitcase is packed even with my clothes. The only thing missing are the toiletries, and it all fits in one suitcase, which doesn't weigh that much. yeah!!!!! 

I've written two blog posts - the one with the classes is below this one, so be sure to go there and check it out. 

And as I left Studio B tonight, look at this. 

The cutting table is clear!

The cutting table is bare!!!!! Now if I can only figure out how to keep it that way! 

And here are the work tables. 

The machines are all put to bed for five days.

The stuff on the left is what I have to put away when I get back. I was too exhausted to make that happen tonight. Yes -- I am writing the blog the night before because I won't have time in the morning. 

We had several tornado warnings today, and it appears that one of them occurred about 3 KM from my house! WAIT --- when I look at the images again, someone says it's in Milton, which is about 10 KM away. Let's say that it was relatively close. The dogs were freaking out as the alarms went off on the TV and on our phones. 

But this was the sky when I went out later, and we got a lot of torrential downpour. 

The stormy sky

And can you tell me what Lexi is up to? Her hind legs are BLACK. I suspect she is digging under the shed and then she gets covered in dirt. She seems to like it! 

MOM - I'm a dog - I get dirty!

Well, on that note, I'm out of here. I have an early-morning flight, and I should be on a good schedule for the rest of the week to post the blog. I can share with you all the fun stuff that is happening where I am headed. I don't think I mentioned where I am going. If I did, then it's not a surprise; if I didn't, then it will be a surprise!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!!



PS --- Had trouble falling asleep, so I got up and worked on the puzzle. I was either too exhausted or too excited. Here's what got done. 

 

Cutting the jacket

You are the BEST!!!! Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I don't have time to digest them this morning, as I need to be on the road shortly for my guild presentation. I'll be at the Thames Valley Quilter's Guild, and it's an hour and a half to get there. Their meeting starts at 9:30, which I think is the most civilized thing I've heard from any guild. A large percentage of guilds meet in the evenings because many members work, but I would no longer go out to an evening guild as a member. I would do the occasional event, but not every month. I need my beauty sleep! And not a fan of driving at night if I don't have to. 

The good news is that all the quilts are packed in the suitcases. I need to throw those in the car - I hate doing that the night before. Even though we've never had issues in our neighborhood, I would hate to see two suitcases of quilts disappear from the car overnight. 

I also have everything set up for the Facebook Live later today. I think that's the first time I've done an in-person and an online event on the same day!

Remember, the Facebook Live is today at 3 PM EST, and it's all about metal and magnetic hoops for the embroidery machine. I'm using the Husqvarna Viking hoops, but I'm sure that ALL brands of embroidery machines have similar hoops, so it'll be informative to anyone who comes and listens. OH  -- and as a bonus, we'll be chatting about edge-to-edge quilting and EXACT Positioning, which is the same as Design and Precise Positioning. So loads of good information in today's event. 

It should also be live on the YouTube channel.

I have never figured this out, but I think if you go to the YouTube channel, it just goes live when we start. The same with the other, but you may have to REFRESH your screen. So be patient, bring your questions, and I'll see you at 3 PM. 

It was such a joy to set up all the lights, cameras, and cables with my new system. All the cables required for each camera (there are four, so you get a real up-close-and-personal look at what's happening) were in a separate labeled bag, and I set them up one by one. It was brilliant, and I think the only thing left is to plug in the final light. Oh—and I need to hang up a couple more quilts. But I'm good to go!!!

Then it was time to get the embroidery machine fired up because I have something to embroider and I can't wait any longer! I decided to make a jacket for the upcoming wedding this month! I found the fabric at the thrift store, and it's fuchsia! I needed to find a design to embroider on the back, but there were so many options that I couldn't choose. So while I was away, I went through a ton of ideas and found something I liked. Guess what? I used a magnetic hoop! 

Then I had to trace the pattern onto pattern paper, which I did on the kitchen counter because all the tables in Studio B were occupied by samples. 

Tracing the jacket pattern

Notice that I got my pattern rulers out, and I graded the bottom of that jacket from one size to the next. Let's see what happens when I try it on. The pattern was published in 1996 by a quilt company, and let's say the instructions are sketchy at best. I will be rejigging the sewing method somewhat because I'm not doing it the way they say. 

I have some of the other pieces traced out, but I needed to go downstairs to start this embroidery. I finished the embroidery this morning and am saving the piece for show-and-tell during the Live presentation. Then I'll share with you tomorrow. I'm quite pleased with the design I finally went with, and it looks great on the back of the jacket. I'm not done yet; I'm going to add a few more motifs, and I think I'll add a band to the sleeves as well. 

There's that trouble-making girl of mine! One of the pattern pieces fell to the floor, and she took the opportunity to toss her ball onto the pattern. And then she stared at it as if that would make it move!!! I have to stop throwing the ball in the house; the floors are too slippery, and I'm afraid she will hurt herself. She is just too intense. 

Mom -- I'm going to make it move without touching it!

