One more bites the dust

I didn't get nearly as much completed as I would have liked, but we had company for a good part of the day so it was all for a good reason!

I did manage to get that Redwork Embroidery UFO - DONE!!!  It's now sitting in the "to be quilted" pile and I'm thrilled to death about that. There remain three items on the 2017 list, five on the 2018 list, and nine still on the list for 2019. As I mentioned, I am being very optimistic and putting 12 new items on the list for 2020. I've scheduled THREE more days before the end of this year to work on those UFOs so I hope that those numbers will be even less by midnight on the 31st.

Don't look at it as 17 items still on the list. That's the pessimist who would do that. Look at it as there are TWENTY items (BIG UFOS) that are done!  That's HUGE.

The plan for next year is to SCHEDULE days to work on those things. The Task Master would list what I would like to get done each week, but if I don't schedule a time to work on them, it doesn't happen at my house. That's what I'm finding.

I had JUST enough of that red and white fabric for the backing. This is what was leftover. I had to put three seams in the backing - no big deal.

Leftover from making the backing for the redwork quilt

I also moved the long arm back into position and loaded the next project. It's thirty-two inches square so it didn't take long at all. I love to have those scraps of batting as I found a piece that was the perfect size for this.

Table topper - quilted

Then I quickly loaded the next quilt, which was one of the ones that I pulled out the previous day when I was looking for something in the "to be quilted" pile. I LOVE this quilt and I want to use it for my trunk shows. It meant that I had to dig through the "to be quilted" tubs and then leave a mess until I could get the quilt top back in the tubs. NOW - I don't have to worry about it. It goes in the finished quilt pile (s).

My quilt - quilted!

I pulled one more out that I'd like to get done before the next trunk show (end of January) so I'm going to try and get that quilted in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I loaded that giant quilt with the flying geese - remember - the ones that are no longer dimensional. That quilt is 90 by 100 or something like that. It'll take a while, but I want it done. Remember - PROCRASTINATION doesn't exist in this house. You want it done - get it done NOW.

I took these next pictures a while back and just haven't had time to share them with you. We have no grass in our backyard, and I like to dress up the fence with backyard art. As I've been cleaning, I've found a few things that I bought that had never got hung up. Well - I think that everything that needs to be hung up is now hung up.

In particular, I wanted to share these barn quilts with you. Obviously, we don't have a barn in our backyard and not enough space to put one either. BUT we have these smaller versions. They are ADORABLE. This first one is on my side gate. You can see it when you drive up to the house. I LOVE it. They are made to be weatherproof in our Canadian winters and we'll see how it stands up.

Yard quilt hanging on the gate

I can't remember how I came across this company. OH - I think it was on Instagram. Anyway, when we were in Saskatoon, we had a chance to visit with Brenda in person. I ordered my blocks and they sat in the basement for a while.

To hang the second one - oh yes - you can't just buy one! I had to move some art to the side fence. Of course, Miss Murphy just has to be in the picture. I swear that dog wants to be the center of attention ALL the time.

The side fence with one piece of art

Shoot - these pictures are so small. Anyway, here's one side of the back of the yard. I think there are four big flowers along there. That last one was sitting in the garage forever and when I was cleaning earlier this year, it got hung up! I don't care if it fades. I'm using it and enjoying it! I'm calling this installation my flower garden!

The backyard art

Here's a wider angle of the flowers.

The backyard fence

Here's what the other side looks like.

The other side of the backyard fence

Wait!! What's that? Another quilt block?

The quilt block

Yep - this is the second one that I bought. It was hard to choose so I went with the bright one on black. I love the contrast and this is a color scheme that I would use. I love how it pops.

The quilt block on the fence

 Where can you get these? Check out Quilt Designs in the Yard. 

I have one more piece that I've added since these pictures were taken and I have ONE piece that needs a repair job. It's metal and I don't think I can glue it. Anyone have a soldering gun? Shelly???  I'm sure she has a soldering gun. And I need a rivet in my wallet. Shelly - I'm coming for a visit.

So I'm learning all about candles as well. I found this poor candle when I was tidying up the other day. It looks very sad and it leaked wax all over the table and floor when I lit it. That meant a trip to the dollar store to find a sturdy glass container to put it in to contain the overflow of wax. However, after I cleaned up the wick - do you see how messy that wick is? The wax no longer flowed over.

Let that be a lesson to you - you MUST take care of your candles and the wicks. If you don't, well - it can get messy. It doesn't matter - getting that dish was an excuse for a walk and it looks pretty as well. I have NOTHING extra in my house that I could have used. I can just see Ronda rolling her eyes as she sees what this wick looked like before I cleaned it up.

A candle in desperate need of attention

I also found this small tin. It must have gotten wet when we had the water leak. I opened the tin and found these little treasures. Why there was a bobbin for the long arm in there - I've no idea. But I took all the thread off the bobbin and used it yesterday. It worked just fine.

Rusted stuff from the water leak

I don't really care about the safety pins, but I like those little folding scissors. I wonder how one gets rid of rust?

Neat folding scissors

In case you're wondering, the list of classes is ALMOST ready to post. I had to check out some information yesterday and I got all the answers. So I'm hoping to work on that right after our morning walk. If all goes well - it'll be posted by noon.

By the way, did you think about what I said yesterday? Making a list of the things that you do well that you want to continue? Get it written out! Then think of ONE thing and one thing only that you'd like to change for next year. You can't say something like, I want to eat healthier. What does that mean? You have to be very specific about any goal. You might start out by saying that I will eat red meat once a week. I'll eat chocolate every day (I do - well most days), but only 2 squares or whatever amount you set for yourself. But make the changes realistic and make them easy to achieve - well somewhat easy and remember NOTHING will change unless you want it to. No one else will take responsibility for your life - be that your physical or mental well being. If you don't want to change, you won't change.

On that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!