A happy day

 It was just a happy day yesterday in many ways. The weather was glorious - a short-sleeved T-shirt kind of day. Things got done that had been sitting for a while, and well - it was just a happy day!

A HUGE thanks to Maria, who found the panel that I was looking for. I must get that paid for today. I'll share the store with you tomorrow - after my purchase goes through!

Oh my - when I looked at my FitBit last night, it had been in overdrive all day. 14.99 km. How did that happen? I did go for a long walk - how could you not with the weather we had. I started off wearing a sweatshirt that quickly came off, and I carried it all the way. I was zipping around and cleaning stuff up, and all those steps added up!

The FitBit must have been totally exhausted because when I woke up in the night and went to see what time it was, the darn thing was totally dead. I don't remember getting a notification to recharge it. 

On my walk in the morning, I noticed that the extra pieces of wood at the palette are now gone. And the green painter's tape is moved. Have you ever wondered who does this? 

The extra wood is gone

On my afternoon walk, I did spot the man who frequents this corner. I'm going to call him Bob just to give him a name. I do see him from time to time in the morning. Yesterday he was pacing near the bus stop, and as always, he's tightly clutching that little notebook filled with writing, and he's carrying a mask. I'm pretty sure that he's the one that plays with the palette, but where does the wood go to? Oh well, it keeps me thinking as I'm walking. 

I'm making great progress on my Route 66 challenge. I was on Route 66 in 2017. We were at Road to California (the big quilt show), and one night we popped out to take a picture beside one of the markers. It did get a mention on my blog, but the link to the photo is gone, so there is no photo. Of course, I tried to find the photo on my computer and well - let's just say that I found a rat's nest of photos. It's likely sitting on an SD card somewhere in this house. That should be a task for one day when our presentations are over. 

At the very least, ALL photos should be compiled in one area by year. Then I could find stuff - at least more easily than now. I need to learn how to MOVE files, not COPY them, as with photos, COPY creates an even bigger mess. I just booked a date on the calendar to do that. Lots of tutorials online to figure out the MOVE function. 

I've got another quilt due on December 14th. Can't share it with you, but let's just say that I lucked out because it means I can finish off a UFO. And I need scraps to make it happen. I need blue scraps, so I pulled out the THREE blue scrap bins. Seriously?? Three? So I managed to go through two of them yesterday and pulled out some blue scraps. One must be selective when choosing the scraps.  

Three bins of blue scraps

Now one of the bins contains the scraps that I'm going to start with. I went through two of the bins, and if I need more scraps, I still have one container as my backup. I'll be starting the cutting process today. The bin on the left is the neat one, the middle one is still a mess, and the one on the right is my palette for this new quilt. 

Two bins for storage and one for the current project

I'd better start making some scrap quilts because some of those boxes of scraps are exploding!

I managed to get a customer quilt done. I have four for this customer, and I hope to get them all done by Wednesday morning. That includes trimming and putting the binding on! 

Customer quilt - DONE

I did have a short class on sewing machine maintenance, which went very well. Always lots to learn in any area of sewing. But when I was finished, this is how my table looked. Yep - it was a disaster, and the sewing machine was in bits. 

After a class on sewing machine maintenance

And the table behind me was covered in stuff as well. I try and clean up after every class, but I literally turn everything off and leave it when the class is at night. I'm too tired to do any tidy up - that is left for the next day. 

A second table filled with class material

Can you imagine how much stuff I used to carry to class? This Zoom thing is so nice - no packing, no unpacking, and no travel time! Still lots of prep time, but that's OK. 

But I was motivated yesterday, and so I managed to clean up almost all of this area. 

The main table in the film studio

There are a few things in the bottom right corner that need to be dealt with before my next presentation. And I managed to get everything that was on the floor off the floor. I have most of the samples, tools, and supplies sorted into bins by topic. 

My sample, supply, and tools required for my presentations

So that feels good to get that more organized, and now I'll be able to zip around with the Swifter later today as the place is a mess with lint and dust. 

Since the weather was so nice, I thought it was best to get the last of the stuff put away in the shed. Of course, I had help. This is Murphy's outdoor toy. A stuffed bear that is disgusting, but she loves to carry it around.

Murphy "helping" to put stuff away

I was kind of annoyed because one of my neighbors had their lawn service in, and they were using the leaf blower, which is LOUD. Well, I have a leaf blower too, so I got mine out and took all the leaves from between the wood boards on the deck. It needed to be done, so the wood doesn't rot. And now everything looks cleaned up  - more or less. 

I did leave my chair in the gazebo as I sat out there with my helpers, and we enjoyed the day. And I read - I started a new book. I haven't abandoned the other one; I just needed something more entertaining to read for a break. And if you look real close, you'll see both of the troublemakers. 

Sitting in the gazebo chilling

I did start to trim those half-square triangles that are sitting on the ironing board. I didn't get many done, but they'll be done before I know it if I do a few every day. 

Trimming the half-square triangles

And I managed to get one of those eight-pointed star blocks taken apart from the second UFO block for this month. I'm not going to go further than this in the ripping out. I'm checking for the correct size and then start to resew it together. 

The components for an eight-pointed star

I have another class today - a fun one. Not that the others aren't fun, but this is software - EQ8, and we're digging deeper into what the program can do. The students are HUNGRY to learn, and that is great. Next year, we're going to have an EQ8 club to keep them (and me) learning about what can be done. There's just so much to learn! Then I have ONE piece of paperwork that I MUST do today. Once that's done, I'll put another one on the desk. I just don't have room for all of it, so it's sitting on the floor. Actually, I have two paperwork projects that MUST be done today. 

This desk is NOT conducive to real work, but I'll make do! Everything is centered around the computer, and if there isn't room for the paper to sit, well, it gets messy. Of course, if the other desk was cleared off, then things would be OK. I know - I've got a date scheduled to deal with that mess.  

Well, I see my FitBit is almost 100% recharged, and that means it's time to get the day started!

Have a super day and if possible, get out and enjoy the weather. It's glorious!!!

Ciao!!!