Living in a world of boxes

What an insane day yesterday was. It felt like we were living in a warehouse! Every time I turned around, there were more boxes in the house. 

After getting my morning chores out of the way, it was time to head to the lighting store to see what I could find. I didn't have the luxury to be choosy, but I sort of knew what I wanted. And seriously, I think people spend way too much dithering over decisions. I was in and out of the lighting store in about 1.5 hours. 

I walked in the store, and a young woman approached me. I explained my situation, and she made a list. Since I need the lights today, our main selection criteria was what they had in stock. What did they have in stock that suited my needs? A heck of a way to shop, but seriously? I didn't walk home with anything I didn't like, so that was good. 

The lighting store

I could have gone to a store like Home Depot and purchased lights - it would have been a bit cheaper, but I had a salesperson dedicated for at least an hour, and she helped with questions about bulb types and voltage, and that was worth the price of going there. Going to Home Depot would have meant I was pretty much on my own, and I didn't want that. 

As we went through the list, I wasn't sure everything would fit in the car, but it did. And of course, as I was loading the car from the back dock, the Purolator truck arrived and wanted to drop stuff off! He would just have to wait, but I was quick!

These lights are for the family room. 

Family room lights

The living room

Living room lights

Fans for upstairs

A fan for each bedroom

Lights for the front of the house

Lights for the front of the house

And lights for the backyard

Murphy is showing off the lights for the backyard.

And as you can see, we still have some very old switches and outlets in the house. 

Old toggle switches

They are going to replace a bunch of them. Not sure that all will get done, but we'll see how it goes. I have NO idea how many are still the old style. Even though we had some of them replaced about 10 years ago, those are now obsolete as well. Some new mechanism (different from the one we currently have) to prevent people from sticking things in and getting electrocuted. 

Old outlets

On top of all the boxes I brought home, these boxes arrived on the front step. It's going to be a fun weekend to unbox that!! That is the brand-new PFAFF creative icon 3, in case you are wondering. It will be widely available sometime in September. I have a wonderful boss, but I also have events where I'll be doing demos on the new machine. I'll provide a list tomorrow - I'm running late this morning. 

A new toy!!!

And as if that wasn't enough, Murphy's new "toys" arrived. 

A delivery for Murphy

One of the suggestions we got to help calm Murphy down, and they have them in the exam room of the vet's office, is these calming devices. They emit some kind of pheromone that's supposed to calm dogs. 

MOM - is this for me? 

She was much better last night. Although she didn't sleep in the house, she didn't go outside until about 9:30 PM, which is good news. She came in this morning at 4:30AM. We're making progress!!!

The calming plug-in for dogs

That's what the gizmo looks like, and the little container lasts 30 days. If it works, I'm happy to keep buying replacement containers. I bought two - one for the living room and one for the family room.  

Murphy even decided that she needed to take one more of her indoor toys outside. She even played with it. Yeah Murphy!!!! So she is definitely feeling much better, which makes me feel better! We have to face reality that she is older (12, I believe) and that she is slowing down. We just have to learn to accommodate her, just like we are trying to accommodate our aging bodies. 

MOM - let's play with my toys outside!!!

It was cool in the morning, but it got hot in the afternoon. I had to laugh because the fan was sitting in the family room, but it wasn't on. But Lexi thought it was!!! I turned it on for her. 

MOM - this fan feels so good! Lexi - the fan isn't on!!!

And Murphy even got into the fun. With her love of the basement, I'm shocked that she isn't asking to go downstairs. She comes down about once a day (we talk about it before she does), but she doesn't like the process of coming up, and that seems to be enough to deter her. I'm sad, but this is life! 

MOM - that fan is so cool!!!!

I had to pop out to Home Depot to pick up one more light that they didn't have at the lighting store, and YES - I had to ask where it was on the shelf, and that took time, but I got what I needed. However, look what I spotted in the store. 

WAIT - a big fluffy dog at Home Depot?

