When the world of puzzles and quilting collide!

Ah -- the weather! Yes -- it's pretty amazing how different the weather can be, even in nearby locations. Those different weather conditions have given our sewing group a chuckle from time to time. Because we all live in different locations but are somewhat close to each other, we can forecast what is coming to the others! It's especially neat during a thunderstorm! OK -- that's when we are on a call. 

Most of our snow disappeared yesterday, even though it was only zero. The sun was out for a bit, and that sun is mighty powerful! One had to be mindful of the somewhat icy sidewalks yesterday, but it was manageable. Today it should be dry. But I'm always watchful! 

I had loads of fun in Studio B yesterday. I accomplished a lot, but can't share anything with you yet. As I work on those half-square triangles, some of them are too large for what I want. So those ones get turned into hourglass blocks. I have a collection of hourglass blocks in various sizes. 

Making hourglass blocks from scraps

I was asked yesterday what I am going to do with all those half-square triangles. Well, I made an hourglass quilt from one set of hourglass blocks. It went into the A Needle Pulling Thread magazine a couple of issues ago. It's from Issue 69 - Scrappy and Spectacular. Here is the Table of Contents—I'll let you find the quilt. 

Can you spot the scrappy hourglass quilt?

My goal for the half-square triangles is to make a scrappy quilt, or several, when I get around to it. I want to get the pieces under control (seriously???) before I start sewing the units together. You have to keep in mind that I prefer to sew little bits together rather than sew with yardage. I'm thrilled to rescue something or pull it apart and remake it, rather than start something new. And I always joke that when I need to downsize my sewing space, those units don't take up much room and will provide hours, days, and weeks of entertainment. 

The other thing to keep in mind is that I don't sew for the end product. I have way too many quilts and am working to get rid of them, but my LOVE is the process of sewing. I don't care what I make, as long as I make! 

Speaking of which, I'm trying to find a particular small quilt. I don't think I gave it away, but I couldn't find it yesterday. But it makes me realize that it's time for a tidy-up. The quilts are strewn in multiple places, and I need to take some action. Perhaps I'll schedule 15 minutes or so a day to start sorting. 

It's so nice to have so much free time! Seriously? I actually have time not to freak out or get stressed. It's just too unreal! But I'm not complaining. I love it, and I made good progress on prepping for the classes next weekend. I might as well get it done rather than rushing on the day before, which was always the case, and then the homework never got completed. I'm in good shape, except that I took a presser foot off the machine that I was using and set it aside. And now I can't find it! Of course!! I'm hoping it'll jump right out at me when I get down there later today. 

I was going to take that GREEN jigsaw puzzle with me when I went to my parents, but I've decided to hang on to it and swap it with a friend who has the blue and red ones. I have the green and orange, so we can swap (not for keeps) two for two. That leaves me to track down the remaining three colors - purple, yellow, and pink. I may have to break down and buy those. Finding them at the thrift store is unlikely, but you never know. 

In the meantime, I have loads of puzzles to work on, so I do not need anything new. I had pulled out a 1000-piece puzzle to take with me, but then decided to swap it for this one. 

My new puzzle

I thought the guy might appreciate the tool puzzle more than the butterflies and birds that I had originally dug out! There is a green elastic band on that box!!! 

Thank goodness for quilt mini design boards, although the bottom two are 18" square. The puzzle pieces are larger than they were for the green puzzle, and I wasn't careful when placing them down. I required FIVE boards. Thankfully, I still have two more, and they are currently in use as I work on my project for next weekend. 

The pieces are laid out.

As I moved the pieces to the boards, I pulled out all the border pieces. That doesn't seem like enough pieces to make the border of this puzzle. 

The border pieces

However, shortly thereafter, the border was together, but MISSING two pieces. 

It's funny how that happens. You have to touch EACH piece to place it on the boards, and you would think you would see all the border pieces, but nope!! It happens every time. At least these pieces are more regular than the last one, but a lot is going on in this puzzle. I started by pulling most of the red pieces and working on those. There are a few more to pull tonight, and I'll work on all things red. Then onto the next color or item. But it's covered for the day. And see -- it only takes the end of a banquet table to work. I LOVE using those design boards as you don't need a large space to spread out. 

