Whatever the weather!!

 I found EIGHT books at the used bookstore in North Bay. And I love that ALL their titles are searchable online. Even better, you can search by author, and whatever they have from that author comes up! It's called Allison the Bookman, and I LOVE the site. I will call today and pay for the books, then they will go on the Pony Express. Yes - Our Pony Express reaches faraway places! Now, I need to update my list, and I have a couple of other bookstores to check out. Oh my -- this is super exciting! 

Oh, I should mention I found 8 of 23, so that's pretty amazing! There will be loads more, but I'll focus on seven authors at the moment. Once those are taken care of, I'll add more to my list. I don't want to have a ton of books hanging around, so I'll focus on a few authors at a time. 

Speaking of reading, I finished a Louise Penny book last night. This is one series that you MUST read in order. The books build on the characters and reading out of order would just be wrong! What is amazing is how Louise manages to tie in the storyline from this book (and all the others) to the previous books. It's an incredible talent and she is definitely a Canadian Treasure! 

She will launch her latest book this fall and has chosen to visit various Canadian cities. I planned on going to Ottawa, but that event sold out in a day! There is an event in Toronto, but I bet it has since sold out. I had the good fortune to meet Louise at a book signing in 2013. There were two hundred people in the audience. She was popular way back then and is even more popular today. 

I am not up to date reading her most current book, and I'm OK with that since it allows me to read Louise Penny whenever I want. There are so many other authors on my list. Let's just say that I did not see the end of this book coming—A Great Reckoning. WOW! Her character development is the best I've ever seen from an author. 

I got a chuckle when I was getting ready for yesterday's walk. I glanced over at Murphy's bed and saw her toy! He kind of looks happy in an upside-down way! 

Topsy-turvy

And yes, there are times when Murphy does go into a deep sleep. Not often, but there are times. I try to tread lightly in those moments, but her sleep is NOT that deep! 

Fast asleep

I ran around the house yesterday, taking pictures for my presentation. That was fun, and there were quilts all over the place. I have a spot upstairs where anything with a sleeve was hung up and photographed. Then I tossed the quilt on the floor. Look who claimed the very first quilt I threw down. Why are animals attracted to quilts? 

Mom - just holding it down so the wind doesn't blow it away

When I tossed the next one, she just lay there! Great - she's too lazy to take the quilt off her head. 

Mom - I'm scared of the storm - I'm OK

When I had to move to the bedroom to take pictures of quilts without sleeves, she was right there—ready to pounce on them. Quilts are like magnets to our pets! 

MOM - I can test that for you! 

This is what the real picture looked like, with my feet on the stool. That's why you can crop photos! So what the audience sees is a nice quilt—they don't get to see everything else in the way. And you have to love our cell phones. I have three lenses on my phone—macro (close-ups), regular, and wide angle. I love and use them all!

The rough photo

I use all those lenses regularly, and there is also a way to change the photo ratio. It's easy to get into the wrong one, and I swear from some of the photos I get for show and tell people do not understand their cameras! I should offer a course on using your phone camera! 

While taking photos of modern quilts, I almost forgot this one at the top of the stairs. It's funny how you pass something every day but then don't actually see it anymore! 

Almost missed this giant wolf quilt

And now this is the mess I have to clean up! I must also try folding my quilts differently, as many have fold lines. They used to lie flat on the bed, but it was a hassle if I needed the bed or one specific quilt. There is no easy way to store quilts. So, I will try that bias folding method and see if that helps. Also, if I donate some of them, there will be fewer to store. I'm going to tackle this pile slowly. A few a day, and that works for me. 

The aftermath of prepping for trunk shows

The presentation went very well, and again, there were great comments from the members, although it's not the same thing when you're on Zoom as in person. So, thanks to the Limestone Quilters Guild for allowing me to share my quilts!

And it sounds like everyone loves my teaching style! When you find a passion - nothing you do seems like work, and teaching/quilting is my passion! Can you tell? 

Yesterday's weather was a bit all over the place. It started snowing in the morning, and it didn't take long before we had this. 

MOM - it's snowing! 

We had about two inches of slushy snow. I decided to walk to the grocery store, as I needed some items I couldn't find the previous day. What is it with bran muffins? Why are they so popular? Yes, I could bake them, but this is my treat! You don't make treats! 

Should I take my usual route along the multi-purpose path or take the shortcut through the forest? It didn't seem so bad when I got outside, so I took the long way. I saw a white vehicle slowly turn into the gas station I was almost at and imagine my surprise when someone shouted my name. What? It was one of the instructors at the gym! She spotted me and wanted to know if I wanted a ride home! WOW -- that's the second time I was offered a ride home this week. 

