A state of flux!

All the Zooms are done for a few days, and ALL the follow-up is done!! That's a first for me. Cleaning up the presentations, writing out the email, double-checking distribution lists, and so much more! 

But it's done! I wish I could say the same for my state of mind! I'm in a bit of a flux this morning. No news on Dad - well, the news is he hasn't had surgery yet, and I'm not sure if they will deem it safe to do that surgery on him at his age. 

Hopefully we will get some answers today. 

In the meantime, I'm supposed to head out to a quilt retreat today because I have things to drop off, and it will be nice to have a relaxing day, but I'm also contemplating heading out to Saskatchewan tomorrow. The ticket price has me second-guessing, and I want to make sure it will be worth my time and money. 

So hopefully, with a few phone calls, I can decide. Since I'll be away next week and the week after that, I don't think DH wants to be with the dogs by himself for that long, so I may make it a short week and just stay home. Like I said - I'm in a bit of a state of flux! 

After our two scrap sessions, I hope the students are madly asking themselves questions and wondering how to proceed. They have a lot to consider, and if they go with it, there is a lot of work to do. I hope they are up to the challenge, and I'll follow up with them later this month to make sure they're on the right track. 

I chuckled because at the end of the session, one participant said, "Those are wise words, and we need a reminder once a year."  Oh no -- you are not getting off this easy, my response? This is a lifestyle change, and you will be living and breathing the answers to these decisions for the rest of your quilting career. You won't need a reminder! 

One thing to say about making all those presentations: I am constantly thinking about the flow and the logical order of the process. It doesn't always work, but I think I've got a good handle on it by now! Making a presentation is just like being a storyteller, but with pictures instead of words! 

If you ever need to communicate something to someone, practice out loud at home. I don't stand in front of the mirror to do it. I do often "present" when walking the dogs, so they are quite knowledgeable about quilting! But it's amazing how your communication skills can improve by thinking through what you are going to say, practicing saying it OUT LOUD (especially introductions), and then going for it! Do you know that most people "hate" their voice? Especially on tape. But the more you listen to yourself delivering a speech, the more comfortable you get. I don't think it's our voice we hate, but the thought that you are in charge of this conversation!

Here is the status of my two winter quilts. The borders were supposed to be on both for UFO Club yesterday, but my Friday threw me for a loop. I'm close!!

The inner border on this quilt

I hope things will quiet down—seriously? Why do I even say that? I know it's never going to happen. Even with my personal stuff - things just go haywire! This blue outer border is one of the prints I picked up last week. 

Adding the outer border

I had help while I was on Zoom. Murphy is not happy that she doesn't have the freedom to come and go as she used to, but that is a life change. She's getting used to it. The girls and the boy are NOT happy that the backdoor isn't open as much as it used to be. The temperature is getting a wee bit chilly, and so they don't have the same freedom! 

MOM - I'm here for you!

As I look at that picture, I see my Singer iron on the little ironing station, my two blocks for 40 shades of grey on the wall, and a mess of projects I am currently working on. 

I've been thinking about buying one of those rolling carts you can get at Michaels, but I don't know if it is big enough. Perhaps if I got two, I could remove a table? Hmmmm --- thoughts on that? 

I just checked online, and they have quite a variety. Maybe I should try it. Two people I chatted with yesterday have some sort of cart, and they like it. Hmmm -- might work for my class projects. And maybe one for samples. I will need a four-tier cart!

This was the mess that I have been facing since the Facebook Live. I managed to get some stuff put away yesterday and certainly did NO sewing. 

The mess in Studio B

I also inherited (OK - I bought) some supplies from someone who was getting out of quilting and embroidery. Here is the thread haul I got. 

My thread haul!

You can never have too much thread. There were a LOT of other things in the bundle she dropped off at my door (how lucky can you get), and I'm happy to report that it's all put away. Yep—there are maybe three things I don't want, and I'll take them to the retreat; if no one wants them there, I'll post on the blog. It's all about making decisions, having homes, and then getting rid of what you no longer want. 

I will say that my thread bins are full! There is NO need to buy more thread until some of the bins are a bit emptier. Lots of machine embroidery on the horizon. 

Bear was hanging out in the bed in the front window! The silly guy—he loves to sleep there so he can keep an eye on everything happening in the neighborhood. Sadly, he goes home today!!! 

GRANDMA -- I'm on my break from guard duty!

And here's my "official" puzzle picture for September. I might be OK with spacing and order in verbalizing things, but in the written world? I start too big and have no room! 

The puzzle is officially entered in the monthly contest.

I doubt I'll get another puzzle done this month, but it depends on what happens this week. I think I'm averaging about two a month, which works for me. 

I've had this window open for a couple of weeks to alert everyone to the new Canadian postage stamps honoring antique quilts. Check it out. These quilts are from the Royal Ontario Museum collection, and they were on display a while back. Well, it's almost two years since that exhibit was on, and can you believe I did NOT post a single picture. 

However, the collection is online, and you can check it out here. I believe the duck quilt is on the third page. 

OH - so I sent my follow-up emails yesterday, with BIG attachments. I'm sure my Google Drive is having a heart attack this morning. Email is really the biggest culprit for the space, and I was messing around in it yesterday. They really need to make this stuff more user-friendly, but then people would actually delete stuff instead of just buying more storage. OH—those hi-tech companies are very clever and know we are willing to cough up more money instead of time!