I have one of those puzzle roll things, but I might give it away - anyone want one? I've never used it, and now, based on this setup, I don't think I will either. And I certainly will never use the sorting trays -- that's a waste of time as far as I'm concerned. A few sheets of foam core from the dollar store and some inexpensive felt from Fabricland, and VOILA -- design boards. Well, I already had them because I use them for quilting all the time. 

I finished reading the romance book yesterday. I see there is a new genre called MM Romance. MM meaning man with man. Now I'm that much smarter! Still reading the other two books. That paranormal one is just weird. But then I guess that's how that genre works. I started a new audiobook, which is interesting, but all books are interesting. You just need to open your mind and realize that the world beyond my doorstep is very different. 

The book is called Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese. A story that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover! How will the ragtag group of people cope with a big lotto win? I honestly wonder where I get all the recommendations from. This didn't come from my usual sources. 

I see Margareta Magnusson has passed. She wrote the book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. I believe I read that book, but it might be time to reread it. Although I am doing very well, thank you very much!!! It might be as slow as one folder a day, or even a couple of pieces of paper each day, but I am definitely well on my way to cleaning up the mess. She wrote another book - the Swedish Art of Aging Well. I might have to get that one, although I think I'm doing pretty well and in better physical shape now than I was one year ago! 

The biggest issue is letting go, and I'm there. Remember, the point is not to get rid of everything, but to get rid of the things you no longer want/use or need. There is no sense in leaving it for your children to clean up the mess. That is just wrong. I'm still actively sewing, and I'm not ready or need to get rid of that stuff yet. But the time will come, and then I'll be very much ready to deal with it. But the rest of the stuff? I'm happy to part with it, but in my way. 

And lastly, here is a picture of the girls hanging out with Dad. They just won't sleep close together, but close enough! 

The girls have some downtime.

I think I forgot to mention that Microsoft called me last week and is still monitoring the situation. Everything seems fine, and  I need to take one more look at Outlook Classic to see what else I have questions about. The support person is very patient, and I suspect they are using me to collect data. No need to check into my computer, but just to see what the heck is going on, as I'm sure they have tons of issues with people as they migrate to Windows 11. We have another call scheduled for Monday. 

And on that note, I'm out of here. I have the UFO Club this morning, and everything is ready to go!!! Then I have a "free" afternoon, which means I'll likely be sewing and then reading after dinner. WAIT -- I have a few puzzle pieces to put in as well!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Let your gut instinct be your quilting teacher and don't forget to experiment!

Goals are such a wonderful thing or not! I'm using BMI as a relative indicator, rather than fixating on my weight. Let's just say that I want to convert some fat to muscle or lose it altogether. While I can use my waistband as an indicator, I prefer to use BMI. I like goal-setting and numbers. 

The big reason for this is the creep! You know— you know your weight was X ten years ago, and now it's X PLUS. I don't like the plus, but I also know that I might gain as I get older, but there's reason to! 

My annual creep is about 1.5 pounds over the last 7 years. Not a big deal, but imagine if I let that continue? I do NOT, so I'm taking charge! The bottom line is that we have to find something to guide us if we wish to go down that path! 

And I might add that I've seen some very healthy and fit "overweight" people! 

The good news for yesterday was that I got my sewing mojo back! Yeah! And I finished quilting a quilt, but you need to wait a couple of days before I can share it with you. 

I finally accomplished the three things on my priority list, and I've started a new list. Let's see how far I get today. But that visual "to-do" stares at me every day and dares me to let it go unnoticed. 

Not to worry, I'm working very hard on my goals, and well, I'll be able to share more after this weekend. 

I set up the old computer in the kitchen, where there is loads of clear space, and I deactivated EQ8. I was able to use my distribution lists, and all is good. Except that I need to get those lists on the new computer. Not my priority this weekend. 

The old computer in the kitchen

 Then I got out the EQ8 package to access my license and password, and reactivated it on the new computer. That was easy, since I knew exactly where the box with the information was, and it didn't take long. Yeah!!!! When one is organized, it can sure make life that much easier! I need to do more, but I'm already miles ahead of where I was, and I can't get lax now! I still have to download the Creativate Embroidery Software, but I think that's it. I have very simple needs, and NO files reside on my computer's hard drive. 