YES -- that is a big fluffy dog with that man. The dog was NOT a service dog. I remember taking Murphy to Home Depot once many years ago, and I was escorted to what I wanted and escorted out of the store. The female store employee who was my escort was NOT happy with the dog in the store. Perhaps they have changed their policies. If the dog is under control and on a short leash, what is the danger? Oh wait --- liability! 

I spent some time in the gazebo, and it was wonderful to listen to the waterfall. I think I need a more comfortable chair or something. I was tired - well, my back was tired, but I couldn't sleep. When I get a restless leg, I'm toast - no sleeping is going to happen. 

Relaxing in the gazebo

There wasn't much wind, but enough to get a tinkle or two from the windchime. 

A few tinkles from the windchimes

But not enough for the cowbell!

Not strong enough for the cowbell

While I love listening to the waterfall, I also love looking at the pond. There are big fish and baby fish, algae growing, and insects that scoot across the surface. And then you get these giant spiderwebs!!! The spider was in the middle, and he was huge, but he scooted to the side when I approached. 

A massive spider web

I finally made it down to Studio B to get some work done after dinner. And I figured out the issue with the mismatched number of pieces! That took a lot of time, but my brain was happy when I could account for all the pieces. 

Then I got to work on the next two blocks. My August is all of a sudden super busy and I won't have a ton of free time, so I'd best try to get this completed as quickly as I can. Look at this section. Can you tell what the rest of the block is? 

The next section of Down on the Farm

I am so happy with my color choices, but as I work through the pattern and identify each piece that I need for the next section, it's like looking through a needle in a haystack!!! There are a lot of GRASS pieces, and I need to find each particular size when I need it!

A fabric puzzle

But so far, so good, and I check them off as I work. And I use the ruler on my extension table to double-check the sizes because it would be super easy to pick up a 1.5" by 3.5" when I need a 1.5 by 3".

Using the ruler on the extension table to double-check

I hope to get back to work on it today, but with the electricians here today, I'm not sure what to expect. I forgot to mention that the electrician will bring the new lights for the basement when they come. I also have a small project that needs to be done today. I made good progress on it last night, but there is still about two hours left to do. 

And here is that stack of HSTs growing by leaps and bounds, and I'm not taking the time to trim them. That's OK - I can leave that task for a virtual retreat. 

The huge stack of HSTs that need to be pressed and trimmed

Again - a reminder for anyone wishing to sign up for the scrap quilt class: there are fewer than 20 seats left, so don't delay. You can find that information at this link for Thimbles and Things. If you think you know how to deal with scraps and scrap quilts, you'll know a whole lot more after that multi-part class. I can't wait to get started - there is so much to share, and I've been amassing quilts and projects and many other things over the last couple of months. Plus I want people to share so we aren't just learning what I do. I'll be putting together a distribution list next week and sending out a pre-class note to the students. 

And if you want one of my other classes, here is the link to them. 

I had to get to the gym early this morning to meet Brooke, and it was an amazing workout. I left feeling like a million bucks!!! We are going to get this situation conquered!!! 

On that positive note, I'm out of here. It's going to be a whirlwind day because something else major is happening in our house today, but I'll share that with you tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

A lazy day in the backyard

Let's just say that yesterday did NOT turn out as I planned. Instead, I was a slug and spent time in the gazebo and bonding with Murphy! I'm happy to report that she seems to be feeling much better, and I think I mentioned that she even came into the house on her own in the morning to hang out with me.

Then she lay at my feet while I was blogging, so it was hard to type! But that's OK. 

MOM - I need to be with you!!!

I was in such a relaxed mood that I even forgot to make an appointment with the vet and the physiotherapist. So those are on the must-do list for today. 

It was such a glorious day that how could I stay out of the gazebo? Before I know it, the summer will be gone, and I'll be lamenting that I didn't spend enough time out there. And of course, my trusty companion was right there with me. 

MOM - I love spending time with you!!!