I refuse to do that, so I am going to keep investigating and plugging away at getting rid of stuff. But I still haven't hit that magic button yet. I am having to go ONLINE to delete stuff, and of course, they start you with the most recent. I want the old stuff! Sigh.................

I know that some of you want to dive in and help. I know how to do it - I know how to search, and I'm pretty darn competent. It's just finding out how their systems work and how my Windows systems work and how to make the two of them talk to each other and how to decipher the BEHIND THE SCENES small delete button. I'll get there - it really just requires a concentrated effort on my part. 

I should just take my laptop to the retreat and spend the entire time deleting crap! I could - it would be easy! 

On that note, I'm off. Who knows where I'll end up tomorrow, but hopefully we'll have some answers and know how to proceed. 

It is going to be an AMAZING day!!!! Why? Because I say so!! And as Captain Jean-Luc Picard would say - MAKE IT SO!!!!

Ciao!!!

Make rules - take CONTROL!

It's another day! Of course it is. Well, if I take the book I'm reading into account, who knows what day it really is. It's called My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney, and — well —it's bizarre. At first, I thought it would be boring, but then there was a plot twist, then another, and then another. And I'm now so turned around - well, I'll just have to listen to the last 5 hours to see what happens. 

I have a road trip today; however, I have company, so I won't be able to listen. That's OK -- there's always tonight. 

As I surveyed the mess on the floor in Studio B after moving the tables filled with "current" projects, I came to a conclusion about how to solve the problem. I also found another hidey hole on a shelf, so that is three decent-sized spots to put things. 

I made a few rules so I could take control! If the project is listed on the Visual To-Do list, then it stays on the tables. If it's one of the "less than one hour" items, it stays on the tables. Anything else will find a home in a storage spot. It's going to be a challenge to do that sort, but really it shouldn't be - it fits in one category or the other, or it doesn't. It sounds simple!!

I may need to make a few more rules along the way, but I can get it cleaned up! 

The main thing here is that I am taking CONTROL of the situation, because otherwise it's driving me mad that I never make progress on what's on those tables. The other plan is to take one small project a day OKK - that may not always work out that way) and actually finish the darn thing. Seriously? Do I expect someone to stop by in the night and do the work? 

So when I get home this afternoon, I have a few things to tidy up, and I'll continue with my sorting. 

Let's start with technology because technology is never far from my mind. The first issue is the CD-ROM drive. I have no idea why my computer won't read the darn thing, so I headed off to the library to see if theirs would work. 

I had checked before, and there was no need to book a computer - there were lots available. I spoke to a person at the desk and asked if they had a CD drive, and he said no. So I was hoping mine would work. On the way there, I realized I needed TWO USB ports to connect the CD drive AND my hard drive to copy the files to. 

Thankfully, the computer had two open USB ports, but it was a challenge to connect them because they were hard to see. 

I attached my CD and external hard disk to the computer.

I took FOUR machine embroidery patterns with me, and I got them all copied into the appropriate spot on my SEWING external hard disk. I swear that breaking my files up onto three external hard disks was the best thing I ever did. It's easy to travel with them; no need for USBs and then transferring to the computer when getting home. It's brilliant. 

Transferring files

There were a lot of files, and it took quite a while. The first two groups were fast, but then the system slowed down. Anyway, while I was working, the person from the desk came over and asked how it was going. I said fine, and he said they do, in fact, have a CD drive, so I could use that in the future. That is good to know!!

So those machine embroidery files are now usable, and I should keep going to the library once a week or so to transfer the files I need. It's a nice walk to the library, so on a day when I have no other errands, I might just do that. 

Hmm—I should always do that on a Tuesday, and then I'll have no excuse to go to the thrift shop. Oh good grief—I noticed a sign the other day—the Mississauga Symphony Used Book sale is this weekend, and they have puzzles, books, games, etc. Should I go? I always find a treasure or two, and it's supporting a good cause! 

My other technology woe right now is my Google Drive, which is FULL. I got a notice yesterday that if I don't do anything, I will lose the ability to get email in 29 days! Yikes!!!! The first thing I did was turn off the photo backup on my phone. I do NOT need a backup of my photos, so I have no idea why that is there. And can you believe that when you start to clean up, it helps you! Here's a look at my BLURRY pictures. 

What Google defines as BLURRY pictures! 

Yes—there are a LOT of photos my camera takes on its own, including a couple of long videos taken from my pocket. So I'm getting rid of those, and I also tackled my email. I do not know why it is taking up so much space. A simple email shouldn't consume a ton of space, but I suspect it is all the emails with presentations/pictures attached. I need to delete everything that is no longer relevant. I've done that in the past, but I've never seen my email storage decrease.  

And I don't know why email does funky things. It's been keeping a duplicate, or almost a duplicate, of everything in an "important" folder. For heaven's sake - I don't need that. Again - it's going to be a matter of taking control and just deleting stuff instead of thinking that I will one day have time to read some of the stuff. 

I'll figure out a solution, but I need to take charge NOW!! Some of the backup photos I'm coming across are at least 10 years old. Why is all that there? I move all the photos from my phone to a hard disk, and then everything gets deleted, but it doesn't get deleted from that damn drive. Why? Because then they can sell me more storage instead of me dealing with it. I don't need more online storage. 

