The right to vote -- be sure to use it!

I made good progress on the paperwork yesterday, but I still have a lot to do. It involved several phone calls (yeah, for a cell phone that works), being on hold FOREVER, and still getting the wrong documents, so I had to start the process all over again. 

I had another task: preparing a document, and I got it done and sent it off. Then the recipient asked another question, and I had to take it one step further. That's on today's agenda.  

Then I wonder why I never make headway. However, I've moved the pile of paper from the floor onto the desk, and I'll whittle it down as best I can. 

But the good news is that I renewed one of my memberships before it expired, and I voted in the advance polls. So I am making progress! 

I won't be around on election day, so I got myself to the voting place yesterday. It was near the library, so well within my daily walk. Only to find when I got home that DH had a book at that library! Sigh..... But that's a destination for my walk today. 

Get out and VOTE!!!

Well, things have changed in the voting world. In the past, it was always a paper ballot, and you marked your candidates with a pencil. This time, I got a long slip of paper with some information at the top and the rest was blank. Hmmmmmm, should I ask, or just go to the voting cubicle and see what happens? 

It was all electronic!! You insert your paper into the machine, and the eligible candidates appear on the screen for the various positions: mayor, councilor, trustee, etc. You select the ones you want to vote for on the screen. You can make changes if you mess up. And then the voting machine spits the paper back out with your choices on it. It then goes into the scanner where your votes are counted.

I was excited about the changes and posted in my Monday sewing group, only to discover that one person votes by mail in their area, while another votes on their smart device. Hmmmm, so many ways, but it doesn't matter as long as the data is protected and it lets MANY people vote. 

So if you are NOT planning on voting, think twice. The opportunity to vote is a hard-earned RIGHT, especially for women. If you don't take advantage of it, you are doing a disservice to your community and to yourself!! 

As I was walking back, I spotted this, and this is not the first time I've seen this kind of mess. 

This looks serious

I'm not sure what type of wires these are for, but doesn't that scream that someone is missing some kind of service somewhere? 

It also begs the question: why did it get damaged in the first place? 

Please note, this next comment has NOTHING to do with the above; it's strictly an observation, and my brain put the two thoughts one after the other. I always seem to go for my walk at the same time the high school lets out for the day. The one thing I have noticed is how LOUD these kids can be. The kids usually hang out in groups, which is typical of high school students, but within those groups (usually girls or boys, rarely mixed) there are one or two more exuberant people. 

They shout at the top of their lungs, usually individual words rather than sentences. I wonder if they have inside voices when they get home? 

Here's a couple of other things I noticed in the neighborhood. We had rain the other night, and I'm not sure how torrential it was, but at one point it was raining hard. As I was walking, I realized I was on the part of the path that gets the worst erosion when it rains a lot. 

Hmm, I didn't see any signs of erosion at all. No ruts, and no gravel running off into the forest. Could that section really be fixed? 

Zero erosion on the path

And there are still lots of beautiful flowers out. Miss Lexi and I spotted this one on our walk. 

Some plants are still in bloom.

In that same garden, we spotted a different colored flower, and I was taking a picture when a bee flew into another flower, and I captured this picture. 

The bees are still busy.

I decided to set up my iPad with the new puzzle website. I don't think this is going to happen. My brain just wouldn't function properly with this setup. I tried. Then I tried a different puzzle style, and I went from my desktop to the iPad. That isn't going to happen either. The format is different on the iPad, and it sucks! 

Trying to do a puzzle online

So I think I'll be relegated to the desktop, and I'm OK with that, although I much prefer having a piece of paper in front of me to solve a puzzle. And I tried!!! Multiple puzzles, different sites - didn't like any of them. 

I got one presentation ready to go, just waiting for a few more photos from the students to add. And I've got most of the next quilt cut and ready to sew together today. I hope I can get through it quickly; I seem to be in slow-motion mode this week. 

However, I need some help! I am missing a small piece of this fabric to complete a block. If I can't find it, I'll substitute something, but I thought I'd try. 

This is a Jinny Beyer (eyelash) fabric from the late 1990s. It is deep purple in color. I don't need you to suggest a substitute - I can look in my stash for that. I am trying to find this exact fabric. I did a bit of searching online, but I haven't had much time, and I was hoping someone might have it in their stash. I need a 1 1/4" by 20" strip. 

MISSING fabric

I also got the next quilt loaded on the long arm. But not before I had to load the back THREE times because I wasn't paying attention to centering it. Thankfully, I was able to quickly do that because of the magnets. Note to self --- put a mark on the leader indicating the center before you load the next quilt. 

I was hoping to quilt it, but that isn't going to happen. 

The next quilt is loaded.

Now seriously --- why can't all dogs be as good as Miss Lexi? She is a bit eccentric and likes to sleep with her head between the table legs, but I'm OK with that. 

MOM -- trying to get some beauty sleep here!