Nope - I'm OK - just on my way to the grocery store. I bet Maria thought I was a lunatic! But I thanked her and went on my way. 

Then the ice pellets hit me as I turned the corner, and that final block to the store wasn't the most fun I've had on a walk. I got my muffins and headed home, but this time, the snow and ice had turned to rain, which wasn't so fun as I was a bit wet when I got home. I wasn't that wet, but enough that after 20 minutes, I changed my pants and socks. Of course, I did NOT wear boots! 

It wasn't that bad, and we must stop fearing the weather! It's here to stay; we must learn to live with it! 

As I took the shortcut through the forest on my way home, I immediately spotted a bright light approaching me. OH—a motorized vehicle that shouldn't be in the forest. WAIT—the owner was walking his bike home. I guess the roads were too slippery, or he didn't feel comfortable, so he had the bike on to help him push it home. I hope he didn't have too much farther to go! That happened to me many years ago in Montreal. I started out driving the motorcycle, and the roads were great. But it had snowed during the day. That was an intense drive! 

Snow in the forest

It didn't snow much while I was gone, as I could still see my tracks from when I left the house. You can see how wet it was. But it really wasn't bad. My feet got wet when I crossed the street, and they weren't wet; they were just damp. I'm going to make a great grandma - I can see M rolling her eyes at the thought of me taking her kids for a walk in the rain without boots! Bring on the mud puddles - we've got some splashing to do! Maybe that's why she lives at the other end of the country from me! And she doesn't have any kids yet! 

Not enough snow to cover my tracks

The other day, while prepping for the scrap quilt lecture, I saw these containers of shapes I had cut from my brown scrap boxes. 

There are actually several containers. One contains 2½" by 4½" pieces, and I know what those are for. There is one with 2½" squares, and I don't have a plan per se. Then there are 2" squares and 2" by 5" pieces, which were to go together to make something, but what? I couldn't remember. Well, I remembered when I was on the walk yesterday!

Boxes of brown scraps

As I was sewing this morning, I made one block. Hmm—I need to pause and think about value before I continue. Can you imagine what I did with 2" squares and 2" by 5" rectangles? You have until tomorrow morning to figure it out! 

And seriously! What is with our dishwasher? This is becoming very common, and I'm tired of fixing it. It might be time for a new dishwasher, but it works just FINE until it gets F11. Most of the time, I cannot find anything that clogged the drain, which is very frustrating. 

F11 - again! 

I have one more class this evening, and then there are four other evening classes for the rest of the month, two of which are makeups for March! That is amazing! And that means we can get back to our EXIT Games!! Yeah!!

I've got some paperwork to get accomplished - I'm looking for quilts for the Concurrent show at Quilt Canada. I'll be taking a recap of where I am this morning and then posting what I'm missing. OH - and I have one more overdue follow-up, but after that, I think I'm caught up on the daily paperwork. How can that be? I must be missing something!! Wouldn't it be nice if it was all done by the end of today? It should all be done by the end of the week! 

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

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

The great quilt sort

 Oh, I see I have two leads on used bookstores. I'll check those out later today. Thanks!!! 

Although it's Wednesday, I did NOT go to spin class. I was out late last night, and even though I woke up at the same time, I decided to continue sleeping. And now I'm up—obviously! 

I spoke at the Quilting Corners Quilt Guild in Alliston last night, and the topic was scrap quilts. What a fantastic guild! They produce a lot of quilts, they have a very active community quilt program, and when some work needed to be done to finish those quilts, all the quilts disappeared within seconds into the hands of someone who would finish them and bring them back next month. 

It's a small but very active and mighty guild! I was very impressed. And OH MY—I knew a few guild members and didn't even know it! I got to meet Sally from my Zoom classes. I had dinner with Liz, who used to be in many of my in-person classes (thank you, Liz; it was great to catch up!). I saw Susan and Sandra from other guilds that I belonged to in this area. Wow—it was like homecoming week!

I want to thank ALL the guild members for their fantastic welcome. I've never received so much positive feedback on my quilts, speaking ability, and presentation. I said THANK YOU many times last night! Thanks again to the Quilting Corners Quilt Guild for a wonderful evening. They have a quilt show coming in June 2025. I'm unsure of the date; I'll try to find that out. 

Now, it took a little bit of work to pull that presentation off. The last time I presented the scrap quilt lecture was on Zoom. So as not to forget any quilts, I opened the presentation, and one by one, I pulled them and loaded them in the suitcases. HA!! Can you really take 75 slides and pop them in two suitcases? I think not! There were NOT 75 quilts - some of the pictures were close-ups! 

I ended up with two large suitcases and three large tote bags. Some of the quilts in the presentation are no longer with me, so there could have been more! But that's OK. 

