A stormy night

 I can't believe how quickly the last four days have flown by. It's been so much fun, and a MUCH needed mental break. I can't thank the ladies enough for venturing out (safely) to enjoy this mini-vacation. 

But - it's not over yet. We still have today, although most of us will venture home shortly after lunch. And that's OK. I have a wee fire going this morning to take the chill out of the air of the sewing room. I've done well with the fire all week. It seems a bit reluctant this morning and not kicking out as much heat as I would like, but then the air might be colder, and this is a HUGE room. I have ONE log left. Do I venture out in the rain to get a couple more logs? Or just let it die after that last one?

The weather has been pretty nice since we got here, but today? Well, I heard it raining in the night - pouring is more like it, and it's still raining. There's a nasty wind out as well. I don't think I shall be venturing out for a walk. 

I'm a bit ahead of the game on my virtual walk - less than 12 miles to the Santa Monica Pier. I'm on Santa Monica Boulevard at the moment. Exciting stuff - I'll venture out at home with boots and a rain jacket - I hope!

Look at how beautiful it was yesterday. The sky was a brilliant blue, and when you were walking, it was warm. A perfect day for a walk. That was in the morning. 

The view from yesterday's walk

After lunch, we all went for a walk in the same forested area. A wee bit chillier, but it was just fine!!!!

The afternoon walk

I got a lot done yesterday. Not necessarily stuff that I can share with you at the moment, but let's say that I was working on some of the homework assignments that are due this coming weekend. No one was the wiser  - I just sat in my corner and sewed, pressed, and trimmed!

I started the day with some applique. What fun - I haven't done applique in a while. When you have an awesome sewing machine, applique is so easy. I'll be telling you all about it very soon. But here's the piece with all the applique. I removed all the stabilizer last night while watching the movie. I'll find a backing and a binding for it when I get home. 

My applique project

And I removed the paper from this project as well. It's been sitting in my pile of stuff for a while. I just need to find some binding for it, and it's ready to be quilted. 

Another Halloween wall hanging

Lynn is usually very neat and tidy when she goes to bed. But she's working on the LAST project that she brought with her. What awesome planning! She's in the middle of a gazillion half-square triangles, so her station was a bit messy!!!!

Lynn's station before going to bed

This is what I worked on yesterday afternoon. Another red and white quilt! All those little half-square triangles are cut-offs from some long-ago project. They have been pieced into 3 1/2" blocks for some time. Just not put into a quilt top. I had brought WHITE fabric for the sashing. DUH - I had white fabric with me that I could have used for the other red and white project. Oh well, what Ronda gave me worked just fine. 

So before I went to bed last night, this is what it looked like. Let's just say that I had a few seams to unsew during the day. Don't ask why - it just happened like that. 

Another red and white quilt

However, this morning, I've been up for hours, and everyone else is still asleep or at least in bed. The blocks are all together, and the first border is on. The second border is cut, and the moment I hit PUBLISH on this blog, I'll be back sewing. I want to get it finished. The binding is cut, and I'll find some backing when I get home. 

One more border to add to the mini red and white quilt

There are four more 3 1/2" blocks. I think I'll sew them together with sashing and make a much smaller mini quilt from them. There's no need to save those blocks for something else. I have some extra white and red for sashing and borders. Let's just get it done!!!!

So there is a dent in the project box that I brought to the retreat, and my bag of finished stuff is getting fuller. I'm happy with what I accomplished. Every seam sewn is one more that doesn't have to be stitched tomorrow. And that's all that counts. Progress!!!

Since Ronda got her embroidery machine last year, she's been going gangbusters at using it to do edge to edge quilting designs on table runners and small quilts. She's done two table runners since we got here and is currently working on a baby quilt. 

The back of Ronda's baby quilt

But here's the thing about that. She purchased some edge to edge embroidery designs. I liked them, and I'm thrilled that she is making good use of the machine. I never liked the fact that the stitch length on these quilting designs was so small. It might be great for embroidery, but not for quilting through three layers. 

