When one thing leads to another...

OH—after reading the comments this morning, I don't think I'm worthy of decluttering the books! Ever since I was little, my mom taught us that books are precious. And YES - they are, but that doesn't mean you need to own all of them. Or if you buy something, you don't need to keep it! ACK!! I'm in big trouble. 

We had two great presentations in the morning, and I can share a little bit of what I've been working on. One of my goals for 2026 is to finish Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. There are 140 blocks in the quilt, and I'm determined to make them all. I will make three lap-sized quilts from them. I do NOT need a large quilt, and it's easier to find a home for a lap quilt than it is for a large bed quilt. 

I managed to get FIVE made this past month, which makes me very happy. Some of these are prepped, but most were not. 

Block one for Sylvia's Briday Sampler.

Two more blocks for Sylvia

OH -- look at how that Glorified nine-patch got trimmed! I'm tempted to replace that corner - I'll see how I feel about it later. In the whole scheme of the quilt, no one is going to see that, but it does bug me a bit. I should NOT have been so slap-happy when I trimmed, as it would have been somewhat easy to fix. 

Two more blocks for Sylvia

That leaves 32 blocks to go, and the big debate in our group was, do you prep many blocks and then sew, or do you sew one at a time? I have a quilt retreat coming up at the end of the month, and I may just prep the rest of the blocks and take them with me. Then it will be easy to sew them, either at home or at the retreat. I want to get this quilt done! I am motivated since I'm so close. 

Then we had machine embroidery, and the entire group, including me, was like sponges. We couldn't soak up the information fast enough, and the show-and-tell is so inspirational. I love seeing people ask questions, show off what they have been working on, and get inspired!! I'll share some stuff with you another day. 

Then, because I had the day to myself, I decided to tackle more books. So help me god. 

We all know that starting a "small" project of one shelf a day can be deadly. It's hard to just tackle that one shelf, so I had decided to tackle the entire column of shelves. I think I mentioned that yesterday. 

As I was unloading the last shelf of quilt books, I spotted this. One end of the shelf was actually resting on the books below rather than on the little hangers. Hmmmm --- that's probably where that errant hanger came from that I spotted the day before. 

The shelf is resting on the books!

I removed the shelf to find that, yes, there were no hangers at that end, and the holes looked a bit stressed. 

No hangers to support the shelf

And that meant removing the books from the bottom shelf (the four bottom shelves are scrapbooking stuff), and there was the other missing hanger. 

The second missing shelf hanger

That resulted in removing all the scrapbooking stuff so I could sort and purge. I know—I still had not taken care of the quilt books I had removed. Sigh... this is one of my biggest problems. 

A few books are off the shelves.

Removing the books and magazines from the bottom shelves caused another problem. Several of the magazines were wrapped in biodegradable plastic, which, of course, was breaking down, and now I had a huge mess of this plastic stuff on the floor, the shelves, and the books. In case you are wondering, the magazines are about 12 years old. 

What happens to biodegradable plastic

I got out my trusty stick Dyson and have been madly trying to corral it all, until it died this morning, so it's charging as we speak. The darn thing gives you no warning that it's low. It just stops. That's a wee bit annoying. My Rowenta would slow down and then stop, so you had a warning. 

And there are the books and magazines spread out on the floor. At least on the floor, I have no choice but to deal with them. 

All the scrapbooking books and magazines

Now I want to remind you that you are NOT allowed to yell at me for how I'm dealing with this mess. It's going to take a while to wrap my head around purging books. Purging books is going to be harder than purging fabric. 

And I discovered so many books that I do not want to give away because there are things in there that I want to experiment with. I haven't had time in the past, and perhaps now I can get a handle on some of that. And if I don't like it, well, then I can let the books go! I have oodles of stuff on mixed media, which I love. 

I sorted the books into categories, and OH MY—there's a lot of stuff there. Putting them into categories will help me decide what to keep and what to purge. 