My scrap quilt presentation

But to get all those quilts together, I had to go through all my quilts to find the appropriate ones, resulting in the great quilt sort. Not only did I have to pull for the scrap quilt lecture, but I have another lecture tonight (Zoom) with the Limestone Quilters in Kingston. That topic is Modern Quilts, and well, I have to pull those as I do not have a presentation for Modern Quilts. 

The great quilt sort

Thankfully all the quilts are stored in the spare bedroom, so it wasn't hard to find them. I LOVE having that metal shelf to store the quilts. Well worth the $100. I created piles for each topic and then carried the scrap quilts downstairs to load in the suitcases and others I left upstairs, and I'll deal with them today. I probably have pictures of some of them. I must search for the modern quilt folder today, and others will require photos and then be placed in the presentation. I see lots of physical action today as I sort, refold, and put the quilts back on the shelf! 

But I also found a lost sample. I could not find this darn cushion cover, and imagine my surprise when I moved a quilt and found it there. Now, why is a cushion sample on my shelf of quilts? Only I could have put it there. There is no one else in the house to blame! I even asked my colleagues in the event the item got mixed up with their samples!

My lost cushion cover! 

I'll deal with the "mess" another day. Now that I'm finished with the other presentations, I need to sort and tidy up anyway, as many quilts were thrown in a pile on the bed. Now, they can be sorted into the appropriate categories and put away. As I do that, I need to identify those that will never be chosen for a trunk show and those will go in the giveaway pile. I did that with some of the quilts but never the entire collection. 

I'll do one shelf at a time as it's a LOT of work to refold all the quilts and put them away. 

When I got home last night, I had to unload the car and bring everything into the house. I remember coming home from a trunk show and leaving everything in the car. I also think I left the car unlocked, and that night, someone decided to check out what was in the suitcases. The next day, they were partially opened in the back of the car. Thankfully, nothing was stolen - I was so lucky. If the person had dug deep, there was a couple hundred dollars in one from selling my Tech Tip book. And they could have taken the suitcases! Although if they were on foot, they wouldn't have gotten far quickly. So I always unload the car now and make sure the doors are locked. 

I did sit outside for a bit in the afternoon, as it was a nice day, although a bit chilly. The girls didn't care—they just love it when Mom is outside. 

MOM -- I LOVE you!!!

Murphy - sitting in the dirt

I got a chuckle at the church when the meetings are held. I found this in the washroom! This is what you will need if you don't do those stand-up/sit-down exercises!!! Those exercises make a difference! They really do, so be sure to get doing them. And try to push up with both feet. I have a tendency to use my right foot first when getting up! 

Assistance in the washroom!

There is a lot on the agenda today—I've got a couple of challenge quilts to work on, my homework stuff for the weekend classes, a jacket to make, more writing to do, quilts to quilt, a presentation to assemble, and some paperwork! Remember, this is a full-time job for me; it's way past the point of being a hobby! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Tracking

Most things we buy online or send have a means of tracking them. I recently bought two large items online (CDN store, which was the only way I could purchase the items). OK, one of the items I could have bought in the store, but I didn't. 

Well, I've been watching the tracking numbers. For one item, I was contacted by phone yesterday, and we agreed to have the item delivered tomorrow. There was no online confirmation, and I was going to get in touch yesterday, but they touched base with me. 

The second item has been sitting in limbo with a note saying they were waiting for UPS to pick it up so it could be shipped. I know this item is available locally, but it's being shipped from BC. I just saw a change in the notification system this morning. What do I know about this stuff? As long as it comes, that's all I care about. But that seems like a lot of shipping for something I could have driven 10 minutes away and bought! 

Then, I sent that box on Friday, which was scheduled to be delivered on Thursday. Nope—it's going to be delivered TODAY. That one went from here to BC, costing $22 for a jam-packed box of odds and ends. That's a pretty good deal. Thank you, Canada Post. You have my vote for shipping things, and I have another box to send today and will start prepping yet another box. I like sending things! 

It would appear that the saying, "April showers bring May flowers," is true because we are going to get a lot of rain in the next week. I'm OK with that - I have an umbrella to keep walking outside. 

OK—after Monday's sewing, I had no choice but to sit down and finish reading The Sequel. And all I will say is, "Oh, I did not see that coming." I will not say more except that the author has a very twisted mind. 

But then I'm listening to a Louise Penny novel and nearing the end of it, and it's also twisted! What is it with women authors? I would NOT be able to write a book like this—my brain is NOT that twisted!

While searching for some missing books in a series, I stumbled upon another series—I felt like I needed to add another author to my list! I'm reading Murder in Marais. Cara Black is the author, the series is set in Paris, France, and Aimée Leduc is the detective. 

