Sunday, August 4, 2019

What was lost is now found!


There are days when we're super productive and there are days when we're not. But even one small thing accomplished in a day can be HUGE. It's all on how you look at it.

The Quilts of Valour quilts were photographed (pictures needed so I could finish writing the patterns) and they were delivered. Yeah - SIX quilts out the door. A HUGE shout out to Virginia, Shirley and Lil who run our local chapter of Quilts of Valour. They have quite a team of people working for them - piecers, quilters, and whoever else they need. So far this year, they've assembled over 50 generous-sized lap quilts. Way to go ladies!!!!  I'm glad I can help out by quilting a quilt every once in a while. I did pick up another quilt to be quilted. That's for the end of the month.

My living room has become the holding area where things that are spoken for reside. Let's just say that it's a tad messy at the moment. However, a good part of it will be leaving in the next day or so and that's a good thing.

Slowly, this mess is getting under control and I'm thankful for each day when some small part of it gets done.

I decided to go through the remaining boxes yesterday to see if there were any more boxes of books and magazines as I knew that there were at least two more boxes. OH - well, I found a few more than two boxes. They are moved over to the shelves and will be unpacked soon. I think I can safely say that all the boxes of books have now been unearthed. This frees up some room on the other side and I have plans to get that in order, but the rest of this week is going to be a tad busy so no time for that.

I had gone out earlier in the day to try and find a replacement for my surgical seam ripper. No luck. So I was determined to find the darn thing. I went through the cabinet of long arm tools/supplies. No luck. I emptied each drawer and sort of reorganized it. No luck. Then I happened to glance down and NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you see what I see? This tin of bobbins sits on the top of the white cabinet because I use it all the time. My eyes went to something BETWEEN the two bobbins holders. No way - there's the darn surgical seam ripper!!!!!

What's hidden between the two rows of bobbin holders?

In case you're wondering what a surgical seam ripper looks like - this is what it looks like. It has a very fine flat tip so it's easy to slide under stitches of a quilt that's flat on the long arm. That find made my day!!!!


Surgical seam ripper


I removed some stuff from the cabinet that I'll go through later.


I got another quilt quilted. This one is for a customer. It's a very pretty quilt. Just needs to be trimmed so it can be delivered tomorrow.

Customer quilt - DONE

As I was unearthing the boxes, I came across some other stuff that usually resides beside the long arm. Patterns, tools, and supplies. Hmm - I emptied the boxes and put them on the work tables. That's a LOT of junky looking stuff. No wonder I haven't touched any of it in years.


Paper quilting patterns
I went through the mess and sorted. Some of the paper went to recycling and some went to the pile that we use for the printer. There were some practice drawings for quilting patterns from years ago!!! Loads of stuff that just needed to be dealt with. After the first round of sorting, I still have all these piles that need to be sorted through. All that space on those worktables makes it a snap to go through things.

Even though Studio B is still in quite a disarray, I'm loving the space and I'm loving the fact that it's easy to access anything and everything. There's still stuff to be put away, but there's still lots of storage room. The trick is to NOT let it get out of order. Things must have a home or they must go!!!


Still needs to be sorted
The cutting table got cleaned up and then it got messy again. That'll happen later today.


More tidying up  on the cutting table

Keeping the cutting table clear is a daily chore. One that most of us ignore. I know that I ignored it for years. Well no more. I want to be able to use the space and how can I do that when it's full of stuff? No more! I do need to get that pillowcase down though as that pile of scraps is getting higher and higher!!!

You never know who you are going to meet when you're out and about. I was sitting at the table for the Prince Cherrywood challenge at Quilts at the Creek. A woman approached the table. Gosh - I know her, but I can't remember from where. We got to chatting and then she reminded me that we had first met at Quilt Canada several years ago when I was working in the Northcott booth. OH YES - I know exactly who she is.

When she revealed her Instagram handle, I knew even more how I knew her. There was this crazy lady who was posting these gorgeous little blocks that she would create EVERY DAY for one year. It was totally insane and I don't know how she got anything else done. Check out her web page where ALL 365 blocks are documented. It's absolutely amazing!!!! Those little blocks finish at 3 ½".

Here's a link to her Etsy shop so you can see some of her work. It's STUNNING. I love the little houses - they're just adorable. She has lots of patterns as well. Some of these are the patterns that she was posting on IG. So if ever you think I'm crazy?  No - just look at Olesya's work!!!  She's crazy but in a super fun way.

She has published some of her patterns in hard copy and you can buy the books on her Etsy page. I had a peek at some of her bag patterns and they are EXTREMELY detailed and brilliantly laid out with loads of photos.


Halloween blocks


I don't think she ever sleeps.

I have trouble following someone else's pattern for 365 days let alone making the pattern and then making the block. I'm super impressed and I can't wait to sit down with Olesya for some great chats in the future! And I can't wait to make some of those Halloween blocks. They are so cute and so much fun.

The weather this weekend is perfect. So I was out of my bike yesterday and I'll be out again this morning. Just not a lot of time to ride this year and the weather has been crappy. Not getting out enough is entirely my own fault and I seem to be so busy with quilting. That's something that I need to change. Once I spend less time managing my stuff, I'll have way more time to do whatever I want!!!

I did finish another book yesterday but didn't get to the gazebo. I might today - it's Sunday after all and one does need to have some downtime, although the two hours on the bike was a great way to spend two hours.

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!

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