It's all about Ronda!!!

From time to time, Ronda pops over for a sewing day. Don't worry - she does ask before she comes. We each sew on our own projects just like a sit n sew. If anyone else wants to come, you can ask and if I'm free, you're welcome to come. But yesterday? Well - it was definitely all about Ronda!

We started off with a couple of machine embroidery designs that we were going to make into mug rugs. Unfortunately, there was a wee problem with the embroidery designs when we went to add the second thread color so they didn't get finished. GRRR. Now I have to follow up with the company we purchased the designs from and see what the scoop is on these.

Then she pulled out these panels. She had told me about the panels last week so I did a wee bit of research before she came. I was so excited about the quilting design that I found that I threw them on the long arm and the panels got quilted! That wasn't in the plan for the day or the week and there wasn't anything on the long arm!

Quilting a Star Wars panel

See that emblem in the border? Apparently, that's the symbol for The Force - the good guys in Star Wars. 

The symbol for The Force

 And in my research, I had found that symbol. Of course, I didn't know what it was!!!  Of course! So we bought the pattern and downloaded it. Now I didn't get the proportion quite the same as the original. I should mess around with that to see if I can get it closer to the right proportion. Too late for Ronda's panels!!

The Force symbol quilted on the panel

The panels were BOTH 36 by 43. Yep - you know where that is going. However, I got some strips of fabric and made her serge them to all sides of the back panel and then it was easy to quilt. A wee bit of one of the panels got trimmed away as it's not easy to get them exactly centered. No one will know.

Here's the GOOD side of the panel quilt.

The GOOD side of the panel quilt

And this is what's on the back!!! 

The BAD side of the panel quilt

Everything went smoothly with the quilting, except for one spot where I hit "go to the next row" button when in fact the thread had run out. However, I was able to go back and fix it. I'm getting somewhat competent in the basics of the computerized long arm.

While I'm running around quilting her panels, she's working on this other panel. A hockey panel. She started out with the panel and some fat quarters. A wee bit of thinking for her and me, we came up with this. But of course, after she got the round with the squares on, what to put on next? I dug through my Northcott stash and found a nice blue that matches perfectly. There is no more of that blue so don't ask!

Ronda's hockey quilt - it's still a work in progress

Then she bought a purple basket from me and shopped in my stash of rope bowl making materials. We never did get to the "urgent" embroidery project that we were supposed to work on.

You see what I mean - it really was a day all about Ronda!!! But it was fun! And I'm happy to report that I did get some stuff done for me!! Matter of fact, I crossed off 6 of 14 items on my weekly task list.

I got the backing for Misty Pines assembled.

The backing for Misty Pines

I also had on my list to make the facing, but it would make a lot of sense to use the leftovers of the backing once the quilt is done to make the facings. So that task will wait until the quilt is quilted. I've started a list called "to be quilted" and this is the first item for 2019 that was added to the list. I hope to keep track of what gets taken off that list as well. Hopefully, the finished list will be longer than the new ones that get added. 

This is what remains of the Misty Pines fabric. A wee bit of yardage and a bag of leftovers. I'll put those away later today. And that's one UFO from 2018 that's done!!!!  I know - it should be quilted to be done, but that's not how I roll. My justification is that someone could take this quilt and have it quilted by someone or themselves and the quilt will actually get used. If someone found it in the mess it was when I started - well, no one would want to sort that out. So a quilt top, backing, and binding is considered DONE for my UFOs.

Leftovers from Misty Pines

 I got even more stuff done!  I got the backings ready for two quilts. Both of them were huge so that was great. My goal is to get these two quilted this week. One is custom and one is not.

Backings for two quilts

I got three more blocks embroidered for Jingle all the Way. I forgot to take a picture of them. NO time to get one now.

And I managed to get my first finish for the year!!!  I got the binding and the sleeve on Audra's quilt. It's done and now all of them are ready for pickup. I must get in touch with her daughter and make that happen.

Customer quilt - DONE

This is now on my list of finished items for the year. I've left room in the notebook for 100 finishes. So optimistic. The picture is in a separate folder so hopefully, at the end of the year, I'll be able to see all my finishes in picture form. Now to remember all that!!!!