I finished my last presentation last night, which felt great, but it was later in the evening, so I just left everything and will clean up today. Some of the quilts have been put away, but I have an in-person presentation tonight, so I must dig physical quilts out and pack them in a suitcase. The quilts from last night and the ones I need tonight have no cross-over, so a great quilt shuffle will happen. 

Last night, it was all about machine embroidery on quilts; tonight, it's about scrap quilts (Quilting Corners Guild - Alliston); tomorrow (Zoom meeting for a guild - Limestone Quilters - Kingston) is about modern quilts! I do NOT have a presentation for modern quilts, so guess what I'll be doing as I pull quilts for tonight. I must pull the modern quilts as well. Oh, what fun it's going to be, and then when this week is over, I'll have all the quilts to put back on the shelves. But that needed to happen anyway. 

Speaking of tidying up, look at that cutting table.  

There is room to cut on the cutting table

Oh my—the one mat is clear, and there are a few things on the right-hand side that must be dealt with, but I'll keep plugging away. I'm trying to work as fast as possible, but you know how it is. Everything takes much longer than initially planned. 

Let's just say that despite reading for a bit in the afternoon, I'm making significant progress on clearing up some sewing projects, and I have this to show you. It's my ender/leader project. 

The ender/leader braid

I'm trying to be careful that it doesn't get a wobble. I'll check it when I return to work today, but I think it's just how I threw it on the floor to get the picture. There were a couple of light prints in there, and I've just added them. I'm not worrying about that - it's a scrap quilt, after all! 

When I was pressing the seams, I could tell that there were a few polyester pieces. How can you tell? The SMELL gives it away every time. Cotton doesn't smell (or shouldn't) when you iron it. Polyester has a plastic smell when heated. That's a hard one to describe, but it smells. I didn't care. The pieces are small; it's a scrap quilt, and so the polyester stays. 

I should take a picture of the box of pre-cut pieces. How far will I get with that? Will I have to cut more? I bet I will. I'm debating whether to start a new braid or should I continue until this one is the correct length? I should determine how wide the braid is and how many braids I need. Maybe I'll take a few minutes later today and figure that out. Then I could start a new one, just for fun! I could always put a sashing strip between the columns if I don't have enough pieces. Lots of options. 

I need to get back to focusing on the books on my shelf to read. There are two shelves of books in various series, and since I like to read them in order, I will focus on tracking down those I'm missing. Some of them were written in the 1960s! I know! There is a good used bookstore in Orangeville, and there used to be an excellent one in Chatham. I'm not sure it's still there. Any others? I know I could Google the books and buy them online, but I want to visit the bookstore - that's part of the adventure! 

I spotted one in Burlington, which is reasonably close to me. Well, I'll check everything out and see what I can find! Does anyone have some old Wexford series by Ruth Rendell? 

I have a bit of paperwork that must be done today—actually, I just need to keep plugging away at it, and it will soon disappear. Then, I can dig into the "archives." That desktop needs to be cleared up! I will make this happen! 

On that note, I'm off to see what I can accomplish today!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!

 

Forest bathing - literally!

Oh my—what a treat yesterday was! I had nothing on the agenda, and I could do what I wanted when I wanted. I certainly needed that mental break. I haven't even cleared up the tables in the film area yet. 

A bit of tidying needs to be done

I'll do that later today, or maybe I'll do it during Monday's Sewing and set up for the final presentation. Yeah! Then, I think April will be very quiet except for my "personal" classes and a couple of challenges I must work on. A few quilts need to be quilted, so I'll keep myself busy, but I'll be on my schedule! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed each presentation, but it was a crazy schedule, and a break is very welcome. 

I also managed to clear a tiny bit of the cutting table. Some items on the floor are gone, but I hope to tackle more today. 

A little bit of room on the cutting table

Except when I went for a walk and had a nap, I sewed all day, and it was glorious. I hadn't done that in months, and it felt great. Will I share what I did? Oh, you can see part of it. 

I was able to finish this little sample. Hmm - the colors are quite mixed, and the pattern doesn't really show, but that's OK. I may try to find a quilt pattern that might rescue it. 

My small sample

Here is one of the alternate blocks for Chatsworth. It's a row of flying geese. Some of the fabrics were cut, and some were partially cut. I had used fat quarters, so I didn't have enough background to finish each block, but I'm perfectly fine with using other fabrics to finish the blocks. 

Alternate block for Chatsworth

I returned to working on my braids as an ender/leader project. It feels nice to work on this project, as I can see progress. There's a box brimming with those precut pieces. Let's see what happens to it over the next while. While I have piecing to do, I also have embellishments to make and quilts to quilt, so I won't need enders and leaders. 