Since the cameras and such were all set up for today, and I needed to babysit the embroidery - well, I didn't really, but I decided to work on the puzzle. OH MY --- look what happened. I got a little carried away!!

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

Actually, I did need to babysit the embroidery because I hadn't combined the colors correctly, and every once in a while, I had to manually switch their order. I tell you -- I learn something new every day. No, make that I make mistakes every day. I must have done that intentionally because it meant that I had to be with the machine, and therefore, it was an excuse to work on the puzzle. I really should have been clearing off the cutting table, which is completely covered in stuff. But it didn't make sense until after the presentation today, when all the tables were back in place. 

I had to finish the embroidery this morning, and well, there are a few more pieces in the puzzle now. I should easily be able to finish the sky tonight. And then I can get to that tree area in the front. The spot I picked to start will now be the final spot to work on! Hilarious how each puzzle is completely different in how it gets assembled. 

I stumbled across this quote yesterday, and can you imagine how life would be if everyone followed this? I recently finished a novel, and this premise was badly needed. So many lies - no wonder the people were confused! But if we didn't have the lies, there would have been no book! 

We now have a new cleaning service for the house. We had a private person for years, but well, it just wasn't working out any longer, and she left in January. Now we have a company doing it, and two wonderful ladies were here yesterday to clean the areas from top to bottom. What a nice change it was to know that all surfaces were cleaned. 

Yes -- I could clean the house since I have more time now, but we decided years ago that a cleaning service was something we wanted, so we always made room for it in the budget. I hate to say it, but I've done that my entire adult life. There are other things I'd rather be doing; however, I have no issue with cleaning, and I'm in charge of Studio B, which I seem to be vacuuming constantly. And I see it needs a good vacuuming after a week of me not being there. 

Well, I must get organized as I have a few things to do before I leave the house. The girls are not going to be happy as they will likely NOT get a walk today, maybe after my online presentation. We'll see how the day goes. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!

Gazebo time!

Despite this newfound focus, it seems challenging to move ahead. WAIT --- I know that I'm getting things done, but the progress seems slow. I know it's not, when you consider how many hours I actually sew each day. I make the most of the time I spend in Studio B and call it a day. There is NO RUSH to get these things done!

Oh my gosh --- what am I complaining about - I still accomplished a LOT. The abbreviated "Dear Jen" is now quilted. I was hoping to get it trimmed, but that didn't happen. A job for today. 

The Dear Jen quilt is quilted.

I actually like this quilt (love that setting), and I think if I had continued, I would have loved the larger size as well. But it just wasn't speaking to me, and instead of making a lap quilt or a larger one, I ended up making a cover for my embroidery machine. So I'm learning that if I don't like a project, it's OK to stop, make it smaller, but get it done! That is HUGE for me! This self-awareness journey of the last ten years has taught me so much about myself, and I'm still learning. 

The placemat is trimmed and bound. 

The placemat is done!

The soccer quiltlet is also bound. 

The mini-soccer quilt is done!

I love that both of these items were created from scraps that would otherwise have languished in my stash. DONE!!!! 

The placemat is in my pile of other placemats that will be donated later this year. I have an outlet for them. I've decided to donate the soccer quilt to a NICU, but I need to reach out to see if anyone has a connection, rather than taking it myself. Does anyone in my area donate to the hospital? 

This machine embroidery postcard was on my Visual To-Do list. I had a small category of NEW things to do. They were small things that I had left on the cutting table at the end of the year. It's nice to do something new every once in a while. I decided that yesterday was the day, and I was also experimenting with this project, so I could use it in my machine embroidery class this coming weekend. It's not quite finished, so that's on the agenda for today. 

Machine embroidered postcard or rug mug!

Let's say that this small project is not without its challenges!!!! 

Then I made the binding for my denim quilt, but it's waiting for those labels. I see someone left an email address in the comments. I'm assuming it's for the label company. I also sent them a message from their Etsy account, which I need to check. 

I made the binding for the denim quilt, and it's waiting for the labels to arrive before I put it on. 

The binding for the denim quilt

Now I've have a stack of quilts - well, one quilt and the rest are small projects that are waiting for the labels. And when I trim Dear Jen, it's going in the same pile. I want these done!!!! 

The pile of projects that need the binding attached

I've sent them another message this morning, and will use the email that someone posted. I had received confirmation of my order and a tracking number when the order was initially placed. However, the email is a NON-reply email, and the tracking number is for packages traveling from Europe. Which mail/courier service? 

I had an optometrist appointment at 10:20. OK -- at this office (inside a LensCrafters), the three women (I've met two) are kids! Are they even old enough to be an optimist? But I'm OK with that. It's within walking distance of the house, and I'm not getting in my car for an appointment if I don't have to.  

I had time to stop at the thrift store before the appointment. HEY -- I wasn't going to let someone scoop my jigaw puzzles. Have you noticed the new obsessive behavior? 

The two I wanted were still there, and I threw in the colorful one at the bottom because it's so colorful. It just caught my eye. Three puzzles for $18, including tax. The one in the top left is brand new, still in the cellophane! 

