Some like it hot!

Oh my gosh --- such great comments! Try to go back to yesterday to read them. Amazing how sometimes the husband is the hanger-on and sometimes it's the wife. But whoever it is—there is an important message: if we save something because we are afraid of breaking it, we'll never use it. If it breaks? Who cares! It is an object! An object that no one wants once we are gone. That is something that so many people don't seem to comprehend. That item will unceremoniously go into the thrift shop, where someone might buy it for one of those wine-glass-throwing parties. And you never got to enjoy one single drop, while someone worked out their anger and frustration, or just for the fun of it -smashing your precious wine glass! 

I confess I have always wanted to do that. Take some glassware or china and just smash it for the fun. I have never done that, but wouldn't it be cool? OK -- now where do I find one of those fun houses? 

As for the gift idea—what a smart idea. When you visit your kids and see what a beautiful home they have made for themselves, and the fact that there is ZERO room in their house for your china/crystal or brown furniture - will that change your mind? Never mind that your stuff doesn't fit their decor - I bet their house doesn't have a big open spot earmarked "Mom's buffet!" in it! 

Nope—I doubt there is any extra room because they have filled the house with THEIR memories. After seeing their lifestyle, giving them gifts that work for them - spa days, travel vouchers, or whatever things they want is brilliant. But unnecessary clutter, like buying a new lamp that they likely won't use? Why bother. The item will likely end up in the thrift store, and you might as well have saved your money. 

And kids need to be honest with their parents. DO NOT say to your parents, "Oh, I'll take that item, but I can't right now." Guess what? If they really want the item, they'll make room. No -- they are just prolonging the dream for YOU, not them! Thankfully, M is pretty blunt - perhaps too blunt sometimes (OH gosh -- I sound just like my Mom! LOL), but you know what? Blunt is good. We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but it's good to be honest with your parents. Just soften the blow, please! 

Gosh -- we are all so smart! 

I have a bit of travel this coming month, and when I'm back, I hope things settle down for the remaining two months of the year. Then I can attack the kitchen, the closets, and the office with a vengeance. Studio B may be a different story, but at least the remainder of the house will be clear. And then all I need to focus on is Studio B. I'm OK with that. 

I had to walk the girls together yesterday, and you would swear there is nothing wrong with Murphy. She was at the end of her leash and wanted to be in front, just her usual rambunctious self. She does have back leg issues, but she's doing quite well. We have perfected the method to get up the stairs, and I'm letting her use as much of her weight as she can. I use the support strap mostly to prevent her from slipping. It does happen, but I've got her! It all works! Phew -- I'm glad to get that sorted out. 

MOM - I can hear you talking about me! 

I went to my event yesterday, and everything was good. As usual, we had a great time and lots of laughs. I stopped at Tim's to get a bagel for lunch and some tea. Have you ever wondered about your order? I know they are trying to avoid huge line-ups, but how the heck do they actually toast a bagel in under 30 seconds? 

My toasted bagel

If I get a bagel, I always ask for it toasted. I don't eat it hot, so I have no idea why I ask for it that way. It comes to me HOT, or at least as hot as it would be if it were toasted. But how does it happen so quick? Or do they slap it in the microwave to warm it up and then put the cream cheese on it? 

I'm curious if anyone has made this quilt? I saw it at a store recently, and I really like the quilt. I don't think the quilt is easy to put together, despite the designer classifying it as a confident beginner. It's called Cog in the Wheel by Teresa Down Under.  

Perhaps if you paper-piece it - that would be fine, but to piece it? That's an intermediate at least. 

I did a wee bit of tidying up yesterday, but I was exhausted by the end of the day and had a long nap. Oh my goodness, and then I had a good sleep even though I had a nap. Nothing super physical happened, but the mental fatigue was there. I think I am caught up now and back to normal, until Tuesday when I leave again. 