Progress on the braid

I tackled some paperwork. I also pile things that need to be done on the desk, and these two glue bottles have been sitting here for some time. The tips were filled with glue, and there was a mass of glue all along the outside of one of them. It was a mess, and it was solid! I took a cue from Brenda (a retired elementary school teacher) and used vinegar. I think I had tried before, but they were still a mess. This time, I heated the vinegar and put the two tips in it. 

Unsticking the glue using vinegar

At last, after TWO hot vinegar baths, the tips were completely clear of glue on the inside and the outside. I got glue from one; the other may have too much air inside the container. While I LOVE the concept of this glue bottle, those tips were way too long. I'd be tempted to take the wire cutters and snip the tips off, but I'm afraid I would crush the opening, and then no glue would come out. Well, no worries, I have a couple of small plastic containers to which I can move the glue, and the tip is plastic and about ½" long. I just needed to clear those tips for my sanity! And they were on the desk. Now, they are back where they belong. 

I have the next set of paperwork sitting here, and I'll keep plugging away at it a little each day. The important thing will be to keep up with the daily stuff, which I've done an OK job at. Then, I need to delve into some older stuff. Keep, toss, or action. I'm getting better with the toss! 

Our area was very fortunate with the weekend storm. We had some ice in the morning, but it was only on some surfaces, like certain trees. There was no damage and no power outages. Other areas in the province were severely affected, and I hope their power is restored. We are left with fog. 

It was interesting that the ice remained on a tree like this. 

Ice

But these trees were completely free of ice. They were about ten feet apart. 

No ice

There was still ice on these kind of branches as well. 

More ice

You cannot see it in this picture, but water (melting ice) was dripping down this tree. It reminded me of being in a rainforest and was quite interesting to watch. 

Water was dripping down the tree trunk

But the most astounding part of the walk was when I entered the forest. It was NOT raining, yet the melting ice dripping off the trees was LOUD! It sounded like it was pouring rain, but it was just the ice melting. I honestly felt like I was in the rainforest. It was so cool. I took a video of it, but I've not successfully loaded videos on the blog. 

Forest bathing was almost a literal term yesterday as I was getting wet, but the moment I exited the forest, it was dead silent, and no more "rain"! 

Look at this sweet girl! She looks so demure! Why is that expression so popular these days? It sounds silly! 

Mom - I'm trying to be good

Look at her while I was reading my book in the evening. 

Mom - do you want to play with me?

She has been doing so well with her bladder issues, but then, the last couple of days, she has not been so good. Two accidents, and they are not her fault. She just leaks! I try to ensure that she goes out regularly, but because I was focused on sewing, I might have missed her signals. I feel so badly for her as she doesn't understand what is happening. So, I must be better on my toes and put her outside at the appropriate times. She needs to build up her core muscles! She is on medication for her weak sphincter. 

But she is like a little kid. You put her out and tell her to have a pee. She looks at you and says, "I don't have to pee." After I told her she was NOT coming until she did her business, she finally went and had a long pee. Then she came in all happy—just like a kid!

I shared that small sewing machine with you a couple of weeks ago, or it might have been another brand. I found a picture of it in an older magazine. It has been thirty years since PFAFF came out with its first embroidery machine. Can you believe that machine embroidery is so young? Notice that the embroidery arm for the small one is inside the harp. The largest hoop would be 4" by 4". Now look at the creative icon 2! It's HUGE! 

PFAFF - 30 years of embroidery

I hope to work on machine embroidery today, but we'll see how the day goes. I don't want to make lists—I'm going to try to clear those two work tables, but that could take weeks! 

AHA -- we are down to the final 100 pages in The Sequel. What will happen? I now have a better idea of the villain. But when I think about it, who is the villain in this story? I was thinking about authors on one of my recent walks. The really vicious characters in the books I've read recently are women. Men just shoot and move on. Women are vicious. And it's usually a female author who writes about the vicious women villains. Why is that? 

I know it will be a glorious day and a glorious week. I have things on the agenda this week, but one item a day is my kind of pace. And I'm off to spin class this morning. 

OH, something bad happened, and I'm almost embarrassed to tell you about it. I was working on digitizing that chicken I shared the other day. All was good, and I was on to the last step. I went downstairs to do the final step, only to find that my *&^% laptop rebooted, and I FORGOT to save the file. So, instead of being at the end, I must return almost to the beginning. Silly me --- I should have saved that file! Oh well, it's good to go back and repeat that exercise multiple times so I don't forget. Things like this keep me humble! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Update on Chatsworth

Dare I say that I'm out of the woods? Or that I can finally see the trees in the forest? I am almost finished with this crazy workload that overtook my February and March. 

