Check before you buy!

Well, I made out that list of things to do, but I didn't get to check any of them off yesterday, although I made progress on several things. The couple I worked on just generated more stuff to look at!

However, there are a couple of things that I need to address before I forget. I did look at the drawers in the desk. There are three of them. Here's the first one; it looks neat and tidy, so there are no changes. 

Drawer number one

Here's the second drawer, which is actually the top drawer. Hmm—I found a few paper clips in the wrong spot. Look at that mess of elastics! So the bucket of elastics got pulled, and I'll wean that out, and the paper clips were put in the right spot. But other than that, all is good. 

The second drawer

Here's the third drawer. I pulled a USB stick from one of the boxes, and I'll deal with it today. So, I'm also practicing what I preach. 

The third drawer

What I love is that after I dealt with these drawers a couple of months ago, they have remained in good shape! They are set up properly, allowing me to maintain them, and that's what a good, tidy house is supposed to be. 

I'll find some other drawers today to deal with just so you know you're not alone. Come to think of it, there are a lot of drawers in our house. I've been through most of the drawers - they are easy! But it's good to recheck them! 

The second thing is the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor. They expect the bridge deck to be open by the end of June. Hmm. Doesn't that make you think there'll be a big Canada Day/July 4th celebration? Maybe? Maybe not!/ 

But check out this article. One more section (49 feet) must be added to the US side, and the final section will join the two sides. Can you guess how long that final section is? It's 85 feet, which is the width of an official NHL hockey rink. Gordie Howe? Hockey? I think it's fantastic that they did that! 

The last thing I must remember is that there is a virtual retreat this weekend. If the weather is nice, well, I doubt that many of us will be there. I might not be there! I can't get enough of the great outdoors in this fabulous weather. 

Here are the links: 

Saturday - May 25 - starts at 6 PM. I suspect most of us will be there for that. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89816483795?pwd=Mjc3M3pvVmZPdjdsQzlHS3Zhck52dz09

Meeting ID: 898 1648 3795
Passcode: 248667

Sunday, May 26, starts at 1 p.m. NOTE: The later start time is because we have digital cutters before, and it always goes late. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82983517671?pwd=ODdsa1FJenQwdFNaQWFTNGd4bEhPZz09

Meeting ID: 829 8351 7671
Passcode: 117636

And now, on with the show!

I happened upon something a bit shocking on the internet. I was looking at tapering the corner of a cushion. Many people do not do this and end up with unsightly dog-ear corners on their cushions. I used to mark the taper by hand, but I decided a while back to make a template from plastic. Shoot—I thought I shared this in a QUILTsocial post. If you check out this link and scroll down, you can see what I mean by tapering the corners.

Somewhere along the line, I made a template so I wouldn't have to mark that every time. As I was searching for something on the internet, I came across this: a ruler that does the same job. It's on sale for $40 US.

A ruler to taper the corner of cushions

But then I thought I would check my favorite online store. WAIT A MINUTE -- this is insane. Look at the price.

I can't find the exact thing this morning, but I took a picture. It's the same ruler—but look at the price!!!

Yikes -- look at that price

I made mine for free! And while I need to use a second ruler with it for cutting as the template plastic is not thick enough, I don't use it that often! Yikes!!!!

The tree canopy is almost complete, and you would never believe houses are on the other side. It's absolutely glorious to walk through the forest these days!

The tree canopy is complete

But Miss Lexi wanted an urban walk yesterday, so I decided to stop at Tim's for a cookie for my morning snack since I didn't have any in the house. 

Miss Lexi waiting patiently at Tim's

When I got home from the walks, I made a cup of tea and sat outside. It was glorious. I had to pry myself out of that chair and get in the house to finish some work!

Morning tea

Of course, the girls had to entertain. They wouldn't feel like they were earning their keep if they didn't. 

Murphy is up to no good in the far corner

I walked to the grocery store, and they had samples of a tea that I had never tried before. Hmm—this is a fruity tea, but it actually tastes GOOD. It was lukewarm when I had my mini-cup of tea, but that temperature was excellent. 