Having a banana smoothie this morning. It's very good and it's the kind of thing that I don't drink fast so it lasts a long time. I had no problem yesterday with sugar cravings and I didn't eat just for the sake of eating. I am "cheating" and finishing up the last of my yogurt which isn't that bad and then all the forbidden food will be gone. And those veggies and hummus made a great snack yesterday afternoon. Got to remember to drink LOTS of water as well.

That's it for today!!  I'm off to sew at Monday sewing with NO sewing machine. I have got a LOT of handwork/prep to finish off a couple of the UFOs for 2018. Might as well get started on that or it'll never get finished.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

It's a new day...........

Today is my last day to eat unhealthily. Oh yes - I paid the price for eating bad over the holidays. I stepped on the scale and it wasn't pretty. Of course, I think I "bulked" up in anticipation of what's coming.

Actually, the switch to healthy eating is not going to be that bad and I'm already following most of the rules. What are the changes? No dairy - no big deal, other than a bit of yogurt and cheese, I don't eat cow dairy. It won't be hard to give that up. No alcohol. No big deal there either, I'm not a big drinker. No gluten - no big deal as I don't eat bread or much with gluten in it. OK - so pasta, but we don't have that often. No caffeine. Not a big deal there either as I don't drink things with caffeine in them. I drink decaf tea or herbal teas. See - I was really good and eliminated most of this stuff last year.

Nope - my issue is going to be sugar - same problem as last year. Do you know how many cookies I ate, how much fruit cake and other sugary goodies that I ate over the last 4 weeks? It's obscene. It's almost like I was on an eating binge because I had deprived myself of it all year -well not deprived, but reduced the sugar intake. I don't know, but it accounts for significantly increased body fat and of course a "few" too many pounds.

Keep in mind - I did NOT overeat at any meal. We did not have huge Christmas dinners or parties. Nope - this was just eating sugar every day. I didn't eat tons of chips - I don't eat chips anymore. I didn't change my exercise plan - this was pure sugar. I gained FIVE pounds. It's all sugar!!!  How the heck did that happen and yes - I tipped the scale over my safe zone. I'm thoroughly disgusted with myself. But it was like I was setting myself up, knowing that this detox was coming.

Anyway - I'm all set. I was at the grocery store yesterday and bought hummus and then bought supplies to make my own hummus. I bought veggies and I was actually craving those fresh veggies on the way home. Today is the last day with oatmeal for a couple of weeks. I'm going to do two weeks of healthy eating before I start the detox. It just doesn't work in my schedule to do it next week.

The goal of all this? Get rid of those ugly five pounds and body fat to start with. But more important to reset my taste buds and get rid of that sugar craving. Oh - I also ate stuff when I wasn't hungry - I ate just for the sake of eating which is bad.

My five-pound overage was all physicological eating and of course having access to stuff in the house that wouldn't normally be here! Like fruitcake! Like homebaked oatmeal raisin cookies!

Enough of that - let's see what happened in the quilting world.

As I promised myself, I sat down and created a list of things that I need to get accomplished this week. This is my Task Master book and while I have those lists (the deadline list and the UFO list), I need to break down those tasks or nothing will get done. I have 14 things on the list and not much else scheduled for the week. I even added a quote to keep me inspired over the week.

List of tasks for the week in the Task Master book

I've commandeered one of the shelves on the new bookshelf for tools/supplies. And my box with the notebooks. I've left the Task Master open at the page for this week - I don't want to get distracted. Oh - just realized that I didn't put down anything for Monday as I'll be starting to work on a UFO on Monday. Oh well - whatever gets done there will be a bonus. But I'll keep that in mind for next week.

One shelf on the bookcase is dedicated to tools/supplies/lists

What did I actually get done yesterday? Well, according to my list, I'm supposed to get all the embroidery blocks done for Kimberbell's Jingle All the Way. I got this many done.

Machine applique embroidery blocks for Jingle all the Way

This is one of three quilts that I'll be teaching at Brampton Sew n Serge starting in January. Let's just say that I have TONS of notes and tips to pass along to the students. Tips on embellishments and the process of the embroidery. It's a hands-on class - not sure if there's any room left, but if you don't have an embroidery machine, you can do the applique in the traditional way with a satin stitch on most sewing machines.