Murphy, on the other hand, is just trouble. I had laid out some fabric on the floor to see how it all fit together, and the next thing I knew, she plunked herself down like it was just for her. Never mind that there are TWO mats on the floor especially for her. 

MOM -- this fabric needs to be dog approved!

It looks like one area passed the test, so let's test a different section. 

MOM -- I need to test the edges - they are very tricky!

She was back at it this morning after I sewed part of it together. 

MOM - this feels very comfy after you sewed it together - I approve

I spent more time on the jigsaw puzzle, and yes, this one is tough, but I have managed to put part of one corner together. Can you guess what it is? 

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

It's candy!! There are multiple spots with the same colors, and none of them are big. It's a very busy puzzle, and it will keep me going for a while. I NEED to have it completed by the end of the month. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but I'm away for most of the rest of the month, so timing will be tight. 

Shoot, I'll post where I'll be for the next couple of weeks, so if it works for you to visit one of my events, you'll know where I am. I'll attempt that tomorrow. 

OK, I get alerts for houses for sale in my area, and I sometimes look at the pictures to see whether the house has been upgraded or how the kitchens and baths were redone, etc. From time to time, I spot unusual furniture, and well, this is unusual!! That looks like a princess chair!!! You can sit on that in your big, fluffy princess dress, and everything is contained. 

A chair fit for a princess.

Maybe Murphy would like that chair? Although she isn't a big fan of jumping up anywhere on her own. Not even her window seat at the front window. Those days are past for her. But she still does the stairs with our help, and all is working just fine. 

I see there is only one Frank Lloyd Wright house in Canada, and it's privately owned, so no go to visit. BUT I could buy one --- there are currently seven of his houses for sale in the US! I finished the book yesterday, and while the man was a genius with architecture, he was lousy at love. Married four times, and two of the four wives were very manipulative and caused him a lot of grief. The man could have done so much more without their interference! 

I'm also reading a book about Princess Diana. Her brother wrote it, and I have to say I'm on the fence about it. While the book is technically supposed to be about Princess Di, it seems to include a lot of information about the author. 

From the reviews, it seems no one likes the book. I tend to agree; while there are some interesting tidbits about their lives as young children, it keeps harping on how bad their lives were. And the struggles they had. I don't know why everyone assumes they had such a bad childhood - not openly loved by their parents, etc. That was pretty common for parents back then; not many showed one iota of affection toward their children. 

What the book tells me is that she had mental health issues that were never addressed, and then she became Princess of Wales, which only exacerbated the situation. It's the story of someone who married too young into what she thought would be a fairy tale and ended up with a nightmare. 

It's all rather sad! And a good part of the book seems to focus on the eulogy at Diana's funeral. 

Anyway -- I must get organized for the day. 

IT WILL BE A WONDERFUL DAY!!!!

Ciao!!!

Color theory lessons from nature

Look at me—behind the times when it comes to a digital wallet. I thought it was only for credit cards and things like that, but digital tickets? Who knew? My "tech" guru did NOT tell me that. But then, he's not really a guru. I'm not sure I'll use it for boarding passes, because I can check my upgrade status through the boarding pass, so I'll keep using the airline app. 

I wonder if you do get an upgrade, which is usually issued about ten minutes before boarding, if that would automatically get transferred to the digital wallet? 

BUT I have movie tickets that I bought, and I find those in the movie app. I'm not sure I'll move to a digital wallet—I really want the minimum number of apps on my phone possible, and, well, I'm undecided. A topic for our next dinner conversation. 

WAIT A MINUTE -- it can't possibly be October 8th today. Where is the time going? I feel like the days are zipping by, even though I'm getting loads done. 

But fall is definitely on the way. The trees at the end of my street always put on a spectacular show, and it's already started. 

Trees at the end of the street

But it's also amazing to see the many different leaf colors. I'm sure there is a good explanation as to why some of them are redder than others. This looks pretty and could make a good colorway for a quilt. That's why looking at nature is a good way to see and understand how colors work together. Hmmm—I might find an exercise for the upcoming scrap class in this thought! 

A wide range of leaf colors

The leaves are starting to change color on the top of the canopy and are just starting to work their way down into the trees themselves. 

The colors haven't changed much inside the forest yet.

You can't really see it in this picture, but that leaf is suspended in midair. Yep -- attached by a single strand of spider web!! It's kind of freaky because it looks like it's floating in midair in the middle of the path. 

A floating leaf

Miss Lexi and I spotted this mirror on the morning walk. I'm not sure she realized she was looking at herself, but she did seem quite engrossed in the mirror! 

MOM -- LOOK how beautiful I am!!!!

And Miss Murphy was having a good snooze with me in the office while I processed a lot of paper in the morning. The stack is smaller, which is good, but there is still another stack on the floor. I have no idea how this paper accumulates so quickly. I have to get on top of it faster! 

Mom - SHHHH -- it's still bedtime!

I think the biggest issue with the paperwork is follow-up. Or making phone calls to close off something. I'm getting there - slow and steady. 