A new tea to try

I got the white-on-black fabrics cut for the project, and they are now in the retreat bag. 

White-on-black fabric cut

I cannot find the post where I showed how I made that template. GRR!!! I'll likely find it the minute I hit PUBLISH on this post! 

While I was standing at the desk admiring the tidy drawers, a couple of things caught my eye, and they are now in the garbage or recycling bin. The more I do, the less effort it takes to make that decision - toss or keep. And most things are going in the toss pile. If you haven't started yet, you should make an effort. You will NOT regret it. You'll feel better mentally, have more room physically, and have less to deal with when you move!

On that happy note, do NOT forget to keep plugging away at the drawers! Have you ever counted how many drawers you have in your house? I have 15 just in my kitchen, and I do NOT have pots and pans drawers! 

I will grab one of those today and deal with it. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Real sewing at the retreat

The vertigo is better and seems only to affect me if I bend down. My world no longer spins behind closed eyes while lying in bed. But I need to watch some of the links/sources you are providing. It's one of those things—do I want to cut into my sewing time or watch the video? How silly of me! My health should be a priority!

OK—so I had some real sewing at the treat yesterday. I had gotten to a point on my QUILTsocial posts that I couldn't progress further without another tool, which I tried to borrow from a number of people, but no one had it. I would happily buy one, but I already have one at home and am not going to buy something I have. So, I made some progress and will sew a bit more today, but I won't be able to go further without that tool. 

I'm going to a quilt store this morning to see if they can help me. 

Since I couldn't work on those projects, I got busy and worked on the things that I brought with me. I'm happy to say that now, there are only three projects that I have not touched in my basket, and I might just make a block of each just to say I worked on everything. 

I also found a bag of half-square triangles that I want to trim, but I'm working on another group of HSTs to cut, so not sure if I'll get to the second bag. 

I brought a camera so I could try to figure out the menu and a small bag that I wanted to rip out and reinsert the zipper. 

Let's have a look at what happened yesterday. 

Here are the half-square triangles I mentioned. A large bag of HSTs needs to be stitched, and I'm using them as enders and leaders. 

There is a pile on the ironing board that needs to be pressed, and I periodically take a break to press some of them. 

Half square triangles to press

And then, when the mood strikes, I move to the cutting table and trim some. 

Trimming half-square triangles

I'm making good progress on that, and I should always include a bag of half-square triangles to be trimmed for every retreat. It's less boring when there are people around. And I have a "few" bags of them at home to be trimmed. 

Then, I grabbed this project. 

The next project

The feathered star block was done, and given the two included photographs, I think it was supposed to be part of a larger quilt at some point. Well, seriously—do I need another large feathered star quilt? Nope—I've already got several at home. So, I trimmed up the few half-square triangles I found with the quilt. When I get home, the pictures will go in the garbage, and the two fat quarters and the green will go in the appropriate fabric baskets. 

I took the two pieces of yardage and added borders. I think I had decided a while back that I would NOT make the quilt larger. I wonder why those other bits were in the bag. I think some of these smaller projects would work as wheelchair quilts. I must check into that! 

The feathered star quilt is done

I even mitered the corners on the outer border. It looks great and is an opportunity to practice using the computer on my long arm. 

Then I made the binding and the backing, and when I get home, it will go in the "to be quilted" pile. Yeah!!!

Binding and backing - also made

It's always a challenge to decide what to work on next, and I just grabbed a bag with some black-and-white blocks in it. I sewed all the blocks together to get this. 

A mini-quilt

While I like the quilt, it's small - only 36" by 48". Let's leave that for the moment. 

The blocks were made of black fabric with white markings, and the framing was in orange and yellow. 

I also had a set of blocks made of white fabric with black markings and black frames. I sewed those together to make a quilt of the same size. 

A second small quilt

So now what? I knew there was another bag in the basket that held strips of black and white fabrics that were slated for another quilt. 