My EQ8 box

I managed to get a few more half-square triangles sewn and trimmed. 

More half-square triangles

I will say that making your space inviting to work makes it a whole lot easier to work there. Look at this tray of triangles. 

My tray of triangles

When it was a jumbled mess in a drawer, I never touched it, except to add to the mess. NOW? I keep that tray organized, and if I add to it, then I sort the triangles by color. Then I match up two sets and place them on the sewing machine. Then it's easy to sew and trim. And before I know it, I'll be digging out one of the boxes of triangles that I have stored away. We are not going there!!

Enders and leaders - ready to sew

This morning, I needed to find some yellow batik. Hmm -- I have two boxes and two baskets of batik fabric. I don't store these by color as I don't have space. But imagine that I found four or five choices in the top basket. It's obscene how much fabric is there, but it's also nice to find exactly what I want, when I want. OK - so that one looks green! 

The yellow batiks I found

And here's the basket they were sitting in. 

A basket of batiks

Here's something I promised a couple of days back, but I needed to find it. I often get asked about thread colors and thread weights. So what do I do? I experiment! I made these samples a while back. By the way, I had used these for a presentation, and they did NOT get put back in the correct spot. They were in the dumping ground that I call Studio U. They are NOW in the right place. They were all quilted on the long arm. 

On this sample, I used a regular weight (probably a 50-weight matte polyester thread) on the top that matches the fabric color. See how it all blends in, and you see the texture, but not really the stitching. 

Quilting thread matches the fabric

Now look at this one. I used the same thread weight but in a high-contrast color. It's pretty visible and that's the first thing you see - the stitching, which is probably not the most important thing on a quilt. 

High contrast thread

So let's suppose you have a quilt with light and dark elements. A light background, but black for some of the blocks. What color thread will you use so that it doesn't jar you when you look at it? If you choose a dark thread, it'll show like mad on the lighter bits and disappear into the dark fabric. The same if you choose a light thread, it'll show like mad on the darker bits, and disappear into the lighter fabric. 

What should you do? 

Well, look at this sample. This is quilted with the SAME color as the previous example. But what's the difference? 

Sample quilted with white thread

The difference? The thread weight!! Yes -- this is a 60-weight bobbin thread, and while visible, it's not in your face. Also, picking a medium neutral color - khaki, tan, taupe, beige, all work well and will blend into almost any color you have and allow you to see the quilt, not the quilting!!

I wrote an article about it in Issue 64 (The Texture Issue) of A Needle Pulling Thread. 

By the way, did you know that you can purchase individual patterns that I've written for the magazine? Yep --- check this link out. 

Oh dear—where are my pictures this morning? I sent them to myself a bit late, and they are taking forever to sync. Now what's going on? Well, obviously, the pictures came through - I don't know what happened, but when I went to move them to today's folder, which already had some images I hadn't used over the last couple of days, I proceeded to delete the entire folder. Sigh..............  I had highlighted the incorrect folder and selected DELETE. GONE - POOF - just like that! So, those pictures I hadn't used yet? They are gone! 

Poor Murphy - she is having lots of bad hair days! Look at the top of her head! 

Mom - I've got a fuzzy head! 

But then, she was outside in the wind, and everything was blowing like mad. She doesn't care! She's just like me!!!! She was pretty insistent when the wind blew the BBQ cover off. She wouldn't stop barking until I fixed it! Good girl Murphy!!!

MOM - I like the fresh breeze!

But the big question of the day is what is happening to Miss Lexi? While I doubt she will ever do the stairs, she is becoming much more curious about what's downstairs. Why? She'll stand at the top of the stairs and peer down, where, before, she wouldn't go near them. And she will stand in front of the dog bed in the front window, but have no interest in jumping up. Yesterday, I invited her to jump up, and she did! WAIT!!!!! Get the camera!!! So we had a little cuddle to show her it was OK to be there, and then she even stayed while I went to find my camera!