Three new puzzles

And yes - I completed the fifth and final one of the DowdleFolkArt puzzles that I purchased last week. Imagine that - I purchased them last Friday, and all five are now done. I've given them to KU to do, and then they will be going back to the thrift store unless someone near me wants them. There are 300 pieces in each, and they are easy enough to do in an evening. 

The last of the Dowdle FolkArt puzzles

It amazes me how quickly one can turn over 300 pieces, but 500 pieces take forever. OK - it seems to take forever! This one was a bit trickier, and I suspect the pieces are identically cut. OK -- I don't suspect, I recognized the pattern, but that didn't help me assemble the pieces. I started with the sky and then the house, and then built out from there. Interesting how different they all went together based on the picture. 

I have to clear off a table in Studio B to work on the next one, which is 1000 pieces, and I can't leave that on the kitchen table. UNLESS -- I clear off either the desk or the table in the office and work there. Hmmm --- but the light is much better at night downstairs. 

When I came downstairs, Miss Murphy was surveying the puzzles I had laid out so I could take a picture. 

MOM - I'm guarding the puzzles for you!

I didn't go for a walk in the afternoon since I had walked a lot in the morning. But I still needed to be outside, and oh my—how could you not want to be outside? The weather is stunning. Since there was no snow left in the gazebo, I got my lawn chair out and slipped my orange jacket on, and I sat out there and listened to my audiobook for a bit. 

It's gazebo time!!!

Murphy was beyond herself with joy, and Lexi, the cuddler, was right in there for some close encounters. 

MOM - I need some attention

But seriously? I always wonder if Murphy understands boundaries, and yes, she does, but only on her terms. She was standing on the edge of the pond and tossed the ball on the ice multiple times. Each time, she looked tentatively at the ice surface, deemed it solid enough for her, and went on. 

MOM - the ice is thick enough to hold me!

She is careful not go to the other end, as that is where the heater is, and the ice is open there. It's too bad she doesn't identify with the length of her leash!!!!

As the weather warms up this week, I suspect I'll be out there a lot! It's beautiful and close enough to the forest that I call it forest bathing. You really do NOT understand how amazing that is for mental health. I have no issues these days, but just taking a few minutes each day to relax in the peace and quiet—priceless. 

Oh my -- I love the quote of the day from my Yogi tea. I have to laugh at this, though—if you enter it with grace, is it OK if you fall out of it in a mess? 

Quote of the day

I'm not good with change, but I'm also not going to be left in the dust because I'm afraid of the unknown. That's where the adventures begin, and I'm still way too young to enjoy adventures from my armchair!

I also finished an audiobook yesterday, which is good because another one came in. I have quite a few on hold, but many of the books are weeks away from coming in. I really must get my new headphones up and running and throw the old ones away. HEY -- they are on that table I need to clear up, so that will be something to accomplish today. 

I'm off to spin class. My knee is feeling pretty good these days, but it doesn't like the prone position. Even though I have my knee elevated at night (a flat knee is bad), it has its good and bad moments. But for walking? Oh my—it's doing pretty well. I'm still careful, as if I twist it, it's not happy. Even the pulling I get when walking Murphy isn't good for it, so I try to keep her under control, which is no small feat. But it's coming along. I might try a bit more pressure in spin class today. Trust me -- I'm not going to go too far to mess it up. I do NOT need to be a hero. But I need to keep my body moving!

And on that happy note, I'm out of here. 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!

New versus Classic!

Regarding the headphone issue, I am using a pair of Shokz—they are also referred to as open-ear buds. I LOVE them, but while I can hear things around me, they do NOT block out the noise of the sewing machine or the long arm. So as I'm cutting and ironing, they are amazing, but the minute I start to sew, the machine's noise overrules the audiobook! And the long arm is even worse!

I'll try the old headphones one more time, and then if I can't jiggle that connection, I'll ditch them and get the new pair out! But thanks for the suggestion - I love the Shokz, even though the microphone will NOT work for me, so I need to use a hardwired mic when I use them for Zoom. 

There is some interference in my house - yes, my house! That interference prevents me from using a Bluetooth mic. I've tried several pairs of earbuds and over-the-ear headphones, and all work for a few minutes, then my voice gets garbled. I've given up trying to understand the issue. That's been the same on Zoom or Teams - they just don't work. 

BUT the good news is that I had a 45-minute conversation on my cell phone the other day - in my kitchen, and my voice didn't disappear once! That is HUGE news at my house. Hence, I rarely call or talk to anyone and certainly not on my cell phone!

Well, I don't know what happened with those emails and the pictures yesterday - they eventually came in, but it took forever. I suspect the computer was dealing with my massive delete situation and just wasn't going to handle two jobs at once. Must be a man! Sorry!

