One Block Wonder with a panel

 I'm under control! Or should I say - I'm in control? Either way, I have most of the prep done for the classes this weekend. I believe all or most of the sewing is done - it's just a question of putting the pictures into the various presentations and trying to get the written homework done so it can be sent out in a timely fashion. I must say that it feels good to be in control, but there's still a lot of work to do to get all that information organized and in the correct presentation!

As you know, I signed up for the One Block Wonder quilt using a panel. I wasn't going to, and I didn't really have the time to work on it, but peer pressure made me sign up. I'm behind on some other projects! Yesterday was the last class. I have to say that PEER pressure was a huge motivator to sew it together, plus I need the design wall. So this is my quilt top. 

One Block Wonder from a panel

It was definitely a challenge to work with all those hexagons and position them around the panel. I think I had four hexagons left over. Although I had it on the design wall, I made a goof with the hexagons, and as I was sewing it together, I had to make a couple of shuffles, but you don't notice what I did. 

Rather than overlapping the panel with the hexagons, I decided to add a small frame around the panel. I did this for two reasons. The quilt BEFORE the tiny frame was too busy, and I didn't like it. I'm learning that I prefer good contrast on my quilts. OK -- so I've known that for a long time. And mathematically, it fit much better this way, and there was almost zero trimming of the panel. 

I will confess that it took a bit of finessing to fit that border and match up the hexagons on the left and the right, but it works perfectly. There are many ways to sew this thing together, but the EASIEST way is to make the left and right side, and then the top and bottom - then you can sew them together. BUT you need to make sure the spacing is going to work before you do that!!! It's easy!

I put an outer border on the quilt, and all that's left is to get some backing and make the binding, and this one can get moved to the "to be quilted" pile. NO UFO from a class that I took this year. Yeah!! This is the NEW me for sure. 

I had two presentations yesterday, and all went well. While I listened to the One Block Wonder class, I was trimming quilts! That's the beauty of zooming on a laptop. You can put the laptop wherever you happen to be. I think I'll pass on the monitor on the wall in my space. It won't work for me!

I got another customer quilt quilted. I'm a bit behind, but I'm doing my best to get caught up, so if you're waiting on a quilty to be quilted, be patient. I hope by the end of October to be back on track. 

Customer quilt

If you have a quilt that you'd like quilted for Christmas, let me know, but otherwise, anything new coming in will get booked in January. 

I had a few spare moments yesterday, so I grabbed a tub of Christmas decorations, and this is what I found. 

Going through Christmas decorations

Lots of snowmen! And a couple of advent calendars. I grabbed a couple of boxes from the garage this morning, and I'll be packing this all up and donating it next week. It's time to move on with all this stuff. 

I pulled out one more tub - that's the big one in the photo above. This is going to take a bit more time as it's a lot of odds and ends. 

And this is what is left in the corner of the living room - one big tub and two boxes. Yeah!!!!! I have to say that it feels so freeing to be rid of this stuff. While I have the room physically to store these tubs, the mental freedom is fantastic. It's so wonderful to NOT be tied to materiel things - no guilt that I'm getting rid of "family heirlooms." I mean, why should I be saddled with being the keeper of tradition, as when I'm gone, all this will go, so I might as well have the mental freedom while I can enjoy it! Don't worry -- I'm keeping a few things of tradition, but I don't need tubfuls!

What's left to sort

My goal is to keep ONE of the big tubs with our sentimental items, but the rest of it goes. There's room for that giant tub under the stairs in the furnace room. So we'll still have something, and well --- at some point, it'll all have to go. But I'll feel great when this pile is gone - it's been in the living room for a couple of years, and it's time to get rid of it. 

I'm keeping the big tubs, and I'll probably use one to store all the "to be quilted" quilts for community projects. And the other two will also find a new use downstairs. The tubs can be very heavy when full, especially with quilting stuff, so I want to find a permanent home that doesn't require any moving! 

I may even put all the current projects from that table into one just so the space looks a bit more open, and I desperately need more table space. I know -- how crazy is that, but I'm running out of room to put the machines between the three big embroidery machines and now a serger!

So my phone is pretty clever, although it's slow! I've been listening to an audiobook. A frustrating book called Girl in The Woods by Aspen Matis. It's a memoir of a 19-year who walked The Pacific Crest Trail after being raped on her second night in college. Why is it frustrating? Her parents, her lack of self-esteem, her attitude towards boys/men/sex, and her stupid, stupid decisions. I'm surprised she survived the walk! It's interesting because I'm interested in these long hikes, but other than that - I'm not sure I would read it. 

There are issues with being the victim of a crime, and I don't want to get into a controversial topic. But sometimes, it makes me wonder if people get themselves into predicaments just to write about it? Take her second book -- it's about her husband who disappeared for real. Hmmm....................

OH -- so why is my phone smart? Well, as I've been listening to the audiobook, it will stop working every now and then. Why?? Well, this morning (after a week of this behavior), I got a message telling me the reason is the app is NOT running in the background when the phone is off. Now that's very clever, but I had to wait a week for that notification? 

So here are the latest antics of my girls. I don't know what she was doing, digging or burying something?  

Murphy is busy at work

And once she was done, she had to move all the dirt back in place and then came in to get attention. Oh, Murphy -- thank goodness you are cute!

Murphy, after digging in the backyard

I needed to get a photo of some fungi in the forest. I let Lexi's leash drop, and she just stands there waiting like a very good girl! However, I bet if her leash wasn't on, she'd be gone - that's what she used to do when she was younger! 

Lexi waiting patiently

It's going to be an easy day! I've got the barn quilt lecture first, then a wrap-up with my intense peers for the One Block Wonder quilt, and one class tonight. Yeah!!! It'll be relaxing, but still going to be super busy! And there's another quilt waiting to be loaded on the long arm.

And I'm happy to report that I've made excellent progress in downloading a bunch of documents that I needed to get my hands on. I mean, there are LOADS, and I might finish today, but I doubt it. I have until the end of the year to get them, and if I don't do it now - I'll forget. I've had a note in my "to do" list for months, and I seem to be pretty good at ignoring stuff like that! I'll see how it goes.

We haven't picked a decluttering area in a long time. How about those Christmas decorations? Dig them out and have a look -- what do you still use/want, and what do you no longer wish to keep? It's the time RIGHT NOW to donate that stuff as people are already looking to buy their Christmas stuff, which is insane!! I hope you have some time to get something organized or decluttered in your house.

At some point, I'm going to run out of other stuff to declutter, and I'll have no choice but to deal with the things in the office. I'm OK with that. It doesn't really matter what I declutter - it all has to be dealt with! Once I'm done in the office, I'll start at the top of the house and work down again! That'll be so much easier the second time! 

Well, it's time to get the day started!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!