The great quilt magazine cull begins!!!

Oh my!!! Yes, Jackie - you have a point. My list was mostly "don't do this," and it's always better to keep it positive rather than negative. So I will turn that list around, but not today. However you prefer to see your lists, that list is a very important one for quilters/crafters. I'm going to blame it all on those marketing people who created the NEED for us to want more and more and more! 

I couldn't agree more about the magazine titles. Some titles are strictly fluff, and I will have no qualms about going through them and tossing them. But Quilter's Newsletter was one of the BEST magazine titles around. Great quilts, great eye candy, and great articles. I was very sad to see it go. I don't think I have the entire collection, but I have most of it! I'm leaving that one for last. 

One of the most common things people do when culling magazines is go through them, rip out the interesting articles/patterns, and put them in page protectors. And it sounds like one of you found someone's binders of culled patterns. I think I have two or three binders in the office. 

The 5.5-hour drive home was uneventful, but I broke it up with several stops. In one town with FOUR Tim's, it took us a minute to get to the right one, but we managed. We had a great visit, as we don't see each other that much in person. Google Maps isn't very helpful with Tim's locations, unless you give it a specific address. 

I'm sure you have all noticed the ordering kiosks in Tim's. You can order at the kiosk, on the app, or directly from the counter person. After seeing this, I suspect they are trying to get people to use the kiosk or the app. 

Hmmm -- a bit impersonal??? 

I will confess, I'm a bit stunned. They are forcing the consumer to act in a certain way. What if I'm a senior and I want to use my card, but I also prefer interacting with a person rather than a kiosk? They have taken that ability away from me. I think that's a bit much. Personally, I dislike ordering on the app, and I hate the kiosks. Although the ones yesterday did work fine. 

I only frequent that place when I'm traveling, so I guess I don't really care, but I thought it was a bit contrived to force customers to use the kiosk, leaving staff to prep orders but not take them. 

On one of my stops along the way, and you have to love hands-free in the car that will enable you to send and receive messages without taking your hands off the wheel. I met a friend in a carpool parking lot, and we completed the Great Disney Puzzle Caper! 

A Disney puzzle to add to my list

One of next year's themes is Disney, and now I have a Disney puzzle to work on! 

OK—after I got home and unloaded the car, I took the girls for a walk; let's make that a forced march. They were like sled dogs, so excited to get out. If they were hitched to a wagon, we'd have been flying around the neighborhood!

MOM - you are so slow!!!!!

Both of them were at the full extension of their leashes. Then, on the way home, Murphy realized she'd overdone it and was calmer, but not by much! 

The big thing I did after unloading the car and taking some stuff downstairs was look at that bookshelf with all the magazines.

Sigh --- where to start?

This shelf has magazines and books on it, and for the most part, the magazines are sorted by title. Not necessarily in order within that publication, as they have been shuffled around multiple times. But the titles are in one pile. And there are a few instances where there are two piles of the same title, but they aren't necessarily on the same shelf. Hey -- it's better than one huge unsorted pile! 

As I browsed the shelves, I settled on Quiltmaker as my target. I wanted to start with something that I considered fluff so it would be quick and relatively easy to browse the magazines and then toss them. When I get to the more in-depth content, I'll be practiced enough to toss them without much thought. 

Now you may think—why don't you just toss them and I could. Since many of them have never been opened, and I spent a lot of money on those, I want to get my entertainment value from them. And since they are my magazines and I'm working on my schedule, I get to decide how to deal with them. If you have magazines and want to toss them without looking, be my guest!! 

I'm also enjoying looking at styles, trends, what's come back, and hopefully finding some inspiration. I am not planning on keeping any patterns, but I may save the occasional article, which I might just scan and tag so I can easily find it again. 

Since this is going to be my entertainment, it's also going to be your entertainment, without the hassle of you physically moving them, browsing them, and then tossing them. 

Here's what happened. I found TWO piles of Quiltmaker on the shelves. 

Two piles of Quiltmaker magazine

That freed up some shelf space, which you can see doesn't get dusted very often. On some of the shelves, the magazines were standing upright between two stacks, so I took some of those and laid them flat. There are no empty spaces - yet! 

An empty space, which soon got filled again

Then I sorted them because Quiltmaker came up with some special issues, and of course, I had to buy those. 

Sorting the titles

And yes, I found a few duplicates. Three of them, to be exact. 

Duplicate (May/June 08)

And another duplicate (March/April 09)

Oh gosh -- yet another duplicate!!! (Jan/Feb 2015)

And yes  - can you believe that I found THREE copies of one issue? Why? I just shake my head. 

Seriously?? This is just wrong.

A couple of issues were still wrapped in the plastic because some insert or CD came with them. 

Still wrapped in plastic.