I want to acknowledge your comments about that "opinion" I mentioned yesterday. This was not the only instance. I saw a different person post something similar to someone else. The gist was, "Why are you voicing an opinion about our country?" Well, I couldn't help myself - I had to respond. But seriously? Do people not realize what is happening? Some people seem to be in a vacuum and have no concept of what is happening outside their borders. That is very sad but also a perilous situation. 

You guys get it - let's hope we can continue to educate and spread the word. 

With an almost entire day in front of me yesterday, I could not focus and was lost for what to do! OK—not quite, but what a different feeling to have some flexibility in the schedule. I was practically giddy! I have one Zoom workshop this morning, but since it's the fourth of four and I haven't watched the others yet, I think I'll pass. And that means I get to sew! 

I got through a couple more magazines. This one was from 1999, so I was a newbie. It's surprising what I highlighted that I wanted to make. I was clueless then and had no idea that I would end up with many UFOs and still have so many items I want to make. It was like being a kid in a candy store. 

Looking back, there is NOTHING in here that I wish to make, so the magazine was tossed. 

My Post-It note for items to make! 

Our tastes and styles change, and I'm glad none of those ended up as UFOs. 

And there's more good news! I'm making significant progress on the Chatsworth quilt. As I finish the blocks, I'm putting them on my design wall. I gave up trying to keep pretty quilts up there for the presentations. I need the space and no time to keep switching things around. I had many questions about those blocks - what pattern are they? Well, it's Chatsworth by Doug Lecko! I taught it at the Hobby Horse Quilt Shoppe. Our final reveal is supposed to be on April 5, but I don't think I will make it. Some others won't either, so I gave them (and myself) an extension until May 3. I hope I don't need it, but we'll see how this week goes. 

I completed several blocks yesterday, which is good considering I had to cut the background for the outer section of each block. 

Blocks for the Chatsworth Quilt

And I got one more done this morning. 

One more block

That leaves three blocks to do. I could push for the weekend—let's see what happens. There are some classes next weekend, so technically, I'm supposed to work on the homework. I may go under the radar on this, and you'll have to wait to see what happens! There are other blocks to make as well. I only have one of the twelve completed. 

I also managed to get more of the pink and green quilt together. 

The pink and green quilt

The pieces for the remaining sections are cut and ready to sew. 

The next blocks are ready to sew

I'm going to leave it as two blocks by two blocks. Then, I think I'll custom quilt it with the embroidery machine. Making small samples for those projects is good. They are easy to carry in a suitcase, show on a camera, and don't take much time to make, so I'll have fun finishing this. Maybe I can start the embroidery this week? 

I'll look at my schedule and prioritize what needs to happen. 

I also need to get Studio B back in order. Someone mentioned that the machines should be on moveable tables. It's not going to happen, and it's only during this crazy time that they need to be in the demo area. I was moving them, but it got to be too crazy. So I put them on the floor when not needed. It's not a big deal, as I had little time to sew. But now that I'm ending with that, they can both be set up for sewing again. One will be set up for machine embroidery and the other for sewing. 

And YES—I usually keep those work tables clean, but when you need extra tables for filming, and samples must be made quickly, there is not much time to deal with the excess. So, my goal is to work on those two tables I shared yesterday. I don't just want to put things away; I want to finish them first! Wish me luck on that one! 

My ironing board became a flat surface to store a few extra samples. That needs to be tidied up, and the ironing board needs to be moved. Again, part of that came about because of the number of electrical plugs I required in that film area. So all my power bars are there! The good news is that I can do whatever I want on Tuesday morning and move things how I want. There will be no more restrictions for space and plugs until early June, when I have a Facebook Live! All the cameras, monitors, and extra stuff need to be plugged in, and it depends on the length of the cords. Before dismantling everything, I will take stock of what I could do differently. 

The ironing board needs to be cleared

And there's the cutting table. Yes, those are samples on the floor that need to be sorted and put away. I've started the process—it looked much worse than this. It's going to take a bit of time to make it all happen. I could stop everything and only focus on tidying, but I won't. I want to sew—I need to sew, as I'm far behind. 

More spaces to tidy!

Yesterday afternoon, I walked to the grocery store. It was raining a bit—more of a steady drizzle. Thankfully, it wasn't raining when I left, but it started up before I got to the store. As I was leaving, someone asked me if I wanted a ride home. It was one of my neighbors! "No, thank you," I said as I popped open my umbrella and walked home. I appreciated the offer, but there was no need. 

I remember many days riding in the rain on my bicycle trips. I had zero problems stopping to put rain gear on while out, but to start in the rain? That was depressing! 