When the bookcase was installed, I had to remove a panel from the design wall. The panel is too wide now and I had the intention of trimming it down and reinstalling it. However, I've decided to leave it as is. I like the fact that it's portable and I can move it around as the tables are somewhat obstructing a good part of the design wall at the moment. Not sure how that happened.

Portable design wall

 Matter of fact, I need THREE of these boards for the weekend. I think I'm going to the hardware store today to get two more pieces of foam insulation. For the weekend, I'm going to just pin the flannel to the boards. I'll need to cut them to a length that will fit in the car and well - since I don't have a car to call my own, I don't know how long they can be to fit in the car. I'll be borrowing DH's car to transport the foam pieces. The original 8-foot pieces fit in my other car!

I'm happy to report that I can check the first item off my weekly list. It was to complete the top of Misty Pines. That got completed this morning. Now to cut the facing and the backing. That's on the agenda for today.

The top of Misty Pines is DONE!!!!!

 Thanks, Patti for that fun quilt. I say fun loosely because it was a lot of work and required paying attention at all times. All parts were used and nothing left over so I guess I did it correctly!

I also got the last quilt done for Audra. This is number five. All that's left if to attach the binding and make a sleeve. Both of those are on the agenda for today as well.

Audra's quilt - DONE

And in all that - I emptied two spools of thread. One for the long arm and one for embroidery. I was busy doing something and I heard the embroidery machine go THUNK! ACK? What happened? In the middle of a design, the thread ran out. I hadn't been paying attention. I didn't have any extra spools of the same color, but I choose something similar. You'll never find it!

Two spools of thread - gone

And that's it for today. I've got a guest coming to sew today so I'll be busy getting my stuff done. Actually, I'm very good now at staying focused when I'm by myself. I'm finally getting in the groove!

Oh - the book - Every Note Played?  I finished it last night. Cried like a baby at the end. Heartbreaking to know that people and their families are "living" that life. I had a great little chat with my friend. He communicates by dictating his messages into his iPad. There was only one typo! You gotta love technology.

Here's something for you - reach out to someone today. Someone that you know could use a boost - maybe they're sick? Even if they're not - reach out and ask someone how they are today!!

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Firsts

Don't we love to document our "firsts"? The first block of a project? First child? After we get the first out of the way, the rest doesn't really count. I have a couple of firsts to share today.

Wednesday was M's FIRST day at school. Yes - she's off to Vancouver Film School to up her game in the acting world. Sounds like she's having a blast and hopefully learning lots. Good luck M!! Someday we hope to see your name in lights!!! Well technically that's theatre, but you never know where life will take you.

The first day of school at Vancouver Film School

A selfie at school with her name tag

We always took a picture on the first day of school. However, I think we totally forgot one year.

Have a look at this beauty.

M - the first day of kindergarten or thereabouts.  Love that tunic that her thoughtful mother purchased in a size too big so she could grow into it. Beautifully accessorized by those CLUNKY looking shoes and let's not forget the BLANKIE!!!!!!   She looks like a chipmunk with her teeth sticking out - she never had buck teeth - just a goofy grin.

When I was looking on my blog for something else, I found this FIRST-day picture.

The first day of Grade 12

A wee bit short on the length of that dress. Oh well, hopefully, she's outgrown that stage. I doubt it. What I don't see - I can't fret over!!!

Oh my - well she is still cute!!!!


Yesterday was a gorgeous day, but I wasn't able to enjoy a walk as I had to teach a class. It was a rope bowl class. For all of you who know how to sew, don't take that skill for granted. Both students were pretty new to sewing, very little knowledge of their sewing machine and it was a wee bit of a challenge. Let's just say it was a good thing we were using matching threads.

Rope bowls from the class

And here's a suggestion to EVERYONE who sews. Do yourself a favor and buy a SMALL pair of snips. SHARP snips. I know where I can get them and I'm tempted to buy a big pack and have them on hand to sell to people. Drives me crazy when they have a huge pair of scissors to cut threads. Oh - that's the joy of teaching. But I'm very serious about the snips. I think I'll get a bulk pack and have them on hand. They are NOT expensive, but people don't know about them.