Here's the scoop with Outlook -- as I mentioned yesterday, I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love the interface, and I'm determined to make this thing work! I'm also determined to clean it up so it will likely work even better for me! In the past, there was a single version of Outlook, and at some point, it became part of Office 365, which I have a subscription to. I use Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word almost daily. I don't use Excel much, but I bet my friends are all shouting at me to use it more! And maybe I will - I just need to find a use for it! 

I guess I'll have to start tracking something. Who knows!!!

Anyway, there used to be a database, but I believe Microsoft recently eliminated it, since I doubt many people used it. 

Now with Outlook, there is Outlook Classic and Outlook New. Of course, there is!! Outlook New has fewer features than the Classic version, and that's probably because too many people were stuck on how to make the Classic version work. I don't know. 

When I unboxed the new computer, I decided to go with the new version. I may switch back if I can. 

This is the email structure on my old computer with the Classic version. Notice there is no ARCHIVE folder, but there is one called Important, which would store a copy of all emails, almost like a backup. But it would never delete them from that folder. While it says 3155, it was very full! I'll check it later today to see what it says, since both computers are up and running right now. There were also lots of unnecessary folders at the bottom, and I could never get rid of them. The delete function was grayed out when I clicked on the folders, and that drove me mad until I got over it and let it go!

Structure in Outlook Classic

And here is the Outlook New structure. Ignore the number of emails in my inbox - I aim to fix that. 

But now an archive menu popped up, and look at the number of emails in there. It would just pop anything into that folder. So I started deleting all those files. I really don't care if something goes missing. I can't even deal with what I have! Don't worry - within my Inbox folder, there is a very comprehensive filing structure. However, there is ONE folder that I created that I cannot delete, and it's driving me mad! Perhaps I can rename it and then try to delete. Hmmm -- I'll try that later today. 

Outlook New file structure

As I emptied that folder, which took a very long time, it dumped many of the files into the Deleted Items folder. So now I'm letting that empty as I write. I didn't get back to this computer yesterday. 

There were extra folders in this new file structure, and I was able to delete those, so I only have the ones I need, as you see above. The bad news is that I cannot delete the Archive Folder, which Microsoft is supposedly phasing out. OK—get rid of it completely!!! I have tried to delete that folder, and the system won't let me. I'm going to explore a bit more, then give Support a call to see if I can get this more or less configured the way I want! 

I hadn't been in my Junk email folder in a bit, and I discovered three emails from someone asking for something from me, so I must answer them later today. 

I still have the option to scoot back into the Classic version, which I might do to discover more about the Archive thing. Anyway, I'm on a roll, and I'm not afraid to use DELETE!!!! But now that I know that any information I look for needs to be for Microsoft NEW, that helps a lot. 

Switch back to Classic

I'm working my way through my embroidery design files. I find it very therapeutic, and I'm learning a lot about myself and my previous lack of discipline and focus. It's also teaching me patience, which is essential. And for some reason, on my old computer, many times when I wanted to MOVE something, I could only copy. And that created a mess. On the new computer, I now (again) can move things, and that is going to be huge. 

I plan to locate all the digital embroidery files I can find on the hard drives, the USBs (which I believe were moved to a hard drive), and any other digital storage locations. Then once they are all on one hard drive in a "TO BE SORTED" folder, it'll just make me feel happy. Then I  start the purge/sort in earnest. Someone suggested I delete and start over! Can't happen because these files came from all different sources (over 25 years), which I no longer have access to - some came via email, some came on USBs, some I created myself. Overall, the designs that I purchased online are probably the minority of my files. 

But slow and steady - that's how I roll. The bottom line? I'm super excited now that I have a plan!!

Quote of the day!

After my two presentations, I got a lot of work done in the afternoon, but alas, I can't share any of it with you - not yet!

But I can share this with you. So I run a Club called Many Blocks, which is a small group of us working on quilts with many blocks. It's like a UFO Club, but the project doesn't have to be a UFO. I started working on my 365 Day Challenge quilt because I thought it would be an incentive to finish it. I struggled and didn't accomplish much. I decided to put that aside and work on less intense quilts where I could actually see some progress. 

I set four goals for 2026 in that group - to finish and bind three quilts - Farm Girl Vintage and Vintage Christmas, which are both Lori Holt quilts that I taught. I also included the blocks from Dear Jen - I did not complete them all, and then I'll get to work on Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, which is another quilt I taught, and you'll see more of that later this year. 

I taught Farm Girl Vintage at Sew Sisters in 2016 and then at The Hobby Horse in 2018. Neither time was I able to complete the quilt. But look -- I managed to get the top together, which I think you saw last week, and then I threw it on the long arm, and it's quilted!! 

Farm Girl Vintage - quilted!

I trimmed it the other day, and it's now sitting by the sewing machine with the binding ready to finish it off!! So when I'm focused, I can get things done. Once that binding and the label are on, I'll be able to remove that item from my visual to-do list. Am I excited? You bet!!! And highly motivated to get more off that board!!

Oh shoot - I'm off to spin class this morning, so I'd better run!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!

Collecting stats - for them or us?