Now that the backyard is fully "done," at least for the moment, it's nice to just take some time and enjoy it. While I don't mind working, it's also nice to just relax and enjoy. 

A glorious day in the backyard

I've decided, and I had better write it in my agenda, to spend one half hour each week maintaining the backyard. I see a few weeds are sprouting up again between the flagstones, so if I keep on top of it, it won't be a big deal. And I need to tidy up the shed, and there are a few things to hang on my back fence. So I will pick a day and get out there - once a week. 

I had a chuckle yesterday as a friend was flying to Toronto and I was in the backyard. It's so nice to be able to communicate with people on a plane these days. Not that I want to, but if I need to, it's possible. Anyway, she was looking to kill some time as it had been a long flight. She was 30 minutes away from landing. I told her that they would likely be landing on the east approach to the airport, not the west, since I wasn't seeing any planes land. In that gap you see above, we can see planes approaching the airport on both east/west runways! 

Thankfully, our house is far enough south and west of the airport that we don't hear the planes unless the cloud cover is just right. The best of both worlds - close to the airport, but not close enough to disturb us. 

Murphy was feeling so much like her old self that I found a toy out of her toy box!!!

Hmm- someone wants to play with her toys.

I also bought some plug-in calming devices. I had noticed them in the exam room at the vet, and someone mentioned them in a comment. So I have two of them on the way. We'll see how they work, but the sleeping outside thing seems to be working. She is venturing into the house much more than she was a week ago, so that's a positive. And she is now safely ensconced in Lexi's raised bed beside me. And she was downstairs with me this morning while I was sewing. She can go down with supervision, but she can't make it up by herself, so I use a towel under her tummy to support her. I doubt she will ever feel comfortable on those stairs again. 

I had put carpet treads on them, but even that isn't enough to secure her, and she slipped even with those. But I am OK with helping her up. We just need to be diligent about blocking them so she doesn't even attempt it. 

Speaking of getting up the stairs, I was chatting with a neighbor yesterday, and they had a chair lift installed in their house because their in-laws live with them and they need assistance on the stairs. It cost $15K to have a custom (curved stairs) chair lift installed. Yikes!!! The way our stairs are, I don't think that is even possible because the staircase is open (no walls) on both sides at the very bottom. I told DH - he better get doing some exercises! I am NOT moving. 

I was at the gym yesterday, and I'm doing OK on my own. I miss the spin classes, but I get on the bike and do half of what I would in spin class, then spend the rest of the time stretching and doing some other exercises. I am trying to get in the habit of doing the exercises I got last week. 

Did I mention that these are mostly for strengthening the hips, but it's also the legs. So Chair Squats - we all know how to do those, and they are easy. But there were two step-up exercises that were challenging. But they are simple and good because they work not only on your strength but also on your balance. 

One of them is to find a step - use your staircase if you don't have an exercise step. Stand on the floor and take one step up. Then bring the other foot up, step down with both feet, and repeat. 10 repeats, 2 - 3 times on each side. You can actually raise your heart rate with this one. I like to add to it by lifting my free leg up, like high-stepping, then back down. That increases the heart rate even more. If you don't hang on, it helps improve your balance. Another important factor of staying independent!!!

The next one is the reverse of the one above, and it's darn hard! Simple but deceptive! Stand with one foot on the step and bend that leg so that the heel of your loose foot touches the floor. OH MY --- that was a challenge for me. I was finding that I could touch the ball of my foot, which I then used to push myself back up, but that is NOT the way to do it. You need to touch the heel so that only your leg pushes you up. Yikes --- I'm going to have to work on that one and, of course, try to remain upright (not leaning forward) while doing it!!!

If you want to see videos of the exercises I was given, you can find them here. 

Scroll down until you see this. You can download the paper that I have, and the videos are there as well. It's hilarious because it's really for someone who has had a hip replacement! But I'd rather do this now and not need a hip replacement! My joints seem to be fine - but my muscles are not!  

