Never give in!

So here's the thing about the email distribution lists. In the previous version of Outlook, you could type in a name (Elaine) and all the Elaines in my contact list would appear. I could then select the desired people and add them to the distribution list. When I reviewed the updated distribution list, I saw the person's name and their email address. 

Creating the lists was a breeze because I could use autofill and a direct link to my contact list. No chance of getting an incorrect email. 

However, whatever Microsoft did is STUPID. I'm sorry to use that word, but nothing else comes to mind. When you create distribution lists now, you have to TYPE THE ENTIRE email address. Oh yes—the videos show that you can use autofill, but it does NOT work. Trust me -- I've tried it multiple times. The list creation/edit does NOT reference my contact lists, so it won't use autofill. 

And they have to be typed ONE AT A TIME!!!! So what I'm doing is going back to an email I recently sent, copying all the email addresses, and pasting them into a Word document, which I then print - it's one page, so not a big deal. From there, I'm manually retyping the email addresses as I generate the new distribution list. If I look at the list, it shows ONLY the email addresses, with no names attached. 

For the most part, that is OK, but for people like me, my email address is my name. For many others, their email addresses contain elements other than their name, odd spellings, or their husband's name. It's a slow process, but I've recreated two of the eight. 

I was hesitant to go this route because, even though I had entered names into a new list, it still showed ZERO names. However, someone came to my rescue because they were having the same issue with the new list system. If you insert that list into the email (TO, CC, or BCC), all the names come up even though it shows there are zero names in the list. Sigh..............

The only way to review the names is in the EDIT screen, which doesn't make sense. There is no way to view the entire list at once. I took screenshots - I'll share tomorrow, although I'm sure you don't care! I want to know whether this is my ignorance or a new way the program works. 

I will contact Microsoft tomorrow to find out why I can't use autofill and why there isn't a name beside the email, as before. I swear -- if something isn't broken, why are they fixing it?? 

I'm good for the moment, but I have my two big classes this coming weekend, so I'll have to retype 40 to 50 emails per list! Hopefully, Microsoft will have an answer. I also don't understand my contact list. It seems to have changed, and well, I need to investigate that a bit more. 

Anyway -- life goes on!

HEY --- here's something of interest to anyone with an ice dam. When the problem first arose, I wondered who to contact for help. I thought about a roofer, an eaves-trough person, an insurance agent, an engineer, etc. Someone said, "A roofer only deals with shingles; you don't want to contact them." Well, they were WRONG!!! Another friend sent me a link yesterday, and roofing companies use GIANT STEAMERS to blast the ice dam away. 

It doesn't fix the problem, but it removes the dam to prevent water damage. SHOOT -- I wish I had done some research and called the roofer last week, before the water started coming into the house. And now it's a long weekend, so I'll have to wait until Tuesday to do anything. It's NOT an emergency. I've put in a call to my roofer. We are expecting warm temps today and tomorrow, and there might not be much left of the ice dam by the time they can get here, but we need to ensure that the dam is gone because there is still a lot of snow on the roof, and we are expecting a lot of rain this week. 

The roofer with the steamer is NOT a fix, but it can eliminate the snow and ice buildup, and really, that's what I need. If only I had done some research, but alas—we cannot have any regrets—just move on and hope for the best. I'd like a permanent fix, but now that I know I can have a temporary one, I'm good with that. Regardless, I want them to come so I can chat about the situation and discuss how to alleviate the problem when it happens again, as I don't see a complete fix ever happening, unless I rip off my roof and redesign it. I don't think that is going to happen.  

And I really like this roofing company because we had a massive leak in our garage many years ago. Actually, they were here because some shingles had blown off our roof, and I happened to ask about the leak in the garage. You will not believe what the leak was. A SINGLE nail from the eaves trough guy!!!! He put a nail right through the shingles. Once that was fixed, we haven't had a single leak in the garage since!!! 

OK -- those roofer guys are not just pretty faces!! I shall keep my roofer on speed dial from now on. 

So I opened my computer in the morning to submit my Cherrywood Challenge. Tick tock!!!!

The countdown

I still had to write the artist statement and take the pictures. I went outside on the front step to get good pictures in good light. The sun wasn't out, and there were no shadows. I swear I went out three or four times because I'm an idiot! There was dog hair on the close-ups, but I didn't see it until I looked at the photos. One of the two measuring tapes slipped, and I didn't notice it. But this is what I got. You needed measuring tapes to prove that the item was exactly 20" by 20". 