 OK -- this new computer is pretty cool and YES -- I have gone back to an English keyboard. Good grief -- that was painful to write! The little camera that recognizes me instantly is amazing! No more passwords! Well, the passwords are there, but it looks for my face first. I love it! 

However, we do have one slight issue, and right now, it's a big issue. After all the conversions, it appears my contact folder didn't get brought over properly. I'm not sure if anything came over or if it's using an older file, but my distribution lists are NOT THERE!!! This is a big problem, as I need to send emails to my groups this weekend. 

NO contact groups!!

And I attempted to start a new contact group, and it's different, and I wasn't sure how to make it work! Of course!!! 

I'll fire up the old computer to get the emails out, and then I'll have to search for the file. This is NOT the first time this has happened. Thankfully, I don't have many lists, but I don't have printouts of them, so I'll need to find a recent email and use it as a reference. Not ideal. 

And that darn contact list isn't shared among my computers, which is a real hassle. I'll have to see if I can find a solution to that because it sure would be handy to have the distribution lists available on both computers. At least, it seems to be only one glitch, so I can find a workaround, and then I want a fix for it. 

And I have to deactivate EQ8 on the old computer anyway, so I'll fire it up this morning and see what progress I can make. 

And the way pictures get downloaded from email is a bit weird. It happens on my laptop (Windows 11 thing), but I saved them one by one, which can be time-consuming. I think I might have it figured out - an extra step, but that's OK. I'll hopefully figure it out better as time goes on. The bottom line is that the email syncing process is almost instantaneous, which is so much better than the old computer! 

I'll bet in a couple of months (weeks maybe), I won't even remember how I did things with Windows 10. I hate it when they change things, especially when the old version is much easier and more logical than the new way. Alas, the saying "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" doesn't always apply to computer people who are trying to find NEW ways to do things when the old way was working just fine. I guess they have to justify people moving to new software! 

I feel like I got beaten up yesterday. I started by seeing Brooke at the gym, and we agreed that I need to do more strength training, which aligns with my 2026 goals. Lots of arms, legs, and I was somewhat tired after the workout. Then I had a massage in the afternoon. It was not planned that way; it just happened. My body was so tender, I thought I was going to die! But I survived, and I need to drink lots of water to get all the lactic acid out of my body! 

I measured my BMI on the machine at the gym, and it's higher than the one I get from the manual calculation. Depending on the chart you look at, I'm either at the top end of normal or considered overweight! Yep --- it's not necessarily about weight or size, it's the fat percentage, and mine is not good at this point in time. Too flipping much sugar! Well, I'm on track to make that change, so we'll see what happens. At least I have a goal, and that's what counts. 

Speaking of goals, it's that time of year when everything you belong to that tracks your stats has a recap. Here's my recap stats for Geocaching. Yes—I still do it from time to time, but obviously not every day! I like the fact that the day with the most finds was when I was on vacation, which is usually when I want to geocache. Three countries this year!! 

And my stats on books. Sixty-two books read - some of those are non-fiction, as I include them all in this list. Others may read more or less. Guess what? Who cares how many books you read? We all lead different lives and do different things for pleasure! Me? I've always loved books. And reading a bit more than one a week works for me. 

But I got a chuckle over this - the most shelved book. What exactly does that mean anyway? Almost 6 million others shelved Verity. Good lord, I can't even remember what that book was about! But guess what|? I remember 438 days. That is non-fiction, and it was wild!!! But not very wide read, although I read Verity near the beginning of the year, and 438 Days was recently published. 

While I was having my massage, Misty and I were chatting about what was going on in the world. She's in the process of buying a new dishwasher and is finding it extremely challenging to find one that isn't Wi-Fi enabled. Can you tell me why I would need my dishwasher to be Wi-Fi enabled? My dishwasher, which we've had for a while, has a delay start, so it's a no-brainer to run it overnight. There is no reason for the dishwasher to be Wi-Fi enabled, except for the manufacturer to collect data on us. The same way those two companies collect data on what we read and what we do for activities. 

We sacrifice our privacy for pretty pictures and lots of stats. If you are handy with an EXCEL spreadsheet, you can do all the data collecting yourself, and it's totally private! I know several people who are very handy with spreadsheets. I guess I'm lazy that way. 

But a dishwasher, or even a microwave, with Wi-Fi? Why? BTW - she said they found one without Wi-Fi, but it's more expensive - go figure! 

I'm going to have to move the packing materials from the computer soon. But that doesn't distract Murphy from sleeping in her bed. I do not know why she insists on sleeping in this small bed. It's obviously way too small for her, but she loves it! Removing the packaging is a job for later today. I can't even put it in our recycling cart because it's full and there's more in the garage to probably fill it again! 

The new computer packaging

I finally got my squash soup made. Do I follow a recipe? What's a recipe? I just grabbed some stuff from the fridge and added it. I tossed in an entire huge onion and a whole heart of celery. Cut it up and sauteed it, and that worked for me. I threw in the remaining sage and rosemary from the fridge, and it is yummy! 

Squash soup for lunch!

