You can teach an old dog a new trick!

For those who are looking for a store in the Toronto area that sells Sulky thread, there is Brampton Sew and Serge. The problem is that I bought all they have of the color I need. 

This is where friends come in very handy. I have a friend with a LARGE cone of the very color I need. Thankfully, she is within driving distance. So I will decide -- go or no-go on this project, and then we'll go from there!

OK --- so do you want to know what I discovered the other day? That will be beneficial to ALL quilters, especially those who do not have EQ8. 

One of the classes we started this past weekend is Tequila Lime by Quiltworx. For several reasons, they are not my favorite pattern company, but I won't go into that here. I like their patterns enough to put up with the reasons why, and I know how to work around them. It's one of the reasons I'm teaching the class so others can learn the same things. 

Tequila Lime by Quiltworx

The big question is how to change up the color if you want to. That's a complicated quilt to recreate in EQ8 or draw out by hand. 

There is a line drawing of the quilt in the pattern booklet, and one could photocopy it (enlarge it even) and use markers, crayons, or pencil crayons to play around with color. 

OR you could color it digitally. So, on their web page for this quilt is a line drawing with no writing on the diagram. 

Line drawing of Tequila Lime

No big deal, but if you carefully read the steps beneath the picture, you can take this picture into any photo editing software and use the PAINT option to color it. NO WAY!!! 

So I quickly took the diagram into Photoshop Elements, straightened it, and chopped off the bits I didn't need as a distraction. 

A clean version of the line drawing

Then, using the Paint Bucket Tool in Photoshop Elements, I started clicking on various sections, and OH MY GOODNESS, it filled in section by section. 

Knowing that most group members would NOT have access to Photoshop Elements (a paid program), I found Paint 3D in my Windows software. This is the screenshot from that program. 

Digitally coloring the diagram in Paint 3D

So technically, you could take any line drawing and enter it into a paint program, and you are good to go with coloring in your quilt. 

I guess I "knew" that I could do this, but I honestly didn't think the computer could "see" the lines from a .jpeg as separate pieces. 

Because a .jpeg is pixelated, it isn't the best for some of the curvy pieces and some of the smaller bits. The file should be a .png, with SMOOTH lines, not pixelated ones. I shall send a note to Quiltworx with that suggestion. Even if I convert the file from .jpeg to .png, it's still not clear in the small bits. That's what happens when you take pixels and try to smooth them; you get smoother pixels. Anyway -- it's not perfect, but it'll save tons of time for the participants to play with their colors. 

Oh gosh -- I was all set on what color I wanted to use, and now, with this option, I'm already playing around with different colors!

Hmm - I gave them the entire month to play with color, and now -- well, I'll still give them a month. One of the students discovered the line drawing and pointed it out during class. I missed that when I was exploring the pattern online. 

We are always up for a learning experience!

I had two great Zooms in the morning on machine embroidery and embroidery software. Yikes -- I hadn't touched the software in months, so I was a bit rusty on a couple of questions. I knew the answer, but do you think I could remember how to make it happen? Nope! So, I found the solution and sent it off last night. 

The homework follow-up from Saturday is gone; well, there is one more document to write. It shouldn't take long to deal with the homework follow-up from yesterday, and then it's onto the homework prep for this coming weekend. It's like one giant long treadmill of homework prep and follow-up! But I love doing it, so I'm OK with that. 

I spotted this little bush in the forest. The colors are strange. 

A bush in the forest

But I had to laugh as the leaves rustled in the wind. The parts of leaves that were hidden underneath other leaves were yellow. The leaves just did not turn brilliant colors this year, at least not in our area. Our backyard is usually brilliant red and orange, and it was pretty dull this year. 

The leaf is yellow where it was protected from the light

Yep -- even with the cool and rainy weather, one must get out for that afternoon walk. I MUST get myself back on track with my Virtual Challenge. I'm seeing progress every day. I needed to get 12.5 KM daily; with the few extra KMs added over the last week, the daily average is down to 12.35. A small change, but that is how the world changes -- one small step at a time! I will do it!!!

As I walked past the library, where they had torn up all the outside green space, I noticed they chopped down the trees. How sad that they couldn't work around those trees. But hopefully, new trees will be planted in this new community space. 

Construction of a new community space

And how can you pass a yellow arrow and not think of the Camino? 

The way!

This was on the perimeter of that construction area at the library. Yep --- a yellow arrow will always remind me of the Camino for the rest of my life. I'm not done with it, and I WILL finish it. Perhaps I can retire to Spain to easily walk sections of it whenever I want! It's a beautiful country and in the smaller villages -- well, life seems so simple!

How is the house guest doing? He loves the back of the couch. He's a bit too small to jump up on the couch by himself, and he got onto the back by using the cushions as a ladder. But he's proud as punch up there! 

I'm KING!

And then, while waiting for us to finish dinner, he kept saying he was bored because we were not paying attention to him! We always have some interesting dinner conversations, so the little guy had to wait!

Hurry up -- I'm bored!

We had a very simple Thanksgiving dinner last night. I get it with traditions and all that, but one does not need to go totally crazy and still enjoy a nice dinner. I had a turkey burger, and DH had a turkey thigh. It works for us. The pumpkin pie and whipped cream will be for later today, as neither of us wanted any last night. 

It's Monday sewing today, and no spin class! I had better be sewing my little heart out during Monday sewing because I have loads to prep for this coming weekend. I won't reveal my plans because you will all think I have gone crazy, which I already was, so nothing has changed. 

I wish that when I learn something, I use it enough so I don't forget it! That happens in the embroidery software. I learn a feature, then I don't use it often enough, and when I want to show someone, I've forgotten how to use it! Plus, I  moved my sample files to a new location, and I'm not used to that location, so I have to search for them. I MUST get that totally organized so any future demos will go smoothly. It's all about being prepared!!!

On that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!