One of my neighbors has this GIANT hibiscus in her front yard, and I grabbed a photo yesterday. The blooms have to be at least 6 or 7 inches across. It's beautiful, and when we had so much rain the other day, I thought the blooms were toast, but nope - they dried out and popped right back open. 

A giant hibiscus

It looks like there are a ton of buds on it. Perhaps I can see if I can find one and plant it somewhere in my garden. WAIT -- I have a perfect spot in the back beside the gazebo. 

Over the last couple of years, we have been compiling a list of tasks that require an electrician. DH is not handy (hey—I have to inflate the car tires if one is low, which I did yesterday!). And I don't want to deal with electricity. 

One complete set of ballasts in Studio B has gone, and of the remaining light fixtures (6), half of the bulbs are toast, so it is getting a tad dark in there. 

Three dead ballasts

The remaining ballasts are sketchy.

I think only one ballast has two working bulbs. 

So after much "nagging" on DH's part, I finally decided to bite the bullet and sent my list to our electrician. They have always been super busy, and I knew it would take some time before they could get here, so I might as well start the process now. The list was LONG. 

Imagine my surprise when I got a call from them asking if I would be home as they would come out and assess the situation that afternoon. Yikes!!!! I happened to be at the sports store buying shorts, but I was almost done. 

We walked around the house (inside and out), and I showed him what needed to be done. He offered suggestions, and we worked out the logistics. And can you believe that the first thing he spotted when he walked into Studio B was that one of the bulbs had NOT been inserted properly (by myself) and that the end was bent. 

The prong is bent

Or did he bend the end when he tried to fix it? Anyway, I didn't put the bulb back in, so there goes another light! 

After assessing everything, he put my world in a tailspin when he said, "We can come on Thursday and Friday to do the work." Yikes—that would not normally be a problem, but we want a bunch of new lights installed, and I do NOT have them. So guess where I'll be today? Shopping for lights. I've got a couple of places in mind, and I was searching their websites last night, so I think I'll be OK. I'm not super picky - I want it to look nice, but I don't need something so specific that it has to be special ordered. 

I need 17 devices installed, but thankfully only 5 styles. As long as they have them in stock, I should be good with what I saw on the website. 

That doesn't include what is going into Studio B, which they'll provide. Then the thought occurred to me that it would require moving a lot of furniture to get those lights installed, but then I took a closer look this morning, and the moving will be minimal. 

I asked him why they had free time. They are waiting for some parts for a big job, and I got lucky! It was meant to be!!! And now we will have proper lighting all through the house! I can't wait. I think they also have a few more electricians than they did the last time we hired them. 

And can you believe he accused me of having OLD light switches in my house? The one in question was installed less than 20 years ago!!! By their company! We still have some of the old toggle switches—we have a huge variety of electrical things in our house. He even noticed a cracked faceplate. An eye for detail to be sure!!!

And as part of my lazy day, I sat down and finished that puzzle. Throughout the day, I would sit and get at least five pieces in place. And sometimes that required taking one piece at a time and trying it in multiple spots. I didn't do a lot of that, as it's very time-consuming, so I tried to go by color (though that was a challenge) and then by shape, which proved challenging as well. It is done!!!

Puzzle complete! 

Now I'll put it back in the box and in the giveaway box, and I won't start another until the electrician is done since that table is near one of the lights. 

And then at last, I did get some sewing done! 

Remember my horses in Down on the Farm and how I didn't like them? Well, the horses were fine - it was the colors in the locations I had that I didn't like. So I decided to move the horses around, and I had only two choices. 

This is the before. So lots of white/grey animals in this block. 

Too many white animals - before

And two darker animals in this block. 

Two dark animals - before

I switched the brown and grey horses, so this is what it looks like now. 

This looks better

And the other block with the grey horse

I like this much better, so I'm good. I still have to remake the turtle, and perhaps I can get that done today and then move on to the final four blocks.