Black and white fabrics in another bag

This was supposed to be for a split nine-patch quilt. 

Even the ruler for cutting triangles from strips was in the bag. 

There's my Easy Angle Tool!

Now technically, this is a very bad habit because if I wanted to use that ruler for something else, would I remember where it is? NO! Although I have two other sizes of this ruler, when I get home, I'll put this ruler back on the ruler wall. And if that project goes back into the retreat basket, I should note that I need to get that ruler! Yes, what a clever idea that is!!!

I had started to cut for the split 9-patch, but this is all I had so far. 

Pieces cut for a split 9-patch quilt

I decided it would make sense to "harvest" the strips set aside for the split 9-patch and cut them up for the one that is too small. So that's what I did this morning. 

Cutting strips to make the smaller quilt larger

No one else gets up as early as I do, so I had the entire room to myself. I put on my audiobook and LOVE having those big empty tables to cut on. My cutting table faces a wall; it just doesn't feel that expansive even when it's completely empty. 

And this is what I cut. I didn't have enough to cut for the 24 extra blocks I needed, but I made a note and will dig out more black and white fabric when I get home. 

New pieces for more blocks

The pieces that were too small for the current project were further sub-cut for the split 9-patch, and a small pile of scrap was left over. All are bagged and tagged and will be put away when I get home. 

I also cut the orange and yellow strips for the new blocks. 

The current state of this project

I'm missing some black fabric and some orange for the strips, so I'll collect that when I get home and try to get the remainder cut or at least put it into the bag. I'll deal with it at the next retreat. For the moment, I'm calling this project done. 

I decided to do the same for the white and black quilt while I'm at it. There are some bits of white left over, two big bundles of strips, and some black, so that's on the cutting table for this morning. 

The status of the second quilt

It was a great day, and I needed that little boost to get me motivated to continue working on my stuff when I get home. It's been a long time since I've sewn anything, and I was starting to feel like I wasn't getting anywhere. But that has changed! Yeah!!

So, I'll cut the black and white and then look at the remaining three projects and see what I can do! Sometimes, you need to do that to remind yourself if something is missing to work on the project.  

All is good! We had a big storm last night, with lots of rain and thunder, but we were snug as a bug inside, so no worries. I'll be out for a walk this morning before it gets hot. 

On that note, I'm out of here! Having a super time at the retreat, and I'm finally feeling relaxed! I guess that's because of the naps on the sofa! There is one quilt on the sofa that I love - I must take a picture of it - I think it's the quilting, not the quilt that I love. I think I just found the pattern, so I must order it. I have several things I want to place an order for, but I'll do that when I get home. 

WAIT—what about cleaning out your drawers? You cannot tell me that you are done! There are drawers in the kitchen, the bathroom, the hall closet, the sideboard, the cabinets in the living room, your bedroom, and your sewing room. Keep working until you get those drawers cleaned out. 

Do not just move the stuff to a new spot or put it in a box. Try to deal with it. The more you learn to deal with your stuff, the easier it becomes. I laugh because I did this to my kitchen, and I could do it again. But I emptied so much stuff out of one drawer that things slide around in there now! There are hazards to decluttering, but I'd rather have an almost empty drawer than one that is crammed with things I no longer need. 

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!

Cleaning up!

Yep -I'm deleting from SENT and then emptying the TRASH folder. I don't have time to deal with it today, but I'm happy knowing that I've found a good part of the culprit. However, I'm still a long way from cleaning up that email. I'll do a little bit each day! If I were to add up all those "little bits" each day, I'd need a long, long day!

But all is good! You can't sweat the stuff you can't deal with that day. Just tuck it in the back of your mind and know that it will get done. Even more important is knowing how to fix the problem. Let's hope I can stay on top of it and it won't become an issue in the future. 

There is still loads of stuff on the computers, hard disks, USBs, and external drives that I need to delete! But I'll get there. 