She's been patiently waiting for me to figure out how to do that in the Premier +2 Embroidery Software by SVP - that's the parent company of Singer, Pfaff, and Husqvarna Viking. Well, the other night, I decided it was time to stop diddling around and get it figured out. Besides, I need to learn the Modify module of the software since it's my weak area. 

After a quick shoutout to my colleagues, I was in business. And YES - I can change the stitch length - at least of these particular embroidery designs. I took close up pictures, and it's a HUGE difference. Oh boy - I think I have a job ahead of me to change all of her designs. I'll post the pictures another day, but what a difference. It now looks like real quilting, and the back is as beautiful and smooth as the front. 

It's still not quite light enough to see what's going on outside, but the others must hear the rain and the wind and have decided to burrow a little deeper into bed!!

I'm so bad at keeping you up to date. YES - there is a virtual retreat next weekend. Saturday will start at 6 PM and go until 9 PM. Sunday will be an all-day affair starting at 9 AM EST and goes until 8 PM. I'll keep posting that information this coming week and will put up the Zoom links closer to the date. 

And then there are the classes as well. I'll update this coming week to keep you in the loop on all that's coming. Actually, it'll just be a reminder since you already know most of it. 

Have a great day, and stay dry!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Productivity is on the rise

It was a super productive day! I love those kinds of days. If you're like me, you just can't sew fast enough to keep up with the ideas in your head. And these are NOT new ideas. These are just things that I find around the studio that I think will only take a few hours to finish, and well, days later, I'm still working on them. 

I decided it was time to get something finished instead of just thinking about finishing it or advancing the project.

The first thing to deal with was changing that light bulb at the bottom of the stairs. There are quite a few pot lights in the basement, so I thought I'd steal a bulb from one of those. The pot lights have all been disconnected, and I now have fluorescent light fixtures. Those silly lights are very hard to dislodge from the ceiling. I needed a putty knife and a chisel to make it happen. Yes, the ceiling got a wee bit damaged, but I got the darn bulb out. Don't worry - it's not noticeable unless you're looking for it.

All that effort and the lightbulb was dead. Some of the bulbs had died, so I decided to not keep going to find one that worked.

Removing the pot light from the ceiling

After lunch, I went for a walk to get a new bulb and to go to the bank. Our branch was under construction earlier this year, but it's open now. I see we have a new ATM for a total of 3.

Buying light bulbs is NOT my favorite thing. I always take one of the old ones with me to compare. I found this box and bought it. Lightbulbs are NOT cheap - two bulbs were $18 before tax. They are supposed to last 15,000 hours. What exactly does that mean? Well, if I left the light on 24/7, I'd get almost two years out of the bulb. I don't plan on leaving it on 24/7, so it should last a LONG, LONG time. We'll see - I find that the life listed on those lightbulbs is nowhere near what's advertised on the boxes. 

The new box of lightbulbs

I just need to write on the box what fixture the remaining lightbulb is for, and then it goes into the laundry room with the other bulbs.

I'm sure that all of you have been out shopping at some point since the pandemic. If you have, then you've seen all sorts of plexiglass barriers between cashiers and customers. Well, this is the most substantial barrier I've seen yet. It makes sense at Rona, where I hope they like to build things.

That's a plexiglass barrier!

And here's the new light installed! No danger of falling down the stairs in the dark!

The light is now working again

So lots of things have happened this year. Totally crazy things that none of us would have predicted at the beginning of the year. It's been since the middle of March that things went whacko in our neighborhood. What is the new sign of the times??? 

Social Distancing Marker

That would be the physical distancing markers that are EVERYWHERE!!!!

Well, I knew this was going to happen, and well - I'm prepared for it. My gym opened last week, and well - I signed up for the spin class next Wednesday. Loads of rules. Locker rooms are open - more rules. I'll see how it goes, but I miss the gym, and I can't wait to get back. Am I afraid? Of what?? There's nothing to be afraid of. Just be careful!