Submission accepted!

I've looked at the other photos online. Oh my—some very good ones, and I don't know if mine is "complex" enough to be accepted. It doesn't matter. But I'm surprised because many took the same route as I did. They didn't depict a story; rather, they depicted the reading. No one wanted to get caught up in copyright issues. 

I'll share it with you in a bit, but not today. 

Well, it was all about half-square triangles yesterday. I trimmed a whole pile, but when I went to bed, there was still a bundle (on the left) that needed trimming. 

Trimming half-square triangles

Since there was no spin class this morning, I decided to continue the trimming. 

Everything is now trimmed.

I'm happy to report that ALL those half-square triangles, including the big pile I generated yesterday, are done!!! I told you that I would get on top of the situation. 

However, when I was looking at the current projects table, guess what I discovered? Yep -- another bag of TINY half-square tringles that need to be trimmed. 

Ooop --- I found another bag to be trimmed!

And I decided to bring some of the triangles that need to be stitched down from Studio U. I may just have a half-square triangle sewing day. There are so many - it's totally crazy. But I'd love to start sewing them together into quilts; however, I sort of want them all sewn first. Am I crazy to even imagine that? There are THOUSANDS more units to make. 

More half-square triangles to sew

The good news is that I completed this row of half-square triangles. While all those half-square triangles were sewn, I still needed to press and trim them. 

One of the two borders is complete.

My system of starting on the left, working to the right, and joining the units as I went worked like a charm. I had to repress the second block, but then I got the logic, and I was able to whip along at a pretty decent pace. 

That's the good news. The bad news? I have to make one more row! I'm going to try to focus on that later today. This week, it's all about prepping for UFO Club, the jacket, and Colour My World classes. And there is a lot of work to be done, but that's all I have on my plate, so I'm good. I just need to stay focused, which I am, and I just putter along at my new speed, and I'm good! 

So DH reads the Globe and Mail, and from time to time, they have reviews of mystery/thriller books. What a tough gig that would be!

I find that when I try to locate the latest book releases, they're hard to find in the library system. So I've been tucking them away to deal with later. Well, this page was from March 2023, and I was able to find all five of these books in ebook or audiobook format. I don't care if I'm a couple of years behind. I'm just glad to find them. And so the reading list just got a wee bit longer!

Adding books to the reading list

But honestly, I'm OK with that. I'm enjoying the time to read, as I was so "busy" before that, even with listening to audiobooks, I didn't have the time. Now I can relax in the evening or whenever and listen/read to books. That's what life and retirement are all about. I'm filling my time, but I'm not going mad! Does that make sense? 

If I look at my calendar, I see two gym appointments, one private class, and three classes this weekend. NOTHING else, and no deadlines beyond those three classes and an ENTIRE week to prepare at my leisure. That is what I call ENJOYING LIFE!!!! Am I being selfish? You bet, and I won't deny or regret any of it!

OK - I caught Murphy on the pond yesterday. I have no idea what is so fascinating. I think she looks guilty, but I doubt that! 

MOM - nothing to see here!

It's Monday Sewing today, and I've got a few things lined up to work on. And amazingly, everything I have to work on is on that Visual To-Do list, in the blue bin for UFO, or related to a class for the weekend. It's funny what a wee bit of focusing can do to make my life so much more relaxed. FOCUS!!!! 

Well, on that note, I'm out of here. It's going to be a busy day. Note, busy does not mean insanity - it just means that I have a plan and I'm not one to sit around. I'm busy dealing with what I deem important (those UFOs), not for others! There is a huge difference. 

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!!

The FLOOD zone

It would appear that we live in a flood zone. Before that, it was an electrical hazard zone. That was when it seemed that light bulbs burned out prematurely and electrical switches went haywire. All of the "faulty" switches have been replaced and so far, the light bulb situation seems to be under control.

The water? That's an entirely different story. I was in my meeting yesterday when I got a text from DH that there was no hot water. Hmm - that's not good. He checked the water tank which sits in the furnace room. There's a leak. Well, there's a permanent leak from the furnace (they "fixed" it last year only to have it spring a leak again). It's a small detail and I wasn't worried about it, the water just followed the drainpipe to the drain.

What kind of a leak? A big one. He sent me a picture.

We have another leak

Oh dear - this looks bad!!!  You can see the leak from the furnace and that's nothing compared to the leak from the water heater! Now there's a couple of silver linings to this story.