I have already started the homework for the October classes because I won't have much free time, and those presentations MUST get done. Oh great—I just checked my calendar, and I'm working on the later class in October, NOT the ones I'm supposed to be working on first. I guess I'll finish what I'm doing today and then dig out the next one! Good thing I checked! 

I'm loving those logic problems. It's one thing that comes very easily to me. I have done them since I was a teen, and it's just loads of fun to decipher the clues and figure out who did what, when! 

Has anyone read Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy? I'm 75% through the audio version, and I'm a bit on the fence. I like the storyline; love the narrators, and I mostly like the characters, but this is a classic case of keeping big secrets when do the secrets really need to be kept? I haven't unearthed all the secrets yet, so maybe there is a good reason. I've got two days left before the book is due. 

Can you believe I only have FOUR books on my Libby shelf? That's the digital library shelf. Two are audio, and two are ebooks, and I'm listening to one audio and reading one ebook. When I'm done, one of each is waiting for me. I seem to have gotten things under control. When a "skip the line" book comes in, I ignore it. And I have a couple that will need to be unsuspended, but not quite yet. 

I have NOTHING to do today! I think I'll spend the day in Studio B, cleaning up more things, and I have to get a few things organized to take to Salon Quebec on Tuesday. And I must work on the homework assignments.

It's going to be a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

A day of mysteries!

Today, all is revealed, as there were several mysteries at play. 

First—the fabric with the quilt blocks I bought the other day is part of an Anna Marie Textile (division of Northcott) collection. It's called Piecework, and it's not new - it's from 2025. See how often I get out? 

Here's a reminder of the fabrics; you can check the link above for the rest. As mentioned, Ye Olde Fabric Shoppe had all or most of them. 

Piecework collection by Anna Marie Textiles

Second mystery—the darn storage for my email. While I didn't get a chance to delete all the attachments in the SENT folder, I managed to get rid of some; there was ZERO change to the amount of storage. OK -- maybe this morning, the storage will be different. NO!!! How can that be? There has to be something that is even more hidden? This is NOT the first time this has happened. I've deleted huge files from all the classes in the past, and there's still no change in the amount of storage. 

Hmmmm—what could be the issue? Well, that's still a mystery to be solved. 

Speaking of mysteries -- that book - My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney? Oh my -- plot twist after plot twist. Who knew that was coming? It's insane, yet the plot twists are plausible! I still have about 50 minutes, and how many more plot twists can there be? 

But here's the FUN mystery that is now solved. Remember I shared this logic puzzle book I bought a couple of weeks ago. It has 50 puzzles, and they are fairly easy, so I can sit down and do one or two with no trouble. I'm on number 25! 

Puzzle Book

However, one puzzle just didn't make sense. One clue was one of those either/or clues, but it can't be both. Well, the clue wasn't happening for me. I checked with a friend whose son is an EXPERT at this kind of thing to see if I was messing up. Nope—it didn't make sense to him either. 

I tried to find the book online to see if there was a correction. Nothing. After looking at the fine print in the back of the book, I discovered the book was "written" by Dr. Garth Moore and Laura Jayne Ayres. Well, I know who Dr. Garth Moore is! I have watched some of his online videos for solving problems - especially in the EXIT Game series. 

Well, let's just reach out and see what he has to say. We emailed back and forth multiple times yesterday, and it appears this book was NOT supposed to be released in North America. But I'm not going there. 

Anyway, he agreed with me that the clue was not well written. He explained how to interpret the clue, and with that hint, I was able to solve the logic problem with ease. He has offered me a free subscription to one of his puzzle websites for a year. Hmmm—I don't need more distraction, but I'm going to take him up on his offer. 

A very nice person and someone who cares about their customers! But you should check him out - he is the KING of puzzles (at least in Britain) and has books (yep -- even at our local library), puzzles, and videos. He writes for kids and adults, and I see our library has a lot of his ebooks. 

Now what about the mystery in the forest? They spent THREE days, and I don't know how much material was brought in along with all the equipment. 

