Quilt pattern controversy

 Let's start with the classes before I get lost in my thoughts!!! 

There are TWO more classes at The Hobby Horse, so I will post that link again. There are the October to June monthly one-hour lectures on finishing your quilt. There is so much to share in that! And there are FOUR in-person sessions—two of them are on machine quilting, and two of them are demos on various topics. Angie and I will be doing those two sessions as a team. It will be super fun, a chance for you to get out of the house and learn something new WITHOUT starting a new project!! 

I'm also teaching a couple of classes at Thimbles and Things. They are now offering quite a few in-store classes, but the three that I'm teaching are all on Zoom!! Here are the links to the three Zoom classes I'm teaching. 

Dear Jen, I was silly enough to go another Jen Kingwell quilt! This runs from October to June. 

Orchid Mini (Legit Kits) is a "new" way to paper piece! It's a two-part class. 

Saturday Sampler - this session runs from October to December and covers three topics

There is also Spice Market, which I'm teaching on Zoom and is not associated with a store. For those of you who have signed up, you have received an automated reply and are in the class. I should be sending more information in a couple of weeks. 

I'm teaching machine embroidery software classes (mySewnet) at two stores, and I'll post the links tomorrow. 

So that's a very doable list of classes! And they mostly start in October, which is good because my September is a complete write-off. I'm excited about them and need to start the homework prep, but I have other things on my plate. 

I almost had an applique "fail" yesterday. I got part of the daily quota of applique done in the morning and then went to the optometrist in the afternoon. They dilated my pupils, and I couldn't see a thing in the afternoon. But after dinner, things were back to normal, and I persevered. It would NOT have been the end of the world if I didn't get it done, but after all the work I've done in the past couple of weeks and not get the assignment done? I could NOT let that happen. So it's done, and I'm all set to continue today. I tell you, this seems like a never-ending applique project. There is a LOT of applique, and while I'm much closer to the finish than I was, there's still a lot of applique! 

Then the quilts have to be sewn together and binding and backing made, so I'm not out of the woods yet, but I should be able to finish them by the September deadline. That is going to be a happy day!!!

Speaking of going to the optometrist -- yikes -- she was young! I almost mistook her for the receptionist! But at least I wouldn't have to worry about her retiring! All seemed fine, except they wanted to give me a prescription for readers. I'm not keen on it as I'm super hard on glasses, and having only one pair of readers means I'll be running around the houses looking for that pair. I think I'll hold off for a while before I go that route. Does anyone have experience with prescription readers? 

And here's the other thing. I know that this store has bargain frames. The last time I was there, the bargain frames were in a drawer. This time, they are on the shelf, but in the back corner, along with the children's frames. I want the kids' frames!!!! 

Cool KIDS glasses

Those are funky glasses, and if I'm going to get readers, they should be funky! Can I get a kids' frame to fit me? 

She wants to refer me to someone else because she saw something in my eye, so I guess I better follow up with that. 

I had two phone calls to make in the morning, and I thought both would take forever, but both were quick, and I got what I wanted. My old dentist (at least 20 years ago) keeps sending us birthday cards. Why? So I finally called and the receptionist said, "Oh, your accounts were never flagged as inactive." So that has changed, and I hope to never get another birthday card from them. 

The second was to change an airplane ticket that I knew would cost me money as I had "bought" it cheap through points. After a short wait, I got the BEST call center person ever. She was determined to get my ticket changed without me paying for the change. She tried to sell me on flying at a different date and time than I wanted, but I was firm on when I wanted to fly. Then she tried a couple of other things, and then she tried what I wanted, and lo and behold, it went through without a fee change. 

Now, that could very well be because of the upcoming labor action, but my flight was outside the parameters of that. I won't ask questions - just take the new ticket and run!!!

I had a hot date yesterday with my steam press! I had a lot of fusing to do, and it was so easy and quick to use. The fusible fleece and heavy-weight interfacing aren't going anywhere! It's so much faster than a regular iron. 

The steam press

One more customer quilt is done. This is the same person as the previous one—she loves this style of fabric. Again, it wasn't super large, but the quilting is dense, so it still takes time. The next one (also from the same person) is loaded and ready to go later this morning. I'm right on track!!

Customer quilt - DONE

Murphy and I sat outside in the morning and enjoyed a cup of tea. She only wanted to sniff everything or get as close to me as possible, so she was a royal pain. I'm sure Lexi would be much quieter! 

MOM -- new smells in this corner!

I'm browsing through some old quilt magazines, and while they are old, there is so much in them that's applicable today. They over-bought fabric, had trouble finding places to store it, had too many UFOs, started too many projects, etc. I'm reading these old magazines as part of cleaning up the shelves in Studio B. It's an extremely slow process. Instead of reading a book when having my tea, I need to be reading those magazines. I paid for them and will read them, so don't tell me to toss the old ones. I have a plan! 

But I got a chuckle out of this ad. 

Do you know what those rectangles are?

Do you know what that is? How many of you had quilt-themed cheques? OK—what's a cheque? I had someone do some work several months ago, and I didn't have cash, so I gave him a cheque. I think it was the first cheque he received!

Here's something controversial I found in the magazine (dated Summer 1999). What are your thoughts on the design? 

Baltimore Brides Quilt (designed by Patricia Cox

Did you see anything amiss? How about in this picture? 

Do you like this design?

I remember when things like this caused considerable discussion in the guilds. The ladies who had been quilting much longer than I would think this is proper. Myself? I find it unsettling!!! Can you spot what I'm talking about? This is one thing that relates to "we've always done it this way!" There is no right or wrong in this situation; it's what makes you happy!

Something was weird at the gas stations yesterday. There are two kitty corner to each other, and they are usually POINT 3 cents different in price. Yesterday? They were FIVE cents different, with the other one being 148.6. GASP --- Perhaps someone made a mistake? I think this one is the correct price, but it fluctuates throughout the day, so it's anyone's guess as to the gas price. 

The price of gas is down!

And when I was out reading in the afternoon in the backyard, Yep—big slacker that I am!!! Miss Murphy was being entertained by something in the forest. At least she wasn't barking!!! 

MOM -- there's a good show on the forest channel!!!

And then it was dinner time. DH is still not feeling well, so I wasn't sure he would make it to the table, and I couldn't start the game alone! But there is the EXIT game!!! We whipped through the first two puzzles like they were nothing!! Did we get lucky? Or is the game an easy one? Or are we just that much more intelligent? 

The latest EXIT Adventure Game

Either way, it was fun to get back to it!! 

I can keep Studio B relatively neat and tidy, considering that I'm currently working on a few projects. But when I had to use the steam press, it was a joy to simply plug it in and turn it on. I wouldn't have been so happy having to make room on a table for it, dig it out, etc. So, the bottom line is that it's better to keep your tools out than your projects. So the serger, the steam press, the sewing machine - whatever tools you have. I'd make room for those and find tubs to put the projects in. You can only work on one of them (or two or three) at a time, so put the rest away to prevent them from distracting you. 

That's what I've done, and I'm shocked at how much it has changed the way I work. Yes, I still have Mount Projects in the room, but it's easy to ignore because it's out of the way. I have space to work, and it's fabulous!!!!

Well, it's another day to progress on the sewing stuff, so I'd better get started! Remember to check out the classes above, and if you have questions, let me know. 

Have a super day!!! 

Ciao!!!