I'll show you mine one day - I've posted them a number of times.

Oh - I cheated and found a picture on my blog. Here are the BEST snips in the world.

Best snips in the world

But I did get some work done yesterday.

I started the samples for the Kimberbell Designs - Jingle all the Way quilt. Oh my - it's so incredibly cute. I can't wait to get back at it today. This block needs to be trimmed and tidied up. This is just off the embroidery machine.

Candy cane block

I hope to have the entire quilt together by the first class.

Here's my workstation. A total disaster. No room to put the fabric on the table, so it's on the chair. I'm pretending I'm pressing it each time I sit down!!!

Embroidery workstation with fabric strewn everywhere

 Here's my Misty Pines quilt. That's the one by Patti Carey. I'd like to give Patti a high-five for designing this quilt. Many of the fabrics are very close or have such a mottled appearance - I can only imagine it was a nightmare to make the design and then to write the pattern!!!

Misty Pines quilt

 I'm happy to report that mine is now in four sections. That's very exciting and I can't wait to get those last three seams sewn, make the facing and the backing and then it can go into the "to be quilted" pile and off the UFO list. Maybe today!!!

And I took liberty with no one around at the moment and cleaned off that table that was beside my sewing machine so it allowed me to lay out my entire ender/leader project. It's in stages, but I'm making progress.

Ender/leader project

 Here's the next UFO that needs to be worked on. I'll take pictures and post what needs to be done maybe tomorrow or the next day.

The next UFO to work on

 I can't spend all my time working on those UFOs as I have samples and blog posts and deadline quilts that need to be worked on and it's time to get to work on those. Not in a panic, but I really need to watch the time. I'll be sitting down later today to work out a schedule for the week as to what needs to get done. Actually, I might try for the entire month just to help deal with the deadlines.


So I'm reading this book called Every Note Played by Lisa Genova. Has anyone read it? Oh - it's so sad. It's about a concert pianist who gets afflicted with ALS. It's heartbreaking to see what happens to his body while his mind is totally intact. I wouldn't wish this disease on anyone. And the caregivers? Gosh - they are saints! I'm not sure how I would react in this situation - either as the patient or the caregiver. Stephen Hawking, who had ALS for fifty years, did amazing things with his talented brain. Not everyone is Stephen Hawking!

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova

If you haven't read any of Lisa's books, you should. She wrote "Still Alice" about Alzheimer's and "Left Neglected" about a serious brain injury. "Love Anthony" is about autism and "Inside the O'Brien's" - Huntington's Disease.  I've read them all but "Inside the O'Brien's".

It's a real eye-opener and again, makes you appreciate EVERYTHING. Something as simple as going to the bathroom! Imagine having arms that are totally useless. You can't even use it as a lever - it's a dead weight that you have zero control over that paralyzed body part. That's what happens with ALS - your muscles become paralyzed and slowly you lose all body functions including the ability to breath on your own and to speak. I'm almost finished the book and I know what happens at the end. It's just heartbreaking to read about the family and all their issues on top of this terrible disease. I have a Facebook friend that is diagnosed with ALS and my heart breaks for him and his family. He was an excellent cyclist and so helpful in prepping for my big cross Canada trip. I haven't touched base with him in a while. I'm almost afraid to, but I'm going to send him a note today.

OK - I sent him a note and cried while writing the entire thing!

To leave you on a happy note today, I have another Facebook friend (Heather Chapplain) who is currently at the Golden Globes with her fashions. She started off as a quilter and somehow ended up in the fashion world. Here's a link to the video that explains how she got to the Golden Globes. She's been posting live IG feeds the last couple of days and it's so exciting for her to be there. Hard work!!!!  Awesome job Heather!!!!

On that note, there's going to be lots of action in the studio today and I'd better get started.

Have a super day!!!


Ciao!!!

It seemed like a good idea at the time!

I didn't get as much done as I would have liked yesterday, but then who cares! I'm not in panic mode at this time of year. However, I did get a design off to the magazine and that took longer than originally planned as I kept adding options.

