Down on the Farm - Block Ten - DONE!!!!

You are right -- 30 years is NOT old for a house, but the electrical stuff in the house is old! Many of the plugs were outdated or broken. That is not good news for safety and for our environment! Yet again!!!

OH MY -- I never thought about the QUILTsocial blog posts and AI. But you are right—you cannot tell it is AI. The voices and conversation are super smooth and sound just like two people casually talking - literally the way you would have a conversation in a podcast. DH says, I should be happy that it's NOT my voice talking. The feature only seems to be available on the Android phone. 

I'm still dealing with the aftermath of the electrician - pulling garbage from the boxes and flattening them for recycling. I wonder how many screws that are made are never used? All kinds of hardware come in anything you buy, and many times, they don't get used. Yep -- I could keep them, but what will I do with them? 

Then I have five boxes of stuff left over from when M's friend helped her clean the room, and I need to deal with those since I found someone who will come and pick up the books. So that is all in the hallway - either upstairs or on the main floor. And I'm trying to pack at least one box for my SIL, who wasn't able to get everything in her car. I should have checked her car before she left, since I could have packed some of this stuff in there. Take it out of the boxes and tuck it in the cracks! 

The house is in an uproar, and it needs to be tidy by Tuesday when the cleaning people come. I haven't told you the story about why we have cleaning people rather than a cleaning lady. But that will have to wait for another day. 

And it was only last night, when DH said, " Put the chicken in the oven," that I GASPED. I had completely forgotten to get the door fixed on the big oven. How long ago did that glass shatter? Goes to show that we do NOT use our oven often. Instead, we use the toaster oven. And it works for us. 

On top of all that commotion, I'm trying to get the Down on the Farm quilt finished!! I finally have the tenth block complete. My computer is having a hissy fit this morning and will not let me open email. So, before I finish, I'll try rebooting to see if that helps. 

As I've mentioned, I'm not only making the quilt, but pattern testing it at the same time. That means checking the sewing instructions against the diagrams and the cutting instructions. I almost got it right. I am out by two pieces, so I've requested an updated copy and will find those two missing pieces. When each block has 100+ pieces (don't panic - they are big blocks at 13½" by 20½"), it isn't a big deal to be missing a couple of pieces. It's the darn grass -- there is so much of it!!! But since the pattern is being sold, I know that if people find a discrepancy like that, they will not be happy, so I'll find it! 

The first two blocks on the final row.

And I have the next block cut out. This one should be much easier! I need to move on to other things, so I need to get these last two blocks complete ASAP. 

Block eleven is cut out.

Although you can't tell, I was out in the garden on Friday. I spent my half hour or more and did some more weeding. Yep -- as soon as I get the weeds out, they start to grow again! And that darn creeping vine -- you just can't get rid of it, and I didn't do a good job last time because I had run out of time. 

The creeping vine also grows between the rocks at the back of the pond. I don't have a picture for this, but imagine me playing Twister on the rocks as I attempt to pull out the vines. I had my little knee cushion and was facing head down towards the pond. One slip and OOPS - I was going to take a bath. Thankfully, no one got wet, and the weeds are gone! 

The rocks on the pond are free of weeds.

I never see all the fish at once, but they seem to be thriving, and once we get new outlets in the backyard, there should be no danger of them dying this coming winter. I have a new aerator and the heater still works. 

I am going to try to stick to my 30 minutes once a week to maintain and repair a few things in the backyard. If I'm in a good mood and the weather is decent, I may spend more time. I also need to find one of those hand-weeding tools -- it has a curved blade and looks mighty dangerous. I could buy it online, but I want to buy it in person. While I hand-pick the weeds, some have tough roots, and the tool will help pull them out so they don't start regrowing immediately after I yank off the top. 

I am also trying to clean up the bedrooms, which are in a bit of disarray after the electricians moved furniture to access the outlets. I decided to start in Studio U, which is quite a mess, because I had cleared a table for my SIL to work on. OK -- so she did jigsaw puzzles! But all my quilts have literally been stacked in heaps in that room, and it is time to get it organized. 