They brought in many truckloads of fine and coarse gravel and dumped them at the end of the street, along with a load of larger rocks. 

Piles of gravel to repair the path

More gravel

They also brought in a couple of pallets of what I thought were paving stones, but they were actually large plastic grates used to control erosion. 

Compacting the gravel

They had a roller to pack the gravel, a backhoe, and something else. I didn't really pay attention, but many people were involved, and as mentioned, it took three days. 

I also noticed they broke the end section of the sidewalk with the heavy equipment, but when we walked there yesterday, they had even removed the broken piece of concrete and installed a new one. WOW!!!! 

They repaired the broken sidewalk the same day!

In some instances, they have made the path very thick. 

That's a very thick path.

In a couple of areas with a grade, they installed the larger rocks along the sides. I wonder if they graded that path so the water runs to the sides and then through the rocks? Hmmm - more mysteries. 

Murphy enjoying the new path.

So this is the transition between the new part and the old part. 

The transition

I still prefer the old path, but this section didn't erode. 

What the original parts still look like

This is the spot with the biggest erosion issue. I notice that you can see the path of a bicycle, so how compacted is that earth? I almost wish we could have a violent downpour to see how this stands up. I totally get that the plastic landscape material will hold the soil in place, but what about the layers on top of that material? 

The new downhill!

See, those rocks are pretty substantial. 

Grandma -- BIG ROCKS!

I still think they should check out how the Spanish deal with steep hills and water erosion. Either tile/pave it over as they have done in other sections of this area, OR grade the path slightly to one side and then put channels (ditches) along to handle the water. In some instances in Spain, I saw the channel cut diagonally across the path. 

Let's see what happens. I may still dig out those pictures of the paths in Spain and send them to the city if we run into more issues!

OH MY -- I realize this is the weekend for the Virtual Retreat and I'm strapped for time! But we can have one on Sunday afternoon from (3 - 9). I'll post the link tomorrow. I have a very busy day tomorrow and YES - I'll be hosting my scrap class (the first one) from downtown Toronto!!

Here's a sneak peek at my purchases from the day before. I found the perfect fabric for the borders and binding that I needed. I have ZERO issue buying new stuff if I don't have it in my stash. But if I can make do with what's in the stash, then I'll go with that. I had reached the point on THREE projects where I needed to buy something. 

The border and binding fabric for two quilts

Then for the My Kinda Town quilt, I'm using these prints as the background. I think I mentioned that I have tried to use these for multiple quilts, and none of them worked. 

My backgrounds for My Kinda Town

But for My Kinda Town, the backgrounds are perfect. 

A block from My Kinda Town

However, I only had six of those fabrics, and I needed two more! 

I managed to find one more in the kids section of the store. I had checked out, and Dede and I were chatting with the store employee. I then asked her if they had the Tula Pink fairy frost, which someone suggested on my blog. No, but then she asked what I was looking for. OH -- we have some of those in the far corner by the pink fabric. So we trotted over there and sure enough -- they had a variety. I eliminated some of them and found three that will work. 

Three new fabrics

Silly me - I should have asked as soon as I got there, but I did not. I'm glad I asked because now my search for those prints is over. 

I also spotted this vinyl, which is to die for! It's so soft and beautiful. 

Soft vinyl

I found something in the sale area that makes more sense than anything I had in my stash for this quilt backing. It's a nice quilt I want to keep, so I was happy about that. 

Backing for my quilt

And I had the urge to buy something Halloween. Don't ask me why - so this is what I got! 

A Halloween pattern and a mini-charm pack

I am NOT a fan of Tilda fabrics, but these buttons were to die for. Yes - an impulse purchase, which is why I shouldn't go shopping!

Tilda buttons

Because it's going to be an insanely busy weekend, I went to the used book sale last night. I had one goal in mind, and I grabbed some cash. Not much cash, but enough to make the trip worthwhile. 

