The brain works in mysterious ways!

Hopefully, some of you visited the Libby app to check if your local library has quilt magazines. We've had them for quite a while, but I like the paper copy. However, I'm going to change my mindset on that. Besides, Libby will alert me when a new issue comes up. It's all very civilized, but we all know that change is challenging, and I must let myself go with the flow! 

If Libby doesn't have them, check if your library has Hoopla. Often, magazines are also available from that app. Digital has many advantages, and it's time I moved into the 21st century! 

I finished reading the first publication and moved on to the next, and yes, it is also a quarterly publication now. It saves money, but it wouldn't surprise me if some publications go by the wayside! or they become digital only. So many things that we know are having to reinvent themselves. I shall chat about movies another day. 

As I put my list of $10 quilts into a spreadsheet - WAIT - I never told you how many were on the list. I thought about that after I logged off the blog, and no one guessed. Well, the number is SEVENTY!!!! Actually, it's 73, but some of those quilts were taught twice. That's an awful lot of quilts. Now, how many of the 70 are complete? Well, my finish rate is pretty low! I'm not going there at this time. 

But as I was putting the list together, I remembered all the students in the various classes. I've no idea how many people there were, but there have been loads in the classes over the years. I was trying to remember one person in particular, but her name escaped me. The face and which store were clearly in my head, but not her name. 

Last night, something EXTREMELY weird happened. I looked at Facebook, and her profile popped up on the screen. Now - we all say that our phones or our smart devices in the house are listening. And that's possible. EXCEPT - I never breathed a word about this person out loud! I never even vocalized that I was trying to remember her name. That's a voodoo moment, to be sure!

In looking at the current issue of these magazines, I spotted a new ruler brand and rotary cutter called TrueCut by The Grace Company. 

My Comfort Cutter

Not that I'm about to change, as I'm not good with change (LOL!), but I'm curious if people like these weird-looking rotary cutters? Has anyone tried the TrueCut rulers? Apparently, there is a groove along the ruler's side that the cutter fits into to prevent slipping. I don't know - just reading about it in the magazine. 

Now, here's something else extremely freaky. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I was "desperately" trying to find that little glass bowl with sequins? I looked everywhere, and it wasn't to be found. 

This morning, I walked over to the buffet in the office, and OH MY GOSH!!! The little dish was sitting right there. 

The little dish of sequins

It's in a plastic bag so the sequins don't spill, and there were other sequins with it. Can you tell me why that is sitting on the buffet? And it's on top of some books I had pulled a couple of months ago from the bookshelf. How many times have I walked past that and never noticed it? Why did it jump out at me this morning? 

Just beside it is a bag of used books I want to return to the used bookstore. I put two books in there yesterday and NEVER saw that little bag of sequins, but this morning, when I put a third book in the bag, the bowl of sequins jumped out! Can you tell me why that happened? 

To top it off, the other day, I wanted to buy a Trendtex Challenge kit from the Canadian Quilter's Association, but I found out my membership had lapsed. WHAT? I'm always on the ball for that. Well, it turns out that I got the renewal form but never followed up on it. Why? because it got thrown back onto the table in the office, and something got piled on top of it. 

That's the biggest pitfall here, and that's why excess paper is piled everywhere. I don't have time, or I need the room. Papers get shifted, and deadlines are missed. I found the paper while looking for the second half of that list of quilts! 

All is good - I renewed my membership and ordered the Trendtex Challenge kit. But seriously?? I need to get a bit more organized. I'm doing great, but stuff still needs to be done, mainly in this office. By the way - the Trendtex Challenge is currently only available to members. 

Yes, I had all kinds of intentions when I was away to go through my closets and the office. I'm struggling just to get some sewing done. I'm getting better, but this office needs some work! 

I still have THREE emails that I need to send out for classes. One got done yesterday. There isn't an immediate rush, as the classes don't start for a couple of weeks, but I know people get anxious, so I'd better do that soon. 

Now, I had better find a safe place for that little container of sequins so I can find it next time I need it. Sheesh—how could I miss seeing that container?

I had pulled out M's box of Christmas ornaments and was going to take pictures, as I thought they might like to have them now that they are in their apartment. Look what I found! An origami John Deere tractor. I have no idea where we bought that! 

Origami tractor

Now, here's a very frustrating thing about my child. When I was at her house, she was surveying her stuff and made a comment that irked me. When she left home, she packed her car full of stuff and drove across the country. She remarked that out of all the stuff that she had in the car, almost all of it was gone. She's sold or given it away. 

So why is she still so attached and unable to get rid of anything in the 20 boxes and closet full of clothes in our house? It's a control thing—I absolutely know that. 

She couldn't decide if she wanted the ornaments, so I put them all back in the box, which will go back in the closet. I was so close to getting rid of another box. 

It's just annoying and very frustrating. DH says I need to pitch it all, which I'd be happy to do, but I will give her ONE more chance, and then it will all go. 

Speaking of getting rid of stuff, our third dog is an outside dog and lives in the forest! OK -- so not a dog, but enough dog hair to make a third dog! I'm still getting three huge brushfuls of hair off Lexi every day! I would say that I've her looking somewhat spiffy, but it lasts about an hour, and then her hair starts clumping again. Sigh...

Our third "dog"

I wasn't happy about how some of that fusible tricot was sticking to the T-shirts, so I used my steam press. And guess what? That fusible tricot isn't going anywhere! It's on permanently now. Have I said how much I love that steam press? It's the best!! I used a press cloth (a piece of muslin) to protect the rubbery stuff on the T-shirts. It worked like a charm. 

Using the steam press

One more quilt was trimmed, and the binding was made for it. Now, there are four items that need the binding sewn on. I'd better get myself organized to do that, but not today, as I have a meeting. 

One more quilt to bind

I was working on a customer quilt yesterday, and I was almost done. The bobbin had run out with half a row to go. That's no problem to fix, but the top thread kept breaking. Now, why is that? I changed needles, turned the needle slightly, rethreaded the top and bobbin, and still, nothing. Of course, I was frustrated! 

Almost done and the bobbin runs out

The quilt design is a spider web, and I like to use invisible thread for that. I have this massive spool (it's about 12 inches tall). OH MY—look what happened!!!!!! 

My massive spool of invisible thread

I think the internal structure has disintegrated. After fixing the spool, I was able to fix the row. However, I'm using it on a second quilt, and I'm halfway through it and running into issues again. I rarely leave a quilt on the machine overnight, but I did last night. 

However, here is the first Halloween quilt for a customer. It's trimmed and will be dropped off this morning. 

Customer quilt

I'll deal with the second one tonight. 

And that's enough freaky stuff happening in my day! Yes -- I still think listing all the lost things in the house is a good idea. It would make me feel good that there should be fewer and fewer things on the list. 

Well, I'm off for the day. 

Have a super day! I hope that something you do today will trigger a memory or help you find a lost thing!

Ciao!!!