This isn't quite the before picture, but there was batting all over the room, quilts and samples everywhere, and well, I need to get it organized. It's been a long time since I've done anything in that room. 

An uproar in Studio U.

The sewing table looks marginally better, and I've started pulling samples for my upcoming trip; the items on the left are the ones I'm taking. 

The after, which still looks messy.

The cutting table needs to be put back in place. I've moved a fair amount of stuff to its proper place in the guest room where there is a big black cubby bookcase. I have sorted the table runners, and they are in their proper case. I found some linen storage bags at the thrift store, and they work perfectly for table runners. Now I need to assemble all the small wall hangings, and they will go in another linen case. Hopefully I can find space on my rolling cart, which has resided in the upstairs hallway for a year. It needs to be put back in the guest room, but I have to finish packing my SIL's stuff first. 

What I need is to sort the samples into what I want and what I don't, and find homes for what I don't want. It sure would make life a lot easier. I'm going to have to do that with the quilts. There are so many that I will never use for anything. I've got to get that under control and soon!

All the batting bits got stored back in the closet. I swear that I emptied a lot of that out and was using it for that group of community project quilts, but more has come in!

The batting closet

I store my trimmed HSTs in that room. And there were stacks of them strewn around the room. So I gathered them up and put them away. 

HSTs to be sorted and put away.

I'm not going to go into much detail because I'll be covering this in my scrap class, but this is a tin of trimmed HSTs. 

A tin of trimmed HSTs

I got a chuckle because the box is so full that some of them seem to be exploding out of the bottom. 

HSTs trying to escape

Others that no longer fit in this tin are in plastic bags, stored by size, and yes, they are labeled. I found another tin while going through some stuff, so now I have a new space to store those HSTs. WAIT -- I also have a couple of tins in the basement, so I could easily pull one of those back into duty. 

More bags of HSTs

I am determined to get those triangles under control - just like I have with the rest of my scraps. It's the final frontier of the sewing space! So I sorted the triangles on the tray by color, and I'm working my way through them. 

Triangles ready to sew into HSTs

There was one basket of unsorted triangles, and I'm slowly sorting them and adding them to the tray. 

Triangles to sort 

I also found a basket of triangles, along with two other containers, in Studio U, and my plan is to sort through them all. Can I deal with them by the time I touch on this in my scrap class? Time will tell. 

Another basket of triangles to sort

Every day, I spend a bit of time dealing with a bag or a handful of the triangles and sorting them. 

Sorting triangles for HSTs

BUT --- this is the question. How small is too small, and that's all I'm going to say about this. 

How small of a scrap will you keep?

The tray looks a bit fuller now, although I've been sewing, so it looks much different this morning. 

Lots of triangles on the tray, ready to sew.

And when I got bored of sewing, I would press and trim a few. It doesn't matter what you keep, as long as you have a home for it, or you are working on it, or have plans to work on it. Hmmm --- could someone define that phrase - "plans to work on it!"

Trimming HSTs 

I have had to ban myself from going to the thrift store. The lure of finding some amazing puzzles at reasonable prices and having coupons to use is just too much! If I take two bags, I can bring home twice as many puzzles. Sigh.................. My name is Elaline, and I'm a hoarder. Let's just face reality. 

BUT - I am working on them, and my intent is to give them away. I now have three in my giveaway box and gave a couple to my SIL. All were ones that I had finished. 

I spotted this little gem, which looked intriguing. It wasn't expensive, so I bought it, and it only has 100 pieces. Thank goodness for that. 

An IMPOSSIPUZZLE

The pieces were fairly large and cut into two different shapes. Hmmm -- the shapes were the same, but the orientation was different. Each piece had two holes and two knobs, but half were horizontal, and half were portrait. I'll take a picture so you can see what I mean. 

Anyway, there was no way that you could identify which parts of the candy cane fit into another, so this is one puzzle that I tried every piece in every place. I started by making the border and then worked row by row. And yes, once or twice, the piece that fit was the LAST one I picked up. 

Working row by row

Thankfully, each piece clicked properly into its rightful place, and I could then verify the pattern. It didn't take that long, but it's the first time I've had to do that with an entire puzzle. 