I started the day by finishing to trim the little half square triangles. These are all the triangles that were created from making flying geese in the Christmas Fig quilt.

Stack of trimmed half-square triangles

This is the bag of little half-square triangles so far. I'm not sure if there's going to be more. Now to come up with something to make with those.

All the half-square triangle cut-offs from Christmas Fig

Speaking of which, I don't think I posted the latest Christmas Fig blocks on my blog.

Block One for August

Block Two for August

I still have to stitch the applique shapes down in the second block. That's on the agenda for today. Yep - today is going to be another day of cleaning stuff up.

Next up was binding. I have that stack of quilts for Quilts of Valour and for Project Linus, and I need to get them done. So I started with this one, and the binding is now entirely on!

The binding on a Project Linus quilt

Yep - that one has plush on the back. Not sure where the plush came from, but it wasn't mine, so it got used as the backing e back of the purple quilt.

Then it was onto the next one. The binding for the purple quilt was already made. This massive length of binding was already prepared for a couple of fleece quilts, which are slated for Project Linus. I took squares of fleece and sewed them together and backed it with another big piece of fleece. The two layers of fleece got quilted - no batting.

A massive pile of binding

So the first of two fleece quilts got the binding completely stitched in place.

The binding on quilt number two

It feels great to get these quilts DONE. I've sent an e-mail to a contact person with Project Linus but still waiting for an answer. I hope she gets back to me soon as I would like to get these quilts out of my house.

I was on a roll and listening to an audiobook, so I continued on. I got the binding on the second fleece quilt, but only on the back. I'll stitch it to the front later today.

Binding is sewn to the back of the second fleece quilt

OK - time to change things up. I decided it was time to get to work on those UFOs of mine. The date is fast approaching for our next meeting - well, it's two weeks away, but I have FIVE things on my list.

Time to get that red and white log cabin done. The top is DONE. I didn't bother to put it on the design wall. I did NOT worry (too much) if the same fabric touched itself where the blocks joined. It's a scrappy looking quilt - get over it. The bottom line - the top is DONE.

Log cabin quilt top - DONE

I dug out some backing and got that done as well. And this morning, I made the bias binding for the quilt.

Making the bias binding

That was a LOT of bias binding, but starting off with a square is so easy!

And that's one more project that gets moved to the "to be quilted" pile.

Moved to the "to be quilted" pile

Yahoo - one item off my list for the UFO's this month. AND one more thing off the UFO list in the Task Master book. This quilt was on the UFO list for 2017. So I missed that deadline by a couple of years, but it doesn't matter. It's done.

There's ONE project left on the 2017 list. That's very exciting, and it's called Sleeping Dogs on the list, but it's actually the snail's trails block, and we know that all the blocks are done.

One item left on the UFO list for 2017

Oh yes - I'm thrilled with my UFO progress. Even though I'm not getting everything done in the year it goes on the list - I'm OK with that. Although there are 13 projects listed on this list, in fact, there are 22 quilts. Some of them had one, two, three, or four quilts on one line. So getting this list done is HUGE. I'll get that last quilt done soon, and then it's onto 2018, where there are only four items left on the list. And other than one quilt, I'm making progress on the other three.

All is good in the UFO finishing world.

I also got the 80 foundation squares cut for the next blue scrappy quilt. I'm leaving that out as I'd like to get that one done.

The next blue scrappy quilt ready to sew

Then I had to go shopping Chez Elaine to find some fabric to make the binding for a couple more quilts. And Diane needed some fabrics to finish off a couple of community project quilts. I hope to make a delivery to her today.

Don't worry - I had time to read, went for that walk, and even did groceries on my way home from the hardware store. I only pick up a few supplies since I'm walking. I'm perfectly OK with that. I didn't have to go for a walk in the evening, so I got more time to read.