Went for an hour long massage so I'm pretty stiff this morning. But not too bad. Went to Fabricland to find more of that cording and well - I thought that what I have is a different size than what they had in the store. Did I take my sample with me? Of course not!!!!  They even looked in the book for me. I think I know what I need to buy, but not buying it yet. I'll go back today with the sample. Besides there are a few other things I'd like to check and I did see some gorgeous faux leathers that would be awesome to do some embroidery on!

I went for a long, long walk and I have another post office story for you. I arrived at the post office with five things that needed to be mailed. One was a letter and it had something other than paper in it. However, I put a regular stamp on it and it was gone. Two things already had prepaid postage and addresses on them. That was easy, but I did have to buy a padded envelope for one. It's about time after how many years that I return the old transponder for the 407 toll highway.  I had to buy another envelope to send some fabric to Terry in BC. And the last item, I had was a box - yes - at last sending those two quilts and a book to my Mom.

The box wasn't heavy - it had two small wall hangings in it, a small piece of dowel, and a small book. It cost over $20 to mail it. I almost had a heart attack. Are you serious????  I paid - this way, I get my Mom off my back. But wow - it just goes to show that I could NEVER deal with participating in a swap. I could NOT handle the price of shipping stuff.

I did feel sorry for the man who had been standing in line and was filling a form out on the side. When he was finished, he asked if the clerk could continue with him, but she made him go to the back of the LONG line. I didn't think that was fair.

It's like buying a car. NO - I haven't heard a thing about the car yet. I'm going to call today or look at the file on the internet. Yep - that's how you check today on your claim. I could call, but I can also just look at the file.

Not sure if I'm going to need to buy new, but I'm pretty sure. I've got a number in my head of what I'll get for my car and another number at how much additional I'll have to shell out to get a new set of wheels. For my entire life, I've had a Toyota car and it's always been red (oh - there was one car that was a blue), but you get the picture. They've always been manual as well. I think you see where this is going.

Well before the Matrix, I had an Echo which was a small car and very inexpensive to operate. I could get almost 600 KM to a tank of gas and I was happy. When I bought the Matrix, I can barely get 400 KM from a tank of gas. I was totally dismayed and annoyed. But the car was much heavier and consumed more gas. This time, I'm very aware of that and am going to forsake a larger (Rav 4) car for a smaller one (Corolla). That's assuming I'm buying a new car.

I also looked at the Prius C which is a hybrid car. I decided that the extra money it costs to buy that car (which is smaller than the Corolla) doesn't justify the gas savings I would get. Let's say that I fill my tank once a week at an average cost of $50. That's average of what I put in my Matrix right now. I could NEVER have a huge vehicle that took $100 to fill. Anyway - that works out to about $2,500 for the year in gas. If I were to save 1/3 of that by buying a Prius, I would save $800 a year. But it would take 4 or 5 years to recognize the savings in the price difference between the two and the car is much smaller so I wouldn't be able to shove rolls of batting in the back and sewing machine boxes.

I guess I'm trying to be conscientious of my carbon footprint and trying to reduce it as much as possible. OH - here's another thing about carbon footprints and then I'll get to the quilting stuff. Did you know that buying online actually INCREASES your carbon footprint rather than reducing it? Why? Things like rush or failed deliveries, porch pirates, returns, split shipments and traffic congestion (to get the package to you). All those factors are about equal to the "cost" of you going to the store and buying 24 items. So if you think buying online is green - it isn't. And besides - we need to get out of the house!!!!!  I felt so good after my walk yesterday that I didn't feel guilty about having a hot chocolate.

All that to tell you that I didn't get much done in the sewing department yesterday. But I did get more paperwork cleaned up and in the recycle bin.


And of course, this morning, I ran out of bobbin thread so that took 15 minutes to clean out the machine and rewind my five bobbins.

I now have five columns of Misty Pines completed. Column 1 an 2 are sewn together, as are 3 and 4.

Five of the eight columns are done!!!

 There are 5 blocks left to sew together. The last three columns should go together very quickly if I can get to the sewing machine.

The last three columns

What's exciting is that this is a UFO. I'm good if it gets to the "to be quilted" stage. I don't need to finish it, but it might get quilted this year. I'm going to try and reduce the pile or at the very least, not allow it to get bigger. If things go well, I should have ONE of my TWELVE UFOs done by the end of the week. Of course, there are technically 24 UFOs on that list (carry over from previous years) so I must get another one done this month. It's already pulled out and I don't think it will cause me too much grief. Wait until you see it!