We discussed this the other day at lunch. Technically, why would you want ANY online storage? I'm certain that the big companies use that data for whatever purposes they deem worthy - training Google to detect blurry pictures, or identifying other things. We are so afraid of having a presence on the internet, yet if you let Google back up your photos, EVERYTHING you take is online! 

And don't worry—if you don't use Google, I'm sure Apple has all kinds of crap in its cloud. I also don't get this new trend of tracking people! Why the heck would you want that? I know several people who track family members or friends. Seriously? That is an invasion of privacy - I don't care if you are my mom or my sister - it is NONE of your business where I am at this point in time. And if I can track you, then everyone else in the world can track you as well. It's just darn creepy! 

Now -- if I were a risk because of mental health or whatever, then it may have a place, but in the unlikely event you are kidnapped, the first thing they are going to do is take your phone away, so what's the point? And your phone is constantly pinging a cell tower, so if you were kidnapped, they would use that to help locate you. 

I struggle with the overload of data as it is - I certainly don't want more! 

Back to the email - I'm going to try and eliminate everything except my current projects from online. NOTHING needs to be backed up, and nothing needs to be shared with anyone. Then I'll be in charge of my data, and my storage costs will be cheap! 

It was another fabric sorting session last night. I need some batiks, so I sorted through my batiks to see what I had. It's part of the road trip today. Thanks to a friend who gave me small swatches of the fabrics needed for a certain quilt. They were VERY helpful!! 

Sorting batiks

While searching through the basket of red fabric the other day, I spotted this rather large piece of fabric. That would make a great backing, so I measured it, labeled it, and put it on the shelf. 

One more backing

A customer's quilt got quilted—it was a big one, but it went very smoothly. You can't see the whole quilt because there isn't room in front due to all the project boxes on the floor. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And I think I now have the magnet situation under control for one side of the backing. It freaks me out to think it's just some magnets (albeit strong ones) holding the tension on that quilt. But no fabric slipped through, and it was pretty quick to remove this side of the backing when I was done. 

The magnets holding the quilt backing in place

I must work on the leader for the other side of the backing. But that's a project for another day. I have a couple of customer quilts to finish, and I still have FOUR of those community project quilts I want done! ASAP!!!! But I have to make backings for them, and since I'm using scraps, it takes time! 

I went to the gym yesterday, and as I was walking down the stairs, I spotted a beautiful rainbow in the sky. Why a rainbow since we hadn't had any rain! I went to my locker to get my phone, and by the time I got back, it was fading. But it was a full, bright rainbow. 

The rainbow

I had to zip into the rock climbing area to get that picture. I've never done rock climbing, and I don't think it interests me. I don't have the upper body strength required. 

Rock climbing at the gym

But that brings me to something else. While I was doing my stretching on the floor, I saw a woman - maybe younger than me, but not super young who was doing push-ups. The full-blown ones from her toes. Hmmm --- that looks hard. So after she left, I tried to do them, but only from my knees.OKK -- that wasn't half bad! I think we are aiming for a 90-degree bend in the elbow, and I was able to do a few more than 10 with not quite a 90-degree bend. 

Last night, I tried from the toes, and while I can do 10, I don't dip too low. But I can add that to my repertoire and see what happens. It's a good measure of increasing strength. By the way - a woman in my age category should be able to do 10 push-ups in one set, and I'm assuming those are from the toes. 

The other thing I've been working on is the ability to get up and down gracefully, or somewhat gracefully, from the floor. I do pretty well, but I was curious what the difference is between me and someone else. So I watched and AHA—it's the added use of the arms. I can get up very well, but I use my arms to assist. Younger people do it with just their legs. I am determined to turn back time - I already have by going to the gym. 

I have to tell you the story of the car and air pressure issues. We have the sensors in our tires (both winter and summer) that indicate when the air pressure is low. I don't know how much the pressure has to drop before the sensor triggers. Like most passenger cars, our tires need 32 PSI per tire. The driver's-side front tire started acting up about 6 weeks ago. 

Now we all know that sometimes on a cool morning, the pressure is lower than later in the day, and so I waited a few days OKK - weeks) to see if that made a change. It did not, so I went to the gas station and put air in the tire. It costs $2.50 to get air these days! 

The sensor stopped registering a problem for a few days, but then it came back. So I waited a week and booked an appointment to get the tire checked. Then I filled the tire with air again. 

This time the silly sensor did not come on, but I went to the appointment anyway. I explained the situation to the service intake person. He asked me where I put air in my tires. Hmmm --- isn't there only one place? The gas station - I certainly wasn't going to use my bicycle pump! Aha, he said - you can't trust the gauges at the gas station. 

DUH -- I know! I have my own gauge, and I check the tires from time to time. 

My tire pressure gauge

That still didn't faze him. He told me about the cool mornings. Yep -- I know about that too. The damn sensor was on, and I was pretty sure we had a leaking tire, but they temporarily fixed it the last time when I had the tires swapped in the spring. 

I totally get his point of view, since I bet MANY people don't have a tire pressure gauge in their car, and if they do, they have no clue how to use it. Mine is older, but it seems to work just fine. 

Anyway, he saved me some money. But dang it all - I had bought a fancy tea, and I had my computer with me, and I was going to clean up files while I waited! Alas - it wasn't to be. So now I'm going to watch the tire pressure and see what happens. Sigh.....................