MOM -- Look, I'm up, and Murphy is down!

After yesterday's weather, our snow is almost gone, except for the piles at the bottom sides of the driveway. It was 15 degrees C at one point, very windy, and, let's say, one didn't need hats, mitts, or even jackets for walking! It's cooler today, but still above zero! What's this all about? It almost felt like spring. 

And here is the final post from this past week for QUILTsocial. Another small project that started with a button. I know I'm repeating what I said in the article, but I LOVE working on these small pieces. They can teach so much - let your hands do the work and let your brain take a rest. Make a background, and then play with anything on the quilt. Move things around - what do you like, what do you not like? How are you going to attach those items? What about color? We all have many doodads around the house that we can use to experiment with. 

The day I allowed myself to start these kinds of projects is the day I let my creativity out of the box and run wild. Yes, you can learn that from making a quilt, but it's much harder. I'm lazy and go for the small projects that let you learn quickly. And if you don't like something, guess what? You haven't wasted much time or fabric. 

So the next time you want to take a class to learn something new, why not let your hands and gut instinct be the teacher? If the project is hideous—oh, did I mention you need to check your ego outside your sewing space ?—then it's hideous. Who cares!!!! That's your opinion, but I bet someone else would love it!

Well, on that note, I'm fired up and have nothing on the agenda today but to work towards my sewing and embroidery goals! The presentations for tomorrow are mostly done - just waiting on any more pictures to add. They have until 6 AM tomorrow morning to send them to me. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!!

It's Christmas!!!! While we don't do a lot for Christmas these days because it's just the two of us, we still have traditions! They are just different. Like all of you, I have so many Christmas memories, but one in particular that I'm sure my parents will never forget. 

I was pretty young and was fast asleep in my bed when something woke me up. Likely, my mom was putting out the presents. I sprang from my bed and ran into the living room, shouting, "he's here, he's here!" Yep -- I thought Santa had arrived and I wanted to meet him. 

Sadly, I was told that Santa had not yet arrived, and somehow I managed to go back to bed and fall asleep! 

With M, our bedtime story on Christmas Eve was reading The Night Before Christmas. It's the same book we read as kids on the farm. The poor book is falling apart, but I still have it! I sent her a text last night as she celebrated with her adopted family! 

DH made onion soup (and croutons) from scratch last night, so we ate like kings and queens. Only once yesterday, and I don't even know what made me think of it, did I think of all the Christmas candy and cookies that I have eaten over the years. Did I miss it? For about 10 seconds, and then I was over that and thinking about something else. 

Christmas doesn't have to be all fuss or over-the-top. Christmas is about spending time together, chatting with loved ones, and doing something that you enjoy! It's about PRESENCE, not presents! And that's what happens in our house!

I decided to tackle the jigsaw puzzle in the morning, when I can open the blinds and let in some natural light without the sun glaring on the pieces. This is what it looked like after my morning session. Santa is starting to take form. 

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

Then after I walked to the grocery store (again!), I ate my snack and worked on the puzzle instead of reading. Oh my --- the natural light sure makes a difference, especially for this puzzle. It's still NOT an easy puzzle as each piece appears to be a completely different shape. And you can't just identify a shape and find a piece to match, because sometimes, that opening requires two shapes to fill it! But I"m making good progress and I think I'll tackle it again this morning after I walk the girls. 

Even more progress

Last night, we decided that we NEEDED to complete that EXIT Game that has been languishing on the table for weeks. We were basically stuck on a puzzle, so we decided to look at the clues. There are three clues for each puzzle, and we had figured out everything they mentioned in Clues One and Two. But when we got to Clue Three with the answer, we still had no clue how they got to that answer. NONE!!

The current EXIT Game

There is a guy in the UK (I think) who films all the puzzles while he and someone else solve them. So I looked up the episode. Hmmm --- Just a random thought got them to the answer. But I wonder how much of the film is edited out. How long did it really take for them to come up with that? These games have 10 puzzles, and we were totally stumped on TWO of them. But it's done and will get passed along. 

Now the big question is - will we start another one right away? 