1. The main water shut off is located in the puzzle room. Guess what? It used to be filled with a LOT of stuff and so getting access to that shut off wasn't easy. Well, I've got something to share with you on another day, but there was only ONE thing to move to get access to the shutoff. Now that was amazing news!!!
2. Only ONE thing got wet. It was a cardboard box that parts of the longarm came in. It's currently drying out and I need to evaluate if I need to keep that box. I have two of them used for shipping the head of the long arm. I hadn't reached the furnace room to do any tidying yet. 
3. We were home when this happened. I don't know when the leak occurred - it was sometime yesterday. There could have been a slow leak, but I was in that room on Sunday and everything was fine. 
4. The water heater is rented and we have a maintenance plan. It cost NOTHING to replace. 
5. The service was quick. DH called about 9:40 and got a service window of 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM.  I think they came around 11 AM. And then they came in the afternoon around 3:00 PM and replaced the entire unit. 

We were extremely lucky!!!  I can't imagine calling the insurance company again! I still haven't completed the unpacking from the last time. This is the THIRD time that we've had a significant leak in that basement. I'm getting a bit leary. I feel like I need to check before I go to bed and when I wake up. Let's just say that I'm a wee bit paranoid. 

So it'll take a couple of days for that floor to dry out. And yes - we need to get our furnace maintenance happening for the winter and try to get them to fix that leak again. 

The floor needs to dry out

I do have a wee bit of stuff in the furnace room. It is next on the list once I finish with the puzzle room.

The scary part of this? That water heater isn't that old. I'm going to check the date that it was replaced, but it was less than 10 years old. That shouldn't happen. We never even got a reminder from them that it should be serviced, unlike our furnace which they've been nagging us for the last four years needs to be replaced.

Here's a picture of part of my design wall in the basement. The part with a quilt on it. This is the best part of my studio!!!!

The design wall

Another great meeting day. I know - I need my head examined! But it's all interesting stuff so it's easy to stay awake! And I brought some goodies last night that I'm super excited about. NO - I'm not sharing them yet. I will, but not yet. I'll be bringing home more goodies today. That's the best part of my job. Getting all those goodies to play with. But there's a price to pay. I need to be making samples. Lots and lots of samples. I'm trying to think up things that could be made (or ready wear items) that can be embroidered or embellished. I've got my jean jackets to do and I've got a couple of other items in mind. Anyone have anything they would like embroidered and might not want back right away??? I need a kid-sized jean jacket! I've no idea why I'm obsessed with jean jackets.

We had our Lilla class last night and I'll share that with you later this week. Ooops - I mean next week. I'm madly getting stuff prepped for tomorrow's three classes. I'm in good shape so I'm not worried about that.

As far as technology goes? Everything is fine. Except that my darn Fitbit won't sync to my phone. There's always something that doesn't work. I'm getting better at fixing things. This has happened before and I don't remember how I fixed it. I tried Googling it but sometimes there's so much "noise" when you do a Google search. They are going to have to be careful about that or a Google search is going to become useless. You'll have to do a Google search on your Google search to weed out the crap.

Here's one more pet peeve about searches. I HATE Pinterest. With a deep passion. Why? A LOT of what is posted has NO ORIGINAL SOURCE. So if you see something you like, you can't find the source. First off - that's just wrong. Secondly, it's a pain in the " you know what". Pinterest is like Amazon - I'll go there ONLY if it's the absolute last resort. I was searching for something the other day and I finally found it (Ronda was helping). But it took a long time to find the source of the item.

Quilt Market is happening this weekend. I'm having Market envy! I do wish I could be there, but I've got so much happening in my own little corner that I don't really have time to go. So I'll watch the posts from everyone on Instagram and Facebook to stay in the loop. And I'll be chatting to a couple of store owners and friends who are currently in Houston. I'll get all the scoop!!!  If any of my readers are in Houston, I NEED a picture of my Cherry Wood Challenge that's currently hanging there. It's the stained glass one!!!!  The quilt exhibits open tomorrow. Today is Schoolhouse which was always loads of fun!

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

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Studio B update

This is going to be a bit short this morning. I've got a few things left to throw into the car and then I'm off. I've been up for a while as I edited pictures for a week's worth of blogs and I even remembered to upload them to the internet so I can access them at the retreat.