And he didn't log that I was in the shop because I got a call later in the day asking if I made it in. No invoice, no appointment! I explained what happened. 

Here are my words of wisdom for the day. 

We had this discussion at lunch the other day, too. If you are in an evacuation alert, what do you pack? It's a very hard question to answer! 

I must run, as I have to pick up my passenger at a specific time, and I don't want to be late. 

It's going to be a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!

Take control of YOUR life

Do you ever feel super content and just happy? For many years, I sometimes thought I didn't want everything to be perfect because then something bad would happen. That's a pretty common thought. People feel they are not worthy of such happiness. 

Well, I have my unhappy moments, trust me! But overall, I have lots to be thankful for; I have loads to look forward to each day, and I actually look forward to my routine, knowing that at such a time, I can enjoy reading my book, or working on the puzzle, or whatever is on the schedule. 

I even received a somewhat snarky email the other day, and at first I was angry because there was NO NEED for that person to respond that way. I did NOT respond immediately, but thought I would take a couple of days to process the information. I even typed out a response, and then I reworded that response in my head multiple times over the weekend while walking. 

And today? Seriously! If that person wants to lash out like they did, that is their problem, not mine. I have my way of dealing with the situation: I do nothing. I will delete my draft. I'll have a few different choices to make in the future, but it really doesn't affect me at all. 

Life is not what people send to you; it's how you react to what they have sent! I choose to let it go! And you know what? I'm pretty proud of myself! 

Well, Miss Murphy is up to her old tricks! She ventured downstairs yesterday and settled herself EXACTLY where my chair is supposed to go. I'm trying to do a Zoom call! Oh, Murphy!!! I know you are needy, but can't it wait? 

MOM - I need you NOW!!!!

And at one point, I went upstairs, and the two of them were just watching! It's like they are having a staring contest to see who blinks first! It's funny how they love to play together, but they never sleep close together. 

MOM - she's looking at me!!!!!

OH -- I have two things to share, and before I forget them again, here they are. First—when I woke up Sunday morning, I felt a bit hungry. WAIT --- you can't eat - you must take that pill, wait 30 minutes, and then you can eat. So yes—I managed to remember that pill. Yeah me!!! But if I wasn't hungry, I would have surely forgotten. 

The second thing is I was at Fabricland the other day. I swear that is NOT a good place for me to go, as they have some amazing non-cotton fabrics and I don't need any! On the counter, I spotted a rack with packs of this on it. 

Yes—that is a small pack of Mending Wool, and it came in a ton of colors. Yes - I bought one because I have a couple of pairs of wool socks to mend. More on that in a second. 

Mending Wool

I mentioned it to the person checking me out. Yep—apparently, the new thing in the world is for the youth (or anyone) to shun AI by doing hand sewing!! WOW --- and also, they are turning to crafts in general. That is awesome!! The Michaels store that I am teaching at this coming weekend (Teach the World to Sew Day) is right downtown, where I never would have expected a Michaels. I wonder who their clientele is? 

It's going to be a challenge to get down there, even early in the morning, because of the film festival and traffic in general. I need to do some research and make some calls. 

Anyway—let's hope crafts, sewing, handwork, whatever comes back. I think it's something that's really missing from daily life. And when your hands are busy? You can't scroll!! I find doing things with my hands is the most soothing thing I can do. 

I haven't really cleaned up Studio B after the Facebook Live, and there are still loads of things on the floor. I really don't want to go back to having those two tables heaped with stuff, and my plan is to sort through it and prioritize. Hopefully, I can also conceal some of it in the various storage areas. Wouldn't it be nice to have one free table as a clear workspace? 

I'm going on a quilt retreat next week, and I have decided NOT to take a sewing machine. So I have rounded up those socks and my new thread that need mending. I've also tucked all the supplies for my Many Blocks project into a bag, and it's waiting to be packed in the car. I won't be sewing any blocks, but I'll be prepping all the remaining blocks - appliqué, cutting the pieces, etc. So all that will be left is sewing on the machine. 

The Many Blocks project

I did that with my Spice Market quilt, too. That is one I didn't finish in class, and my plan is to go through it and get all the cutting and appliqué prep done. That should keep me busy for a while, and I found some other handwork and craft projects, too. 

The thing that drives me mad, and I'm very good at this -- I get started on a task, and then I can drop that in a heartbeat. And in my case, it's not to start a new project, but to work on something else that is more urgent. And many of those projects set aside will take less than one hour to finish. I am determined to get all those small projects done! This is just ridiculous!

I found a basket and put all the fabric for the 40 Shades of Grey quilt in it. Yes—it's 40 shades of purple and green. 

Fabrics for the 40 Shades of Grey quilt

I also had to "shop" for some red fabric, and I emptied the basket and started my search. I am DETERMINED to only use stuff from my stash. Oh my goodness, there are so many fabrics that I'm likely never to use. I'd better start cutting up for scrap quilts!!! 

Shopping for red fabrics

Speaking of scrap quilts, I'll be sending out the confirmation for the SECOND scrap quilt class later today. There are quite a few people in that one, too. There is so much to share, and I've been thinking about how to organize the information so it makes logistical sense. I think I have a plan, but I'll start assembling the slides tomorrow and see how it goes. 