The lilies in the pond are still blooming like mad. Some of the outer leaves are starting to die off, but it's bloomed furiously all summer.

The water lily is still blooming

And look at all those fish. It's always a feeding frenzy at lunchtime.

Fish feeding frenzy

 I did get some hair cutting scissors in the pharmacy at the grocery store. We have a few dogs around here with unruly hair, and so we had a little trimming session in the backyard.

Hair trimming scissors

 I would love to have a couple more days like yesterday. That should clear up quite a bit of stuff in Studio B. I hope to have a repeat today, but I'm also working on a custom quilt that I loaded yesterday.

Don't forget that NEXT weekend is the Virtual Retreat. That's Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23. The start time is 9 AM EST. I can't wait!!!!

Well, I've got to get going.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!

Quilt in a day

I do NOT recommend my style to anyone. I'm the biggest procrastinator in the world. I think I have loads of time, which I do, more or less. Procrastination doesn't leave a whole lot of room for error! So one learns to not make errors to live with them. While I'm also not bad with scheduling (OK - I could be better 😉😉), what happens is that if I miss my deadline, then I get one deadline piled on top of another, and then the crunch hits!

I'm kind of in that situation at the moment. I'm doing well at getting everything done and on time. It's just that the next two days are going to be INSANE. But I'm OK with that. I love the pace, and we're in the pandemic, so I can't go anywhere so I just buckle down and focus on one thing at a time and it's all getting done!

We had a great UFO meeting on Zoom yesterday. The more I use Zoom, the more I love it! I can't wait to see what happens during the Virtual Retreat, which is scheduled for THIS WEEK. Where is the time going? Thank goodness, I don't have to prep projects before I "leave." That's already done and the tools - well, my sewing stuff has been scattered between Studio U and Studio B, and let's just say that it's not pretty at the moment.

My goal is to get this urgent stuff out of the way, and on Tuesday evening, I'll get the Studios back in shape. Wait until you see what happened in Studio B. It's become a broadcast studio! I really do need some good lights - I must figure that out. I think I might even have one in the basement - just not sure it'll work for this scenario. You can see that tomorrow.

Trust me, yesterday (after our Zoom meeting) was a bit of a technology nightmare. How to get everything set up (and make videos) so I can share the video in my LIVE Zoom presentation this morning. So I have everything set up for live and canned videos. I've been through my presentation a million times (or so it seems). Adding pictures, subtracting pictures, changing the language, finding accessories, and opening web pages to have them at the ready.

The only thing that I'm still struggling with is my microphone. I think I'm in good shape for the test presentation this morning, but there are so many options. Thank goodness for DH and Ronda who helped a bit with the setup yesterday. I think I'm GOOD TO GO!!!!

This is going to help out when I go live to teach classes via Zoom as well. But holy - the technology and tieing it all together - well, you know me and technology!!!  The only thing I wish is that I had TWO monitors or a second monitor for my laptop. I could easily make that happen - and I might just order one this week. It makes life so much easier to have two monitors.

OK -- so yesterday was the UFO meeting. I had committed to making EIGHTY (yes - 80) log cabin blocks. And I left it until the day BEFORE. Why??  I've no idea, but I did. Sometimes - well, I seem to love the pressure for some reason.

This project is from my 2017 UFO list. It's a log cabin in red/white. Actually red ON white, and white ON red. I think I started it because I had a bunch of red and white fabrics and I so loved that red/white quilt exhibit in New York City a number of years back. The exhibit was in 2011 and I kick myself that I didn't get in the car and go see it. Since my red and white quilt was a UFO in 2017, I suspect that I started it because of the exhibit.

I opened the project box at about 2 PM on Saturday. Maybe that was 1:30, but it was after our UFO meeting and after I had lunch.

Fabrics in the project box

I found a bunch of yardages and I found some scraps. There were THREE blocks completed - well one had to be trimmed so technically, two were completely done. There were bits and pieces of 7 other blocks.