Going on a sewing retreat is my favorite vacation. The way we work it, each person is responsible for one meal. Big deal. Even me - who is the NONE cook is fine with that. It's part of the fun atmosphere and the fact that we can eat when we want, lounge before, during and after the meal is so worth eating at the house instead of going out. The weather is going to be nice that we can eat on the screened-in porch. We can eat on the deck, we can eat in the house. We've learned over the many retreats that everyone has been on that we want SIMPLE. And simple meals are super easy to prepare.

We can get up whenever we want. If we want to sew - we can. If we want to read or ride a bike or hike - we can. Shopping is close by if that's your thing. And if you want to do nothing at all - well that's OK too.

Oh yes - there is NOTHING more relaxing than going to a sewing retreat with a group of great friends. I only booked three retreats this year as we went to Nashville in February. But I'm planning on booking four next year - oops - I think I already did that. So if you've never been to a retreat - I might have openings in that fourth one. There are also only 8 of us so it's quiet and you get to visit with everyone!

I was working on a written document yesterday. Instructions for a project, but it has to meet VERY strict rules. I'm not good with strict rules, but I did manage to get the first part assembled. Now a bit of testing while on the retreat. YES - there is only that small bit of experimenting on the retreat - otherwise - I'm sewing for ME!!!  I have a number of small things with me and I hope to make a dent in the four project bags that I'm toting along. I know I've got delusional doability and I'm OK with that. At least I have options.

Oh - and the good news?? I was determined to find all that missing paperwork. Turns out two of the three items were in fact, in the box that they were supposed to be in. DUH!!!!  And the missing fabric and pattern? Oh yes - I found that as well.

I'm happy to report that the living room (for the most part), the kitchen, the hallway, and the family room have at last been emptied of all things from the basement. What's in the living room is not going back down and will need to be given away or sold. It's mostly decorations.

That feels great to have those spaces back to normal. I also did some changes to Studio U but realized that I didn't take pictures so you'll have to wait until I'm home to see those. The whole time that I'm working, my brain is working to figure out the best way to store/organize things. As I pulled out the "tickets" that are my July projects to work on, I came up with a brilliant plan that will work very well in Studio U. So stay tuned for that next week.

Studio B? Well, as someone mentioned in a comment, it's only going to get worse before it gets better. And that's exactly the case. After some discussion, there is enough flooring to get the small storage room completed. I have to cough up the money for it, but I'm OK with that. So I moved everything from that storage unit (thank goodness for units on wheels). I moved all the flooring to that area and now it's ready for them to come in today and get it done!!!!!  I'm so excited.

And the bookcases are ALL back up!!!  I didn't have a chance to do any unpacking. I'm saving that for when I come back.

The bookcases are up!!

Here's a peek into the empty storage room. Let's just say that those boxes of flooring are heavy!!!

Storage room ready to be finished

I have to confess that I was reading a book yesterday and I wanted to finish it. So it was into the wee hours of the night that I managed to get that done. BUT it's part of a trilogy. A mystery trilogy if you can believe. And there was a cliff hanger at the end of the second book. Seriously????  Great - fortunately I have book number three from the library so guess what? I'm taking that third book with me. This is the Promise Falls Trilogy by Linwood Barclay. A Canadian author. Hmm - after checking those links, I see he has a 1.5 book in the series and then one more after the trilogy. I HATE when they write a novella for part of a series. Many authors do it, but those are very hard to get your hands on. Just checked the library - they have it as an e-book. I'll pick it up at the retreat.

Oh here's a picture of my blue book. This is the book that I keep track of all the ongoing classes. I'm going to dig out the list with the dates. This book doesn't have all the classes in there. But there have been a LOT!!!! I'll share more about that another day as well.

My ongoing project planning book

Whether you like him or hate him, he's on everyone's mind. This is how one woman is coping with her "love" of this person. An interesting way to document it. Check it out - it's actually a great way to use up old textiles.


On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

North Stars - Neville the Narwhal

I'm not sure why this happens, but I could use a good admin assistant to help schedule things. Can you tell me why I would book a class on Friday night of a long weekend?? Well, two people signed up so we had a class. It was all about free motion quilting. I'm going to toot my own horn here a wee bit, but if you've never taken a free motion quilting class with me - you're missing out! Big time. I do a mean free motion quilting class and we have loads of fun. Free motion isn't hard if you know what you're doing. The students were in their glory when they left.

Anyway, the late hour at which I went to bed did NOT help me from waking up at my "new" ridiculous time. After lounging in bed for a bit, I got up and accomplished a whole lot! I'm not sharing yet. Today is all about the show and tell from our classes last weekend. I'm determined to not only keep up with the sewing part of these projects but with the show and tell as well.