This is how I marked patterns that I wanted to keep. A sticky on the front. How helpful is that when I want to go back and find something? It'll be interesting to see which ones I earmarked, as I'm sure I have ZERO interest in ever making those. 

The way I flagged patterns I wanted to make (totally useless!)

Once I sorted the piles by special issue or magazine, I sorted them by date, with the earliest ones on top. 

This is the THIRD ever Quiltmaker magazine published. It's the earliest issue I have. 

The third edition of Quiltmaker

And look at that date!!! Spring/summer 1983!!!! Surprisingly, the magazine cost $3, which I think was high for that time. 

Spring/Summer 1983

I have about ten issues from the 80s and early 90s before I started quilting, so I must have purchased those from a members' boutique at a quilt show. 

This is the most recent issue I have. 

My most recent Quiltmaker magazine

It's dated Fall 2025. In the last 8 years, I mostly purchased one per year! I bought most of my magazines in the early 2000s, when I was new and had no clue what I was doing! 

Quiltmaker Fall 2025

Here are all the special editions they published. 

Special editions published under Quiltmaker 

Almost all magazines provide their general instructions for constructing a quilt. I browsed through it to see what had changed since then and now. Remember, this is 1983 - that's 43 years ago!!!! 

Instructions for pressing and blocking

Those pressing instructions still pertain to today; however, I think the quilt world has gotten lazy and just presses seams open. There is NO REASON to do that. Press to one side. I love that they use the word USUALLY to the dark, because sometimes it makes sense to press to the light. 

As for quilting, not even a mention of quilting by machine. Think about it—NO ONE quilted by machine in those days. Wait—some rebels did, but it was frowned upon. 

Hand quilting ONLY

The other option mentioned was to tie the quilt. 

Or you could tie the quilt.

There was no such thing as a quilt backing in those days. They called it a LINING. 

Lining instead of backing!

Bindings were not mitered, nor were they double-folded. Now remember, this is all according to this magazine. Remember, in 1983, there was no internet, there were few quilting books, and only a handful of magazines. Everything was taught in person and techniques were handed down. 

Instructions for binding

After looking at the patterns in the magazine, there were NO articles, just patterns; you will NEVER complain about a modern pattern again. No cutting instructions! You had templates and instructions for making the templates. Yes - rotary cutters were available, but not widespread. I found an ad for the Olfa cutter in the back. 

OH MY gosh—that looks complicated!!!!! 

Diagrams only -- few words, and this one has curved piecing! 

I love everything log cabin and was templated to keep the pattern. 

Beautiful log cabin quilt

But based on how it's pieced, there's no way I'm going to do that. 

The block - can you imagine making that point? 

And even back then, there were drawings of some of the quilts. This is a graphic image, not a photograph. I was very surprised to find that. 

A graphic, not a photograph

There was a great spread on how to choose and use quilting motifs. This would be very handy for someone, but many people take their quilts to a long-arm quilter! The motifs are for hand quilting, and it showed how to combine one design to make larger designs that would fit a block, a border, or whatever shape you want. We can do this on our computerized machines now, but you can still do it by hand: create a stencil and then quilt by machine. 

How to choose a quilting motif

But here is very savvy advice for choosing how to quilt your quilt. This still stands today!!! 

Savvy advice for choosing quilt designs

And let's not forget how lovely the fabrics were back then. That Patchwork Place offered these patterns. Remember them? They no longer exist, but they published many, many books over their time. By the way, Quiltmaker was founded by Bonnie Leman, who also founded Quilter's Newsletter.

Patterns for sale

OMG ---do you see what I see? GEESE!!!!! 

Yes—making stuffed geese back in the day was a huge thing, along with other country animals. But today, PORCH geese are making a big comeback, with people making seasonal clothes for them!!!! 

And even back then, the magazine had fabric you could buy. The tagline is "Easy armchair shopping for beautiful, high-quality fabrics at bargain prices." You could buy by the yard or fabric packets. There's a small order form which you had to mail in! 

The magazine sold fabric.

Oh my gosh—what a trip down memory lane that was, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Was it worth it? You bet! And I got to share the experience with you, too. 

With the duplicates and another magazine I brought on my trip, I tossed six magazines last night! 

The nice, orderly pile is on my puzzle table (thanks, Elle), and I plan to tackle one, if not two, each day. I found ONE page that I kept as inspiration for the scrap quilts, and that will go in a specific box for that fabric. The rest is gone. 

After pulling that stack from the shelves, I realized that if I only get rid of one magazine a day, I'll be at this for years! So it's good I'm starting now! 

I have more to share, but that's all I have time for this morning. 

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

PS -- By the way—I have been slowly and sporadically culling magazines; this technically isn't the start! But it's the start of the dedicated cull!

A LUCKY travel day!!!