And does anyone go into their smart devices and clean out chat streams? Yep -- that's another area that can quickly take up space on your phone! I do it occasionally, but I could improve at it. This is a huge problem -- we are inundated with so much crap that there's not much time to deal with keeping those areas clean!

Well, one area in my life that is super clean is the car! It's not because we have a new vehicle; I've always been like this. I arrive home, and I empty the car of EVERYTHING, especially my garbage. How hard is that? A wrapper, a drink cup? Grab it and trash it! I've always wondered why people keep a ton of stuff in their cars. Anyway, I digress. 

I arrived home about 5 p.m. yesterday, and I was quite happy to be home! I'm now home, except for a one-day meeting for almost two weeks! Yeah!!

However, I didn't get anything done last night. I was tired, so I started reading a book, and the rest is history! 

This morning, I got up and went to Studio B, but I almost turned around and went back to bed. Why? 

It's like a debris field in there. 

The debris field that is called Studio B

And the area around the long arm isn't much better. 

A second debris field

The place has been worse, but this is getting pretty bad. While I brought the suitcases (3 huge ones) into the house yesterday, they are still parked in the hallway. I unpack them a bit at a time since the quilts are heavy and need to be put away. 

I have work to finish today as I have three sessions over the weekend, and the show must go on. So I started with the cutting table, which wasn't in bad shape, considering what the floor looked like. 

AH -- A while back, I spoke about the Peaky and Spike unit in the quilt world. This was named because of Doreen Speckman. And at some point, Marti Michell made a ruler in honor of Doreen and this unit. 

Peaky and Spike template

There's only one problem with this template - it makes ONE SIZE!!

The templates only make a 5" finished unit

Deb Tucker has released many rulers; her version for this unit is called the V Block. I chuckle when I say that because so many rulers do the same thing, but everyone thinks their spin on it is best. 

The V Block ruler

However, I think the Tri-Recs Ruler, which has been around for eons, is the BEST ruler for making this unit. It's versatile—you can make units from 1" to 6" finished (or something like that). There is NO NEED to trim the unit down when you've sewn it together, so it takes less time, and there is ZERO waste. 

The Tri-Recs ruler

That sounds like an oxymoron statement coming from me - -someone who makes their HSTs slightly larger and trims them down. But I'm also an old dog, and teaching me new tricks is tough! 

Anyway, I LOVE my Tri-Recs ruler, and that's what I'll use for any of these units I need to sew. To me, they are called Peaky and Spike!!! Thank you, Doreen, for that cute name!

Oh gosh -- if I look a bit closer, there is more stuff on the floor. 

More stuff to deal with

OH, do you remember me saying I couldn't find my metal bias bars a week ago? That's because I was trying to be very proactive in prepping for my applique classes, and I stuck them in the box with the patterns I was working on. DUH!!!! 

Found the bias bars!

The missing bias bars. I've moved them back to the box where they belong, and I guess it shows that I am NOT good at being proactive because I don't remember pulling them out. So, in the future, things must stay in their original spot! 

The missing bias bars

I found a bag of thread that I bought a while back that had yet to be put away. I emptied the bag onto the cutting table. 

Brand new thread, which was homeless

And while I was sorting, I found two more mini stashes of new thread that had yet to be put away. Sigh.....

More homeless thread

More homeless thread

I find the best way to organize things is by color, as that's how I usually need them. Well, my threads are sorted by category first and then color. These are my boxes of embroidery thread, and the three stashes of recently purchased thread were all for machine embroidery. 

So, I pulled out the appropriate colored box. Hmm, there is not much room in this one. 

Oranges and yellows

And only a little room in this one, too. 

Blue embroidery thread

Now I have an overflow bag, which I'm not fond of. I could separate the oranges and the yellows into separate boxes and sort the blues by teal and blue. 

A bag of homeless embroidery thread

But my embroidery thread cupboard is already full, and technically, I could fill a second unit. The question would be, where do I put it? NO MORE buying thread!