In case you think it's an easy task to load the pictures, it's not. Most of the pictures are on my phone (which I'm using more and more instead of my expensive digital camera - go figure!!). But sometimes I'm somewhere and someone can't make the class and they show me their blocks. I take pictures. I have to remember that I took those pictures and then remember to add them to the others. Some people send me their pictures by e-mail and I have to remember to add those. So if you've sent me a picture and I don't have it - well, send it again. I think I've got all the blocks that were shown to me from the last class.

Today, it's all about Neville the Norwhale. All of these blocks are super cute and I'm so amazed at how realistic they look from piecing. By my calculation, there are about 10 blocks missing from the rest of the students who didn't show up to class.

Here we go.  There was a slight issue for some with the contrast of the tusk of the narwhale. Some of us will have to use thread during the quilting process or markers or something to make that tusk contrast a wee bit more to the background. This block is done in the Northcott Toscana.

Block done in Toscana

Look at the difference between these two blocks. See how the star on one pops out and not on the other? As I mentioned yesterday, there is NO right or wrong to this. It's what you want to show up more. Although, I will admit that with this quilt, it's a tad challenging to figure out what goes where. Despite that little issue, the class is doing very well in choosing colors. 

The star is more subtle in this block

Lots of contrast in this block and look at that fabric for the narwhale. The star really stands out with those bright blues.

Bright blues create amazing contrast

Lots of contrast in this block but a totally different take on the blue. And look at that swirly fabric. Very cool.

Look at the different blues!

Here's that block with the super busy background!!  Very cool!!

Busy print for the background

While you can't see it, the grey fabric used for the narwhale is GORGEOUS. Unfortunately, Lynn didn't know where she got it. But I loved it!!!! It looked like a linen, but not sure if it was. Anyway - nice fabric.

Great grey used for this narwhal

I believe this is one that was made from the kit. Notice that the flying geese are very prominent, but the star is not.

Prominent flying geese

Here's one with a medium blue background so you can really see the tusk on the narwhale. I didn't take a closeup but there are seagulls on those flying geese in the bottom left corner. 

Nice contrast on all the block parts

Here's the one with the tan background. Again - great contrast on everything. I didn't take a closeup, but those bigger squares on the bottom? If I remember correctly, that was Beatrix Potter fabric!!!

Tan background

I remember Kathi lamenting at the beginning of the project that she didn't know what fabrics to use. Well, she's been very successful at finding just the right fabrics. Can you believe she found narwhale fabric???? Seriously!!!!

Narwhale fabric

 And here's her block using the fabric. How cool is that!!!!

Narwhale fabric 

These last two blocks were made with the fabric from the kit.

Block made from the kit 

Another block made from the kit

Isn't that exciting???  My block isn't there, but it's made. I'll show you my blocks tomorrow.

I have one more day of the show and tell from the North Stars quilt. I still have more show and tell from various classes. Never mind, showing you what I've been working on and what's going on at my house with Studio B.

But here's one picture I'll share with you. Yesterday was a LONG, LONG day at my house. The painter showed up at 9 AM to paint all the baseboards in the basement. I meant to wash them all down before he came, but it totally slipped my mind. He washed them all and was just in the process of starting when the moving crew arrived. YIKES!!!! First - I want to know how professional painters can paint so fast and so accurate without taping????

The big question then was what to do with the moving crew of 4???  So we devised a plan of where to put stuff and they started to haul everything back in the house. Yikes - my idea of trying to keep things contained - well that didn't work. Let's just say that the entire basement looks like a sea of boxes pile about 5 feet deep. Let's not forget about the bookcase guys who came back to install the bookcases. One is up, one was missing some parts. That'll be finished on Tuesday.

They reinstalled the shelving in the stash room and then I had to quickly move things out of the way so they could lay the bookcases on the floor. So much for a "slow" move in. I put some things back in the stash room, but my goal is to remove it once again and go through it before it goes back on the shelves.

The biggest question is where the heck to start? There's so much - it'll blow your mind when I post pictures of the entire mess. My mind is totally blown. It's a bit overwhelming and the burning question is "where do I even start?" The furniture is all over the place, boxes are in the way to move the furniture. Don't worry - that is NOT the fault of the company - I asked them to leave it that way. There's no way they could unpack all that stuff.

I've decided that today, I'm going to get the cutting table back in position. I see the two pedestals are very close to where they should be. The top is another story as its buried deep on the other side of the room. But I'm persistent - I'll get it out!