Oh my --- the sale is on the lower level of a mall; they used to be on the main level, but this is actually better. It was crowded, and the line-ups were long. 

The used book sale

But I found the table with the puzzles and selected a few. I only spent 2/3 of what I took. I had an IKEA bag with me, and they fit in there like a glove. I was there and back within an hour! This is not the first rodeo for the volunteers from the Mississauga Symphony. They know how to process piles of books and take the cash! 

Oh my—look at Murphy and Bear. Bear sure keeps the older dogs on their toes. Murphy used to like sleeping up there, but she doesn't anymore. I'm keeping it around because I know Bear likes it too. He spends many hours watching the activity on the street. But at some point, I'll move it to the garage. It does take up a lot of space. Thank goodness I bought the stairs because he can go up and down at his leisure! 

The neighborhood watchers!

I think the girls like the two walks a day instead of one long one, and I'm getting pretty handy at managing three dogs. I wouldn't do it forever, but the occasional walk with Bear is fine. He's only here for a couple more days. It'll be good when it's just the two girls. Murphy is still attempting to define herself as the Alpha in our house! 

I had so many emails come in yesterday, and I was trying to respond as they came in, so if you sent an email yesterday, I got it, just no time to process!

I compiled the distribution lists for the second scrap class. If you are considering signing up, I'd appreciate it if you do that today. Otherwise, it's a ton of logistical work to keep sending welcome emails to the stragglers. 

Well, I have a lot to get done today, so I'd better get started!!!

It's going to be a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!

It's a GOOD news day!!!!

I chuckle at all the higher-toilet comments. This might be too much information, but I am not a tall person (66"), and I'm not sure what my inseam is - probably around 30". When I am sitting on the toilet, I need to be at a certain angle. I find the higher toilets are too high for my comfort. So I'm going to keep doing my standing squats so I can keep using the lower toilet! It's hilarious—but I can't use the higher toilet! How do vertically challenged people cope?  

Thanks for the recommendation of The Calamity Club. Oh my -- it's 29 hours!! I've just added it to my HOLD list, which is over 30 books, with 6 books in my inbox. One of those needs to be returned, and I'm partway through several of the others. I have so many in suspended status! Perhaps I've been a bit overzealous in the reading department. But that's OK. 

I must learn to rely on tagging the books as "want to read," but like that elusive Sunday morning pill, that habit just hasn't hit me yet. 

YES -- I am waiting 30 minutes before making breakfast—yet again, even though I've been up for several hours. OK—so maybe I do need to set an alarm on my phone for 5:30 AM. You would think this would be easy, but it's not, and I have another 12 weeks of pills! Yeah me!!!

And to clarify one thing I mentioned yesterday about AI. What I dislike about using AI as a search engine is that it finds the information I asked for. It doesn't let me browse the stuff I didn't ask for, and sometimes there are interesting tidbits there that are very useful. Sorry for that confusion! I love learning, and allowing AI to narrow down the search prevents me from learning other useful and sometimes useless stuff! But at least I get to choose, not a computer. 

Well, it's a good news kind of day!! Why? Take a look. 

I double-checked that the leader on the long arm was loaded in the correct orientation - clockwise versus counterclockwise. That was kind of hard to find online, but I did. When I first took the leader off, I had noted it with a piece of tape on my metal bar, but I didn't trust it. However, the tape indicator was correct, so I went ahead and secured the leader with wide painter's tape. 

The leader is secured with tape.

Using the Sew Tite Magnum magnets to hold that leader in place made this an easy task. I had a pair of scissors in one hand and the roll of tape in the other, and within two minutes, this part of the tape was in place. 

Then I took the roll and added a single layer of tape along the length of the leader. 

The second step in taping the leader in place

Hmm—that took another 2 minutes, and then it was done! 

I rolled it up, and it could be a bit tighter, but hopefully that will happen as I use the long arm. At least it's even on the edges, and that's all that counts. 