A few blocks or parts were in the project box

I had been contemplating the number of blocks in my head for a while. Do I add a border? or just make blocks? The blocks are 8" finished and I like lap-sized quilts. I settled on 80 blocks to get a finished quilt of 64 by 80. Slightly larger than I normally make, but the next size down was too narrow (by 4" - what was I thinking?)  That 4" meant that I had to make 17 extra blocks!!!!  But now the quilt is 8 by 10 blocks and with a log cabin quilt - the even numbers give you a whole lot more flexibility for the final pattern.

My first thought was - oh boy - none of this fabric is cut. That's a lot of cutting. I got on the phone to my Dad and we chatted up a storm for at least an hour and I cut and cut and cut. I didn't even bother counting pieces - I started out by cutting strips. No calculating - just cut. Then I had a small sheet of paper with the lengths that I needed. Again - I just willy nilly cut into the lengths and stacked them on a portable project board.

Cutting the "logs" for the log cabin blocks

Let's just say that I had to go back MANY times to cut more strips and more of those logs. It seemed like it would never end.

Then I got down to the sewing process. Do you know what's it's like to chain piece 77 blocks at one time? It takes forever to go through 77 blocks. Then I had to press them and then sew the next log on. Remember - three blocks were already made.

Chain piecing 77 blocks

At one point, I worried that I didn't have enough fabric as I had eliminated a couple of fabrics that were more cream than white. Hmm - I might have to add those back in. No time to worry - let's just keep moving forward.

In true Eleanor Burns style, the pieces that were too short for a log got tossed on the floor. I aimed for the tray, but that didn't always happen.

The scraps

I don't have much fabric left from this project. How was that for a good guess? I even checked my stash as I SWEAR there was a lot of other red and white fabrics in there, but if so, I couldn't find them.

Now here's the other thing about this quilt. The logs were cut at 1 3/4" - a ¼" too large and once a round of four logs was sewn, the block had to be trimmed. That's just the way I did it and it helps if your seam allowance might be wonky. Guess what? That meant that EACH block had to be trimmed, not once, not twice, but THREE times.

The trimmings

There were a few moments, when I thought - I'm saving $10 by doing this? Big deal - I can afford the $10. But then I thought about the principle of the process. I could give-in and cough up the $10, but I made a commitment. The purpose of the UFO club is to get things DONE. If I'm not interested in that, then why do I belong? So - I forged ahead. Let's get this quilt done!

I will be honest, there were a couple of points where I thought - it's not going to happen. I'm not going to get all the blocks done. I could throw in the towel now and do something else. My conscious spoke up very quickly and told me that if I don't try - then I'll never know.

I forged on!

At 10:19 AM -- I was trimming the LAST BLOCK. And they said you can't make a quilt in a day!!!!  Someone is lying!

Trimming the last block

And there's the quilt - all 80 blocks. I kept putting up the blocks as I trimmed so it was exciting to see the quilt come together. I'm not sure I'll leave it in this configuration - there are tons of settings to choose from when working with log cabin blocks. Someone from the UFO group said it looked very Canadian. I'll experiment with different settings in EQ8. I'm NOT switching 80 blocks around to find a new configuration.

ALL 80 blocks are DONE

There remained just enough time to take a photo and add it to the slide presentation which I needed to sort and still be on time for the 11 AM meeting. PHEW!!!!!

Why do I thrive on this kind of pressure? I've no idea. It's total craziness, but it's just me. So in less than 24 hours, I cut and pieced this quilt. I didn't get much reading done, but I did other things including walking - about 6 miles each day, not 7. But that's OK.

Well, today is the first day of the week for my QUILTsocial blog posts. Be sure to check it out. It's all about tools for remote learning which fits perfectly into our pandemic situation.

And do NOT forget (how could you when I mention it every day) the Virtual Retreat. Here's the link for Wednesday, May 27.  Remember the times are 9 AM EST to 9 PM EST. You're welcome to pop in all day or just for 5 minutes to say HI. I'll also be posting this same link on May 27th, but I know some people get the blog posts a day later.