Other than that and a bit more on the pattern testing (counting the number of pieces), I didn't get much done. So far, I've been able to match the actual number of pieces in the blocks with that in the cutting directions. Except for these last two blocks - the numbers don't match, and my anal brain won't let it go, so I'm going to attempt it one more time. Out of 250 pieces in those two blocks, I can't account for three! 

An update on the class signups -- the Scrap Class is now available for signups. And OH MY -- did you see how fancy the information was laid out? I was so excited that even I wanted to sign up for the class. LOL!!!!!

I have a feeling that a wee bit of AI went into making that, but I'm good with that. I see that quite a few people signed up yesterday. Remember, the class has a limit of 99, and if we go over, we may have to do some fancy work to accommodate everyone. Here is the link for you to sign up. 

An update on the 40 Shades of Grey patterns: 30 patterns have been ordered by the Out of Hand quilt shop, and if you are signing up for this class, please use this link and select the NOTIFY ME WHEN AVAILABLE button so when the patterns arrive, you will get an email alerting you to that fact. I will try to put together the distribution list to alert you as well, but since most people have probably only seen this class information on my blog, I'm telling you here. 

And again - here is the link for the class list if anyone still wants to sign up for something. 

On that note, I'd better get myself organized. I have to tell you about my short shopping, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

 

Working on a farm is hard work!

I have the best friends! Between phone calls, comments, and discussing it at Monday sewing, I now have quite a few suggestions on how to attempt to deal with Murphy's new anxiety issue. I do want to start by checking with the vet to see exactly what medication she has, and then we are going to start investigating. 

She slept outside last night, but when I got up (the door was still open), she came in on her own and is now ensconced in her (Lexi's) raised dog bed beside me in the office. So there is hope! And last night, she seemed a bit more like her usual self and wanted to play, although we have banned playing ball, which she is NOT happy about. 

She seems quite content to be in the house with me and did wander in a few times more than usual yesterday. All is looking good!

I don't know if I have ever pieced anything so intense as Down on the Farm! I love the blocks, but boy oh boy, there are a lot of pieces, and while everything is well labeled in the pattern, I'm not so good at labeling when I cut. I'm pretty good at deciphering it. It is just slow. 

And now I have the next block done. This means that eight of the 12 blocks are complete. There are three sheep, two cows, and one horse. 

The eighth block

It wasn't until I was done with the block and hung it up that I realized that I had made all the animals in that group white! 

It never even occurred to me to make a black sheep, although he would have lost his ears and feet definition. But the horse? Why did I make a grey horse? 

So - I think I'm going to take a break from sewing new blocks today to fix what I have. Remember in the top row, there are two horses? 

Two horses in the top row

I am going to swap the brown horse for the grey horse, and that will make me feel better. I also decided to completely remake the turtle, and if I can get those two rows together today, then I would be happy. 

It's not that it's a big deal to have all those white animals, but when the two pasture blocks are together, that is a LOT of white animals in one spot. It won't be a big deal to move them around. And I need to stitch on some antennae for the butterfly. It just needs it. 

The two pasture blocks

So tidying up the first eight blocks will be the objective of today. I'm also happy to report that the next two blocks are cut out and waiting to be sewn. Yep—not a single label on any of those pieces!!! I'm my own worst enemy!!! But there are MANY shapes, sizes, and colors - it would require a LOT of labels. I'm lazy!

The next two blocks are cut.

I may just bite the bullet and cut the remaining two blocks today as well. Then I can just sew. I'll see how the day progresses. 

There is so much going on in the quilt, and it really is a fun one! I also have the beach-themed quilt from Sew Fresh Quilts, but I need to get back to my planned projects. I suspect it's going to take most of this week to finish off those final four blocks. Then I'll need to decide on what border to put on it. Do I have any farm fabric left? Yes — I do, so I'll need to dig that out and see if any of it works. I have one in mind, but I'm not sure if I have enough of it. But that's not a job for today. 

I also have two small projects that I MUST get done today. And then there is the long arm that needs to be reassembled, a couple of sewing tables that also need to be assembled, the T-shirt quilt needs assembly, and so on. The list is long, and this was supposed to be my "down" month. We are four days into August, and I have barely sat in the gazebo. 