Then tomorrow's job is going to take all the (not on the bolt) backings and measure them and write on them how many inches/yards are in that bundle. Then when I'm looking for backing, it'll be super easy to find the right color and the right yardage. I do that with my batting so why not with the backings?

Speaking of backings, I also have a stash of bolts of fabric. They were on a bottom shelf in the stash room and yes - there was stuff piled up against them. I did use those bolts, but not on a super regular basis. I suppose partly because I had no idea what was there.

As I put the bolts back on the shelf, I sorted them. One pile is flannel, one pile is seasonal, three piles are basics and stabilizers, the rest are sort of sorted by color. How many bolts of orange fabric does one person need??

This is what the bottom shelf (the fabric bolt shelf) looks like. Any idea of how many bolts are there? Over 100!!!!  Now how the heck did that happen???

Bolts of fabric

I did find some skinny bolts that weren't big enough for backings any longer. A white one got put in the white bin. Same for a cream. And I found LOADS of cream, white, and black. No need to buy basics for a LONG, LONG time. Now that I know what's there and it will REMAIN open in front of the bolts so I can see what I have, those bolts will get used for backings. No need to give any of that away. There's a need for backings.

Susan found me some more pattern boxes at Fabricland (on sale for $2) so extra patterns will get sorted and put in those boxes. That's a job for another day. I need a work surface to work on. Hence the priority on the cutting table!

I'm scheduling Sit n Sew days and we'll just work around the mess! My goal is to try and get the stash room back together. NO CLUTTER on the floor. Then I can see what doesn't fit - that will go into the other storage area which may or may not have a floor. Still waiting on that one.

I was hoping to get to the long arm this weekend. Hmm - I got the machine back in place. Not a lot of room around it and where or where are my threads????

If I can manage to get the books back onto that one bookcase, that will eliminate some boxes and make room to work. I may not get a chance to get the books sorted as I would have liked, but doesn't matter. I can (and will) do it later this summer. I'm determined to get this mess into a useable situation!

You should read Rosyquilter's comment from yesterday's blog. Interesting - especially about the books. What do you do with them???  A few of mine are reference books that I want to keep forever, but the magazines will be slowly culled. The books as well, but it's still hard for me to part with those. That comes directly from my MOTHER!!!!  But like myself, she has accumulated (too much) and now it's time to use it up. It's not time to give it away - yet.

I'm still working on those two projects that are due July 1. So that's going to be my focus today. It was a tad hard to focus with all the uproar in the house. It's going to be super quiet today and my hallway on the main floor is like a superhighway now. It's HUGE! with no boxes sitting in it.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

The BIG move

I'm late this morning - I know - I was at the gym! The homework for North Stars that I promised for today is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

I thought I'd share the status of the renovation. Despite what happened yesterday, things are looking awesome in Studio B.

I had already started to move stuff from the stash room when the moving crew arrived. We made short work of emptying the shelving. And now it looks like this.

This is the wall where the patterns and bolts of fabric reside. Since the shelves were all connected to the support posts, they all had to be removed.

Shelves have been removed from one wall

Because of the way the shelves were installed, this entire wall of fabric baskets also had to be removed. HEY - there's a window in that room. Who knew????

All the baskets of fabric were removed from the second wall

And the shelving unit behind the door with kits, scrap boxes, and backing??? That was also emptied.  Did you see the new floor?? Actually, this is the original floor to the basement. I had enough leftovers that they were able to take the floor back to where the damage started and reuse some of the existing floorboards they lifted and now it looks brand new. They fixed a few gaps in the old section. It looks great!

The third wall of shelving is also empty

OK - it looks great because you can actually see the floor. That's not always the case when all the stuff is in that room.

And where did all that stuff go??? Out in the main space. This is what it looked like when we were done.

Stuff from the stash room

And more stuff. Hey - it's a lot of stuff!

More stuff from the stash room

Then the crew covered everything with sheets of plastic.

Everything got covered in sheets of plastic

 When I went down, I was surprised that they had also moved the long arm. Yikes - hopefully, everything was OK. I didn't hear anything bad. Last time we had to move it, the head slipped off the rail and bent a wheel. This time, it has a new movement system so should be good.

The long arm is in the main area

This is the long arm area. Oh - doesn't it look amazing with NOTHING in there!!!!

Area for the long arm

It would appear that there might be enough flooring left over to do the floor in that other storage area. That would be awesome. Working on those details today. I got them to leave the old floor in the two closets so that accounts for some of the extra planks of the floor.