Here's my ender/leader project. I'm almost at the stage where I need to do some more cutting. I'm making great progress and so nice to have everything prepped and ready to go.

Ender/leader project

Then I dug this out. Recognize that fabric? Yes - this is the same fabric as that big ball of string that I showed you yesterday. I must have been having fun cutting all those strips. This was years ago. Anyway - what is all that mess?

Another mess of strips

This is a crocheted basket. I know - it did seem like a good idea at the time. 

Crocheted basket

That's what the cording in the other pile was for. The cord was inserted into the fabric tubes and then used as crochet cotton. There's still yards of the cording. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it and what am I going to do with this big basket???  Hm - actually I have a thought and I might just do it. Bottom line - it would be great to have this mess cleaned up before the end of this year.

Clothesline inserted in fabric tubes

I found this project inside a laundry basket that is LOADED with small projects. Half completed projects so that'll help out with the 100 finished items for the year.

Now I'm off to make a list of things to look at when I'm at Fabricland today. Not adding anything new to the list. I'm trying to make samples for embroidery and to finish up some projects.

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

A big ball of string

I've had more productive days in the past! And there are days when it doesn't take much to make me unproductive. For the last week, I've been quietly searching for a piece of paper - a paper on which I handwrote some things. It was timely that I find this paper. I searched through my e-mail trying to recreate what was on the paper, but I could only get part of the information. So I read all afternoon because I was mad at myself for losing that paper.

Then right after dinner, I came back to the computer desk and VOILA - I found the paper. It had slipped behind the tray on which the keyboard sits. I was a happy camper for the remainder of the day!!!

But that just goes to show you that I need to do some serious cleaning up in here. My plan is to try for 15 minutes a day to "undo" the piles of crap. I will get there. And by spending the mornings doing paperwork, I know that will happen.

Keep that thought in mind as I talk about another piece of paper I found a couple of months ago and have been saving it for today. It was a HAND WRITTEN list of the family's resolutions for 2005. YES - 2005!!!!!! 

Here's my list:

1. Lose 15 pounds
2. Finish M's room
3. Finish the wedding ring quilt
4. Organize the dining room!

Isn't that hilarious???? 

OK - so for the update. Yes - I lost the 15 pounds but only this past year. Thankfully though, it wasn't more than 15 that I needed to lose - in other words, I didn't gain any in those 13 years. M's room was professionally painted years ago so I was off the hook for that. I finished the wedding ring quilt - well I turned the quilt into 3 quilts which I finished piecing a couple of months ago and hopefully, they'll be quilted by March. Organize the dining room? HA - Oh my!!!!! 

In my defense, a lot of stuff has come in here and then has been taken out. But there's a lot of stuff that's still here after 13 years. It would be great if I could once and for all get it done. I went through a pile of stuff yesterday and I believe that 90% of it went into the recycling. There's another pile on the kitchen table (no room on the dining room table to work) and I would bet that 100% of that small pile is going to be recycled.

So do I have new resolutions? Nope - just complete another 100 projects for the year. Oh - and maybe get the dining room in order!

I found this quote when I was cleaning up. I love it!!!!  It's amazing how good you feel after a brisk walk - YES - even in winter. It's good for you and helps reduce your carbon footprint (more on that tomorrow). I can walk to the grocery store, the mall, the bank, the dentist, the hardware store - well, I can get a lot of my errands done by walking. So it takes a bit more time. But when you factor in parking and then walking from the car to the venue - it doesn't really save a whole lot of time. I'll be off to the library and the bank later today. Perhaps even the post office which is in the mall.

Quote about walking!!!!

What's important is to MAKE the time to be able to walk. We get so caught up in the craziness of life that we forget about the important things. I'm going to try and keep my schedule "light" so that I have the time to walk somewhere at least 3 or 4 times a week. I don't take the girls when I walk on my errands. Don't want to leave them unattended outside and they just slow me down. I'm a very fast walker!!

Speaking of those 100 projects, here's what got accomplished yesterday.