The great book sort

And then I started to put the scrapbooking stuff back on the shelves. DO NOT YELL!! As I go through it, I know I will find things I no longer want. But I need to go through this process. Once I get started, I know it will be easier, but it will take time for my brain to process. The good news is that the items will be sorted, and then I can whittle away at the pile. I may just start with the scrapbooking stuff because it'll be easier to get rid of. I hope—am I trying to delude myself? 

Putting books back on the shelves

I doubt that I'll ever become a scrapbooker per se, and if I do, it will be digital. So a lot of the basic scrapbooking books can go, but I'm not quite ready to make that happen. I have a plan. What I need now is to set aside some time per day/week and focus on processing this stuff. 

What I really need to find now is someone interested in scrapbooking who would like some books. Otherwise, they will go to the thrift store. The problem is that you can't overload the thrift store, so it'll be a few at a time. And I'll save some for the Mississauga Symphony book sale. 

However, I did find some duplicates - of course, there are duplicates. I think I have found them all, but there might be another straggler that I'll discover as I continue my sort. There are two more, but I couldn't access their pictures this morning, so those will come tomorrow. 

This is a Canadian Scrapbooker magazine (quite thick) and filled with wonderful ideas. If you are just looking for inspiration in the craft world, it's a good one. 

Canadian Scrapbooker up for grabs

And here's a pretty thick book filled with tips and designs. Again, the ideas could be used for any sort of paper crafts. 

A scrapbooking tips and design idea book - up for grabs

And finally, this one is about making journal items from natural elements. This one is fun!

Up for grabs

Remember—those three are duplicates, and they are yours for the asking. (elainetheriault@gmail.com). Once I have a better look, I will either donate my copies or keep them, as I see fit. 

My goal today is to get all the scrapbooking stuff back on the shelves. That means the rest has to be sorted into categories, and if there is anything I don't want -- it will go on the blog tomorrow. 

In the machine embroidery club, I reminded everyone to ensure they were pursuing their goals for 2026. That reminded me of a few things on my Visual To-Do list in the machine embroidery category that I haven't touched. Since I have a quiet month, I decided I had better dig out at least one project and get it done. 

That involved digging through another closet and pulling out stuff. Oh crap --- I found this Kimberbell pattern (CD) that is a duplicate, so if anyone wants it, you can have it. If you don't have a CD player, I can transfer it to a USB for you. 

A duplicate Kimberbell CD

I found the embroidery patterns - I think there are 24 small projects in total. Yikes!!! Two of them are completely done, and I have bits of two more completed, and I can't find one that I know was mostly done as well. I will have to be on the hunt for that. But since all 24 are separate, I can work on the others and hopefully find the March project before the end of the year. Where the heck could I have put it? I have a picture of what I've done, so I know it's real, but I don't have the actual project. 

It's very interesting to go through all this stuff. So many hopes when I bought the patterns/fabric. So much anticipated fun and then poof -something else more exciting comes along. I still love all this stuff I bought, and since it was good quality and exciting, I'm still excited about it now! 

I will have loads of things to decide on, whether I actually want to make them when I get there. For the moment, my focus is on finishing what I have started. Anything new? Well, that may have to wait a bit. 

OK -- I will say that the girls are super excited for me to be home, and I'm super excited to be home as well. My last day on my own. DH is supposed to arrive this evening -- one of his planes is delayed, but since he's with a couple of golf buddies, I'm sure they can amuse themselves. Although I suspect all three of them will be on their phones with work. 

Anyway, the girls sure are annoying. They want in, they want out, but never at the same time. And yesterday, during my Zoom call, I could hear Lexi banging on the back door, wanting to be let in. When I finally finished the call and let her in, she was pretty indignant and sent a message to her Dad that she was being mistreated! The nerve of her!!!!

After I washed their blankets, Miss Murphy was happy to go lie down, but Lexi? She didn't like the clean smell and was mad! 

MOM, Thanks for washing my blankets.