Now here's the thing. I want to put things back in a neat and orderly fashion. I also don't want to spend hours, days, or weeks making that happen. I also want to get back to Sit n Sew days in July (near the end). I also do NOT want things heaped on top of each other. So what are we going to do??

I'm not a 100% sure of how this is going to go. But I've been thinking a lot. I want EASY access to everything. Otherwise, what's the point?

The first line of business is to get those shelves back into the stash room. And so help me god, if anyone sees me with a kit in my hands, just take it from me and gently say NO. I have so many kits, it's obscene!!! As I put them back on the shelf, I'm going to find a Christmas one - there must be a Christmas one there. Ronda's going to work on Christmas quilts at the retreat, so I'll keep her company.

I want everything put back nice and neat. I can keep it neat. Some of the scrap boxes are overflowing. Make two boxes - already got the boxes. Like things need to go together. I'm going to assemble ALL my threads in ONE spot. Patterns - I need more boxes for patterns. Wish I could get to a Fabricland that's having a sale, but no time for that. I'm going to hit my Fabricland today and see what I can find. YES - I should cull the patterns, but I'm not ready for that!

I have several heaping laundry baskets of novelty fabric in the stash room. That's not very practical so as much as I hate to buy new totes, I'm going to get some and then I can stack that fabric in the other storage room.

As I put stuff back, there are some things that were on the top shelf that I don't think will go back. This is going to be a good opportunity to clear out and tidy up. Not sure how quickly that will happen, but it's got to.

The next step will be to get those bookcases back up and then get the books/magazines back on the shelf. That should clear up a HUGE amount of the accumulated stuff.

So - I have a plan. Not sure how I'm going to stick to it. It's going to happen in steps. There's no other way.

In the meantime, I've been sewing in Studio U and LOVING it. The windows are open, a beautiful breeze, the birds chirping! I love it. I will keep both Studios going once this is cleared up. I have plans for both of them. Just wait for it!!!

OK - that's it for today. Not sure what's happening in the reno world today, but I sure hope I get my shelving back. That would help enormously. I also have plans to tackle the two closets of UFOs (don't ask) so that can be sorted and better arranged. I need labels!!!

A quick aside. I stopped at Tim's after the gym for breakfast as there is NO milk in the house for oatmeal. I tried their plant-based sausage. Hmm - an interesting taste. Not sure that I would buy it again. But why don't they tell you the cost of what you're buying when you order it so you can have your money ready? They just say - "drive up". OK - so how much money do I need? I'm paying with cash. I had $7 in my hand. The cost was $7.45. I grabbed a toonie and gave that to her as well. Then I got 2 loonies in change and then I got an additional .55 cents in change. OK - whatever!!!  The order screen isn't working. Get it working!!!!

Have a great day!!!!


Ciao!!!

How to design a quilt

What a day!!! I had a super productive day yesterday. Not only that, but I'm thrilled with the results. Unfortunately, it's a deadline quilt and I can't share it with you yet. I now need some thread and there's no way I'm going to find my threads in time, so I'm off today or tomorrow to get some thread.

While all this process is happening, I'm thinking about how to rejig that space in Studio B. As if what has happened hasn't been enough, the stash was NOT touched. Nope - there was no fabric in those boxes you saw before and none in the POD. However, the floor guys said - we need that room half empty and the shelving removed before they can proceed with the repair. ACK!!!!!  And they want it gone TODAY!!!  Let's not panic!

A call was put into the restoration company and they are supposed to have a crew out this morning. I did move some stuff last night. Holy cow - that's a lot of stuff I have. I'll be posting those videos I took of the stash room back in February. I hope to get them on my YouTube channel today so you can see what we're up against. It's not going to be pretty!!!

But, let's put that unpleasant thought aside and focus on something fun!  I have several of these ongoing quilts on the go this year and I'm determined to NOT get behind in any of them. So far, so good. On my "free" sewing day on Sunday, I dug this out. This is the Lilla quilt and I had 24 blocks partially completed that I had used in my class on Friday night.

Partially prepped blocks for Lilla

By the end of the day, all 24 blocks (the summer homework) were completed!!! That was amazing! I'm loving this "slow" sewing. No pressure. If I want to take a break, I can, although I don't feel nearly as productive as if I were sewing to a deadline. But that's OK. 

The summer homework for Lilla is DONE

God, I'm scaring myself!!  OK - these next few pictures are strictly for the class. There was one block - they know which one it was. I knew they were going to ask - it's Block THIRTEEN. Makes sense. The instructions are a nightmare. So here goes.