I made some progress on the puzzle last night. 

Progress on the puzzle

I put in a few extra pieces after this picture was taken, but yep—that is a lot of blue/green pieces! Just more than one hundred. Yep - I counted them - I'm a Virgo - I needed to! And the pieces in this puzzle are the same shape, but are randomly cut. Hmm - I need to learn the puzzle lingo. 

Wait =- I just found this on Google. 

Names of puzzle pieces

OK - based on this, all the pieces are Hs. Where do the last two pieces get their names? Some of those don't make sense. 

The actual names of the shapes of a puzzle piece? We have tabs (knobs/noses) and blanks (sockets/holes/notches) for the innies and outies on a puzzle piece. The straight edges along the outside are called edges, and the corners are called corners. It sounds super easy! I think there are other names depending on who you chat to, or perhaps I'm making that up!

Now I'm all set when I have a serious talk with a puzzler! 

I've heard a few house creaks since Murphy came inside to sleep, and so far, she's sound asleep in her raised bed. Someone had suggested that her sound sensitivity was due to her pain, and that could definitely be a factor. Perhaps with her increased activity last evening and coming in this morning, she is feeling better? 

I also sat outside with her last night before I went to bed, and we had a heart-to-heart chat. I told her how much we loved her and that it was OK to feel the way she did, but we were here for her. Maybe I need to have a serious chat with her more often to let her know that she is loved. Hmmm.

Dogs are very sensitive, and we need to let them talk to us and us to them! 

I also have some paperwork I need to get back to this morning. And a reminder that if you want to sign up for any classes, be sure to send me an email. Here is the link to the classes, and be sure to forward it to anyone you think will be interested. I will start assembling the distribution lists next week and send out a note to ensure that I got everyone who has signed up so far. 

And on that note, I'm off to the gym. I need to take a copy of my FIVE pages of exercises, not the original three, so I can remember what to do and start incorporating them into my gym visits. I also feel the need to buy some new gear for the gym. Oh my—I will NOT be buying what the younger people are wearing. It's definitely a fashion show - what happened to a T-shirt and shorts? And the tighter the shorts are, the better. The more "lift" in the butt, the better. I kid you not -- that is a thing! The skimpier the top, regardless of whether the wearer has a tummy or a muffing top. So, compared to a lot of people at the gym, I'm a prude! I have a very negative body image, so I cover it up. And I'm OK with that. That is the result of many years of being called "fatty" when I was in school. That image will likely never go away, and I'm OK with that, but I need to be covered up! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Why is value so important?

OH MY --- I had to finish that book (Grounds for Murder by Betty Ternier Daniels) last night. I think it was 8 hours in total, but since I was busy sewing this intense quilt block, I had to turn it off each time I needed to find pieces to sew. There are so many similar sizes, and obviously you are sewing two different fabrics together - I had to do a wee bit of unripping from time to time. 

But you are NOT going to believe this. At one point in the book, the main character mentions a small village in Saskatchewan, and can you believe that she said, "Baljennie?" This is the tiny wee village nearest to where I grew up. No one lives there any longer, but this book was written in 2024, and yes - if you Google Baljennie, it's still on the map!! I wonder why she chose that hamlet - I wonder if she has any connection to that area. I must ask!

I found an aerial view of Baljennie in its heyday. Well, maybe not quite - I think the church had burnt down when this was taken. But there are the two grain elevators and the post office, the general store, the garage (cars), and, about the middle of the photo, the community center and the curling rink that my grandfather helped build and then helped build a thriving curling community. But there is another building up there, and I don't know what that is. I must ask. 

The railroad came into town, and it ended there! Just past the elevator on the right. 

The town of Baljennie

I almost fell over when I heard Bety mention Baljennie in her book!! Not that it was on the map, but that she included it in the book. I haven't heard back from her yet, but I had mentioned that that is where I was from, even though I hadn't come across that part of the book yet. 

