Raccoons running in the night?

Is it me, or do the days seem to run into each other quickly? It's not like I don't enjoy the days, but they are going quickly! The good news is that I went to bed last night and slept like a log. I woke up when my alarm went off. And seconds later, Murphy was beyond herself with excitement. I ran to the window to see what caused such a panic, and I spotted THREE raccoons chasing each other. 

That's a new one for me. I've seen them running up trees and waddling across the street, but these three ran (full raccoon speed) after each other IN the street. Running from something? I never saw a pursuer. So they could have spotted Murphy in the front window and decided to taunt her. They succeeded. 

After breakfast and everything was settled in the house, Bear and I went shopping. I have that three-block area of one street where I do my car errand shopping. When the weather is nicer, I can ride my bike there - it's only 5 km away, and there were no big bags of dog food this time. We stopped at Michaels as I needed to get some Cricut blades - Hey -- they were 50% off! I also spotted some glue I needed and picked up some things that were also on sale - T-shirts to practice heat transfer vinyl and some storage boxes. 

Storage boxes

I should probably have focused on emptying a couple rather than purchasing new ones, but these were ORANGE, and how could I leave those in the store? 

Bear has to stay in the car when I do most of the shopping, but he loves going to the pet food store and he was almost out of food. 

Look at ME - I'm a display dog!!!

I told him he did NOT need a new bed and that he should leave it for the puppy in the display. But he got treats here, and he was happy as a clam as he gums the treats for the remainder of the shopping trip as he stayed in the car. 

I'm working on a project and realized that I wasn't going to have enough thread (specific color) for the bobbin, so a quick stop at Fabricland resolved that. We made seven stops in total, and I picked up lunch. We were out and back in 1 1/2 hours, which is pretty good considering I had to ask for help in two stores to find what I wanted. 

Yep—I could probably have bought most of that online, but if you plan well and do a bit of research online and in your supply cupboard, guess what? I would MUCH rather shop in the store and support the shops this way. Besides, it's fun to see other things in the shops and chat with people. Nope—I'll shop in person when I can!!! My carbon footprint was probably less as well! 

By the way, if anyone wants ZIG glue, Michaels has an entire section of it!!! So I got what I wanted, and I got to use a 40% coupon!! 

Zig glue

Good grief!!! What is wrong with those raccoons? Murphy just spotted them RUNNING in the opposite direction, and there were only the three of them. Nothing is chasing them, but they are having a gleeful time chasing each other. Let's hope they are gone now. 

Now that I have more thread for the bobbin, I realize that I may run out of thread on the top as well. I made the project larger than anticipated. AHA -- I found a spool in my thread box. 

An extra spool of thread in the RIGHT color

So this is what I have to work with. I don't think I'm quite halfway through the project, but I might get lucky and have enough. I should call my local embroidery store and see if they have another one or two spools, and have them set aside for me as I'll be there on Saturday. 

What I have left for the top thread

Speaking of embroidery, I dug out a book on machine embroidery basics. I'm teaching a beginner class in a couple of weeks and I thought, why not read this book, even though I've been embroidering for years. There is always some new thing I can gleam even though this book was written in 2001. OH MY GOSH - look at the size of the embroidery machines. Let's face it, nothing about machine embroidery has changed, except size! A few small details, but the basics are the same!

Tiny embroidery machine

I swear, they look like toys!!!! The hoop size is 4" by 4". What can you do with that? Well, lots, but still --- it's so tiny. Have I learned anything yet? No, but I've just got started. WAIT -- I did -- I'm glad I got into the world of embroidery when I did and I'm glad to see the progression of what's available. 

I had some fabric strips cut for the current project I'm working on, but since I decided to make the project larger, I needed more fabric. I couldn't find it in my stash room. Then when I was walking Lexi (she's a smart dog!), I remembered where I put the fabric for the project. I came home, got the fabric off the "current project" table, and cut what I needed.

Cutting more pieces for the project

That project is in bits and pieces all over a table, but it's looking awesome. 

I had ripped out one of the blocks from my Heartfelt Sampler that needed to be replaced, so while I was waiting for my Zoom to start last night, I decided to sew the new block into the quilt. Oh god—I sewed it on the wrong side of the opening, but that was quickly resolved with the seam ripper. 

Working to replace blocks in the Heartfelt Sampler

Then I put it on the wall and NO!!!!! I discovered that I also have to replace the block that's directly beneath it. Thankfully, that block is at the very corner of this section, so that'll be easy to fix. But I still have to replace the other block as well. I'll try to get that done today. 

This is an EASY quilt to put together, but if the background squares aren't in the right place, well, it doesn't look so much like a heart! And I goofed on the placement of TWO squares on the bottom. The third one I need to fix has a half-square triangle in the WRONG place (for my liking), so it's being replaced by the same block but with different coloring. Trust me  - it needed to be replaced. 

Hopefully, the raccoons are gone, but poor Murphy is still in a tizzy. She's usually sleeping at this time, but she's riled up. I told her it was bedtime, gave her a big hug, and, hopefully, she settles down. 

But with her barking, she got the entire household up, but Bear and Lexi just said, "Oh -- raccoons? How boring! We're going back to bed!"  Thankfully, DH is away, so he didn't have to be disturbed by the chaos! 

I have a few samples to make today for one of my Zoom classes, but that shouldn't take too long to complete. Otherwise, my table of samples and feet is working out OK, now that everything is sitting ON the tables and not under them!!!

There is a Virtual Retreat this weekend. Due to circumstances beyond my control, there will ONLY be a retreat on Saturday evening. No, I can't switch the weekend, and no, I can't let the call go on Sunday. It's only going to be on Saturday evening—starting at 6 PM. Here's the link. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89816483795?pwd=Mjc3M3pvVmZPdjdsQzlHS3Zhck52dz09

Meeting ID: 898 1648 3795
Passcode: 248667

On that note, I'm out of here and on my way to spin class. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!