Sleepless................

I hate it when you wake up and then can't get back to sleep. Why is that? I tried reading - a novel and a non-fiction. Neither worked. I emptied my head of all the things that I need to get done this week by writing them done. That didn't work. I had a wee snack since I was a bit peckish. Petted the dogs. Finally, after a couple of hours, I went back to sleep, but that put my morning out of sorts.

Oh well - thankfully that doesn't happen every night as I'd go mad.

It was Monday sewing yesterday and I got stuff done. Instead of taking a sewing machine, I've been bringing stuff that needed to be done by hand. I'm slowly working my way through what needs to be done. But when I finish up something - something else appears.  I've got knitting and crocheting. I've got some applique and I'm sure there are other things. I'll never run out of things to do. Slow and steady - progress is being made. That's all that counts.

I started by looking through the paperwork for Paula's Double Wedding Ring quilt. I didn't have to look far to understand what her intention was. I found this sheet with the various sizes on it and I think from the highlighting we could see what her intent was.

The inventory sheet for Double Wedding Ring

The original bed runner has 16 circles. The size that Paula wanted to make has 56. Remember - I haven't made a commitment to this project. Just inventorying.

The size that Paula chose

Besides, I don't think the daughter wants a huge quilt (and did you see the size of this one?  92" by 104") - she would be more than happy with a lap. The next step is to open up all those scrapbook boxes and sort the like components into each. Then count the finished components and decide on the size that can be made with the least possible work. Determine how much is left to do and then decide what to do with the project.

I did find a home for the inner products - the decor bond, the fusible fleece, and a small bit of batting. I'll deal with the tools on the kitchen island today and then just a couple more containers on the table and all of Paula's stuff will be taken care of.

Remember I showed you a pile of plastic bags and said that that was one project. Well, it's super cute and I decided it would be a great thing to work on for Monday. There are 12 small seasonal wall hangings. Each one was a kit, including all the fabric. The pattern was designed by Patrick Lose from 2011. This is the first one for January.

January seasonal wall hanging

I traced all the shapes on Monday and cut them out. Then got home and decided to keep working. I sewed the background together and did all the applique with a satin stitch. Hmmm - that Steam a Seam that she had with the project is pretty thick. It must be the original stuff. The machine wasn't that thrilled with it, but I persevered. This one just needs to be quilted and bound and it's done!

I know - I should have been working on other stuff, but it was a fun little diversion. I'll take the February one next week and I see that she already has the March and April cut and fused. The question will be what to do with them. I thought I could donate them to a senior living residence and they could post the small wall hangings on the bulletin board or something. I'll get a few done and perhaps stop in at the home near me and ask them. Or they could go to a kindergarten class? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

And at last, I got the sleeve hand-stitched to this quilt. It's been half sewn on for years and every time I would pack it for a trunk show, someone would get poked with a pin. I don't know what I was thinking when I had pinned it to the quilt, but it wasn't even by any means. So I ended up ripping out all the stitching and started over. Now it's on - straight and I'm happy.

The sleeve is hand-stitched to the quilt

I was on a roll, so I kept working. It's time to get that Stitcher's Garden quilt done. I got most of the last section sewn together.

The last section for Stitcher's Garden

I couldn't find the last green piece for the sashings and when I found it, I just sewed it in. I hung it on the design wall and realized that I succeeded in sewing two very busy prints together. So I might do a bit of seam ripping to fix that. I should have put if on the wall BEFORE I started to sew. 

Two busy greens in the same spot

 I have to do some applique stitching on ONE last block. I hope to get that done today and well - let's see what happens. I also have a lot of other things to do and those take priority over my UFO.

I notice that the classes I'm teaching in Saskatoon at The Sewing Machine Store are now posted on the website. Check them out and if you're in that area, sign up for one of the classes. The dates are Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. It's going to be loads of fun as we explore the Husqvarna Viking DESIGNER EPIC 2 and all the PREMIER+ 2 software offerings.

Do you write a lot?? If I didn't have the blog and some of my classes, I'd never write anything and I think that's a shame since writing is a very cerebral exercise. Reading and writing - well, they are going to keep me sane (I hope). I use Grammarly to check my grammar since that's one of my weak areas. I've been using it for several years (the free version) and look at how many words it's checked in almost four years. That's over 1 million words a year. That's a lot of writing!!

Words checked by Grammarly

I've found that my grammar is much better since I started using the add-on product. Not perfect, but better. There are things I don't like about the product. It is constantly encouraging you to upgrade to the paid version but without a trial as to what it can really do. I've contacted them and NO you can't have a trial of the full version. That's silly. Show me what it can do and I'd gladly sign up for it. Oh well.

And then I get notifications from FitBit about my weekly activities. Yep - I'm kind of a numbers-driven person. Steps - you can never have too many steps in a day! I'll have to go for an extra walk with the girls to make up for the lost session at the gym. Although I managed to do my distance yesterday without going to the gym. Oh yes - I shoveled the driveway. No snow to shovel this morning.

Weekly step count from FitBit

I also got another virtual postcard from the Route 66 challenge. I'm in St. Louis and that's where the postcard came from. It mentions the Gateway Arch which is the gateway to the west and the Chain of Rocks Bridge which is a weird bright with a 2-degree bend partway through the bridge. I was in St. Louis several years ago for a Quilt Market. Now I'm back again but virtually.

I wish we got more postcards, but that's OK. I'm 13% of the way through the walk. Yippeee!!!

On that note, I'm out of here. I've got a ton of stuff to do today and I've got a list. Let's see how many things I can get done on that list. Some of the items are paperwork, some are not. Let's just get it done so we can move on!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!