After we returned from the restaurant last night, I decided it was the perfect night to snuggle under the bedcovers and read my book. Of course, Miss Murphy had to join me. And she was pretty bold and settled down in the middle of the bed instead of at the foot. What was hilarious was that DH was sending me pictures of Miss Lexi as she snuggled up to him on the sofa in the living room! Not only was she on the couch, but she had her head on his leg, which she NEVER does. Does she know that her sleeping arrangements might be disturbed in the future? 

DH will never understand that I'm not a good candidate for watching a movie at night. I'd be in bed before the darn thing was half over! And that book (The Sequel) is getting nasty! I can only hope that justice is served! And where do some of these authors come up with the storylines? This one is nasty! But intriguing! 

I see some ice on the trees this morning, but there are no issues like some of the areas just north of us, where there are power outages. I'm not sure how much ice is on the ground, but hopefully, it won't be an issue for walking today. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Fun at the post office

Thankfully, the predicted ice storm didn't hit our area, and I hope no one else was severely affected by it. They had forecast significant ice, power outages, etc. I don't think our area was ever in the eye of that storm. 

Oh, the TV and surround sound system are gone! The guy came a little late but was happy to get the TV and thought it was a good deal. I'm not sure about the other stuff, but that's not my problem. That TV is heavy, but the guy picked it up from the front step like it weighed nothing and shoved it into the back seat of his car! 

The official week is almost over; I have one presentation later today. But there are no classes this weekend. The final day of the Etobicoke Quilt Show is today, but I've decided not to go. It's not that I don't want to support the guild, and I always looked forward to that first show of the year. 

I've decided that some downtime for ME is more important. My brain just needs a break from talking, and I have to be back by 1:30, so I'd feel rushed. I need to be selfish with my time; having most of the day free is a luxury, and I need to learn not to fill every moment with something.  

So, I will spend the day puttering, tidying, and putting things away since I can put almost everything away now. 

I had a small sewing job and was in a rush, so I didn't even add the extension table. I had a small item that needed topstitching! It's done. More on that in a second. 

My sewing machine is back in place

This is my main sewing area. The serger hides under that cover on one side and the sewing machine on the other. The amount of crap on the tables isn't so bad, but they are supposed to be empty except for the machines! My goal is to attempt to deal with the mess. I don't want to set things on another table. My preference would be to deal with it and then put it away. The cutting table and the ironing board are the same! It's time to make some changes; today feels like that day. Then I also have all day tomorrow. It will take a little while to make all that happen, but slow and steady! 

The main work tables are a mess

I also need to do some computer work, so I'll do that. I have two urgent things to accomplish. 

I did a lot of work using the Singer Momento (digital cutter). It's so easy to use, and now I feel like I've unleashed a tornado! Yes - one more toy to play with. I love that you can put the pen and a cutter in the two holders, and it'll write and then cut. I had a little "issue" with that and had to recut since I forgot to put the cutter in! But I learned how to recover from that little error, and all is good! 

Writing and cutting with the digital cutter

But I was able to make exactly what I wanted, and it all looks amazing. Unfortunately, it's a gift, so I can't share it yet. 

Then I grabbed the small item I had sewn, everything I created with the digital cutter, plus a few things in the Pony Express staging area, and I was off to the post office. I love how we no longer need to find boxes to mail things. You just select the appropriate size box from the post office, fill it, and pay for it. 

What I also love about this one post office is the manager LOVES to fill those boxes. I now just ask her what size she thinks will work, and she's pretty amazing. She even offered to help shove everything in! It's hilarious - I wish I could film what she does! But she is like a Tetris queen. Everything but one item fit in the box, and the next size up would have been way too large. That one item will have to wait for the next box. This one is expected to arrive on Thursday. 

Mailing the box

On my way home, I decided to stop at Indigo to check things out. They moved the quilting magazines to the front side of the magazine rack in front of the craft books. I did not buy anything, but on my way home, my brain got to thinking. 

The magazine section

I know some people refuse to use self-checkouts at any store because it's the loss of a cashier's job. And they are right. But how do you deal with some of the other areas where automation has taken away jobs, although they are less noticeable. Do people refuse to download digital media (books, whether purchased or from the library) because fewer cashiers and shelf stockers are needed to deal with the physical versions? 

A programmer or data entry person is required to deal with that stuff, and much of it becomes automated. I think if we look at many other instances, we'll find that the jobs are shifting—not necessarily going away—just shifting. 

However, I will not criticize you if you choose to use the cashier rather than the self-checkout. We live in a free country, and you can do what you wish within the long arm of the law. Did you know that that expression was started MANY years ago—in the 18th century! 