Yesterday, I shared a link to an online logic puzzle, and I did it —and YES—I got it right. While I am not a fan of this style of logic puzzle on paper, I hate it even more online. I found it very challenging to click on the cards to get the information. I LOVE the way you fill in the box, though, with the multiple colors - I should try that in person! 

The online logic puzzle

Well, I now know that I am NOT a fan of that style, and I will try to finish the book I have; next time I stand in front of the logic puzzle section at the bookstore, I will totally bypass that author. What I dislike about the one above and the current set of 25 in the book is that you have to figure out who is lying and who isn't. Sometimes that is VERY tricky to determine, and you almost have to say it out loud to really decipher it. However—it does make your brain think, and let's face it—that's what we need to keep our brains functioning!

Since that style is new to me, perhaps I just need some practice. I'll let you know how it goes. 

I contacted Dr. Gareth Moore and let him know I finished his book of logic puzzles. He seemed surprised and complimented me on finishing it. I bet it's because so many people buy books and then don't finish them. Yep - GUILTY. I'm trying to change that. And I also told him that I bought two more of his books. I now have a free subscription to his website for a year. Daily puzzles - but mostly Sudoku or versions thereof. I'm sure that will stick with me for a day or two, and then I'll forget! 

Honestly, there are puzzles that I have no idea how to do, and I tried one yesterday that was mostly guesswork, but I think I have it and will try again today. Here's a link to the site in case you want to try. These ones are easier to do online - no clicking on multiple parts. 

I'm not worried if I forget about the online one; I have plenty of paper puzzle books to keep me going for a very long time. Thankfully, logic puzzles do NOT get dated, and there are a "few" on my bookshelf in the office. I think a lot of people use their tablet for this kind of thing and have links to the various websites they use for gaming. Well, I have an iPad, but I don't use it much except to store my User's Guides. I don't see myself becoming more acquainted with it, but I might try. 

If you are looking for puzzle books, did you know you can find TONS at thrift stores? I think I bought one or two there, but I bypass those too, since I don't need more. But you can find loads on their shelves. 

It was such a beautiful day yesterday that when I came home from my walk, I had to sit outside. I plopped myself down in one of the chairs on the front patio. It's amazing how that one maple tree on the right can provide so much shade. So while the front is bathed in sun, I can enjoy some shade and read my book. It also provides just enough privacy from the street that many people walk by and don't even know someone is sitting there! 

The front patio

I'm almost done with the book about Frank Lloyd Wright. The man might have been an architectural genius, but his love life was a disaster. I had no idea! But some very tragic events happened in his life, and he really needed lessons on finding good women. 

I managed to make some progress on my physical jigsaw puzzle last night. 

My current jigsaw puzzle

Oh boy—this is going to be a tough one. I think I worked for an hour last night, and that's all I accomplished. You can't pick one color or one area because the same colors are everywhere. So I'll work in small sections, and at some point they will be joined!! I love a good puzzle, but I'm not going to finish this one before Sunday. 

Look how neat my pieces are laid out? See why I will struggle with speed puzzling? I saw that the Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association opened registration for their latest speed-puzzling events the other day, along with two sessions on learning to speed puzzle. Everything sold out very quickly. 

Neatly placed jigsaw puzzle pieces.

The next puzzle packing day is going to be insane, with all the puzzles that have to be packed, labeled, and boxed. I'll get a workout sealing shipping boxes!!!!

Here is my book for the circular sock knitter. And YES --- I have found videos on YouTube to help me put it together and get it running!!!! 

The manual for the sock knitter

I can't wait to attempt that, but it won't be until at least November - actually, towards the end of November before I have time. 

And since I talk so much about algorithms, someone sent me this. Again, you may need to click on it to enlarge it enough to read. 

I had a great day sewing, too. You won't see any of the work since it's for this weekend's classes. I'm on track, and one of the presentations is almost complete - just waiting for the students to send in their work.

Somehow I need to work faster. But I'm trying extremely hard to cut back on any form of scrolling so I can enjoy my puzzle pastimes and sewing. And you know what? It's not hard to stop scrolling when you have something tangible and exciting to do!! So if you are scrolling - stop!!! Find something else to do—reading, sewing, knitting, or whatever—but do something. 

I've already been to the gym with Brooke this morning. My ribs are still a bit tender, but I had no trouble working out. More paperwork on the agenda this morning and sewing in the afternoon. All is good!!

We had a wicked thunderstorm last night. Murphy and I snuggled on the bed, and she was fine until the rain started. She didn't like the sound of that. Poor thing!! But she seems to be coping well. Her back legs are definitely weak, but she still wants to walk, and with our assistance, she can make it up the stairs. Fingers crossed that we are set for a long time like that. Whatever time we have, we will enjoy it to the fullest! Just super scary and a wake-up call when pets and adults start to lose their independence. But with an open mind and some physical aids, all is working just fine. 

IT WILL BE A FABULOUS DAY!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Who are you - the turtle or the hare?