Yesterday, we had a Virtual Retreat, and some of us stayed until 3 PM. What a great way to spend time with friends, even if they just popped in to say Hi. It's such a great way to stay connected, and it kept me motivated to do a mindless job. 

Oh shoot—I forgot to take a picture of the quilt I was working on. Well, you'll have to wait until I get more work done on it. But I had a lot of flying geese to make. I calculated the square sizes for the no-waste method and cut a bunch of squares. But only after I did a sample to make sure they would be the correct size. 

I hadn't really paid attention to how many squares I had cut, and so I was hoping that when I finished all these, I would have enough. I think this is where I ended last night. 

Making flying geese at the Virtual Retreat

And this is how many I was able to finish with what I had cut. I was short by ten units. 

96 flying geese units

Well, I'm sure slacking on taking photos this morning. I did get all 106 made! Yeah!!! But then I realized this quilt has FOUR borders! Well, the worst one is the flying geese one, and I've made tremendous progress on it! I can't work too fast - this is on the list of things to complete in 2026, and I can't possibly finish it BEFORE! 

I see my large spool of thread is almost finished! Time to dig out a new one. There are no worries: the bucket of neutral thread contains multiple spools of thread from various brands, so it's no big deal to get a new spool started. But I haven't run out yet!!

Going to need a new spool of thread

As I was working yesterday and this morning, I'm planning and prepping the next small project to write about. And I needed some buttons. Actually, during our Monday Sewing, someone asked if anyone had anything suitable for a snowman's nose. WAIT -- I have buttons. Well, when I dug out my extensive button collection (of course - it's extensive - I used to buy a lot of buttons), I found FOUR bags of snowman nose buttons. I sold one bag to the person who needed the noses, leaving three left. 

Part of the button collection

Well, imagine my surprise when I dug back through the button boxes this morning for different types of buttons and found ONE more package! Good grief - I'll never have to buy button noses again! 

FOUR packs of buttons, after selling one! 

So if you're ever looking for a random button, ask, because I might just have one I can spare~ I am NOT actively getting rid of the buttons, so don't ask if you don't need one! 

I picked up the mail yesterday and got my copy of A Needle Pulling Thread. I've been preparing a project for them for quite some time. This is the current issue - Number 71.

A Needle Pulling Thread

The theme for that issue was to remake one of our previous projects. Someone had suggested a quilt that I had made, and I was all excited, but for some reason, no inspiration came to mind. It just wasn't going to happen. So I rethought the project and picked this one instead. A fabric tub made from recycled wool that came from Eaton's!!!

My first idea from Issue 50

I kept with the recycled theme, but this time I used denim. And instead of making a fabric tub, I made a fabric BOX!!! 

My fabric box

The tub had machine applique on it, the box had machine embroidery - a technique called FRINGE Embroidery. I LOVE the box - it's so bright and cheery and perfect to put stuff in that sits on the sewing or cutting table. I hope to swap the tray with the half-square triangles and such for the box when it arrives back home. 

I love being able to create ANYTHING that I want. And this had some tricky spots, but I McGivered it to work, and I show you how in the magazine article. If you don't want to purchase the magazine (in Chapters/Indigo, or online), you can also just buy the pattern. And if you don't have an embroidery machine, why not embellish the box with hand embroidery, applique, or whatever you wish? But the box is very sturdy, and it's gorgeous!!!!

It's the time of year when every service you use is sending you a recap of the year. I got this from WeTransfer, which I use to transfer large files. I'm not done with all my transfers yet this year, and there's still a week, but here's what they sent in the recap. 

Of course, there's the total amount of GB, which is quite a bit, I suppose. 

Total amount of data moved

Which, I guess, it is, when you see it broken down like this! 

HMMM -- now that I can relate to!

But this is the one that gets me. I use the free version of WeTransfer and don't think I send many files. But they make me feel important by saying I'm in the top 5% of users. Hmmm --- is that for real, or is that a marketing gimmick to make me feel like I should buy a subscription to the service? 

Am I really in the top ten?

Oh well, I'll never know! 

OH -- the good news, I found a CANADIAN company that I can purchase the KAM snaps from! It's incredible how much I can learn by asking questions at the Virtual Retreats!! Someone out there knows the answer to everything! 