For some reason, it was a lazy day AGAIN!!! I need to get out of my funk, or I'm never going to get any homework done on time! The real deadlines are next weekend, so I feel like I can coast!!! Good grief—why do I need pressure to make myself work?

Anyway, the next quilt is loaded on the long arm, and the plan is to quilt it today. 

And then I went upstairs to work on the next jigsaw puzzle. This is a 300-piece puzzle, so it's not that challenging. 

It took no time to get all the pieces laid out - I can't seem to use those trays, but once I move onto the larger puzzles, I'm sure they'll come in handy. I separated the border while positioning the pieces. 

The border pieces are sorted

In no time at all, I had the border done. 

And before I went to bed last night, the puzzle was done! This was super easy because you could almost work in rows from the top down. It's missing one piece. I'll mark it on a note in the box and pass it along or donate it back to the thrift shop. 

Puzzle done! 

The next one is a 1000-piece puzzle, so that should stop me for a bit. While the shapes of this one were much more regular, some of them were still wonky, but not nearly as bad as the Santa puzzle. 

I even managed to get some sewing done, although not nearly as much as I would have liked, but I'm OK. I think the issue was that I didn't prep these pieces like I should have, and I wasn't looking forward to dealing with the bits. But I'm over the worst part now, and it shouldn't take long to finish and move on!!

I really like listening to an audiobook while sewing, and that helps me to focus. I'm listening to a Jack Reacher book, and I love how the author (now authors as his son is helping him write) describes the logic of everything! I love logic, and Jack Reacher is a very logical character! 

I spotted this quote on the internet, and I LOVE it. 

Even if we don't accomplish a lot in a day, it's OK. It's the accumulation of all the little things that add up, like reading a book. If you wait until the end of the year to do anything, you won't make it happen. But if you read 20 pages a day, then yes, you can read 30 books in a year or whatever else your goal is. That's how I look at life. I don't beat myself up if I can't accomplish my goal that day. I look at why, determine whether the goal was realistic, and make changes for the next goal-setting exercise! I don't always learn, but I try! 

And now for the QUILTsocial post. I drew inspiration from a small pack of buttons I spotted online. And this is what I came up with. Enjoy!!!! Remember: let your hands do the work and keep your head out of the process. Our brains tend to overthink everything, and that's not good! 

There's one more project that I'll share tomorrow. |But the best part of all those posts is that all the projects are complete!!! Yeah!!!!

And on that note, I'm out of here to try and find some distribution lists. 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!

Sit Down -- this news is SHOCKING!!!

To stop you from guessing, the picture on the jigsaw puzzle is Mount Etna, and it erupted on December 27th in fine form! Fascinating to see the photos of the red-hot lava against the snow. 

Mount Etna erupted on December 27th

OK -- I warned you, and I hope you are sitting down because what I'm about to say is shocking! I even shocked myself. 

So Miss Murphy and I were on our walk, and we were chatting. And then she said to me, "Mom - Enough is enough. I'm tired of sleeping in that office with all your junk. I want you to clean it up today! No more excuses."

We talked some more, and then, if you can believe it, I got excited about cleaning up the office, and I couldn't wait to get home. WHAT? 

I know! Here's what happened. Needless to say, as the day progressed, I abandoned all thoughts of sewing or quilting. I was EXHAUSTED by noon, but kept plugging away, although my pace slowed as the day progressed. I even abandoned my afternoon walk, even though it was a glorious day. 

Now - don't get too excited, the surfaces are not free of clutter, but I made HUGE inroads to getting it in better shape. At the end of the day, I took pictures which I'll share in a minute, and it doesn't look a whole lot better, but it is better. Trust me! I also took several bins of recycling to the cart in the garage, and my shredding box is full. 

I started by piling all the paper on the kitchen island. That is a LOT of paper, and most of it should be gone! There is a massive tub in the back that contains bills from MANY years that never got filed. OK -- to be honest, many never got opened! DO NOT YELL AT ME - I was very irresponsible - I know that! But the bills got paid. 

The mess I dealt with

At some point in the day, I looked at the small cabinet beside my computer and grabbed THREE more tubs of paper that needed sorting. 

I added this to the mix

When I have done this kind of thing in the past, I have lasted about an hour, if that, and then I stall. I get distracted or tired and throw in the towel, barely making a dent in the mess. 

But Murphy had got me fired up, and I could hear you all cheering me on. Many people tell me they can hear me in their head. Well, I could hear you all saying, "Come on, Elaine - you got this!" It didn't hurt that I had 2½ hours of an exciting audiobook to finish, and I was going to sort until the audiobook was done. 

But even when the book was done, I continued in silence! Yes, I could have put on music or found another book, but I was happy in my little world and forged ahead. I didn't even have room to make lunch, so I had some cheese and crackers and ate them in the mess on the kitchen table. 

I also can't seem to do this when someone else is in the house. Maybe because DH is too nosy and will come around and ask questions. I don't need questions; I need peace and quiet when I do this.