Interesting—I didn't know you could use a digital wallet for boarding passes. I think I'll keep my life simple and just use the app. It just sometimes takes a minute to find it, plus I need it to request and check upgrades. But I agree—I will NOT use a digital wallet. We were out for dinner last night and guess what? It wouldn't work. Thank goodness I had a real card with me as backup! 

I finished reading that Country Living article on quilting, and I found a few gems for you. This first one is this:

Advice for beginners

Those words of wisdom came from Luke Haynes, who has done very well for himself in the world of quilts. If you want to read more about him, check this out. 

Luke Haynes

While we have been making quilts, Luke has been making quilts as art for the last 20 years. Those words of wisdom for beginners apply to anyone who wants to do anything by hand. You have to make mistakes to learn. I can only hope that I've stressed that enough over the last number of years that people are finally getting it! 

Here was another point from the article. You might have to click on the photo to enlarge it. But quilts are REFRESHINGLY ANALOG. 

Hooray for analog hobbies!!!!

What I love is the sentence that says "rather than relying on an algorithm, you are making personal choices to create something real." How true is that!!!! While we all love a good algorithm to help us find things, being the one to choose matters. Those algorithms show you what they want to show you, not necessarily what you want to see. 

And how the heck are we going to gain confidence in our lives if we rely constantly on algorithms to make choices for us? 

I happen to be reading a book about Frank Lloyd Wright, and I searched his name specifically as we discussed him at dinner last night. Then when I went to type in FAMOUS to look for his houses, of course FAMOUS ARCHITECTS popped up. I had no idea about his personal life, but OH MY --- he did have some troubles. But wouldn't it be fun to visit one of his houses? 

He tried so hard to integrate the houses he designed into the landscape, and Fallingwater is one of his most famous. Check it out. 

I managed to finish my logic puzzle book, and I'm going to send a note to the author this morning, and then the book goes in the recycling. I needed a hint on one of the 50 puzzles, not because I couldn't figure it out, but because one of the clues was badly written (the author also agreed). I mixed up part of the answer on two of them, but after realizing and redoing the puzzle, I got the correct answer. That's pretty good! They weren't complicated and were a good way to get back into the swing of logic puzzles. 

Logic puzzle book - DONE

BUT this was also a good lesson on buying a bunch of one thing unless you are sure that you like it. I had purchased a book of logic puzzles from a different author a few years ago, and I had started it, but it got abandoned, like so many of the things I buy. OK -- I am NOT alone. Some of you also do that. 

I didn't take a picture of it, but here's a link to that series. The book has 100 puzzles, and I had completed 24 of them. I finished number 25 last night and moved on to the next one, which was a different theme, and the puzzles are slightly different. Hmmmm --- I'm not sure I'm going to be a fan of these ones! And what happens when I start another series at number 50? 

WAIT --- I just found the website, and there is a free puzzle from the Murder series for you to try. 

I don't like the fact that the clues also come in the form of pictures, but that's just me. I like the old-fashioned ones with just words. Anyway, I have the second volume, and I see there are at least four books in the series and perhaps more. This author, G. T. Karber, is also a famous puzzler, but I am not that familiar with his work. Let's see how I fare with this book and whether I buy any more. 

I have stood in front of the puzzle shelf in the bookstore and asked myself if I needed Volume 1, but so far, I haven't succumbed to that impulse. 

Speaking of impulses, you'll be happy to know that it was Senior's Day at the thrift store, and I did go, and I took my wallet, but I didn't take a bag. I spotted a couple of puzzles that might be interesting, but I did NOT purchase them. Yeah!!! Learning control! 

Instead, I came home, cracked open this brand-new puzzle, laid out all the pieces on the design boards, and made the border. 

The border for the next puzzle

Let's just say that I wouldn't have won any awards for speed puzzling! But I'm OK with that. It's a tactile hobby, and I enjoy the slow, methodical approach to putting them together. However, I would love to have this one together by Sunday night. Not sure that will happen. 

I managed to get some tidying done, worked on a few samples, and got those repaired or tidied up. The point is to get it done, so it doesn't hang around creating clutter. For one sample, I needed some fabric and pulled out this fat quarter. Oh my --- remember when we paid $3.50 CDN for a fat quarter? 

When did we last pay $3.50 CDN for a fat quarter? 

By the way, and I'm sure anyone who knows the store knows that The Hobby Horse will be closing its brick-and-mortar doors on November 28. The store, which already has an online presence, will be ramping up its online store and "reopening" in January 2027. That information was in a recent email. 

While I haven't been to the Hobby Horse nearly as often as I used to, I am sad it is closing, but all things must come to an end. The store is NOT closing, just changing how they operate. It is because of Gail that I am a quilt teacher! She encouraged me, and I can't thank her enough. I plan to make one last trip to the store before it closes. 

Also, there are several art quilt displays I want to visit, so I'd better set some dates on the calendar because time passes quickly!

I'll share those shows with you tomorrow - no time today. I'll also share my crazy schedule with you for the next two months because I'll be at several stores doing events, and one might interest you. 