Remember that green bucket of mess from yesterday????  See - this is the kind of thing that I'm trying to get rid of in my 100 projects mission. If someone were to come in and look at this mess - what would they say? TOSS!!!!!  I guess my ultimate goal in all this is that I don't want anything to be tossed!

Bucket of string

I started by sorting out the cord. I don't think this is clothesline cord but it could be. It seems a bit heavy. There were three separate pieces. What was it for? I've no idea. No - that's not right - I think I know what I was using it for. I have to dig something else out and check.

Three balls of cording

Then there was this mess. I'm not even sure what I was going to do with it, but it was about 1/3 complete. I had joined a LOT of strips together and they were sewn into a tube with right sides together. I was inserting the large piping into the cording as the tubing got turned inside out. Don't ask - it was a tough job. I finished off the 1/3 that was almost done. Hey - that wasn't so bad, so I started on the second 1/3. I managed to get that done as well. Then I rolled it all into a big ball. 

Big ball of covered cording

 But wait - the fun doesn't stop there! I still have 1/3 of the strips to deal with. But I had run out of cord. So I'm off to Fabricland today to get more cording and I'll get it all inserted in the fabric tubes.

Strips of fabric tubing waiting to be turned and stuffed

I can't remember how I started the first 1/3 of the insertion process. So I did the second 1/3 a different way. Let's just say that my upper body got a good workout yesterday!!!!  DO NOT do this. It's a hugely physical job and there are other ways of getting stuffing inside a fabric tube. But since I'm this far along - I'm going to finish. Yes - I'm determined to clean up this mess.

I simply plugged in my earbuds and listened to an audiobook. It was pretty neat - the book took place in Australia and was read by an Australian. Love the accent and it made the time go by fast. I finished a physical book and an audiobook yesterday and I see that a new audiobook came in and was downloaded. Something to listen to today while I finish off that other 1/3.

Now that the Christmas break is over, it's time to buckle down and get back to work. The Monday sewing basket is filled with the fabric, pattern, and necessary tools for some applique prep. That was great to get that done. And then back to the delinquent list of UFOs.

I'm back working on Misty Pines by Patti Carey. I have two columns sewn and the third one is on the wall. There are 8 columns in total.

3 columns of Misty Pines

Progress is a bit slow at the moment because I'm sewing up the "tree" blocks as I need them. This is my stack of LABELED blocks. You need to label EVERYTHING on this quilt or you simply can't make it. 

Labeled blocks

Here are the components to make the remaining 11 tree blocks. I think that's how many are left to sew together. Then the last bit of the quilt will go together fast.

Components of the Misty Pines blocks

Oh - could I get it together today? I might, but I also have to get started on class samples and blog posts. I do NOT want to get myself into a bind where I'm rushed and no time for those walks. I'm going to be much more mindful of my calendar this year. I hope - it's only day two of the new year!

I have 14 projects with deadlines on my list for the year so far. As some get completed, I'm sure there'll be others that will take their place. The trick is going to be to get it all done without getting caught in a time crunch.

The other thing I'm learning - WRITE EVERYTHING in a notebook. It's a lot harder to lose a notebook than it is a piece of paper. I was getting much better at that, but somehow that stupid piece of paper slipped off the tray. But all is good.

Hopefully, you're all making progress (however small) in your areas that you want to clean up/organize. I can't wait for the day that I walk into the office and there is an inviting space to work and when I want a certain paper that I could run over and put my hands on it immediately. I can do that in my sewing space, just not in the office - not yet!!!!

Have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

It's weird and just a sign that life is passing us by. M is home for Christmas with James and of course little Bear. I guess it's technically our first Christmas with the whole family together. We didn't do a lot of shopping, I didn't do a lot of decorating. That's not what Christmas is all about. It's about being together and enjoying each other's company. We do have a "tree" with decorations - I'll share that with you tomorrow once all the presents get under it.

I'm in total slow down mode at the moment. I'm good with that. I can be a slug like the best of them at any given moment - even with a deadline which I don't have right now.

I whisked myself down to that studio and worked on this while I listened to an audiobook or maybe that was when I was sewing.

Yes - the 1,000 piece puzzle is together.