It's Monday Sewing today!!! I've been away for the last four weeks, so we (I) have a lot to catch up on!!! I might just start prepping those 32 blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I want that done! And all three quilts are on my radar for completion by the end of the year. Once the blocks are done, putting the quilts together will be easy. 

That's it for today. So much to do, so little time, but I'd rather my life be that way than get up in the morning and have nothing to do but clean the house or do errands! We each have our priorities!

Have a wonderful day!!

Ciao!!!

Journal making!!!

 A quick note about the snow back home. So the neighbor at the end of the street had complained about the snow plowing or lack thereof in front of her house. The level of service was deplorable, to say the least. She had been told that the backhoe would be back yesterday morning to clear her out. The backhoe arrived around 8 PM last night. 

And while he did a great job at her end of the street, this is what happened in our driveway. Are you kidding me?? We had ZERO snow for two days, and the backhoe found some snow to put in my driveway? Well, it's confession time. It's my FLIPPING neighbor who does this. She is too cheap to pay for a service to clear her driveway. She lives alone and can't lift the snow, so she dumps it in the street. And then, when the plow comes by, he passes her snow along to the next couple of houses. 

Let's say that I lodged a formal complaint against her with the city last night. I'm sick and tired of that, and I'm sorry, but if you can't maintain your property, then MOVE. Plain and simple -- just move. 

DH got saddled with the latest shoveling, but thankfully, it wasn't as bad as the first night, but still - I was a tad irked when I saw the photos. 

Snow in - AGAIN!!!

Those plow drivers have ZERO common sense in their heads. 

And all of this is happening about 10 feet ON THE STREET -- it's nowhere near my drive, but I need that little space open to get out of my driveway. Now that the temperature has gotten cold, those mounds of snow are there for the rest of the winter. 

This is the weirdest retreat ever. First, it's the longest retreat we've ever booked, so we decided to do some different stuff - more on that in a minute. But we've been here for two days, and NO ONE has left the house. Well, that's not true -- Helen Anne and I have been out walking, but NO ONE has taken their car anywhere!

That's hilarious as in past retreats; we're rarely all in the house at the same time! It's not that we are snowed in, although I think I might have to shovel a wee drift to move my car, and I shoveled the front porch step yesterday as the snow had drifted in there!

Helen Anne and I went for two walks yesterday. Both were just over one hour, so I managed to keep up my walking distance for the day. It's a tad colder today, so not sure, but I'm game. If I were home, I'd walk. For the most part, the roads are great - I see the plow just went by, so the roads are not too slippery or snow-covered - easy for walking. But the walk down the driveway to the road is COLD. The wind just whips up that road. If you can survive to the end of the road, you'll be OK. 

We were hoping to venture out today, and we just might do that. I'll check the road conditions before we go. With the wee bit of melt yesterday and the deep freeze, we now have black ice, and I really don't want to drive on black ice. Not an hour away, but I might venture out to the grocery store or do a run to Tim's. 

I didn't get a lot of sewing done yesterday. I made butternut squash soup for lunch. I had baked the squash before I left home, so all I had to do was chop the other veggies and cook them up. I didn't bring the immersion blender because I thought there was one here, and there was NOT, but I used a potatoes masher, and the soup was excellent. Not as smooth as it could have been, but tasty, and that's all that counts. 

The leftover butternut soup

It was my turn to make dinner, and I made chicken pot pie. I made it from scratch in the crockpot. So no crust required - I baked up Pillsbury biscuits which were just fine!! And the pot pie was delicious. I had precut the chicken at home, so it was super easy to chop up the rest of the veggies and throw them in the pot. So just to show you that I CAN cook if I want to. 

Chicken pot pie from scratch

OK -- I did get a bit of sewing done, but I also have to do some writing while I'm here. I'm making progress on that and hope to be done tomorrow. 

But we did something super exciting yesterday. We are so fortunate to have a journaling expert in our group, and Katheleen came prepared to give us a lesson and do something totally creative. 