I found this fabric in the red basket and wouldn't that make a nice mini quilt? That's the first thought that crossed my mind. 

Double Wedding Ring fabric

Some of you have wanted to know how the Visual To Do list is coming along. This morning, I'll share two categories with you. One is UFO and the other is Many Blocks. 

Part of the Visual To Do List

Only one project remains under Many Blocks, and my goal is to have THREE quilt tops ready to quilt (if they aren't already quilted by then) by the end of the year. That is one of the projects packed for the retreat. I've forgotten how many blocks need to be prepped for the final push, maybe 30? And if I can get all of them prepped, then it should be easy to accomplish my goal. 

On the UFO side, starting from the bottom is Tequila Lime. That quilt top is together, and I have pulled fabric for the binding and backing. Today, I hope to get that ready to be quilted. Since I might try custom quilting, that may not get done this year. 

Next is Spice Market, which is also packed for the retreat, and it is doable to finish this year. 

Next is Tula Pink Butterfly, and that one just needs to be quilted, which is very doable. 

The one above that is a quilt I started years ago, and it's called All About Me. It needs a lot of work, and it likely won't get completed, but I hope to have a plan on how to finish it. I need to make more blocks. 

The top one is the two winter quilts. And I'm happy to report that I made significant progress on that one. If those two aren't completely done, I'm in big trouble. I have a wee bit to share with you. 

Here are all the leftover flying geese. I can't believe I made such a silly mistake, but let's move on. Now, once I knew how many I needed, the rest was dealt with. The flying geese units went into the orphan block box, and the rectangles went into the appropriate scrap box. 

The leftover flying geese

Now what else could make me very happy? 

Having four flying geese stitched together and they lie perfectly flat, even when pressing one seam back over the point! 

Beautifully pieced and pressed flying geese

Let's look at it from the back. Yep -- those seams are twirled. 

With twirled seams on the back

I totally get it that people want to buy gadgets, and there are all kinds of pressing gadgets out there. There are also fancy irons. But guess what? You don't need any of that. I have never used gadgets for pressing - I just learned how to press well! 

Here are a few tips

• Press the just-sewn seam from the back to soften the fibers and make them more malleable. 
• Use your finger before pressing the seam to get the fabrics going in the correct direction. 
• Use STEAM WISELY (I ALWAYS press with steam). 
• I put a towel on my ironing board for better grip. 
• Press from the FRONT, never the back. 
• I use a regular inexpensive iron. 

My current iron

I trimmed the flying geese before I sewed them, and I only trimmed a few threads, but it makes a difference. 

Now what could make me even happier? 

The flying geese section

Having the entire section together!!!

And yes—I twirled all the seams. 

Twirled seams

Pressing correctly can make a massive difference in the look and accuracy of your quilt blocks. For those who finger-press while sewing? You are doing a great disservice to the quality of your quilts - well, at least in my opinion. If you are going to do something, do it right. Just because someone on the internet (OK—that could be me) says it's OK to finger-press until the end doesn't make it the best way. 

Look at the quality of the block and then make another where you press with steam on every seam. Which one do you prefer? 

A small sash goes on the sides. And I'm happy to report that one block is completely done and the second just needs the sashing on. 

The sashing on the blocks

but WAIT -- there's more. I was trying to finish my audiobook last night, so I plugged away, and I got one top, minus borders, together!!!!  Now how exciting is that? OH wait—that's not the picture of the top together, but all the blocks are there. I did have to trim a few things that I hadn't trimmed properly when I made the blocks, but all is good. 

All the blocks for one winter quilt are done!

And now you know why I was digging through the basket of red fabric because I wanted to find some reds for the two borders. 

I buzzed around and did more tidying, and it feels good to take control of the mess. Here is my tray of triangles to sew HSTs. While it looks messy, they are sorted by color and on a tray, so if I need to move them, it's easy. 

My ender/leader tray of triangles

Sometimes the smallest things make us content. I don't need a fancy car; I just want a clean floor! Did you know how satisfying it is to use the Swiffer or the vacuum? I'm not a big fan of house cleaning, but I love sweeping the floors!!! 

I even had time to work on the puzzle last night. Oh my—this one is tough!!!!

Progress is slow

I managed a few more pieces after I took the picture, but it's going to take a while. I need to get this done by the end of the month, which means I really only have this week. 

So slow and steady is the name of the game. But even more important is staying in CONTROL. If you aren't in control, you are wandering like a lost soul. At least that's how I feel, and that's why, even though we like to keep those lists in our heads, writing them down is better. With a list, we are in total control.  

And by that, I don't mean being in charge, but taking control. I think we all know someone who has struggled, or is still struggling, with clutter. They don't know where to start or even how to tackle it, and that seems silly, but it is true. When they finally make a decision to take charge and tidy up, declutter, and find homes for everything, life becomes so much more manageable! 

So when you go to your sewing space today, and I don't care if it's huge or small, take a look around. Is the space inviting? Is it ready at a moment's notice for you to sew, or do you have to clean off the sewing tables, the ironing board, or the cutting table? How can you change that? What about those smaller projects that can be completed quickly? 

You would be surprised at how much better you will feel. It's like my office. I feel so much better because of what I have done so far. Imagine how high I'll be when I finish it. I'll be flying higher than a kite!!