Remember, we have a Virtual Retreat on Saturday, December 27th, starting at 6 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82693702241?pwd=QpQkm8Ppppy1XwCPOqva1bcgJCWKdP.1

Meeting ID: 826 9370 2241
Passcode: 795071

And on Sunday, December 28th, starting at 3 PM. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81073536036?pwd=uxRqMnK1aSKrmrcSO78w8QQs5g44eA.1

Meeting ID: 810 7353 6036
Passcode: 596838

And on that note - enjoy your Christmas Day, whether you are with family or friends, or choose to spend a quiet day at home. Eat cookies and chocolate today! I'm going to the movies, mainly for the popcorn! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!

What makes you happy?

I had a GREAT day. What's more important is knowing what makes me happy and what doesn't. The trick is having fewer moments that make me unhappy and more that make me happy!

What makes me happy? Well, it's finishing things and then having the time to tidy up before moving to the next project! I love tidying up! What drives me mad is when I can only complete something as much as necessary, and then I have to move on to the next without finishing the first thing. Oh my—that never bothered me, but it bothers me a lot these days! 

When you have too many things on your plate, it's very challenging to complete them! So yesterday, I got to do everything that makes me happy! I didn't need to start the next item immediately; however, I have THREE classes this weekend, which all require prep. So that's on the agenda today and tomorrow! 

My main priority yesterday was to finish and submit my Cherrywood challenge. I decided it needed to be quilted on the long arm, but before I could do that, I had to quilt the community project quilt that was loaded. So that got done! 

Quilt for community projects - DONE

Then, when I came upstairs for lunch, the scissors attached to my magnetic scissor holder fell off, and my brain registered that, but only the fall, not the location. And for whatever reason, I was in a hurry and didn't pick them up! Only later, when I needed them, I traced my steps and memory bank and found them on the floor under the kitchen table. You have to question your sanity at moments like that and wonder what I was doing that was so important that I couldn't bend down to get these scissors. 

My "lost" scissors

I received an email in the morning reminding me that the Cherrywood challenge was due in 24 hours. There was no pressure! But at that point, I only had to bind the quilt, take pictures, and submit it. 

Tick tock!

After trimming the quilt, I made and attached the binding to the front. Then, I went into the backyard and handstitched it in place. YES—I'm hand-stitching a binding! 

The hand-stitched binding

I had to stitch that binding in place, take and edit the pictures, and write the artist statement, and I still had twenty hours remaining. It was as easy as pie! Why do I leave everything until nearly the last minute?  

More than enough time before the deadline

Of course, I had to pay to submit my piece, but I knew that. Over the years, there have been ten Cherrywood challenges: Wicked, The Lion King, Van Gogh, Prince, Bob Ross, Diana, Graffiti, Monark, Poppy, and Abyss. I may or may not have those in the correct order. 

I have worked on five of them - Van Gogh (not accepted), Prince (not finished), Bob Ross and Diana (both accepted into the traveling show), and the Abyss (waiting to see what happens). 

If it gets in, that's a bonus. If it doesn't, I love the piece, and I'll share all my pieces with you once I hear the fate of this one. I don't know when we'll hear back, but I suspect it'll be at least a month. 

Then I got to work on something else—this part makes me super happy! Well, I was already happy that the challenge was over. I love working on challenges, and this is my second one this year. If you go to Quilt Canada, check out the Trendtex Challenge quilts. 

Anyway, I got the binding stitched to one of my quilts. It went on the back. 

Finishing the first round of stitching for the binding

Guess what? I actually got a chance to stitch it to the front as well. Yeah me!!!! While I know the corners need to be hand-stitched in place, I'm not good at doing that. So I've prepped the necessary supplies to do this, and it's on the kitchen table. This afternoon, I'll stitch those down in the gazebo. 

Binding stitched to the front!

And one more spool of thread is gone! 

An empty spool of thread

Now for the tidying part. After completing those two items, stuff that needed to be put away was hanging around. I dumped it all on the cutting table. Almost all of it was put away, so I did a bad thing and put a few more things on the table. This makes me happy, and if I can squeeze in a few more moments like that, things will be great. 