The table looked like when Helen Anne and I came back from our walk. The table was well stocked with supplies. That looks so inviting - I couldn't wait to dive in! I tell you -- I sure have the best friends!!!  A HUGE THANKS to Katheleen for organizing this. 

The calm before the storm

And there we are - getting our hands dirty!! Cutting up paper bags, cutting and pasting was positively like kindergarten, and it was so much fun!!!!!

Happy journal makers!

Here's one of the pages that I was working on. Lots of collage and so freeing. I had to laugh as some of us ended up with many words on our sheets; others had different colors or motifs. But I like words, so it doesn't surprise me that this happened. 

My collage piece

And before we were done, it was total chaos. There was paper and stamps, and ink and brushes everywhere, but the five of us were in total heaven. We think we might even schedule a SCRAPBOOK-only retreat. Yep -- I'm in!!!

KIndergarten for adults

Tish had stuff on the floor. 

Tish's stash on the floor

My excess stuff was on a chair. 

My stash on the chair

And we parked the garbage by Helen Anne to grab those tiny bits that we really didn't need to keep. GASP -- we actually threw stuff away? Yes, we did, but not until we asked our fearless leader if it was OK!

The garbage for the bits

We hope to get back to it today, as everything we did yesterday had to dry. None of it was sopping wet but needed to dry before creating our journals. I can hardly wait!!!!!

In the sewing room, well, thank goodness we each have our own table, although I will say that it looks like my bags exploded on my table and they haven't moved. There is stuff everywhere. I see Katheleen's eyeglass case trying to staunch the overflow, but sadly it doesn't have a chance!!! Although it does seem to be holding things back from the bell, which I keep accidentally touching, and then it rings. NO - I don't have a finished project - just accidentally hit the bell again!!!

My sewing table overfloweth

It looked just as messy at the end of the day, and it looks the same this morning. My computer is set up beside the sewing machine, but still!!  I hope to get some of it tidied up today. 

Still messy this morning

But seriously, I've been a bit scatterbrained this retreat. It didn't help that I spent most of yesterday in the kitchen, where I was either cooking or making journals. And then a good part of the rest of the day was divided between walking and the computer. Today will be different unless we decide to venture out. That errand will take a couple of hours, so we'll see how the roads are before we venture out. 

I'm still sitting in the sewing room in the dark! I see Helen Anne is now up, but the rest of them are tucked in their beds! Which is fine -- I might take a nap later today as I was up early trying to get some computer work done. 

Have a super day and stay warm!

Ciao!!!

It's TIDY up time!

While I am VERY HAPPY with the way my studio looks - yes if you happen to drop in - I do NOT clean up for you unless you need the tables or the design wall. But I have so much on the go that I leave the CURRENT projects out. After all that is the purpose of having a studio!

And I know I do this for a living (if you can call it that!), but I hear people talk about - I have FOUR projects on the go. Hmmmmmmm - I may work on FOUR different projects (or more) in any given day and barely skim the surface of what needs to be done that day!!!!

As the month draws to a close (and my Dear Jane class is tomorrow), I am in a panic to get everything done. And this weekend which was supposed to be a calm relaxing weekend all of a sudden became jam packed when a class I wanted to take but couldn't because it was sold out - well yes - a spot opened up and now I have to get ready for that and Monday is the Halton Hills meetings. So much to cram into so little time!!!!

But next week - ah next week is WIDE OPEN. Can't wait!!!!!    DO NOT CALL to book up that time because while it is wide open - I have plans for all those days. I mean there are NO DEADLINES and NO APPOINTMENTS - that is what wide open means to me.

Here is the thing about the studio - although to the UNTRAINED eye - you would think this place is a mess. But no - there are quilts piled up that are finished and ready to be delivered to the customer, there are boxes filled with fabric waiting to be cut into tiny little blocks called Dear Jane and so on. In order to keep this place functional it requires CONSTANT cleaning. Oooops - I should say tidying (although I seem to pass the Swifter VERY OFTEN to keep the dust down).