This is still the mess I'm dealing with, but it'll all be sorted in time. Slow and steady is the only way to deal with this. 

Slow and steady will clear up the mess

It's like what someone said about our scrap class: "I don't know where to start." Just pick one piece of fabric and decide what to do with it. Then another and another. And soon, you will be on your way to organized, clean spaces. It's "easy!"

And I fixed the waistband on a pair of shorts for DH. While I love the wider elastic in most waistbands, it is too wide, and when it is not attached at the top, it rolls, and it's messy. I uncurled the elastic and sewed it around the top of the waistband! Sadly, my machine does repairs, and I have a few other things to repair! 

I had to confess that I like the magnets for the long arm - now that I finally have one leader with them. It's easy to load and easy to remove. I'm not sure I'm doing it the "right" way, but I have a way that works for me. Now it would be nice to have them on the top leader as well, but the thought of removing all that goop is not exciting. The goop is the glue that is holding the old leader in place. 

Magnets on the long arm

And that allowed me to get one of my winter quilts quilted. 

One of the winter quilts is done! 

Yeah!!!! Today will be more of the same with a bit of computer and phone calls worked in. You do NOT know how refreshing it is to use my cell phone without glitches in the calls. And nothing changed—WAIT—except that they finally decided to fix my number at the cell tower. I don't understand how that was even a problem, but that was the explanation my provider gave me. And my phone worked in other locations, so I can only surmise what they told me was correct. 

I'm off to the gym this morning. I don't feel like—wait—I do, but I'll take it slow since I haven't done much over the last two weeks. 

And on that note, I'm off. 

It's going to be a fabulous day!!!

Ciao!!

Quilting resources!

I would say that the bikes in the hotel the night before were very likely stragglers from the World Championships. Two of them ended up on my shuttle to the hotel, and let's just say they were NOT casual tour cyclists. The boxes the bikes were packed in were larger, and they had bags with extra wheels and Red Bull labels on their packs. Yep—these were NOT your ordinary tour cyclists! Good call!!

And yes—there are way too many creepy coincidences. How does that happen? 

Speaking of sleep - I had a good chuckle yesterday morning on the flight. On the way to Montreal (10 AM flight), one of my colleagues was near a fellow who fell asleep before takeoff and was snoring. She was commenting on how anyone could fall asleep that quickly. Yesterday, the second that the other two people in my row were tucked in their seats, I was asleep. I don't remember taxiing to the runway or taking off; I woke up, and we were 30 minutes from landing! 

Yep—I hadn't slept well the previous two nights, and I was exhausted. Did I snore? I hope not, but I know I have a slack jaw when I sleep, and well, you never know! 

I slept great last night, with more than 60 minutes of deep sleep, and I was barely awake at any point during the night. That is great, and I hope I'm back on my regular schedule now. There was no time difference, and while I slept well the previous nights, the last two just didn't work well for me. 

Needless to say, when I got home, the girls were beyond ecstatic to see me, and I immediately took them for a walk. YES - I took them together, which I am not fond of, but since they are now older, they are somewhat tamer. HA -- that's a total lie. 

Both of them were like dogs on the Iditarod and raring to go. I swear if they were attached to a wagon, we would have been flying around the neighborhood! They were literally hopping to try and go faster! Even Lexi was way out front and hopping like mad! 

MOM - we NEED to go faster! 

The biggest issue with them is keeping Lexi on the left and Murphy on the right, and thankfully, they have almost mastered that technique. We don't walk super far, and by the time we are halfway done, they have both calmed down, and it's rather pleasant to walk them. 

MOM -- we are just happy to be out walking! 

When I was in Studio B yesterday, I spent the day sorting samples, and if anything needed repair or something done, I tried to do it before it got put away. I still have a few things to do, but I made very good progress yesteday. 

Things I dealt with yesterday

I have five days of events at the end of this month, and I need to get my act together to make all new samples and sort the existing samples into the appropriate category. I also have two classes and two clubs this weekend, even though I tried to avoid having any classes on a long weekend. So I need to make sure all that work gets done. 

Keeping samples up to date is a never-ending process because you make something, but you want to add to it, or you need to tidy up something that didn't turn out quite right, and well, it takes loads of time, but I'm constantly learning or experimenting, and that's a good thing. A good sample highlights multiple techniques. I aim for at least three things with each sample, and if there is more, that's a bonus!

The night before, I moved to a hotel near the airport with a shuttle, so I was downstairs with plenty of time to make sure I didn't miss it. I swear that's why I didn't sleep well - I didn't want to miss that shuttle. Then at the airport, it was a breeze to get through security and print my bag tags. I use my phone for a boarding pass, but the app is sometimes extremely frustrating to navigate. Why is that? It seems that they keep moving the darn boarding pass. 