Then, since I was on a roll, I decided to load a quilt backing. Oh my—that was hilarious. I started placing the magnets on and then realized I was NOT attaching the back—just adding the magnets to the metal bars in the leader. OK—let's try that again!! And before I knew it, the backing was secured. Magnets on one side and pins on the other. 

The backing is loaded.

This is one of the community project quilts, and I realized I didn't have any batting made. So I grabbed three pieces, and I'll join them later, and I hope to get this quilt done today. Then I can move to some customer quilts. I have only three, so that shouldn't take too long. Perhaps I can squeeze in some from that huge pile of community project quilts. What I need to do is focus on that group of 11 and get that out of here! I think there are five left, including the one on the long arm. 

Then it was on to the next project: finishing the appliqué on those two winter quilts. And I'm happy to report that it is done! The appliqué on both blocks is complete! 

Progress on the winter quilts

You won't remember this, but the bells on the bottom right were NOT done, but I got those blocks completed yesterday as well. Yep—they are scrappy, as I couldn't find enough big pieces, and when I did, I managed to mess up the instructions, and well, it gave me another picture for my scrap class!

The bell blocks

But here they are --- the two winter quilt tops. 

Progress on the two winter quilts

All that remains is to make 88 flying geese. And if I had been smart, when I pieced Down on the Farm with all those stitch n flip corners, I should have been using these flying geese as my enders and leaders instead of those scrappy triangles. Alas -- that didn't happen. 

But I managed to get this much done yesterday. 

Progress on the flying geese

It's a start, and this morning, I got more cut, and I'm ready to sew. I don't think I have enough white squares, but I'll cut more from my scrap bucket when needed. Who can be bothered to count?

Ready to sew

Once those are done, then I get to sew the quilt top together. I need to find two fabrics for borders and binding. And then the back. I'm making progress, but I'm going to have to put it aside because I need to work on the class prep for next weekend. 

I'll see how the day goes!! It would be nice to get this off the wall, and I'm close, so I may get that far at least. 

I put away a few things that were on the cutting table. These batik strips are to die for!! You can find others like them at Heather Bell's Sewing Studio! 

Striped batik fabrics

Miss Murphy is doing OK. She only coughed once during the day and twice last night, so she seems to be getting over whatever this is. I left a message at the vet, but they didn't call me back yesterday. If she continues to improve, then there's no need to take her next week. 

But I'm noticing lots of changes in the behavior of the two. It's like Miss Lexi is coming out of her shell. No longer dominated by Murphy, she is becoming more "aggressive." She wants to play, and Murphy is the one to stand still (or lie down), and Lexi does all the running. Murphy is doing great on the stairs; she is allowed to go down as she seems to have zero issues, but she waits for me to help her up. We kind of have the hang of it now, but I keep the stairs barricaded at all times so we don't end up with a disaster. 

She doesn't make a fuss about not going downstairs, although she does come down every so often. It's just not the same, but this is life. She still has lots of love to give, and we have lots of love to give her, and we've found a way to work around her issues. The only thing we can do is to keep her comfortable and make sure she gets lots of love every day. 

OH MY GOSH -- you would think she is dying from my comments. She is not - she's just getting old, and because she was so boisterous, it shows more than it would with Lexi. 

And Lexi seems to be less skittish as well. She stands at the door to the office, asking to go out! And she will come and stand right beside me and let me hug her, which she never allowed before. It's strange how their behavior changes as they age. 

MOM - I'm ready for my walk! NOW!!

And this is the ONLY dog bed they share. Never at the same time, of course! But if the blankets aren't nicely laid out, she won't sleep there. 

Well, I've become Miss Chatty Cathy with the neighbors! I stop and talk to anyone or at least say HI. There is a house two doors from us - the same house as ours. That house was purchased about 4 years ago for an exorbitant amount of money. A real estate agent bought the house. It was funny because the house was the same as ours, and the lady who lived there before the real estate agent was named Elaine. 