Here is a picture of the surprise guest. He arrived late last night, and we haven't really had a chance to visit with him. 

The girls and the boy

He was just staring out the front window, and I spotted that large truck and trailer pass by, and they had two pallets of what looked like paving stones. NO -- that could not be possible; they are not going to put paving stones on that hill. That's what I've been saying all along. But WAIT -- I'm getting ahead of myself -- I have no idea what's going to happen. 

On that note, it's Monday sewing. I did not go to the gym this morning - I'll go tomorrow. I wanted to make sure all the girls and the boy were fine this morning and get them into a wee bit of a routine. 

It's going to be a glorious day today!!

Ciao!!!

Done, done, and DONE!!!

Yep—all three presentations are ready to go. All the sewing was completed, the pictures were loaded and sorted, the reminder emails went out, and all is good in the teaching world. 

It was a fun day, and it was so nice to just sit and sew. I had to take pictures, mind you, but still, it was fun to listen to my audiobook and sew. I had to backtrack a lot because I missed part of the storyline. I really need to connect my new noise-canceling headphones. The open earbuds suck for listening to audiobooks while sewing. 

I can't even begin to imagine listening to a book with a speaker! When you are moving around all the time, and the noise of a sewing machine - how the heck would you even hear? 

While lots was accomplished, nothing is available to share with you, but after today, I can share! So fun to start (legitimately) several new projects! I have tons of UFOs to finish, and I had better get my act together and spend some time on those as well. 

Remember the striped fabric I chatted about the other day? Well, here is a picture of the two new ones added to the bucket with the previous ones I purchased! 

Striped fabrics

You can make a very cool quilt with ONE striped fabric, including these. I've made it multiple times. Heck -- I've done an entire series of quilts with striped fabric. I could almost have a trunk show. 

Sigh -- why have one when you can have many! I actually have a wall hanging that I made using one of these batik strips. I still need to do some machine embroidery on the quilt top, and I really need to finish it! 

As I was reassembling the sewing tables for Studio B, I had a chuckle. Remember the days when we thought it was acceptable to put the power bars on the floor? Whose silly idea was that? I'm very happy to have them on the table (yes—it might look a bit messier), but it makes it easier to access the cords. I'll never put the power source on the floor again. 

My power tower ON  the table

I'm surprised that those power towers still work. I have three of them, and the two in Studio B seem to get knocked on the floor every once in a while. The housing is cheap plastic, and I swear one day they are going to stop working. So I try to be careful, but it doesn't always work. 

There is no other way to say this except that I am a dolt! Remember my flying geese for the two winter quilts? Yesterday, while sewing, I decided to use them as enders and leaders. And I was making very good progress. 

Progress on the flying geese

Some time after dinner, I realized I made TWICE as many as I needed! Seriously?? I have no idea what happened. WAIT -- I know what happened. I looked at the cutting instructions, and it said to cut 44 of the little white squares for the corners. So I made the silly assumption that I should double that and make 88 flying geese. In fact, I only need 22 per quilt. I now have extras! 

We had a meeting about our Katimavik 50th reunion, and it was so nice to see a new face I haven't seen in 50 years. WOW -- but we have located at least one other person, and they are deceased. How is that possible? The ratio of the living to the dead is very high! 

Several of us had tried to find a particular person, but her name didn't show up in any online searches. Someone ran her name through Ancestry and POOF—there she was. And then, of course, her name now pops up in the online searches. Perhaps we are missing the others the same way. Her obit was listed in her maiden name. I don't understand how the silly internet works. 

I may have to retire my shorts in the morning—it is getting cooler, and I'm quite happy about that. I don't mind the heat, but I'm not a fan of the wicked humidity we sometimes get. The one thing I will say is I'm thrilled that we installed those ceiling fans, and I often use them at night to recirculate the air in the room. They are so quiet, you do not even know they are working. 

Here's a blast from the past. When I was going through that box of memorabilia looking for stuff on Katimavik, I spotted this autograph book. Did you have autograph books? Of course, it was all the rage when I was young, and my grandmother gave this to me. 

My autograph book

I took a picture of a couple of the entries! How fun to have their handwriting and dates in my book. 

My grandmother

This is one from my great-grandmother. I was in my teens, or was it my early 20s, when she passed. 

Great grandmother

And oh my—it appears I had a nickname I don't remember from high school. 

A friend

Yep --- I was a blusher, and well, I guess I still blush. Perhaps not as bad! 

Remember the signs on the forest indicating the path was going to be regraded?

Work on the forest path is upcoming.

Well, look what got placed at the entrance to the path. 

Serious equipment to fix the path - at last! 

And one more piece of equipment was dropped off later in the day. I suspect they'll rip it up next week. This is much more substantial than dropping a blade and grading it. Hmmm --- what can we expect? 

But as I chatted with a neighbor in the morning, we watched the dump truck and a very long trailer back down our street and around the bend. Let's say the driver was pretty experienced, as he whizzed around the corner with that large trailer like it was nothing. We were very impressed. 

I had to do some pond maintenance in the morning - cleaning the filter. I grabbed a handful of muck from the filter and threw it. Of course I did, and it went SPLAT on the gazebo post. All that open space, and I had to hit the post! Let's just say that I was never good at playing baseball!! I had to wash it off with the hose. 

Seriously??? I hit the post with the muck? 