The sorting process is in full force

So, piece by dreaded (and often dusty) piece of paper, I sorted through what I started with on the island. I think this picture was taken after the sort because there was NOTHING left on one side of the island. It was all sorted by category or bill type on the counters. A very good reason to keep those counters clear! Trust me - I want the office to be the same way, and I'm going to make it happen! Spoiler alert - that did NOT happen yesterday! A few more days are needed for that. 

There were more piles where the sink is, as well as the extra tubs I brought from the office. 

More sorting

Even the kitchen table was called into action. 

More piles of crap on the kitchen table

After I took those pictures, this is what remained on the island. Still some piles to sort through, but excellent progress. 

Significant progress was made with the sorting

The only disappointment of the day was that I did NOT find the missing folder, but I did find another piece of the pattern on the back of something else. I use recycled paper in our printer, and well, I've found a few pieces that way. 

Here's where the three extra tubs of paper came from in the office. I don't know what possessed me, but I was determined to make a dent in the mess. Did I make that happen? I did, but it doesn't necessarily look like I did. The big stack of paper on top is my pile of recycled paper for the printer. I don't think we ever need to buy paper in this house! I put all my notebooks on one of those empty shelves, so they are convenient to me. I found many of them, and imagine the sensibility of having them conveniently at my fingertips. How amazing is that? They need to be sorted through, as I'm sure many "dead" pages need to be removed. 

The cabinet beside the desk

Then, while I was at it, I looked at the table in the office. This is disgusting, and I attacked that as well. Can you believe that I ate at that table last night? Yep --- I haven't used that table for a long, long time, other than as a dumping ground. 

But now I had to clean up the kitchen and put away those piles. So I started by bringing in the most urgent stuff and put it on the table, so I can deal with it later today or whenever I have a few minutes. You'll see more of that progress as the days go by. I'm not sure how much time I will devote to the next stage, but I don't think I can do another full day. By noon, my back was exhausted from standing and sorting. But I carried on! And by the end of the day, my brain was fried! I'm not sure if I want to set a goal to clear this table top by the end of this month. That would be a lot, but it would be nice to have the space clear. I'll see how I feel! I'm sure Miss Murphy will continue to hound me on our walks!

The current piles that I need to continue to sort through

This is the current state of the desktop. I still have two tubs of paper to sort through, and I did a little last night, but by then I was brain-dead and couldn't handle more sorting. 

The state of the desktop

But compared to a couple of days ago, I would say there is an improvement. The TV tray is gone, and there was a pile of stuff on that little white shelf in the back; it's mostly empty and will be donated. I'm not quite there yet. I'm going to focus on sorting the tubs and the table!

The "before" picture of the desktop

And here's the cabinet that sits beside the computer desk. Well, you can't really see it, but it looks much better. 

The computer desk area

What I need to do to really see a difference is to tackle the computer desk. I need to get that new computer out of the box, clean up the pending file, and then get rid of all the detritus that collects on the desktop. PLUS, there is some computer work that needs to be done. 

I thought I would find more reading material, but there wasn't much, unless it's in the tubs I haven't sorted yet. And I thought I would find tons of to-do lists, but I didn't see much of that either. Unless it's still hiding somewhere. 

Thank goodness for that filing cabinet. I took the sorted piles and shoved them into file folders. Oh yes -- I have plenty of hanging sleeves and empty folders, so that's where most of what I sorted yesterday resides. 

Before I put the stuff away, I sorted through several piles, and then I ran out of time and energy. 

Now I need a good lecture from my friend Murphy. "Mom -- you do NOT need to keep utility bills forever." And YES - I need to get the few remaining utility bills on email, NOT in the mail. I'm working on it! So here's a question for you—if you still have paper bills, what do you need to keep? OK—I could Google that question, but I'm curious. What about property tax bills? Renovation bills? 

I need to deal with all that, but honestly, I'm at the point where I can easily say goodbye to most of it. 

There is one problem with the situation in the filing cabinet. I have NOT labelled or sorted the files into logical order, so if I find another piece of paper, it's a bit tricky to find the right spot, and the drawers are full. So I must be diligent and start the process of making one drawer for household stuff, one for quilting, etc., and grab the folders and sort through them. I'm guessing that most of what I put in there can be tossed. 

As I mentioned yesterday, I NEED to go through them. I'm not the kind of person to just toss. I won't be happy, so don't even suggest it!

I found a few hilarious things that got put somewhere, and as I unearth them, I'll share them with you! But I found this - my goals for machine embroidery. There is no date on it, but I suspect it's from 2023 or 2022? I'm not sure when we started the machine embroidery club. Wait -- I just checked my digital picture folders (labelled, of course) and it was from 2021. The year when we were all on Zoom. 