My embroidery thread cabinet

I was cleaning something out in the storage room the other day- more on that story another day. And I found this mat smoother. Hmmm -- unopened, so I'll try it later today. I wonder if it'll be good to clean some of the debris off the mat or if this is just another expensive gimmick I fell for?  But I chuckle as I see this -- I met a lady the other day who has a small mat that she used for quilt classes. The mat was FORTY years old, and the front of it was pretty scarred. The back was flawless, so I suggested she use the back!!! 

A mat smoother

These are the background fabrics for my Green Tea and Sweet Beans. Since the quilt top is done, I guess I can put these away. So the whites are in the white bucket, the grays are in the gray bucket, and the scraps are in the appropriate spot. 

The backgrounds for Green Tea and Sweet Beans

I trimmed some half-square triangles sewn in the last month, and they were put away. 

Trimming half-square triangles

While rummaging in the storage room a while back, I spotted a box of solids. Hmm --- I could probably put those with the other solids. So, I opened it up this morning. ACK -- why do I do this to myself? 

Stuff I found in the box of solids

I found two patterns in the box, containing leftover fabrics from the Gravity quilt or leftovers from Amish with a Twist. I also found the MINI Hex ruler by JayBird and some half-hexes that were already cut. CRAP --- I can't just leave those half hexes, so I'll sew them together to make the little quilt on the left. WAIT --- I can sew them as enders and leaders. But first, I need to be sewing to use them! 

Well, it's always an entertaining day when I decide to tidy up, but I'm glad what I did. While it still is a disaster, I cleared off the one table where I need to do some work. I dug out the fabrics for the two projects that need to be prepped for tomorrow, and I'm going to focus on that one table only today! So all is good, but then I need to get that place whipped back into shape at some point. 

As I mentioned, walking in there this morning was not encouraging, and that is NOT a good thing. 

So -- yes, there is a Virtual Retreat this weekend. Here are the links. 

Saturday - April 27 - starting at 6 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89816483795?pwd=Mjc3M3pvVmZPdjdsQzlHS3Zhck52dz09

Meeting ID: 898 1648 3795
Passcode: 248667

Sunday, April 28 - starting at NOON

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82983517671?pwd=ODdsa1FJenQwdFNaQWFTNGd4bEhPZz09

Meeting ID: 829 8351 7671
Passcode: 117636

My computer only has THREE windows open this morning. WAIT—that's my Google Browser. One of them is the blog, one is my calendar, and the third is something I want to share with the Monday Sewing group. So I'm doing well!

I'm going to try to keep things clear on this computer. I doubt that will last long, but there's always hope!

On that note, I'm out of here. The girls (no boy - sigh -- I miss him, but it's amazing how quickly we fell back into our routine, although it's been chaos this week) are waiting for their walk, which they did NOT get yesterday and were pretty miffed about it.

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!

Positively Pineapple quilts

 

Let's start with some follow-up. You are all the best out there. I've got suggestions for acquiring book series to read and "approval" to keep the mistake in the blue string quilt! And I'm now the proud owner of the instructions for the Pineapple Rule. Remember that??

Pineapple Rule

Thanks to Jane for that. I should have contacted her first. For whatever reason, and we won't go there, but Jane seems to acquired EVERY ruler that was ever made. At a guild garage sale a few years back, I remember that she sold a few of those rulers and templates, but it appears that she still has quite a few of them left. 

Here's her ruler, the INSTRUCTIONS, and a block. Thank you, Jane!!!!  You are the best!

Jane's Pineapple Rule

Now, as I read the instructions, I see that there was, in fact, a book about pineapple quilts. And I may own that book. I just need to see the cover of the book. I may not remember the title, but I'll remember the cover. I've got a very visual memory. 

Oh god - I just Googled it. YEP - I have that book. So I'm sure I will find all kinds of instructions for using this ruler. No wonder I bought it. Now to locate the book on the shelf. It's on the shelf - the big question is which one? But once I know what I'm looking for - I'm good. 