Anyway, a while back, the house went up for sale, and she was asking for MORE money than she paid. She bought it just before the market crashed, and I swore there was NO WAY she was going to find a buyer. Imagine my surprise when I saw her putting a SOLD sign on the house as I was returning to the house with Lexi. 

Of course, I had to stop and chat. She was never forthcoming with any neighbor during all the time she lived here. The occasional glance, but that was it. 

Yes—she sold the house, and the closing is next month. A family is moving in. I checked the price online, and she sold it for $50K over what she paid. I am STUNNED. Who the heck bought the house? Now I have visions of a family of five adults moving in, and the driveway will be packed with cars. It can only hold two cars. 

The backyard is huge, but it doesn't back onto the forest, yet it sort of does. Because the house is on the corner, it backs onto two other houses and has a narrow gate into the forest where the two yards meet. 

Let's keep our fingers crossed that we get good neighbors. There are two other houses for sale on the street (this is unheard of), and both of them were significantly less money. 

At dinner last night, DH and I discussed it and said - she must have fudged the numbers. The house still has its original carpet everywhere - that would be 30 years old. And no bathroom or kitchen updates. It's all very suspicious to me. 

We got really nice new neighbors two houses in the opposite direction; can we be so lucky again? 

I think my alarm system is on point with the day and time, but the weather? Not so much!!!

The panel is half right!

I really lucked out with my fish. They had a lot of babies, and they are growing like weeds. 

These are the baby fish.

I never see more than five big ones at a time, so perhaps two didn't make it, but the babies more than make up for it if we lost two. We now have new electrical plugs and a new bubbler, so there should be zero issues for the winter. I often see the fish swimming amongst the leaves, so this is the perfect setup. They have shade, and they have sun. 

The fish love the pond.

Someone posted a note in a puzzle group about this the other day. How can so many border pieces of a puzzle be missing? To be sure - this doesn't look like enough border pieces. 

All the border pieces for a 1000-piece puzzle

But within a "few" minutes, the border was together. I feel like I speed-puzzed that one together, although in speed puzzling, few people focus on only one area at a time unless it's an event with two people, aptly called a pairs event. 

The border is together.

I didn't do more than that because I have some reading to catch up on. In addition to the ebook and audiobooks, I have a few physical books from the library that I must get read! No one can accuse me of not having personal time! I am taking way too much personal time!

Here's an interesting sign at a local Michael's store - learn to sew!!! Michaels is now selling Singer sewing machines. Well, they have been for a while now, but there is a big push, especially since they are now selling fabric. 

All about sewing at Michaels

I'll be hosting a "Teach The World to Sew Day" in the afternoon of September 19th at a Michaels in downtown Toronto. That should be fun—I hope we get loads of people out! 

How true is this? How much do we want to think that we are irreplaceable and yet ignore the fact that someone else can do just as good a job? 

Therefore, we need to take some time and do stuff for ourselves, which I seem to have zero problem doing! I love sitting in the gazebo, with my new cushion, and listening to the water. Reading, napping, petting the dogs, or whatever makes me happy at that moment. 

I'm really liking this weather—it's cool in the mornings and nice in the afternoon! 

On that note, it's time to get moving! 

It is going to be a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!

AI is NOT helping the Maker Space

A reminder: if anyone wants to join the second session for Making Scrap Quilts Beautiful, hosted by Thimbles and Things (taught by me), a second class has been opened, and it is filling fast! I wouldn't wait if you are considering joining. That class starts on September 20. You can get all the details at this link. The class is ONLINE, so anyone from anywhere can join! 

I gave the first session a wee bit of homework yesterday, and I'm seeing some pretty interesting quilts! 

I am back in work mode - at least for yesterday! It's funny how some days you have all the energy to conquer the world, and the next day? Well, not quite so productive. Oh - I get things done - just not always what I need or want to. Perhaps I should say my focus, not my energy, is the problem!