The good news is that when I dropped off my bags at the auto bag drop, there were ZERO issues. I was concerned that the one bag might be slightly over the 50-lb limit, and if it's a desk person checking, it's no big deal since I am allowed up to 70 lbs on my luggage. But both bags got scanned and disappeared without a hitch! Yeah!!!!

OMG—this would have been a moment that would have made my Mom proud! Yesterday during Monday sewing, we were discussing binding techniques. Actually, the conversation started out with someone asking, "If you get a quilt quilted by a long armer, do you let them trim the quilt, is it squared up by them, and do they charge for it?"Oh my --- loads of questions. 

Anyway, then the topic came up of applying the binding. And who knew there were so many different options!!! Anyway, one of the ladies talked about something that I sort of understood, but I didn't. So she said she found the technique in a magazine. Specifically, Quilting Today magazine, issue 61, which was on the newsstands in August 1997. 

I didn't start quilting until 1998, so I wasn't sure I would have it. But I went to my bookcase, and I pulled down the pile of Quilting Today magazines and searched through them - they were NOT in order, and guess what? 

The magazine in question was found! 

Yep—I must have bought the magazine at a local guild member's boutique at some point. 

August 1997!!!

At some point, I will go through these and toss them. Ack—I'm really torn about that because I love having the resource available to me. Hmmm—what to do, what to do! There is no need to cull them at this point, so they will stay. 

I have been contemplating writing some technique articles from time to time and posting them on my blog. And this topic would make an excellent one. Of course, I'll have to make some samples and experiment to see what it's all about, and perhaps I might even change my technique. 

Not sure how to corral this, but there is the "traditional" way of trimming a quilt top after it's quilted: trim right along the edge of the quilt. Then there's the big question of how large of a seam allowance. If you do something crazy with trimming your quilt to get the binding on, I'd love to hear it. And if it's different than the three or four methods I heard yesterday, then I can add it to the article. You can send me an email at elainetheriault@gmail.com

I have TWO logic puzzles left in my book! I thought I was making good progress last night, but I wasn't, so I'll start that one over sometime today. I am chomping at the bit to start a new book, BUT not until this one is in the recycling bin! 

When I arrived home, a box was sitting on the shelf by the front door. Last night at dinner, DH casually asked if I bought another puzzle. Ah no? OK -- so I did. When I was in Saskatoon, I went to Puzzle Master (how could you not - they do free shipping!), and I bought three puzzles, and they arrived while I was away. Like quilting stores that ship, we are going to have to have them change their name on the labels to Bob's Food Emporium or something like that! Busted!!!! But wait until you see one of the puzzles I bought. I can't wait to open it up, but I  must be patient! 

It's going to be a busy day - what day is NOT busy at my house? I have phone calls to make, samples to tidy up, and homework to prepare for the weekend. Thankfully, I do NOT have any meetings or anything. 

And on that note - it's time to get moving!!

It's going to be a FABULOUS day!!!

Ciao!!!

Bikes in boxes

YES  --- using your brain can be a challenge. When I was a kid and well into my teens, I was a voracious reader. I read every book I could get my hands on. Then I became an "adult," and I stopped reading—I have no idea why. WAIT—I discovered magazines and started reading them. While it is still reading, it is NOT the same as reading a book. 

So when I started back to reading novels, it took a while for my brain to process that "new" style of words - longer novels rather than short essays in magazines. 

I can see the same happening with logic puzzles, Scrabble, and other things like that. That's why it's important to keep our brains active all the time. If we don't, then we can run into some serious trouble. Speaking a different language or switching between two languages for four days - well, that was a challenge! Then I had to text someone tonight, and I sent all the texts in French. They would understand them. I can't help myself! 

Today was the final day of Salon Quebec, and it was still plenty busy the entire day. I managed to make a small wall hanging from scraps cut on the Momento (24" digital cutter). 

We have loads of samples in our booth, but can you guess what the most popular sample was that so many people drooled over and several people took pictures? We even had one lady who stood in awe for a very long time as she envisioned this quilt in her living room. 

It's TEN years old. 

My Dream Big panel

Yep—that's the Dream Big panel I quilted with machine embroidery in 2020. You can check out the posts on QUILTsocial. 

If anyone is looking for a tutorial on using the POSITION tools on the embroidery machines, check out that link. 

Anyway --- I will continue to bring it to shows, as it continues to show what can be done with an embroidery machine for quilting a quilt. Actually, I have three other versions that I want to do, and I really must get another one done. One more thing to add to the list. 

But it drives me mad when someone walks in the booth and dismisses the quilt as something that Angela Walters did. Yep—Angela probably did this panel multiple times with freehand machine quilting—probably once with a domestic machine and once with the long arm. Angela is darn good at quilting with both types of machines. But she is NOT the only game in town. But people think that if someone famous did it, everyone else is copying. Sheesh—expand your world, people!!!!

I once designed a simple quilt for a US quilt magazine. A lady sent me a nasty email saying, "How dare I steal a quilt block from Jenny Doan." Obviously, people think only famous people can deal with public domain blocks. Sigh.....................