Just the middle is left.

And there it is -- done!!

The puzzle is done!!!

And there's a random picture of Lexi sleeping. This is one of her favorite places. WAIT --- where the fan is sitting is her favorite place, and I think she is making a point - move the fan!!!

MOM - move the fan!!!!

I'm well on my way with the next puzzle. This month's theme for the Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association is wild animals. I bought this one because it reminded me of the safaris we took last year. It's only 500 pieces, but the shapes are very weird - a lot of circular ones with four holes, and ones with four tabs. It's good to have variety in shapes, pictures, and the number of pieces.  

The next puzzle

Do I have a technique? I usually start with the border (one piece is still missing) and then by color, but after that? Well, I will go piece by piece if necessary. 

The weather is totally wacko! Yesterday morning was cool but humid, so it felt clammy. Today it's cool and dry, so it feels cold. And then it heats up in the daytime. I'm OK with the weather, but it changes so frequently, and one day it's very humid, and the next day it's dry. I prefer dry over humidity. I think the girls do as well. 

We tried to keep Miss Murphy in the house last night, but she wasn't having anything to do with that. So we let her out, and she slept like the dead. I went out at 11 to bring her in, but she was dead weight, and I couldn't lift her up, and she wasn't moving. She came in about 6 AM and is fast asleep in Lexi's raised bed. I hope to take her off the meds on Tuesday, so we'll see how she reacts at night then. 

I'm madly listening to audiobooks while sewing, tidying, and cleaning. It's the e-books that I'm struggling with. That requires some dedicated time, and when I try to read before going to sleep, sleep comes quickly! Perhaps today, I can spend some time in the gazebo. 

On that happy note, it's time to get moving!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

The watchers

The UPS guys are working overtime these days. A package was delivered at 8:15 last night. If they have something for us, it's usually here by 5 PM. I knew it was coming, but it must have come just minutes after I checked and went upstairs. And they send a picture in an email as proof. I'm sure they appreciate that extra part of the job, but with all the porch pirates, they don't have a choice. 

Well, it was another slow, methodical day! I did NOT complete all the UFO commitments, but I still have time. However, I did get things done. 

Tidying up Studio U has been on my mind for quite some time, but there just didn't seem like a good time to make that happen. All my samples had been tossed into the room after the events, and nothing was sorted. How will I ever get room to work on a puzzle if I don't clean up the tables? 

The first thing was to move the rack of quilts out of the room, as that takes up a fair bit of space. It usually resides in the spare bedroom against a wall, but I took it out to give KU some extra space. 

My rack for storing quilts

The rack is also in total disarray after some trunk shows, and the quilts were NOTput back on the rack, but instead just thrown on a table in Studio U. Once the rack was out of the room, I had room to move. Of course, I had help! 

The current situation in Studio U

I mainly sorted everything that was on the sewing table. WAIT --- there are three puzzle boxes on the table and a jigsaw that I completed months ago. That needs to be put away, so I can set up the next one. Before that can happen, there are piles of HSTs that need to be put into the appropriate box according to size! This is only good for a 500-piece puzzle, so I will have to clear off the back table, which is larger! 

My space for jigsaws is unearthed! 

I started to sort the samples by type - what I need for a trunk show, although that's mostly the quilts. The smaller stuff, like wall hangings, will get further sorted by whether I use it as a sample, or for me, or if it never gets used. There are lots of other smaller samples as well and those need to be sorted to make it easier to find when I need something. I will put like things in plastic bags, and then there are two big tubs in the room. I'll put what I can in the tubs. Some of the things just need to be sold or given away as I will likely never use them. 

Batting supplies need to be returned to the batting closet. I have a nice cubby shelf in the spare room, where I used to store the smaller samples. Since I don't have access to that right now, I need to come up with a Plan B. I'll figure it out. I only spent about 15 minutes there, so it wasn't a huge time drain, but it was enough to get me started!

It's a huge mess, but it looks a bit more under control than it was at the beginning of the day!

Then it was down to Studio B to get some work done! Oh Murphy! She knows exactly where to put herself so you can't miss her! Why is she so needy? 

