Giddy with delight

I'm almost giddy with delight this morning. A far cry from last week!

Why? I have the house to myself today, except for the girls, but they're OK. Don't get me wrong, as DH is extremely self-sufficient and doesn't need constant attention, but I'm perfectly OK if he's away. He even offered to buy me groceries yesterday! It's raining outside, so there is no guilt about being in the garden and no danger of wanting to sit in the gazebo! Even better? While walking yesterday, I glanced at my calendar to see what I needed to prep for this morning. WHAT???  Nothing? I have an entire day to myself? How could you not be giddy?

I've checked my calendar multiple times - NOTHING. How did that happen? I'm not worrying about it - I'm going to enjoy it! And do I have plans? Oh yes,  I have a date with a sewing machine. 

I'll be doing a Zoom event with Singer and Michael's on May 16. The topic is decorative stitches, and I'm making many new samples of what you can do with decorative stitches. Oh gosh—another idea popped into my head as I wrote that! STOP!!! I already have a ton. 

Here's a link to one of the classes. I'm unsure how to get a list of the sewing machine videos, but if you start at the link above, that should help you find other videos, and  I'll see if there is a better way. 

My topic is decorative stitches; let's face it, your sewing machine likely has loads of decorative stitches. My goal in the video will be to educate you on HOW to use the stitches to get optimum results and then give you loads of inspiration on where and how to use them. Let's say that I have a LOT of samples to make! 

So once the two classes were over yesterday morning - WAIT - I can share my Tequila Lime with you now. I only have 1/4 of it together, which shocked the heck out of me as it was in a lot of pieces when I started on Thursday.

Remember this? I had not finished the paper piecing, the backgrounds were not cut, and the sections needed to be sewn together. 

What I started with on Thursday afternoon

This is 1/4 of the quilt. I was going to only work on the components necessary to finish the quarter, but I was able to get everything up to date, and I expect it'll take about 3 hours to finish the assembly. It's going to be a spectacular quilt. 

1/4 of the Tequila Lime quilt

That project is as done as it needs to be, and the next class is on June 1, so it got shelved. Well, it's still on that spare table I had set out, but I'll pack it up to use the space for my sample-making. 

And look what happened yesterday!!!

The cutting table is CLEAR

Yes, the cutting table is clear, and I need to attempt to keep it that way. It's going to be a challenge, to be sure, but I'm determined. 

I still have a mess on the current project table that needs to be cleared, but this also happened. 

The NEW current project rolling cart

Here is my new rolling cart, which is going to be the current projects spot. I'm not quite finished with it, as I need to sort one more laundry basket and likely add a few things. But I should not be working on anything that is not on this cart. And I can easily roll it out of the way to avoid distractions in my work area. 

As mentioned, I need to finish clearing off the existing current project table, which I hope to do by the end of this month. A little bit at a time. Most of it has been shelved on that empty shelf in the storage area. 

I put the one project sitting on the floor on the rolling cart, so now look at the floor. 

The floor area is also clear! 

Oh my—this looks so amazing and makes me very happy. I have an inviting space in which to work. I love this and will endeavor to keep it that way. I literally had no time to deal with the stuff.

I was finishing up putting an extra sewing machine back into its box when I turned around and spotted this on the floor. What the heck is that? 

A mystery 

I don't remember it in the box. I've never seen one in any other sewing machine box -- WAIT -- I know what it is. It's like a bumper on the inside of the cover. Oh boy- I have to unbox that machine and put this inside the hardcover. Sigh.....  See why I like to write? It was just at this moment when I realized what it was. It's not something we see since it's hidden inside the cover. 

OK—so I've been using the wrong word for something very important downstairs. I like to keep the dust bunnies at bay, which is a difficult task. I've been saying swifTer, when in fact it's a SWIFFER. Good grief—I hate when I do that. It's like saying liberry instead of library! Yep—there's a difference. So, my apologies to all the SWIFFER fans out there. I stand corrected. 

MOM -- what are you doing with that? 