We started taking everything down at 3 pm. OK -- we started stacking samples about 30 minutes before that. And then when 3 pm came, we attacked, taking down the booth with a vengeance. We were done by 5:30, and they were shrink-wrapping the skids when the truck arrived. Perfect timing 

My colleague drove me to a hotel that is very near the airport so I could catch my early morning flight. So when you read this, I will likely be on a plane home or already home. 

But I swear -- we almost didn't make it - TWICE. A car decided at the LAST possible second that he was on the exit ramp when he wasn't supposed to be and cut us off. Thank goodness for  Claire's fast reaction, and she laid on the horn. I wasn't really watching, but I did see him cut us off. 

Then a couple of KMs further on, the SAME car cuts us off again. And again it was at the last minute. This time, he was supposed to be on the EXIT ramp, and he was not. So he zipped in front of us. Let's say that I thought his license plate was going to be imprinted on my forehead!!

There is a shuttle to the airport, but I didn't think it would get me there in time; but no - they changed the time for me. I leave at 5 am SHARP, so I'd better not sleep in. 

I checked into my room and then went downstairs for a quick bite. I wasn't too hungry, but I'd best eat something, or I'll be starving in the middle of the night. When I left the restaurant, the lobby was full of people checking in, and they must have done some kind of bicycle trip because the lobby was filled with bikes in boxes. 

Bikes in boxes

I had a few extra things to pack in my suitcase, but I think I am pretty much ready for tomorrow morning bright and early. NO chance of an upgrade, although I was 4th on the list of 12. That is better odds than I have had in a while. Once I make my 50K status for the year, will I get bumped up even further? It so depends on where you are flying, who else is on that flight, and the time of day you fly!!!

I was scrolling through social media tonight instead of tackling some logic puzzles tonight, and I spotted a shop at a yarn festival. OK—yarn festivals seem to have become a huge thing. They are everywhere, and they happen frequently. This one was in Rivière-du-Loup. I won't post the picture I snapped from the video, but I found this online. 

Harry Potter yarn!!!!

Yep --- you can buy Harry Potter yarn!!! Who knew? I seem to be way behind the times. Anyway, this is the link where I found it, although you can find it more locally than on this site. 

I think that's it for me. I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked last night. Still, in 6 hours of sleep, I managed 1 1/2 hours of deep sleep. I'm not sure how that is working. 

But it's time for bed, as I have an early morning wake-up!!!

It's going to be a GREAT day!!!

Ciao!!!!

A new trend in pants!

Oh—I had a great opening line, and now it's gone! I'm overstimulated from everything I have seen at the show, and my mind has exploded, so I might not make much sense today!

Claire and I have had the chance to review most of the quilts over the last three mornings, and we have pointed out multiple things to each other, and it has been quite the learning experience. The number of pictures I took is, well, there have been a few. And there is ONE section left that I haven't seen yet, so I plan to hit that this morning. I also realized I didn't take pictures of the garments. 

I took the pictures to share with my Monday sewing group and my other classes, since I found some neat techniques/concepts that I think they are going to fall in love with!! 

However, that doesn't mean that I don't have pictures to share with you. 

Yesterday, we talked about the sock thing, and well, guess what? Here are more socks. Two of the ladies working at our booth both walked in yesterday morning with socks they had knitted on their rotary knitting machines. OK—I am behind the 8-ball, and I need to get my machine working. 

Socks made on a rotary sock machine

Socks made on a rotary sock machine 

Do they not look comfy or what? I need to get home, check my machine's brand, find some videos to get me started, and get knitting. It would be nice to show Mom a pair of socks I have made. 

I spotted this relatively large flock of geese on the morning walk. 

The geese are gathering.

I don't think I'll be going for a walk this morning. It wasn't the best of nights, and I got a lot of computer work done, so I don't have time for a walk this morning. 

I will say, the people working in our booth are pretty darn creative. One lady wore a pair of light-colored denim jeans (the short sock person) yesterday, and I asked her how she got the embroidery on the back pockets because it looked perfectly in place. OH NO—she MADE the jeans, and I swear they looked professionally made. I'm not kidding. She told me about the pattern, and I think I might give it a whirl. 

STOP laughing because I have so many things on my plate. And I keep saying I can do more! I guess, sadly, I'll cut back on what I teach next fall to make time! 

BUT the big trend here seems to be side insertions in pants. Remember back in the day (1970's) when this was so popular. Everyone wanted elephant pants. I think even Mom did it for my brother, but he wasn't thrilled with the fabric. I don't remember the details, but I had a pair of elephant pants, and only the bottom part was flared. 

Elephant pants have a totally different meaning these days—they are wide-legged and mostly made from lightweight cotton. 

Anyway - this is what I spotted yesterday, and I did not stalk these people; I stopped and had a conversation with them. Of course I did!!!

This first pair belongs to a young woman at the SMT Boutique quilt shop. She and her mom own it, and they are quite the pair. She made her insert from Tula Pink fabric. The legs were quite tight - this happens even to skinny girls, and so, with the insert, the jeans get new life!!!