MOM -- I'm here in case you need me!! 

For those of you who question my sanity on saving bits of everything, here's a great example. Someone gave me a lace heart ornament the other day. Now what to do with it? I went to my box of ribbon bits and found a thin ribbon that would be perfect for the heart. 

A ribbon bit

I was going to tie a knot to make a hanger, but then I thought I could do better than that. I grabbed my bobbins of colored thread. These bobbins are different (larger) than the ones I almost used up for sewing. These two holders are for the machines I'm sewing on, so I'm keeping those. They come in super handy when I need a tiny bit of thread in a particular color. 

My colored bobbins

Then I grabbed a wee chunk of scrap stabilizer and sewed the ribbon ends together. Yes, I know - it was fiddly as all get out. But you know what? When I get in the zone and have nothing on my mind, like a deadline, then I can get all those fiddly bits done! I had some tiny buttons to add to another project later in the day, and I sewed them on by hand instead of hot glue! Imagine that!!!

Sewing the ribbon ends together

Anyway, the ornament got placed on my decor rod, and it looks fantastic!!! I can now remember the person who gave it to me, every day when I look at the heart! 

My lace heart hanging ornament

So, back to the UFOs. I managed to complete TWO more of the projects, so that was good. There are still three of them to finish for tomorrow. I doubt that is going to happen, but I have advanced them and that is what counts. When I got looking, one of the projects actually had enough fabric cut to make TWO projects, so that's what I'm focusing on! They are going to be super cute when they are finished, but I need to get something at Fabricland to complete them. Hopefully, that will happen later today. 

I am super excited to have decided to take on these small projects. And almost all of them got left at a finicky stage. That part needs quilting, that part needs some supplies, or whatever small reason that the project got abandoned. Sometimes, they get abandoned just because of time! The list of projects for January is all about binding, and I'm very good at that, so it should be a breeze to complete. But, alas, even some binding can be finicky, and I've left some doozies to stitch! But that's for January, and not to worry about today. 

If you've been around your local quilt shop, you've probably seen new scissors. They are a brand called LDH. They are a Canadian company based in hmmmm -- their mailing address is mere miles from my house! Oh my --- if you want to know what LDH stands for, go to the website. Interesting!!!! 

Anyway, they have a vast range of scissors, including snips. I used to use the inexpensive (think $1.00) snips, and those were good for cutting threads between chains of pieces. However, I splurged one day when I saw these in a store and bought a pair of the black snips. 

My LDH snips

They are SHARP, and it is very easy to cut something you don't want to cut. And they are heavy, so not everyone will like them. But when I needed to cut to some points yesterday through many layers, those snips cut right where I wanted them!! 

Anyway, there is plenty of information on the website, and you can buy from a quilt store or directly from the company. And that had better be the LAST pair of scissors or snips that I purchase in my life, as I have drawers filled with scissors. OK - only two drawers, and they are small, but still. 

I didn't take any pictures, but I made squash soup yesterday! I precooked the butternut squash in the microwave to soften it so I could cut it. Then, instead of putting it in the oven, I quartered it and microwaved it. That sure helps the process of making soup!

It's tough to tell in this photo, but Miss Murphy is laying under the bushes - you can just see one patch of gold. She is on the hunt for another rabbit and likes to lay outside the skirting of the deck to show the rabbit who is boss!

Stalking a rabbit - again! 

Look at the girls. While I was reading in the afternoon, the two of them were watching someone deliver a package to the house. Not the UPS man, because he came in the dark. Lexi would never dream of jumping up on Murphy's bed. Not going to happen! 

The watchers

And then they got bored, and Lexi went to lie in her bed, while Murphy attempted to chomp on her bone, which she managed to roll under my chair! That dog has a knack for annoying me even when she is trying to be quiet and sweet! I'ts like a farce. I just get comfortable with my glasses, my phone (e-book), water, and a snack. Then she decides that she needs something! Up and down, up and down. I guess it's good for my mobility, so I shouldn't complain. 

Moom - I'm trying to be quiet

And you never know when she is going to pop up! She's in Studio B and making it known that it's PAST 5 o'clock and she is practically dead from hunger! 