But it doesn't matter how many times I pass that Swiffer around; I turn around and spot another thread or, even more likely, debris from the garden that Murphy trotted in. It's a never-ending task to keep the floors clean! 

More debris from Miss Murphy

My staging area in the living room is small these days. I still have a couple of things that have no home, and I'm tempted to just put them in the giveaway box. Actually, I'll do that later today. I still have the roll of Invisigrip to prevent quilting rulers from shifting. I'm surprised no one snapped that up. There's a quilt that needs to be put in the mail and a small bag that needs to go on the Pony Express. 

The staging area

DONE -- I moved the two WACOM tablets to the giveaway box. There is GREAT satisfaction in all these little things to declutter and tidy up, and I swear that was part of my bad mood last week. So much was in disarray and my brain needed order! 

While it was a glorious day out, I tried to limit my time, as I knew I had lots to do. So, I ate outside at lunch and dinner and did not go anywhere near the gazebo. 

A beautiful day outside

I went for a walk and was making a mental list of all the samples I wanted to make. The walk just flew by, and on the last part, I defied the signs and walked on the "closed" sidewalk. I'm just abiding by the law and not jaw-walking, even though it's a resident street!!!

The "closed" sidewalk

While I didn't get a lot of sewing done, although I did make something, I spent a good part of the day ironing clothes (GASP)—they are for my sample making and had been washed. I also prepped fabric and pulled thread, stabilizers, and fusible fleece to go with it. Most things are cut, and everything is ready to go this morning. 

I sent out the homework for the groups from yesterday, so after the girls have their walk, I aim to start working immediately. There will be no computer work this morning. I'm done for the moment. I'll probably take a break later in the day and might get some more computer work done. 

As for my girls, they are two crazies. Now that the weather is warmer, Lexi doesn't want to come in at night and prefers to sleep outside. This is OK by me, but when she wants in at 4:30 AM because it's raining outside, she lets you know by banging on the backdoor! She needs a doorbell or a doggie door! 

I don't know what happened to her in her former life, but she will NOT go into a closed room. It took her years before I could get her to come into the office, which is quite open. But to go into a bathroom? NEVER. She'll sit at the door and wait, but she would never venture in—it's too small a space for her. I suspect she was locked in a small room when she was a puppy. Murphy and Bear? They have no issues - they are worse than children when you need a bio-break! 

Mom -- are you OK in there? 

And Murphy just has to touch everything. I left my pill container at the top of the stairs so I could take it down and put it on the cutting table, so when I went down, I would remember to take that pill this morning. Well, she had to touch it, and it rolled down the stairs. I heard it and rescued it. 

MOM -- don't forget to take your pill

I have one errand to do by car today. I have a USB stick that I can't readily access, and my backup hard disk is acting up. I'm taking them both to the Geek Squad and have them look at both. I want some files off the backup drive, and it drives me crazy when I can't get the files sometimes. So, a new hard disk is in order, and let's see what they say about the USB. 

I also need something at Fabricland for my other project; they are both in the same area—at least for Murphy. But that's OK—I'm on track for time. Should I stop at the thrift store to see if the door puzzle is still there? NO!!! 

I guess since I'm in the neighborhood, I'd better get more dog food - at least for Murphy. But that's Ok -- I'm on track for time and all is good. 

On that note, I'm out of here. It's going to be a super exciting day, and I'm ripping through audiobooks as I mindlessly sew decorative stitches! 

WAIT -- before I go, I'm reading a HORRIFIC book. It's fiction by an author I've never read before - B.A. Paris, and the book is Behind Closed Doors. It has been a long time since I have looked at the back of a book to see the ending, but I did on this one. I still don't know how it ends, but it's disturbing. I'm almost tempted to NOT finish it, but I'm halfway through -- I need to know. 

Yep --- it's like a romance scam taken to the extreme and amazing how people can totally suck you into situations that you don't want to be in. Let's say that if anyone proposes marriage shortly after meeting you -- RUN!!!!! 

OK -- I'm out of here! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!