Anyway - it was an interesting read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to whoever recommended the book. 

|And now there are only two audiobooks on my shelf. 

My plan was to have TWO blocks completed for the Down on the Farm quilt, but alas, that was not to be. Remember, both blocks were cut out. I managed to get one block completely done. There are a LOT of little pieces and lots of room to go amiss. 

The seventh block

I think this and the beach-themed quilt she also just finished would make very good quilts for a class. So many little details to watch out for. The other thing, and I believe I mentioned it the other day, is that I am using my iPad to follow along with the pattern. There are pros and cons. The pro is that you can enlarge the pattern to see diagrams of the teeny-tiny areas, but you can't check off the sections as you sew them. WAIT -- I think you can do that on the iPad. I must try that later today. 

In the next block there are three sheep (done), two cows (done), and one horse (in progress). Then I can sew that block together. 

Then I'm going to go back and fix my turtle block. Why? What do you see, or I should ask, what don't you see? 

My turtle block

The turtle's face is very hard to distinguish from the pond. Even his legs on the grey rocks are sort of hard to see, but it's mostly his face. 

And that brings me to the topic of the day - VALUE. Value is a very important component of art and quilting, and it's highly dependent on what surrounds it. Here's a very good example. As I was sewing the HSTs together, this happened. 

I was sewing the ones on the right until I ran out of the dark green. In that case, the floral is the light. I happened to have some beige triangles, so I sewed them to the remaining pieces of that floral fabric. In this instance, that floral is the dark! 

One fabric - two completely different values

Pick a random fabric and ask if it's a dark, medium, or a light, and the answer is impossible to determine until you decide what is going next to that random fabric. Sometimes the colors are strong enough to stand out, making the color the contrast, but not so with my turtle head. The value of the turtle head and the water are the same, and the intensity of the colors is so close that the turtle head is lost. I found a much lighter fabric that I can use, but I'll also look for a darker one. Then I'll decide. That is the only spot I have miscalculated so far. I should have put the two fabrics on the design wall and stepped back to see the contrast. 

I almost goofed again. This time I had pulled a gold for the flower centers. They are teeny-tiny pieces, and when I sewed the flower section, I knew the gold would get lost. So back to the stash bin, and I found a BRIGHT yellow that will hold its own against the pink. 

Two yellows - one works, one does not!

I hope that you can see what I mean when I chat about value. It's so important, and you also need to consider how busy your prints are. If there is enough contrast, most times it won't matter, but if both the light and the dark are busy, then that contrast may just disappear into a bird's nest! Beware!

Many of the pieces in this quilt are assembled using a stitch-and-flip method. And here's the cutting mat after almost two blocks. That's a lot of teeny pieces that are cut off. I will NOT be saving these! 

The cut-offs from sewing two blocks of stitch-and-flip

As mentioned, I should be able to finish block 8, and then I'll have to decide - do I fix the turtle, or do I move on to the final row? I might at least cut for the final row. I had hoped to be done by today, but that's not the case. Each block has a lot of pieces, and each requires a clear head to work. I'm enjoying the process, though, and trying very hard to catch any mistakes, which means I have to pay a lot more attention than just looking at the pictures and winging it! 

The pile of HSTs on the ironing board continues to grow. I even took the time to sort the triangles on that tray by color! I'm so darn anal about stuff like that. I need color sorting!!!! 

The stack of HSTs continues to grow.

Now I can grab a color and pull a light and a dark, and away I go. Not that I need them to be by color, but it works for me. 

I spotted this on Facebook and thought it was hilarious. First - I want to say that I was so focused yesterday that it would have taken an alarm to break me out of my sewing trance!! 

But I did scroll a bit after I was so exhausted that I had to stop sewing. 

OMG -- that is me!!! I made some progress on the puzzle last night, but I'm down to green pieces now. I know some people who avoid puzzles with lots of green or blue. Not me - I'm going to get this thing together even if I have to try each piece one at a time! I doubt it will come to that, but it might in some areas. 