Of course, my supervisor was sitting there watching me and wasn't very impressed with how silly I was. Actually, she was probably laughing her head off! 

OH MOM -- you are so silly.

I've decided to take Murphy for shorter walks, but twice as many. That breaks up the physical walking for her, and she loves to go for a walk, so she is happy to go for more walks in the day. 

It is so challenging to see a person or a pet struggle. Yesterday was the first day she didn't come to Studio B while I worked. It's so hard to know what to do for her. I'm sure she is uncomfortable or perhaps even in pain. I must see if I can get her some medication without the drowsy effect to help her feel more comfortable. 

We will just keep loving her and hoping we still have lots of time to spend with her. I'm sharing this with you because I don't want it to be a shock to anyone, and I don't want to pretend that all is OK when it's not. She may surprise us all and live for many years, and she is far from death. But slowing down. 

She has a new routine and doesn't want to be left alone on the ground floor at night. So I help her up the stairs and lift her onto the bed, where we have some cuddles, and then she is happy to sleep on the floor for the night. I have to fetch her in the morning for her walk, as I think she doesn't trust herself on the stairs to come down. 

I have some travel coming up, and I'm a bit worried about it all. DH won't provide her with the same care as I do, and I hope she is going to be OK. I'm even contemplating cutting my quilt retreat short, as I have to be away the following week for work, and two weeks in a row away might be more than she can handle. 

The things we do for our pets!

The other day we had chatted about how smart squirrels are, and if you haven't watched Mark Roper's videos on the mazes he makes for the squirrels in his backyard, you should check them out. In the past, a squirrel would never think of entering our backyard. Yesterday, I spotted one on the deck just having a grand old time doing something! Lexi doesn't hear so well anymore, and Murphy doesn't move so well, and the squirrels have figured that out. I may need another guard dog! 

I promise there will be loads of FUN things tomorrow as you get to see my homework for THREE of the new projects. I had to switch a couple of classes around, which meant three new projects started today. That is only a one-time situation - thankfully, as it was a challenge to get all the work done!

Oh -- and we have a surprise guest coming tomorrow! 

Anyway, it's time to get moving!!! Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Out of sight - out of mind!

OK—let's see if the pictures load this morning. 

Success!!!! It took a wee bit longer than usual, but that's OK - the pictures are loaded!!!

I don't know what is happening with the squirrels, but they seemed to be having a party on our front step. The funny thing is that there are NO oak trees anywhere near this area. They are in the back in the forest, but not in front. Hmmm—someone called a party, and no one told me? 

The morning after a wild squirrel party

I think everyone knows that Michaels in the US and in Canada is bringing in fabric. Fabric has been in some of the US Michaels stores for several years, and it is slowly being rolled out to all Michaels in Canada. I have seen it a couple of times. I zipped off to one of my local stores (yes—there are THREE within about a 6 KM distance, which seems a bit obsessive to me). 

The fabric styles have definitely improved since it first started rolling out. Will it ever replace a full-blown quilt store? No. But you can find some nice pieces. I found this vintage map piece, which had to follow me home. If you are a crafter or need limited prints, this is a good place to start. If you are a quilter, it won't be enough. 

My find at Michaels

When I was prepping Studio B for the Facebook Live, I had to shift a few things around, and I spotted a shelf on the bookcase that had been hiding behind the temporary design boards. OH MY -- this shelf was a "to be sorted" shelf, and I had completely forgotten about it. I found a bunch of binders that need to be gone through. Mostly filled with patterns, but some great ideas for the upcoming scrap class. One more thing to add to the list. 

Folders to deal with

Of course, my trusty helper was with me. The poor thing - like all aging people or pets, she has good days and bad days. But I will say she seemed to take a downhill turn a couple of months ago, and she isn't going to recover. I swear she is depressed now because of the lack of mobility she has. But we are going to love her forever and will enjoy all the moments she has. 

MOM - I just supervise from the floor now! 

She can make it down the stairs no problem, but going up is a whole different ballgame. So I was alone during the Facebook Live, and she was outside in the backyard. I left the barricade open at the top of the basement stairs so she could come down if she needed to. I was praying that if she did come down, she would have to be content staying down with me, since I wouldn't be able to help her up!

And she decided to come down very near the end of the presentation. There were a lot of cords behind the scenes, and wouldn't you know it, she came to me, got caught in the wires, and sank to the floor. If you watch the video near the end, I had to bend down to disentangle her from the cords. 

Murphy got caught in this cord.

It was a tight space behind the sewing machine, but it all worked out. 

The space behind the sewing machine

While we were downstairs, it was quite windy, and this bouquet of cut flowers I got for my birthday got blown over. It was on its last legs, which is why it was outside. The glass vase didn't break! 

The flowers got blown over.

So yesterday was a new day and more work to be done. I'm happy to report that the sewing for the second class is done and the pictures have been uploaded into the presentation. I just need to sort them after writing the blog. That will make two of three presentations complete for tomorrow. Oh my --- one of the classes involves paper piecing, and let's just say that I've invented (not really) a brand new way to cope with finicky paper piecing, and once you wrap your head around it --- it's kind of fun! 

That's for the My Kinda Town class, which is only four classes this fall. If anyone is interested, you're welcome to sign up. 