Join Zoom Meeting - May 27 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85170383658?pwd=VWp5YUtTckRxY1U0VTdOZFdIMkRvdz09 Meeting ID: 851 7038 3658 Password: 431940


On that note, I'm out of here. I still have to figure out the headphone thing for the computer and get ready for 9:30.

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Trust your instinct!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! It was a very quiet day at our house - just the way we like it. We had popcorn for lunch while we watched the new Star Wars movie. I'm not going to say anything about the movie today, as I know some of you haven't watched it yet. It was an awesome way to spend the afternoon!

After we got home, I took a long walk with the girls to compensate for the popcorn (which had no butter, so it wasn't that big of a deal), but still, a medium popcorn has 430 calories and 20 grams of fat). That's almost ONE-QUARTER of what I'm supposed to eat in a day! It was a treat so I wasn't worried, but imagine if you did that regularly. And if you added butter. Oh boy!

I got myself busy trying to finish that UFO. Here's what happened.

Remember how I did NOT really calculate the measurements. Oh sure - I did in my head, but I wasn't writing them down. Well, after the third row was almost together, I was sure the row was going to be longer than it was supposed to be by one-half inch. So I chopped a half-inch off the last block. Guess what? I was a half-inch SHORT. If I had trusted my instincts, I would have been just fine.

Oops - now the row is ½" too short

So I ripped out one of the red pieces and made it a half-inch wider and all is well in the third row.

The third row now fits

It's very deceiving if things are going to fit - it totally depends on how many sections there are and how they are laid beside each other. See how row four and five do not look like they will fit at all.

Will rows four and five fit?

Wouldn't you know it - I did the SAME thing on row four. I was certain that I was over so I chopped down some of the red inserts only to realize that I shouldn't have chopped them at all. TRUST - where's the trust???

Row four is now too short

Thankfully with the improv style of piecing that I did, it was easy enough to fix. I made the red piece beside the PEACE block larger (after I had cut it down) and then row four fit perfectly.

A larger piece of red was required to make row four fit

Notice how the LET IT SNOW blocks on rows four and five are on the extreme right of the quilt. They're not supposed to be. Yep - made a mistake there too with the piecing! It was just one of those days. And I had inadvertently put some white blocks touching in rows three, four and five and so with a little bit of magic, it got fixed. There's only one small spot where two white backgrounds touch each other and I can live with that. I'm much happier with this improv setting than I am with the original one. I'm happy, I decided to change it up.

Work in progress

The bottom line is that it's all together - the top is anyway.

The top is finished!

I used the leftover 2 ½" wide strips as a starter for the binding. It's now completely made and I found something that'll work for the backing. It'll get made later today and that's going to be one more to cross off the 2017 UFO list. That'll leave THREE items on that list. This is SUPER EXCITING.

The backing (to be made) and the binding

I pulled the backing from this project box. This is one of the three remaining on the 2017 list. It's a red and white log cabin. I'm tempted to start working on it and NO, this isn't the one that Shelly is going to get excited about. That one is also pulled and well - I need to be working on other stuff, but I have a couple of UFO days left this year. Could I get THREE projects completed before the end of the year?? Hmmm - I could try.

The red/white backing was pulled from this box

There are loads of reds and whites in the box. I won't miss the backing that I pulled.

So does that mean the Holiday Redwork project box is empty? Of course not!!!  There was a hunk of white fabric in there that I used for the background. It's now back in the basket of white fabric. The embroidery floss is with the other embroidery floss. The crystals, which will go on after the piece is quilted, are in a plastic bag with the pattern. That bag will stay with the quilt until it's quilted so it'll be easy to make a label.

The bits from the redwork project

Is the box empty now? You'd think, but sadly it is NOT.

OK - so I confess that I'd bring home a stray puppy. Heck, I'd bring home anything stray. Well - I would have in the past. I might still bring home a stray puppy, but I won't bring home a stray project. So during one of the garage sales at The Textile Museum, I came across this.