And YES -- an old cutting mat would make the perfect place to work on a puzzle. I have one of those felt roll-up mats which I have never used. I don't think I will. I guess I'll have to donate it unless someone wants it!

I have to give you an update on the girls. Someone had mentioned in the comments that only purebred dogs sleep like frogs. I don't think that is true. It's called a sploot, by the way, and it's just a way for them to stretch out, get their tummy directly on the floor (as in Murphy's situation), and it's comfortable for some dogs. I have never seen Lexi sleep this way. 

So Murphy is on medication for inflammation and pain, and it causes drowsiness. Well, it can cause drowsiness. She gets one of those in her evening meal. The other night, I noticed some white residue on the mats beside the back door. I didn't give it a second thought. Last night, I noticed residue again, and WAIT --- she bit open the capsule and didn't get all the medication inside. I grabbed a pill pocket and shoved the remaining contents of the capsule into it. She wasn't happy, but she ate it. 

Then Lexi came over to the mats and cleaned up all the residue! Sigh............ I bet she slept well!

MOM - I'm cleaning up Murphy's mess

Somewhere in Murphy's recent adventures, she has developed something BAD. Before the first slip, she was a typical dog who would wake when she heard a noise, and then go back to sleep, unless it was something worthy of barking at. In Murphy's case, that would be noises, particularly those outside, between 11 PM and 7 AM. 

The first night after her slip, she was restless and would not settle. It was a sleepless night at our house - for her and for me. I tried everything to settle her down and thought it was because of her being in pain. Then we got pain meds, and that seemed to help. Then she had another slight slip, and that has thrown her into a tizzy. 

She is ONLY comfortable and will fall asleep immediately if she is OUTSIDE. This is not good when your dog is known to bark at things in the night. Thankfully, the raccoons and coyotes are in another part of the forest. 

Last night, I attempted to bring her in the house and get her settled for the night. I have now discovered what her problem is. Well, part of it anyway. She might still have pain, but I can't see how - she has her pill, which she gets once a day (at night). 

It is the NOISES in the house. She has developed a NOISE PHOBIA, which is bad because when she hears something, she gets frantic and wants to climb on things that she has never climbed before; she paces, she pants, and she is in quite a bit of distress. When my SIL went to bed at 12:30 and turned on an upstairs water tap, Murphy just about blew a gasket. 

And then the dishwasher started. Needless to say, I put her outside. I brought her in at 5 AM, and she is peacefully sleeping in the basement. She can go downstairs (on the leash), but I have to help her upstairs with a towel under her tummy, which works just fine and puts no strain on me. For any of you who are caregivers to a family member, it's not quite the same, but equally traumatizing to be a caregiver for a senior dog, especially one who is crazy!

This isn't just at night - it's during the day as well. She wants to spend 100% of her time outside. It was raining yesterday, and she has zero issues with sleeping in the rain. The poor dog is just WET. There are a couple of spots she knows of where she can sleep without getting wet, but if it rains too hard, she will get wet. 

We are lucky that we are not going anywhere this month and that it is summertime, but what the heck are we going to do in the fall? I've got to try some anxiety medication for her, and there are other products that you can get to try and calm a dog down. But why did she become so sensitive to any kind of noise overnight? 

I will make another appointment with the vet. I would just buy an OTC product, but since she is on the anti-inflammatory, I want to see what will work best with that. The vet mentioned another medication, and perhaps it will have a more calming effect on her. The poor thing - we are all stressed in our house, but I bet she has a worse case of it than we do. At least we understand what the issue is. 

Remember that we have class signups happening now. And someone mentioned that if you are taking part in the Show and Tell class, you can buy the pattern at Country Concessions, and they have FREE shipping, but only today!!!!!  

Here is the link to the classes again, and be sure to let your friends know. 

And on that happy note, it's Monday sewing today!!!! I'll be heads down working on my blocks! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!