Lay the 4" by 6" rectangle of background on the rectangle of focus fabric. They are overlapped by about 2 ½". Make a cut from bottom left to top right on one and bottom right to top left on the other.

Overlap and cut the pieces

The small triangles of focus fabric are excess. Get rid of them. 

The small triangle of focus fabric is excess

Then rotate the background triangle so you can sew it to the focus print. The angles are the same, so it should work.

Rotate the small background triangle 

 Then the larger leftover piece of background will be used as a guide to cut the next angle. In the photo below, those pieces are placed so you can see the concept. Note - you NEED to swap them. The background piece on the right goes on the left section and the one on the left goes on the right section.

Switch the background bits to get the correct angle

Using the leftover piece of background, cut the appropriate angle and discard the corner bit as shown below.

The cut-off bit that gets thrown away

OK - that's lesson number one for today. Why was I in such a hurry to make those blocks? Well to get them done first off, but I wanted to take this picture. Yes - there's the concrete floor in Studio B. Wait!  There's my little sewing stool. What's it doing in the middle of that big empty space?

My sewing stool in the empty studio

First, I have to mention this because I got a good chuckle. There seems to have been only one casualty in this mess that I know of. I had an orange, ceramic ornament of rubber boots. The boots fell off a shelf and shattered. I'm still finding bits of the darn thing!!!  I think this is the last. Goodbye, little ceramic orange boots!!!

A chip of my ceramic boots

Nope - I wanted to get this picture so that's why I hustled with those blocks. The design wall is still up in Studio B. And I miss the darn thing. So I was down there bright and early yesterday morning arranging the blocks. OK - not arranging so much, but just threw them on the wall.

A seat with a view

Here's a closeup of my blocks. I've got 88 made so far. I need 112. There are 16 more to make from the last four patterns. That leaves 8. I'll be going through the booklet and picking out 8 different blocks and making one more of each. I think I have just enough focus fabric to do that. I'm down to bits and I'm good with that. I don't want much for leftovers, however, I do have a plan for the leftovers. I did make extras of that diamond block as we were having so much trouble with it. Keep in mind, I could simply use 8 squares of the background fabric. They don't need to be pieced blocks!!!

88 blocks from Lilla quilt

So here's another lesson for the class, but you might as well all sit in as this is the best forum for me to pass along this information. The block placement is totally random. I'll be playing around with it before I start to sew it together. The blocks are 11 wide and 8 deep in the photo above. I'm going to make two quilts - both will be 7 by 8 so that has to be taken into consideration before I start to sew.

I picked one area and wanted to show you some things that I'm going to watch for as I place the blocks before they get sewn together. Anything that you don't like in the photo??  I put arrows so you can see what I don't like. Too many straight lines in the same area.

Too many straight lines

I rotated the green block, which is better, but I still have that join with the pink and green. Hey - if it's not going to match (and it's not supposed to), don't emphasize that by putting the two seams together. That's just asking for trouble. I also don't like in the bottom of the photo that those two "diamond" shapes are going in the same direction. Same thing - those points don't match (and are not supposed to) so why pronounce that fact?

More points that don't match

I rotated the green block one more time and I still have issues with those straight lines.

Too many lines "matching"

I've moved two of the line blocks to another location and I like this much better. I didn't move the diamonds yet. 

Looks much better

Watch that you don't have too many of the same block or the same color near each other. I used about 7 different focus fabrics so I have the luxury to move those blocks around. You may not if you chose fewer focus fabrics to work with.

Too much of the same color too close

Look at the shapes. I don't like those two curved lines on top of each other so one of them will be moved.

Two curves on top of each other

And here are the homework blocks for the summer. There are six of them and we're supposed to make 4 of each. Twenty-four blocks. Yeah - I'm done!!!!!

The six blocks for the summer homework

Should anyone want to come and use that design wall, just let me know and I'll make arrangements.

The guys arrived around 11 to start the floor install. This was a picture I snapped partway through the day. They got quite a bit done and now we need to move the long arm this morning. I'm not looking forward to that.

The new floor is partially completed

Now to find those videos to upload so you can see what we're up against today. Well - can you believe this???  I can't find those videos I took, so I took another one this morning. It's on YouTube. Let's just say that you NEVER want to be in the mess that I'm in. I'm not proud of it, but I have a plan. I just need way more days to sew!!!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!