Positively Pineapple

Here's the fancy notice I get for my mileage this month! Yeah me!!!

My formal January mileage marker

I wanted to finish prepping the applique for Quilter's Patch. I dug out my bias supply box. It used to be a total disaster. All kinds of supplies just jumbled in one spot. But a couple of months ago, I cleaned it up. I put similar things into plastic bags, and it was a breeze to find exactly what I was looking for this morning. I'm still missing a few bias tape makers, but the size I needed was in the box. 

The neatly organized project box for bias making supplies

So while listening to an audiobook, I got all the bias stems made. Yeah - that was easy!!!! Then the supplies got put back neatly, and the box is back on the shelf. 

Making bias strips

I still have two circles left to make. I just ran out of time this morning. That won't take long, and then all the applique is prepped and ready to sew on. Holy - I am FOCUSED these days. That would have taken forever before. 

The applique pieces are almost finished

It's a bit hard to see, but this bush was FILLED with birds yesterday. They weren't chattering as I see on some days. But they were happy to be in the bush and enjoying the sun. It was a morning for the flannel-lined pants again. The problem is that I leave the house at 7:30 and finish up close to 9:00 AM. During that time and with the walking, I'm a bit overheated when I get back! But that's OK. 

Birds in a bush

You've seen me quilt a few of these flannel quilts for customers. I absolutely love the quilt and have wanted to make one forever. I didn't like the size - it's something like 56" square, which is a stupid size for a flannel quilt. This is an example of a designer (both the pattern and the fabric) who designed a quilt to fit the fabric (40 SKUs in the collection) and NOT a useable or appropriately sized quilt for the fabric type.  

Over & Down Under pattern

It takes ONE jelly roll, and let me tell you that those jelly rolls are NOT cheap, and they are several years old. I bought one to make a quilt for myself. Then a friend bought a jelly roll, and we both wanted a larger quilt, so we bought an extra jelly roll to figure out how to make it larger. Did she pay me for that??? By the way - it was MY job to figure out how to make it larger. I should CHARGE her for that! But she's a good friend. 

Supplies to make the Over & Down Under quilt

Anyway, I spent some time yesterday morning in EQ8 figuring out how to make it larger. That's why it's been sitting here, not done. But after MANY attempts at making it happen, I managed to get EQ8 to do what I wanted. And NO - you don't get to see it until the quilt is done. 

We have to consider a few things as we do this, but after loading it into EQ8, I think I worked out all the logistics. That was a job and a half to make it work in EQ8, and I think I overloaded the program because it - well, it couldn't handle part of what I put in, so the final picture looks bizarre but close enough to determine how to move forward. 

So while I'm vowing to NOT start anything new - it looks like I might just forge ahead on this one since it's now in my head, and I don't want to figure that out again. And I didn't buy it - I'm pulling from Chez Elaine. 

I also managed some paperwork yesterday, and that's good. I need to get back to my paperwork routine in the morning and then studio work in the afternoon. I'm good with that as it provides a good balance. 

I haven't dealt with the mess on the office floor, but that might be part of my paperwork today. 

OH - before I go - I must give you something to do today. I KNOW that you've been diligently sorting through stuff in your studios and putting similar things together. So - here's what you're going to do today. Pick ONE of those things - rulers? Bias tape supplies? Glue??? thread? Whatever - you pick. You should go through it and decide what (if anything) is no longer needed. Is something broken - can it be fixed? If not, it should probably go in the garbage/recycling. If it can be repaired or needs to be replaced, then make that happen! Use ziplock baggies or whatever to make the supplies neat and tidy, so, like my bias box, it'll be a snap to find what you want and what you need to restock. 

Speaking of flannel -- I'm looking for a bundle of RED fat Quarters in FLANNEL. I really want the Maywood flannel as it has a huge variety. I did a quick search and didn't see anything. Does anyone know of a store that stocks a lot of Maywood Flannel??? 

On that note, I'm out of here!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!