I finished another audiobook yesterday. Only at the end did I realize the audiobook was abridged, but it was still very interesting. And all I can say is my heart goes out to those living in war-torn countries and countries where women are not respected. And even in our first world country, some women are badly abused by their spouses. It's terrible that anyone has to live in those conditions, and under so much fear for their lives and the lives of their children. 

The book is called "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. I learned at dinner last night that the author is a man. OH MY!!! That was interesting. How the heck could this book be written by a man? But he did a great job, and I think he covered the woman's point of view very well, considering his nationality and the topic of the book. 

His family sought political asylum in the US when he was 15. He writes to raise awareness of the Afghan people and what has happened in their country. The books are hard subject matter, and although they are fiction, a great deal of them are "real." I haven't read any of his other books, but I might have to read the first one - "The Kite Runner." 

Let's just say that a lot of progress was made yesterday, and I'm happy. 

The backing and the binding are made for Down on the Farm, and I hope to get it quilted before the end of the year. We'll see how that goes, but at least it's in the pile. OFF MY plate at the moment. 

Down on the Farm ready to be quilted

Then I decided to get myself in gear and get the metal bars sewn into the leader for the long arm. I had already stitched the channel a while back, but I needed to stitch pockets so the magnets didn't float around in the channel. So I stitched the edge of the channel, then inserted a metal bar, then stitched that pocket closed, and then along the edge for the length of the next pocket, inserted another metal bar, until the entire 14 feet was stitched. 

YES -- I had to insert the metal bar from one end into the channel and scoot it down to where it would reside. I don't know if that makes sense, but I stitched one long seam, with little jogs to close the pocket. It was easier than stopping and starting. 

Sewing the metal bars into the long arm leader

It really wasn't a big job as I anticipated. As is the case in almost all jobs that we procrastinate on. Why do we do that to ourselves? 

Before I knew it, I had reached the last pocket. 

Sewing the last pocket

Then I placed the leader on the bar of the long arm. It was super easy to hold it in place using the magnets, as the bar is metal. 

The magnets hold the leader in place.

Now that the leader is in place and quite sturdy with the magnets, I can tape it to the metal bar by myself. I hope to get that done this afternoon, and I might even attempt to load a quilt. I have two other leaders to switch from pinning to magnets, but just getting this one done is awesome. The rest will come, but I need to get the long arm back up and running. 

I have to laugh because someone at Monday Sewing mentioned that if you are learning something, it's not enough to just make one - you ned to make several to master the technique. I learned that with my table. The first assembly was a challenge; the second was fast! Now that I know what I'm doing with the leaders, I suspect the next two will go much quicker. Except it is a ton of work to scrape off that goop. 

Next on the agenda was to get to work on my UFO for this month. Of course, some appliqué was holding me back. So I got out my threads, and I started my satin stitch. 

Satin stitch appliqué

And of course, there are two blocks!!! Because I started making two quilts about 25 years ago! 

Working on two blocks

The trees on the left are done, leaving the boy on the sled and his dog. That will take a bit of time, since the pieces overlap and are small. But that is my goal for the day! I hope to get a few other things done, but at least if I get that done, I'll be happy. 

As for the current jigsaw puzzle? I finished it last night. 

Jigsaw puzzle done - almost.

Dang it, but there's a piece missing. I bought it at the thrift store. BUT WAIT --- I had noticed a few pieces were falling off my design boards as I was working, so I had a peek this morning. AHA - look what I spotted. 

The missing piece

That piece fell off the design board and onto the shelf, so I was able to put the last piece in this morning. 

The last piece

Yeah!! No missing pieces - I love that, and I only paid $5 at the thrift store. I probably got a discount because I rarely buy anything at full price. So that was a very good entertainment deal. 

Jigsaw puzzle complete!

Am I getting faster? I think I am. Am I ready for a speed puzzling event? I doubt it - I'm not nearly that fast, but what the heck. It will be fun. 