OH MY GOD - it's the same pattern (by the same designer) as the redwork, but it's applique. I MUST have that. So I rooted through all the boxes that were there and I found patterns 5 - 12.

Holiday Sampler - Applique version

For each of the 8 blocks that I acquired, there is a fabric kit for the applique and the pattern.

The pattern for the applique and the fabric kit

Yep - I've got patterns for 8 blocks and 8 fabric kits. I paid $3 per pattern. Someone out there has the blocks 1 - 4. The scale of the blocks is slightly larger than the embroidery version.

However, it wouldn't take much to enlarge the embroidery patterns to the same size as the applique patterns and find some matching fabrics and finish (OK - start) the quilt.

Seriously?? Why oh why did I think this was a good idea at the time? The patterns and the fabric kit have gone back into that project box. I don't want to have to deal with this at the moment and my goal was to finish the redwork quilt, not the applique quilt. There is embroidery in the applique quilt as well. Hmmm - it might be fun to recreate the embroidery with the embroidery machine and get it done quick. It would be a great exercise in digitizing. And I could learn to digitize the outline of the appliques as well. Oh, shoot - that would be an awesome exercise to undertake. Ah - maybe that project needs to be pulled back out.

As I was cleaning, I've come across the oddest things. Do you know what this is?

What is this?

Well, it's the purse strap for my orange purse that I bought years ago. It was a "fancy" purse so the thing was completely wrapped in tissue paper so the leather wouldn't get damaged. Normally, I would just whack off the hardware and throw the strap away, but this is too nice of a strap to do that. I put it with the rest of my bag hardware and hopefully, I'll find something that it can be used for.

The leather strap - unwrapped at last

 I HATE straps on my shoulders. Rather, I should say that I can't use a shoulder strap for ANYTHING. My neck doesn't cope well and it's not good. So I refrain (and have for years) to use a shoulder strap for anything. I wonder if the strap is long enough for a crossbody strap? It could be shortened and used for a handle???

I wonder if the company that made my "fancy" purse would offer to give me a new one if they saw how the old one is wearing. Don't get me wrong, it's actually wearing very well as I would expect it to for the price I paid. I was just trying to get a new purse - which I don't need. So I won't even bother!

We didn't move the long arm back into position, but we need to get that done today so I can get back to work. And I was looking for two particular quilts this morning to get quilted. I have a burning desire to quilt them. I'll share them with you tomorrow because guess what? I couldn't find them. They are supposed to be in tub 15, but there isn't a tub 15 in the "to be quilted" pile. Hmmm - what does that mean? And I'm looking for a binding that got misplaced along the way. I think it's time to revisit those tubs and get things in order. Tubs 1 - 14 are in good shape - it's the ones NOT in tubs that have the issue.

I did pull two of my own quilts out that I would like to get quilted as I use them for trunk shows. It's a pain to have to pull from the "to be quilted" pile. They are now in the URGENT pile for me. A job for later today - to sort through the tubs to find the missing quilts and the missing binding. It won't take long - things are in pretty good order. I don't want to buy more tubs - I need to quilt faster!

I'm working on the class list and it should be finished by tomorrow.

Here's something to contemplate as the end of the year approaches. Some people like to make resolutions. How they want to become better or do more things or do better things or whatever they resolve to do. Most don't follow through. So here's something to contemplate. Think about all the GOOD things that you are currently doing. Give yourself a pat on the back for those things and then see how you can add, subtract or modify the good things you do to incorporate something you'd like to change. Be absolutely sure that those changes have consequences, goals, timelines, etc. I'll be chatting more about that in the next couple of days. I'm in the process of evaluating that for myself and I'm also in the process of CAREFULLY choosing my next 12 UFO projects. Two down, ten more to go.

All food for thought as the year draws to a close!!!

On that note, have a wonderful day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!