Completed puzzle

I hadn't assembled a puzzle in a long time and I have to say that it looked daunting when I had sat down to do it. But logic prevailed and I picked "like" colors, things, shapes and got it together in a fairly short time. Yeah!!!  Technically, it's no longer together as I put it back in the box. No missing pieces. Now it's on the list of things to move out of the house. Yes - they are naked skiers - naughty naked skiers.

Hey - it's Christmas - we're all allowed some downtime so I went to the closet where the puzzles are housed and I pulled out another one. This one is only 500 pieces but they are NOT cut in a grid. Very weird shapes. I bought it at Value Village. No guarantee all the pieces are there. This is what I did yesterday. The border is VERY hard to define. That will happen as I assemble it.

Progress on the next puzzle

 The puzzle has quilts on it - go figure. There are a LOT of puzzles with quilts as the theme. Ask me how I know. I think over half of the puzzles I have in the closet have quilts as the theme. This one will be up for grabs once I'm finished with it. Any takers?

A Diane Phalen quilt puzzle

I completed all the flying geese for the Misty Pines quilt. That was a wee bit of a slog as I wasn't too much in the mood to sew, but I wanted to get that part done. And it's done!!!!

Now I have to make blocks with the flying geese units. I got a couple made yesterday and decided to start laying out the first column. There are three or four blocks missing from the bottom, but it's a start. There's definitely a light at the end of this tunnel and I can see that it'll get finished before the end of the year and I can knock off another UFO.

The start of Misty Pines assembly

Yesterday was all about food at our house. I do NOT want to see the grocery bills from the last couple of days. At lunch, we all sat down and went through the menu over the next couple of days to see what needed to be bought. M is vegan so that means two different meals for Christmas day. The list went on and on, but finally, everyone was in agreement and they went off to shop and I went to sew.

We had the most amazing lentil soup for dinner. Thanks, James. I think my kitchen is in shock! Never have all the counter surfaces been used at the same time. Nor have all the appliances been used in the same meal prep and well - the BODGERS in the drawers were delighted to be used. Look it up - bodgers is a "mishmash" of things. Pauline's family calls all the kitchen gadgets - bodgers. They have a bodgers drawer in their kitchen!!!

The end result - we have a LOT of oatmeal raisin cookies. They are my favorite. I won't look at the sugar/fat content in these. I'll just eat them, enjoy them, and know that my detox starts in January.

Oatmeal cookies

 I noticed them all stacked on a tray in the kitchen before I went to bed. I did move them to the corner so a certain someone couldn't help themselves last night. However it looks like someone did help themselves, but I doubt that was Murphy as I know she would have eaten a whole lot more than two or three.

Seems to be missing a few cookies here

But that wasn't all. Shelly gave me a fruitcake the other day. A HOMEMADE fruitcake that was laced with brandy.  (Oh gosh - I think it was brandy!)  Anyway, it was time to crack open the fruitcake. Well - good thing I wasn't in too much of a hurry as it took a wee bit of time to unwrap it. Two layers of foil, two layers of saran and finally the cheesecloth.  AH - it was well worth the wait. So moist - that's because of the booze I'll bet!!!  Shelly -  I LOVE the fruitcake and thanks so much.

Unwrapping the fruitcake

And here's our beautiful fresh flower centerpiece thanks to M and James. 

Fresh flower centerpiece

Some of the presents are under the "tree". There are two that I should wrap to make it more authentic. I'd better go find some paper for that.

Christmas morning in our house has always been a very relaxed affair. M would get up and sit on the couch and look at the presents, but wouldn't touch a thing until everyone was assembled.

She better get up before we need to get to our rendezvous as I really, really can't wait any longer for her to see her present. GET UP NOW!!!!!

All in all, life is good. I wouldn't wish for it to be any different and I'm thoroughly grateful for everything we have. I also love the fact that our Christmas is calm - no hustle, no bustle, no running around, no eating three huge meals in one day. We take it nice and easy and I'm so grateful for that. I might even get a wee bit of sewing done. Of course, it helps with all the kitchen staff around. Even though my kitchen is a decent size, there is no room for one more!!

On that note, I'm out of here to give the girls a walk.

Have a very Merry Christmas

Ciao!!!!!