MOM - a dog could starve here! 

It was a weird day for the weather yesterday. It was windy and cool and while it tried to snow, it didn't really matter to anything! I see it's below zero celcius this morning, but will rise to plus 3. 

I was hoping to get some work done this morning, but I had a not-so-good night, so I slept in a bit. I'll set the sewing aside, as we'll be using the embroidery machines today. If any sewing gets done, it'll be later in the afternoon. I have to laugh because I'm getting much better at time management, but I still need JUST ONE MORE DAY. 

I desperately need to spend a day in this office to clean up some paperwork. Since it's not urgent, there is no urgent need to tackle it. But there is a need. The stuff is weighing on me, and I need to clear it.

I still have those UFOs, and even though they won't all be done by tomorrow, I'm going to push on until they are. Then I have two more "urgent" things to work on, and customer quilts. I hope to get all that done by December 31. Then I can start the new year with a fresh plate of things to work on! 

On that note, I'm out of here!!!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!

A sign of good organization - everything in its place

LOL --- you are so right! Facebook seems to be the worst for getting you in an algorithm loop! Just keep on deleting! But now I'm hooked on Sean The Sheepman, so if you get sheep reels - it's because of me. Sorry! 

It's also a shame how many popular videos are hijacked by someone with a similar name so they can get the likes and the money! For instance, someone has hijacked Sean's Instagram page and called themselves sean the sheepman. What's the difference? No capital letters and no watermark on the video. Beware, and don't feed the scammers!!

I noticed something peculiar when I sat down at the computer this morning. My monitor sits on a hinged stand, and the stand is the computer. There is no big box. And the hinge that attaches the monitor to the stand is tired! The monitor won't stay in place. I've had this computer for many years, and I guess it eventually wore out. I will not replace it because of a tired hinge, but I may want to prop the monitor up slightly. 

All three presentations for yesterday went off without a hitch! Everything was as prepped as it could be. OK - so I didn't have time to make any blocks for Dear Jen, but I went through all the homework. I sometimes do that when pressed for time. I know how to piece them - I don't have to make them. But I do want to, but that won't happen until April when the chaos of my calendar is gone. 

The three presentations for today are done despite the stragglers who sent pictures late last night! 

The big question of the day is: Did those cushions and pillow shams get done? Wait, and you'll see. 

As soon as I was done with Zoom, I hopped in the car to get those invisible zippers. But since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped at two places to find a longer cable to connect my video camera to my switch box. I couldn't even look online since I didn't know the one connector. AHA - the helpful people at the camera shop informed me that it was a MINI-HDMI, and the other end was HDMI, which I knew. I should know that - DATA is what you need for a video stream. 

They did not have the cable at the camera shop, but Best Buy had it. And it was in the CAMERA section, not the computer section. I had to ask, but someone helped me, and everything was good. This one is 8 feet, giving me more flexibility in positioning the cameras. 

Mini HDMI to HDMI cable

When I stopped at Fabricland for the zippers, I ran into two staff members I knew, so I had to chat! Something caught my eye when I reached the cash register with my zippers and matching thread. The lady showed me where they were, and I bought one. Shoot, there were two colors: flesh tone and black. I wanted black, but none were left. What does it look like? 

The rolled-up mat

It's a mat to put under your sewing machine. The bottom has a rubber surface to prevent the machine from moving. My machines are big and heavy and don't travel, but this mat looks nice. 

A sewing machine mat

When I was prepping my work this morning, I had to clean off the two sewing machine work tables. They were a mess, and I couldn't do anything. I needed to get the serger up, and hey - this mat would be perfect for the serger. 

Clean work tables!

The serger fit beautifully on it. It was nice to have my open space back! Don't those machines look fantastic? They match in color and style. 

Matching serger and sewing/embroidery machine

See how the serger fits perfectly on the mat. 

The mat is perfect for the serger

Even better, the colors match!!! 

The colors match!

The other fabulous thing was that everything I wanted was in its place and organized in a plastic bag. That means I'm doing something right, and things will be even better once my time crunch is over. All the samples and other stuff will get put away. 