Pant insert

This was another insert, also on a store employee whose name I have forgotten. Her insert is on wider-leg pants and is appliqued on. 

An appliqué pant "insert"

The third example was this one on a visitor to the Salon. These are also flying geese blocks, and it's an insert. Notice the matching shoes, and she had a beautiful quilted jacket, too. 

And yet another insert

Is it a new trend? No, but it looks like it's making a comeback. I've seen it at other shows, and well, I have a pair of denim pants that fit, but the legs are pretty tight. I was going to toss them, but I think I should take a closer look and see if I can figure out how to rescue them. Yep - just add another log on the fire and jump right in! 

The store that had the appliqued flying geese also had quilted vests, and this logo was on the back of the vests they wore. It is beautiful. 

Store logo on a vest

Here are some photos of quilts for you. This was a challenge, and the topic was puppets - Les Marionettes. I didn't get the full gist of what this challenge was for - something within the guild. I went back to my pictures to see if I missed one that explained what this challenge was all about, and I did not take anything. So here are all the quilts in the challenge. 

The challenge quilts

And I have a couple of close-ups. Oh my goodness, some of them were absolutely adorable, and they are all for sale - $50 each. By the way, because I know you want to pull the puppet strings on the bottom, they do NOT move the puppets—I tried when no one was looking!! 

And one more—this was very cute. Lots of them were 3-D in some form or fashion. 

And this one had finger puppets along the bottom - this one was sold. 

Finger puppets!!!

I spent the day messing around with sewing some things that we had cut on the Momento, and I almost got my little quilt top done. It's a challenge to make HSTs as I don't have a square ruler for trimming and the rotary cutter is a tad dull. So slow and steady wins the race. I might finish it this morning. 

I also went back to the Wonderfil booth—just say NOOOOOOOOOO. All I did was take pictures of other parts of the Halloween banner. The motifs are just so adorable. 

Halloween garland

Look how cute they are. 

More blocks from the Halloween garland

Any of that would be super easy: take a machine embroidery design, attach it to felt, and finish the edges. It will look totally different from those done by hand, but different is OK. The cuteness factor is what matters. Since I have a lot of wool felt at home, I should take a look. One could always do most of it by machine and then add an embellishment of hand stitches. Why not? 

The other thing I have to say is that it is exciting to work with the young people! Several of the PFAFF and Husqvarna Viking local store staff working in our booth this week are YOUNG. Fresh out of school, but both of them know how to sew. And both of them have pretty spiffy sewing and embroidery machines. And BOTH of them know how to use them. I just love it, and I'm sure they are tired of me telling them how excited I am for them. 

Can you imagine starting out with the tools we have and how eager they are to learn? They will be sewing circles around us before long. 

So I have to say there is a lot of eye candy around at this show. It may not be huge, but it's big enough. It's taken three days to see most of it. I'm determined to see this show this time round, as I usually wait for the afternoon and then I'm tired, so I don't care. I've taken hundreds of pictures. My Monday group is probably rolling their eyes at this, but it's not all for them. And I'm sorting them by type and style, so it's all going to be very entertaining for them. Plus, as mentioned, some of the other groups will profit from the pictures. 

Let's just say if you are in my scrap class, you are going to be whipping out your scraps faster than you can say BOO because I have loads of ideas, found some incredible examples, and can't wait to share them with you. 

But back to the eye candy. On our short walk to the past restaurant last night, we spotted a REAL candy store, and one of the ladies wanted to go in. It was literally wall-to-wall candy. 

A LOT of real candy to eat

They even had Harry Potter Beatie Botts. 

Any Harry Potter fans?

Check out all the flavors!!!! Who knew that existed? 

The flavours

And there was a large station for the Jelly Belly candy. I haven't seen that in a long time. 

Jelly Belly

And look at all the flavors, and they had recipes where you could mix the candy - I didn't really understand that part. 

Loads of flavors

So while my credit card did get a bit of a workout, I did NOT buy any candy. I bought a couple of patterns and some fabric for a jacket. STOP laughing!!! 

I am leaving this hotel this morning and will be dropped off tonight at the hotel near the airport because I am on a plane early tomorrow morning. I want to get home and get to work. I have a lot to do this week. Before I go down for breakfast, I need to finish packing, but I'm pretty fast, and it's mostly done. 

I am almost finished with my logic puzzle book. I'm on puzzle 47 of 50. Number 45 was a stinker, and it took me several days of trying to figure out who did what and when. I finished number 46 in a few minutes. Now, why is that? 

Hopefully, I can finish it off this week, and I have another one lined up at home. They are a good NON-SCROLLING diversion!!!

Well, that's it for today. I'll try my best to get a blog to you so you have some entertainment tomorrow morning. The show ends today at 3 PM, so we should be able to pack up quickly and then have some time after to relax and write the blog. 

It's going to be a WONDEFUL day!!!!

Ciao!!!!