I get ready for a guild meeting - so stuff starts to accumulate for that. Then I get home and I have to UNPACK the bags and that can take a while. Not that I am complaining - I actually enjoy the process of putting things away. ACK! Did I just say that??????  And I always try to come home with less than what I went with.

Neat fabric - a DOG holding a quilt!!!!!   Who would have thought?????    Thanks Cathy

And yes - more selvedges - thanks Elaine

Although I do not have an official capacity with the guild this year - the meetings are still crazy. I have library books to return. Drop off my tinners, pick up the tinners, pick up library books (I did NOT last night), hand stuff into the community projects group, buy tickets, talk to one person about this, oops - talk to someone else about that and before I know it - I really had NO time just for socializing!!!!!!!


I have resurfaced Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt. I am using it for enders and leaders.

Got this many done on Step 5 - yeah me!!!!!!!

But yes - it happens. Look at what I did. And you would think I would have noticed the mistake when I sewed the first piece on. NOPE - had to sew the second one on before I realized I had made a mistake!!!!!

Still have this much to do!!!!!!

 Oh yes - I guess I was sewing those as I worked on the TWO quilts for the Halton Hills Guild challenge. The jelly roll challenge. Well the good news is that BOTH quilts are COMPLETELY QUILTED. They are BOTH TRIMMED and the bindings for BOTH are made and will be sewn on - maybe today - I doubt it though. And it is only Friday. FRIDAY - that is DAYS before they are due. Of course, they need to be hand stitched, but I am hoping that someone will stitch them for me. I am sure there are people in the guild who prefer hand stitching and they can take them home to finish them off. I am so slow at hand stitching.


Now I just have to get the President's challenge done - also for Monday. Haven't started that yet. I know - but I am confident it will get done. No - it HAS to get done.

There will be a whole lot of revealing going on next week!!!!!!


I had a few minutes to spare the other day and stopped in to Michael's.   Good thing M was NOT with me cause I caved and bought a book!!!!!    I know - I could NOT help myself.

A SMASH journal. 

What is a SMASH journal? It really is just a book to throw stuff into. And I really really like the idea of these - I just can't get started.

Remember when I quoted from the Dirty Secret book, that some of the hoarding comes from "waiting until we can do something perfect". Well something to that effect. That is ME. I want to scrapbook, but I want it to be PERFECT from day one - I don't want to learn. So I bought this book as therapy. I am going to cut stuff up and glue it in the book with NO REGARD for what it looks like.

Here is a quote from one of the pages. It says - DO NOT BE INTIMATED - JUST SMASH THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY. See this is ME!!!!!    These books INTIMIDATE me because I have never done it before. 

So I did - I cut out those great quotes from Life Experience magazine and glued them in. OK - so I was very RIGID in how I placed the stuff in the book, but I am LEARNING. And I will be happy with it!!!!!!

Now that I seem to have things under control (yeah as if - I have so many delusions about my life!) - I may try to schedule some SMASHING time into my schedule. And wait until next week - I will have NO EXCUSE.


Yesterday, I noticed the FIRST bloom in the pond. The buds close up at night and I searched for more buds coming. Could see nothing and then look this morning - there are TWO.

Two buds in the pond

Like everything in the backyard - the pond has exploded. Both the reeds and the lily pads. But the bad news - I am thinking I have a hole in my liner (bad Kaylee???? - see likes to walk on the rocks behind the reeds - but she could have punctured the liner because she goes in the water) because I seem to be filling it up very frequently or it could be just the weather. Well something to keep an eye on. 

Well that is it for me. Time to get back to work. It is going to be a LONG day.


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Ciao!!!!!!!



And thanks Margo for the confirmation of the date for Underground Railroad.
Helen Anne - you should aim for completion of ONE quilt. But then who am I to talk!!!!