When I wanted my invisible zipper foot, I went to the drawer of presser feet. All the zipper feet are in a plastic bag. 

Bag of zipper feet

When I wanted my needles to weave in the serger seam ends, I found them in a plastic bag with the serger supplies. 

The needles for weaving threads

When I needed the corner template for making cushions, the template was in a labeled plastic bag on the pegboard. 

The template for the cushion corners

That made my life much less stressful this morning as I worked on my projects. The key to that is to put things away when you are done. WAIT - first, everything needs a home, and then you can put it away. I've done a decent job; this morning was proof of all my hard work. 

Oh - I should mention something about my schedule. It's not so much the chaos of all the events. It's more when I have a project hanging over my head with a deadline that makes my brain shut down. The decorator is coming to pick up these items today, and that pressure just shuts my brain down and often prevents me from working, which doesn't help the situation. The same happens when I have a writing deadline. That can put me in a funk, and I can't do anything else because the task is hanging over me. It's so weird - if I were to focus and do the project, I'd get along better with everything else! I'm trying!

Let's talk about pillow shams. It was a beautiful day, and I took advantage of the open space in Studio U to cut the pillow shams there. The front of them is quilted like a quilt. I quilted extra fabric so it would all be done once. 

Cutting the pillow shams

Of course, I had a helper, and she wanted to watch out the window. Oh boy --- I'm sure some neighbors got a chuckle from that view! 

MOM - the view up here is excellent! 

While I was on a roll, I cut the fabric for the accent cushions as well. I wanted to get that done before it got too dark, as the lighting in that room isn't the best. 

Cutting the accent cushions

Once they were cut, I was done! I just couldn't face the sewing machine or the serger. So, I got the presentations ready. 

This morning, bright and early, I was in Studio B and hemmed the back of the two pieces for the pillow shams. 

The pillow sham is ready to serge together

Then they were serged, turned inside out, corners poked out as best I could, and pressed. 

The completed pillow sham

It's hard to see in this photo, but a 3" flange is stitched on all sides. Both pillow shams are DONE!!!

The flange

Then, it was onto the accent cushions. After trimming off the corners to prevent dog ears, it was time to put in the invisible zipper. I know how to do it; I've done several but had a mental block. But there was no time to dwell on it, so I forged ahead, and those zippers went in like a duck to water. 

Sewing in the invisible zipper

The first side is always easy - the second one requires more care, so the two pieces are the same length. Mission accomplished. 

Invisible zipper 

One of the cushions is completely done. The second one needs serging on three sides, turning inside out, and pressing. I could have completed it, but I was getting hungry and had already worked for a couple of hours, so I'll get it done before the Zooms or right after the second one this morning. There's nothing like leaving it until the last minute! The third Zoom is later this afternoon, so I have some breathing room.

The accent pillow

They turned out pretty OK. A touch smaller than requested, but the pillows are not that puffy, so I'm sure it will be OK. I'd rather a tight fitting cover, than one that's floppy. 

And how does this happen? 

Where's my slipper?

As I shut the machines off and was ready to come upstairs, I realized I only had one slipper. And it was the right foot. What happened to the left foot? I couldn't find it downstairs. When I came up, I found it at the bottom of the stairs to go to the second floor. I had made a trip up there, obviously with one slipper, and took it off (too dangerous on the stairs), and good grief - when I came back, I left it there. 

All this happens without my even thinking. I never know where those slippers will be. It's a good thing neither of our girls is a chewer! 

What a whirlwind day! But things are getting done. I still have a few emails to send out as follow-ups and many emails to prepare for this week. That's the job for this afternoon, in addition to embroidering some samples I need tomorrow. Yes -- the merry-go-round just keeps getting faster! 

There are more classes to prep for this coming weekend. There's also a virtual retreat because I'm away the weekend, so I would usually host it. That weekend away has put a considerable money wrench in my calendar, which is why many things got shifted around this month. But all is good!

I don't know what's wrong with the girls, but they've been asking to go out for the last hour. We had a lot of snow last night (one more thing to do today - shovel!), and I think they want to go and play!!!

On that note, I''m out of here!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!