I didn't have any large zippered plastic bags, so I got some at the dollar store the other day. I always pack the puzzle into one of those bags and put an elastic around the box. That just helps to prevent pieces from going missing. 

I'll be meeting a few of my puzzle friends next month, and I might pack up these puzzles and see if anyone wants them. If not, they go back to the thrift store. 

And yes—the next one is ready to crack open tonight. That one is the theme puzzle for September, which is to work on a Eurographics brand puzzle. Last month, with the theme of Wild Animals, over 800 people submitted a picture. Well, I noticed one woman submitted more than one entry, and that is within the parameters of this event. But she makes it very noticeable. When we take a picture of the finished puzzle, it needs to have a piece of paper with the code word on it. Hers is very distinct. Oh well - if that makes her happy, then it makes me happy. 

Let's face it, some people are fully retired and probably spend all or most of the day puzzling! 

Our library has been closed for most of the summer as we are getting a maker space and new carpet, among a few other things. The library is now open, and I popped in yesterday to see if the quilt had been taken down. Nope—it's still hanging, which is good. The last time they painted, it got taken down, and it took a long time to get it back up. I don't think it gets a lot of sun, but it is looking faded. 

The library quilt is still hanging.

I didn't look around much, but I spotted the new carpet. Where is the maker space? I didn't see that. 

But look at the pretty display of books. Typically, you see the spines pointing out, but this time, it was the pages. Isn't that pretty!! I bet most of those books are fantasy, which isn't a genre I read. I checked a few, and yes, they are mostly fantasy. 

The pretty pages of books

I found a quilt book on scraps, so I brought that home to browse for any tidbits! 

Good grief-- now Murphy seems to have developed a cough. I'm not sure where that came from, but I need to see if I can get into the vet today for meds for her. The poor thing! Of course, like people, she mostly coughs at night! But she is happy as a clam to sleep upstairs, so all is good at our house. 

I'm going to go on a wee rant here about AI. I know that people use various AI bots to do stuff for them. However, I don't see the point of using specific AI bots when our Google search does the same thing. YES - I know they have their own AI now, but it's just a glorified Google search, and Google has always been good to me. However, I will confess that I used MapQuest the other day when searching for a location. 

It's getting harder and harder to work "normally" when all these companies are strong supporters of the political unrest. 

Anyway, that was NOT my point. My point is that so much stuff that we see on the internet is AI-generated, and much of it is NOT specified as AI-generated. People are struggling to tell the difference, although for most of it, it is easy to spot. 

In the world of makers, AI - enhanced photos of projects are lending a VERY BAD image to the industry. I spotted someone on IG (might have been a store) saying that people are complaining that what they are buying or making is NOWHERE NEAR the look of the picture they saw. 

I see it all the time. Here's an example. This is a picture of the original project—NO AI involved.  

Original project - No AI

And look at the AI-generated picture. Totally different. In this picture, those leaves and flowers look 3D and made of some non-fabric material. I'd be ticked off if I went to a class and expected this and made the above picture. It's not a huge difference, but the enhancement is detrimental to roping new quilters/sewists into our world. 

AI- generated version

In a world where people can't tell the difference, this is going to keep causing so many problems. When researching anything, AI is only as good as the material it scans. I say, let's keep using our brains, figure stuff out ourselves, and leave AI to, well, I don't know who. But there is a place for it, but certainly NOT in the maker space. 

The big argument is that AI will quickly compile from various sources, but why can't we go to the sources directly and gather the information? What I dislike is that I learn so much from going to a site - that step alone increases my knowledge base rather than just the narrow focus of the search I asked some AI bot to perform. Keep your options open - stop being complacent and letting AI dictate what and how you gather information. Let's do some of this work ourselves, and I bet you will learn more than you could by using AI. 

On that note, I'd better get myself organized. I have a few things I want to get done today, and there's no time like the present to get started. 

It's going to be a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!!