Machine embroidery goals from 2021

Well, let's see. From that list, I did NOT complete the first two items, nor the last item. They are still sitting here waiting to be done! That list was NOT visible, and I totally ignored it throughout the year. So yes, one can set goals, but if you forget what they are, they will likely go undone. So if you went to the trouble of making a list, make sure you keep it handy! And that you use it when you are scheduling your daily/weekly/monthly activities 

I sure wish I didn't have to spend the entire day sorting, and there are many more days required to get this room under control, but I have made giant leaps and bounds since the day I vowed to clean it up. It's been slow, but at one point near the end of 2017, the place was filled with boxes of crap. 

I don't have a picture of the office, but all this was moved there at the end of 2017. Plus all the stuff that was already in the room. It was TIGHT. 

Boxes of stuff that were moved into the office in 2017

So, while it still looks messy, the situation has come a long way, and I'll get there. And the day that we have to downsize, will be a piece of cake! Mainly because there won't be much left in this room! And by then, the hard decisions - to keep or toss will be even easier because I'll have gone through the process many times, and each time you go through it, things become less important. 

I found these cute little key chains in a brown bag. They are from our trip to Africa and will get added to my mini-shoe collection. They are sandals - one for Tanzania and one for Kenya! 

Mini sandals from Kenya and Tanzania

Now I have a problem in the office: finding a way to remove this curtain rod from the hardware so I can hang the roman shade on it. It's sitting on the desk and has been for years because I don't know how to remove that rod from the brackets. I MUST make that happen because I'd like to hang up the blind! 

How to get the hanging rod out of the brackets

There is one area in here that I'm going to need some mental fortitude to deal with. That is the several boxes of odds and ends. YES -- I know that most of it should be thrown out, and by the time I deal with the paper, maybe I'll be in that frame of mind. But there are many boxes of stuff. But if I have some clear space to lay out and sort the stuff, it might help me make some decisions! 

And do not ask me why I can do this sorting thing much better when I'm home alone, so much better than when DH is in the house. I have no idea, but when he's away, I can work like mad. He's going to be away several times this month, and I sure wish I were home alone so I could go crazy with the rest of the cleanup. But that's OK -- I'll just grab a pile and deal with it. 

I also found a dead candle. But I love the dish and what to do with it? So I Googled how to get the wax out, and all I had to do was pour boiling water into the dish. It was fascinating to watch the wax pop to the top of the water. 

Watching the wax pop to the surface of the water

And then I was able to pull the wax out of the holder. 

The excess wax

Now I could just throw the wax away, or I could get creative and find a smaller container and some candle wick and make a new candle. It seems like such a waste to throw that wax away. Does anyone need wax for fire starters? Apparently, that is another good use for used wax. 

And since it was a complete loss in the day for sewing (no regrets), I might as well tackle that jigsaw puzzle when I got tired. I think I sat at the puzzle once in the afternoon, and then before bed. And it's done!!!

Jigsaw puzzle - complete

I have the following three puzzles lined up, so I can put this one away later today and then get out the next one, which is only 300 pieces, so it shouldn't take long. Then I can drop those off at my neighbors and I can get to work on a couple of 1000-piece puzzles. 

I seem to be the Energizer Bunny as I was up early, and I'm getting laundry done before we hit the 7 AM time for higher electricity in our area. I'm running around in my cycle shorts, preparing for spin class. 

For all my classes and Monday Sewing, I send an email at the beginning of the class with the Zoom link, and I forward the link the night before. I encourage everyone to keep that email in a safe place so they will always have it. Some people need to have that link, even though I've never forgotten to send it out. The other day, someone asked me why I don't encourage people to put the link in their digital calendars. Well, last night I sent the link to the digital calendar for Monday Sewing, and THREE people have already added it to their calendars!!! Silly me for not doing that before. So thanks again, Becky, for getting me out of a rut!!! I'll do that for all classes going forward! 

In my sorting yesterday, I cleaned off the TV tray, the stuff on the desk, three tubs from the cabinet, AND a pile that was on the desktop. That was huge - and I'm not quite done. BUT, it has freed up space and visual clutter on the desktop. So my goal is to chip away at the crap on the desktop and get those tasks done, and then I can add a few more. Do I see the end in sight to this endless pile of paper? YES - I do, and I hope that you believe me! Not that anyone ever said anything, but I can bet that many of you were saying, "JUST DO IT!" And I listened, and I did!

Here's a quote that I spotted on Facebook yesterday.  

Yes --- 1000%. If you can't control the outcome of something, LET IT GO!!!! I do not worry about anyone or anything but those in my immediate household. I can't control anyone else, nor can I control the weather. I can only control my REACTION to what happens, so that is where my focus is. The older (and wiser) I get, the better I am at reacting maturely!

And now it's your turn. I don't care if you decide to deal with one, two, or three pieces of paper in a day. I don't care if it's a drawer in your kitchen, but you CANNOT leave this mess! 

Even though there is still a lot of stuff in this room, there is a different, lighter feel in the air. I'm not kidding. It feels better in here - more energy, more positivity! Can you imagine how I'll be when the surfaces are immaculate? I'll be bouncing off the walls!!!

And on that positive note, I'm out of here! Off to spin class!

Have a super day!!!!