The next items that need to be put away

This brings me back to the question of cutting back and potentially retiring, which I can't do yet. Part of me fears that I'll become a slug when I retire and nothing will get done, although I can't see that happening; it could. But the other thing is that so many people say they are busier now than when they worked. OK -- so what are you busy with, and do you need to do it? I refuse to take on anything else, because saying yes gets me into trouble. 

Will I volunteer? Nope—I've done my time—years and years—and I'm done with the pettiness of committees, etc. I will volunteer by quilting the quilt tops made by Diane, finishing them, and donating them to various causes. I will donate my time and money in a way that will make me happy and allow me to clean up my place! It works for me!

I've talked about change lots and how I don't like change. Well, I went to the grocery store yesterday and one of the items on the list was soup! I gave the labels a cursory glance, grabbed two cans, and threw them in my bag. It was only when I got home and was putting them on the shelf that I realized I did NOT buy the right ones! I am NOT taking them back - I'll manage just fine with these, and next time I'd better pay closer attention. However, the one I want is always on the far right, but maybe not!

OH dear - wrong soup flavor!

It's like Lexi. I gave her a treat yesterday, and she ran to her favorite mat to eat it! 

MOM - this is my spot to eat treats

I got the most recent issue of A Needle Pulling Thread, Number 69, which was all about scrappy, one of my favorite topics! Remember, you don't have to buy the entire magazine. Go to the link and browse the pages. Then, if you see a pattern you like, you can purchase it separately! 

Issue 69 of A Needle Pulling Thread

Here's a picture of my quilt. It is definitely scrappy and a good trip down memory lane. I won't tell you what scraps I used to make that quilt - you'll have to get a copy and read it for yourself!!

My scrappy quilt

You can buy a digital copy or find it at Indigo. 

Murphy just loves to entertain. I take some of her toys, particularly her pink squeaky ball, wrap them in several blankets, and then leave them in her dog bed. When she needs to be entertained, she tries to find the ball. It's hilarious; she mostly does it when I sit at the kitchen table. 

MOM - I know my ball is in here! 

I put the pink ball inside this hollow stuffie to challenge her even more. She found the ball, but how will she get it from the stuffie? She puzzled over that one, then shook the toy, and the ball flew. It was hilarious!!! Murphy! You are a clever girl! 

MOM - My ball is in this toy!

Then it was time to test out the new tap. I think I mentioned that the other tap, which is in a ridiculous place, had burst once again over the winter, and so while the crew came to set up the pump and everything, they couldn't put water in the pond. So we had someone come and install a new tap, and I've needed to fill the pond for a couple of weeks now, but I just didn't get a chance. I had time - it just wasn't a priority. But the water level was getting so low that it became urgent. It took almost 30 minutes to top the pond up! The new FROST FREE tap works fine, except we need to figure out how to handle the gate issue. More on that another day. 

Filling the pond

Then I plugged the pump in and voila - water falls! 

The waterfalls are back!

Of course, Murphy was in there quicker than I could say anything to check it out. 

MOM - What's this? 

I swear she loves to live dangerously. She doesn't climb onto the rocks without the waterfalls. Why not? Because she can't get messy, that's why!

MOM -- there's water here! 

I had some extra time last night, so I spent it weeding and performing other backyard tidy-up duties. Of course, Murphy was there to help me. 

MOM - I'm helping

Does she not realize that those are flowers she is lying on? I cleared a few sections and must work on the other side of the path. It shouldn't take too long, but I must remove all the dead leaves to add more mulch. I hope to do that this weekend. 

Making progress on the weeds

My back isn't used to bending over like that to weed! All is good. My leg/glut is feeling pretty good these days. I watched a video to see what exactly this is all about, and well, I can see what happened. Overuse, tight muscles, and voila—a recipe for disaster! So I'm continuing to take it easy, and it's all working out great. 

Well, there is paperwork on the agenda today, as I have TWO events that require coordination with other people and one event that requires samples to be made! After those three, the calendar is pretty wide open until September, and it's going to stay that way!

Well, it's time to get the day started! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!