I have to post this because I'm stunned. I won't put the context because I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but this is a comment (in response to a repost I made) from someone I met many years ago. WOW—that's all I can say.  

Should I feel glad or sad? It truly is a strange world in which we live these days. 

Well, I'm off to have a wonderfully quiet day, except for two hours this afternoon! I feel blessed, happy, and giddy that I have "nothing" to do! 

Have a super day! 

Ciao!!!

Fun fur blanket - would you buy it?

I laugh about the subwoofer! It would be in my STASH room if it was bolted to the floor beneath the family room. It's going to stay where it is - behind the sofa. But it makes sense - it's a SUB woofer, and it's just an ugly-looking box. I've no idea why, for 20 years - it had to sit front and center in our family room. But that's a thing of the past. 

And if all goes well, the old TV and surround sound will be picked up in an hour! I have a few other things to sell on Facebook Marketplace, and I should just keep on a roll and get them out the door. Well, they are in the garage!

I managed to get some more sewing done. Not much, but it's a start. One of the biggest issues is that my preferred sewing machines sit in the broadcast area. It became too much to keep switching them from one place to another. Now I'm finished with one brand - yes - the end is in sight, so I think I'll bring that one back into the sewing area, and then I can sew like mad. 

Here's one more block for the Chatsworth quilt. 

A block for the Chatsworth quilt

And I have one block of my ender/leader done as well. The four sections are not stitched together yet, but it's a start. I will need to cut more triangles, but I'll figure that out when I need them. For the moment, I'm OK. 

Positive/negative quilt block

I have a few minor things to finish, and then I can get my gift in the mail. It's so long overdue, but I will make it happen today. 

If you are wondering what's in those doors in the TV stand, this is what's in there. And, of course, Murphy had to photobomb the picture! 

What's behind the doors

Three of the units hold PHOTOS. I know -- I don't even want to go there. But with my newly found skills in decluttering, I think the first part will be easy. Cull anything that is crap, duplicates, faded, and shows no people. That should be easy. Then I need to further sort, and I will make a couple of digital books or scan the photos and store them digitally. How many pictures of a lifetime does one need? A few highlights will suffice!

The fourth section is games. It's been culled already but could be culled again. I could probably eliminate it all since we no longer play board games. 

Board games

I popped into the thrift store yesterday and spotted something interesting. I did not buy it, but I was tempted. 

A fun fur blanket

Yep - -that's a huge blanket made with fun fur. Can you imagine that made as a jacket? How fun would that be? There was an open seam along the side, and I checked. Yes, the entire thing was hand-pieced with a whip stitch. I wasn't sure if it was a commercial item or handmade. Where the heck did they get such a variety of fun fur? 

The hand-pieced seams

If I bought it, I would take it apart and reassemble it with a serger, but it seemed to be holding up very well! The big thing is that all this stuff is back in vogue! 

There are a few more tables set up downstairs than I would like, and when I realized I needed something, I could spot it, but it was near the floor, two tables away. So I had to crawl under two tables to get it. Only to realize that while it held what I knew was in there, it wouldn't serve my purpose. I need to crawl back and put it back. I know -- one of the first things I need to work on is getting rid of all the excess stuff accumulated in Studio B over the past few months. 

Crawling under the tables!

When I returned from my walk, I sat outside for a bit. It was cool with the wind, but I needed some downtime. Of course, the girls were with me. 

Relaxing in the gazebo

I had stopped to buy muffins and spotted some apple-flavored dog treats. Murphy just chowed hers down like it was nothing. Lexi -- so delicate. She eyed her treat but wouldn't touch it. Then, when I broke off a piece, she gobbled it up. And Murphy stared her down the entire time she ate. Gosh - what a bully and a pain - you know where. Murphy thinks everything is for HER. 

MOM -- that should be for ME!

As I mentioned, it was windy, so the whirlygig and the two wind chimes worked overtime. Even the cowbell, which is heavy, clanked a couple of times. We didn't stay out too long, but hopefully, we'll get more warm weather soon. 

Just daydreaming in the wind!

I've been dreaming a lot lately, or at least remembering them. Some weird ones, for sure! I don't have much lined up for this weekend, which will be the most exciting thing in my world. NO classes, but two Zoom calls - one I'm hosting and one I'm a participant in. I'm debating going to the Etobicoke Quilt Show on Saturday. That might be dependent on the weather since they are forecasting ice excretions. Can we not just say sleet? Why all these new words? 

Anyway, I'd better get this edited and hope the guy comes to pick up the TV. 

OH -- here are the last two posts from QUILTsocial. 

Thursday - all about applique

Friday - all about binding

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!