You can check back to this blog post for more information. Just note that the first class is tomorrow at 1, not next week as originally planned. I love how the work turned out!! And of course, I'll share later - not the technique, but my work. 

So something else got unearthed in the stash room. Oh shoot—I didn't take a picture of the shelving, but the room has shelves on three sides, which means there are corners, and the things in the corners aren't readily visible. 

Wait—I just had time to sort the slides in the presentation and found my missing photo. Wrong folder!

Hidden corners in the stash room

I needed to dig out a bucket of fabric from beside the corner the other day. 

A bucket of striped fabric

I'll explain more about this basket another day, but remember those two striped fabrics I bought the other day? 

Two striped fabrics I recently purchased

Well, there are a few more colors from this collection in that green bin!!! 

Removing that big basket revealed another basket in the corner. Hmmm -- what's in here? And OMG --- what a treasure I found. 

What's in this hidden basket?

This is a basket of T-shirt bits that I have saved over the years. The T-shirts have already been cut up, and I had plans to make a T-shirt quilt from them. Oh my—yes—I have another group of T-shirts I want to make a quilt from. I'll have to squeeze them together and maybe make a backing from the other bits. 

I already have one T-shirt quilt. How many does one need? I love them because they are heavy!

BUT, I found something that I swear I still had, but didn't know where it was. 

I may have mentioned that next year is the 50th year of our participation in Katimavik. And we are attempting to locate as many people as we can. And oh my --- it is a very hard task. Of the 51 people in the group, I think we have located 20, 8 of whom have passed. That is a very scary statistic. 

During the program, or it could have been after, but likely during, we had some T-shirts made, and I wanted to find them. Well, when I spotted that basket, I knew what I was going to find. Well, I was hoping. This is when the hoarding tendencies of your mother come in handy. 

I found both of them!!! 

Katimavik T-shirt number one

The official Katimavik T-shirt

The bottom one has the official Katimavik logo. I also found my military beret and ascot! 

OH MY GOSH --- those T-shirts are almost 50 years old! Well, there are only bits of them, as you can see; I totally hacked them from the T-shirt. We have a meeting today, and I haven't done much searching for missing people, so I'd better put in a bit of time this morning. 

Our premier took away all the speed cameras in the province, stating - I have no idea what his rationale was- but he vowed to have more police checking on speeders in school zones. Hmmm -- the cost of an officer and a car versus a speed camera? Which costs less? Which catches more people? 

Anyway, on our walk yesterday morning, there were two cars, and it was easy peasy for them to catch people speeding through the 30 KM zone. I think one officer should have stood on the sidewalk with the radar gun and pulled speeders over, while someone went down the line and wrote out tickets. 

It's just a shame that no one respects the speed limit, especially in a school zone and right at school drop-off time. Well, shortly after, some stragglers are probably coming in. 

Of course, DH and I had a big discussion about which method was more effective to make people stop speeding. Do we ever agree on anything? How many schools yesterday did NOT have police presence? 

Oh my—there is a new long arm from APQS, and it looks pretty spiffy. I got a notification yesterday about trade-ins. I have to chuckle because the trade-in machines start from the year 2013. My machine is from 2006!!!! I definitely won't qualify for a trade-in. And it looks like when I am ready to downsize, and that machine can't come with me, I'd better just call the 1-800 Got Junk people and load it up! 

From time to time, our online Monday sewing group gets together for lunch. A few of us are close enough to make that happen, and sometimes people come in from a distance. We were five. DH was supposed to have the car yesterday, so I planned to ride my bike. The restaurant isn't that far away. He didn't end up using the car, but I still rode my bike. 

Super fun!!! I need to get out more often, and it was one of those days when it was windy on the way there and windy on the way back! I'm riding my townie bike with only three speeds, and my legs -well, they aren't used to riding out in the real world. I found it a challenge with only three speeds, but overall it was good. Great bike paths for about half the distance. The rest? Not so much!

There were only five of us, and you know what? It was nice. If there are too many people, you can't talk to everyone! We told the organizer she should cap it at 6 in the future!!! Can you imagine? That would be bad, but it is fun to visit with a smaller group. Which is why I like retreats with smaller groups. And there is little danger of anyone taking sides! 

Remember what we talked about the other day - about toxic people and choosing sides. 

OMG --- when I was walking Lexi in the forest, guess who I met! Yep—the very person I was thinking of when I posted these!!! There was no way we could avoid each other - we had to pass each other. I politely said, "Good morning." She responded, and we kept walking. I had so much I would have shared, since we had some great conversations back in the day, but then I remembered my stand and wouldn't cave!!!! She chose, and she didn't choose me, so I'm not going back. 

As close as we live to each other, it is very rare that we bump into each other, which is probably a good thing. 

As I sit at my computer, I can see the neighbor's house. The top half is wood siding, and it's never been touched since the house was built 30 years ago. They are doing some major work inside and outside - I wonder if that is for them or if they are prepping to sell? Anyway, they had a new deck and gazebo built in the backyard. Now they are trying to paint the back of the house and have to set up complex scaffolding to access the wood that is behind the gazebo, which is set very close to the house. 

I'm not a fan of their music, and Murphy is doing a great job of not barking her head off, so we are all getting along, and all is good. 

On that note, I'm out of here! I need to get a lot of work done today, and I would love to have an extra day!!!

It's going to be a wonderful day!!!!

Ciao!!!!