 And just like that, I'm home, and soon I'll be off on another grand adventure (just for the day), and it involves packing! No decluttering, but loads of packing. 

I got up early and moved all the glassware to the garage! It wasn't as cool in the morning as it is here, and you could see the stars, so I snapped this with my cell phone. Not bad for a cell phone. But that's why cell phones are so expensive today: it's the camera, not the phone part. That probably costs a few dollars! 

The early morning sky over Salt Spring Island

When I left, the house was neat and tidy, ready for my aunt to sort through more when she had a chance. 

I was sad to leave, as it would be the last time I visited the house, but we managed to get one picture of me on the front steps. DARN --- I completely forgot to get a picture of both of us when someone else was around. We took many pictures on those front steps. 

Last photo of me on the steps

When I took the picture of the sky, I didn't even register that it was clear. No fog!! Apparently, the day before, they had to cancel floatplanes because of the fog. I got lucky!

My aunt dropped me off at the floatplane dock and headed back to the house because Lucie was coming. OK, if all the youth in our world were like Lucie, the world would be a better place. I'm not sure how old Lucie is, but I'm guessing in her twenties. She's a young single mom who is working hard to make a living. She has chosen to help others - I think I mentioned her mom was a hoarder. 

I liked her so much (we all fell in love with her) that I hired her to move all the crap out of the garage, and she did just that. Then she removed more stuff from the house. I'm not even sure what all went, but she took a load of old lawnmowers and filing cabinets to the metal recycling, and then a good part of the stuff went to a giant flea market sale which is happening today. That is why she was so anxious to get the stuff out of the house. 

She didn't want stuff going into the landfill unless absolutely necessary. YES -- I know that not everything will go at the flea market, but at least an effort was made to rescue some things. 

But if the world were filled by people like Lucie, we would be in a much better place. 

As I got down to the seaplane dock, the sun was just coming up. It was a glorious morning! 

Sunrise over Ganges Harbor on Salt Spring Island

Things went smoothly for a travel day, and it was a lucky day for me. Although I have flown over this body of water many times, I never tire of watching the ships and other small sailing craft. No whales, although the pilot mentioned they had spotted whales earlier in the week or sometime just recently. 

A ship between Salt Spring and Vancouver

When we arrived at the floatplane dock in Vancouver, we waited about five minutes for the shuttle to the main terminal, so I arrived at the terminal around 9:30. My original flight was 1 PM, but I had forgotten the seaplane flight was early in the morning when I booked it. 

While we waited for the shuttle bus, several ladies chatted about how much they'd have to pay for their luggage and whether it was overweight, etc. Both ladies were flying to the US. I said that I could carry 3 suitcases at 70 lbs each. One of them immediately asked me, "What credit card do you have?" I am NOT a fan of this business of everyone offering a credit card to get special privileges. I know many people pay hundreds of dollars in annual fees for a credit card that gives them access to the lounge or other privileges. I refuse. I only need ONE card, and it's working well for me. 

Enticing people to get another credit card in return for privileges just increases the risk of getting into trouble with credit if they're not careful. We have a small limit on one shared card, and it works! 

I checked online and saw a 10:10 flight, one at 11 that was pushed back to 11:30, one at 12, and then my 1 PM flight. I wanted to switch to an earlier flight, but I didn't want to pay the fare difference, so could I fly standby? I went to an agent immediately upon arriving at the airport, explained my situation, and before I knew it, I was confirmed on the 11:30 flight at no charge. Yeah!!!!

So I went to find something to eat and a place to sit while I waited. Since I have new airline status, I now have access to the lounge, but the lounge was under renovation! Of course it was, but I knew that because a friend of mine had been there recently and told me. 

The lounge is closed.

There is a private cafe for the airline which was near the gate, so I went there. Imagine my surprise when, while looking for a seat, I ran into a friend from back home!!! This is someone both DH and I have known for eons -- we were colleagues, and at one time, we all lived together in a big house. He and his wife came to M's wedding. We chatted, but he had work to do, so I sat and waited. 

Actually, I was watching the upgrade list. This was indeed my lucky day. There were 40 business-class seats (the lie-flat beds), and only 20 people bought those tickets. A huge list of people were waiting for an upgrade, and I happened to be number 18!!! Yep, I got one of the last seats, so I had the pleasure of a nice, comfy seat for the flight home. 

My seat on the way home

I managed to watch the final Harry Potter movie. Can you believe that in all the years since those books and movies came out, not a single person told me outright what the ending was? I kind of knew, but I was never certain. It was a great movie, and it was fun to see the whole cast back for the finale. WAIT, I had read the books, so I knew what was going to happen, but even though I read them way after they were released, no one told me the ending. 

Then I watched a couple of episodes of Modern Family. I loved that show when it was on years ago - a true comedy, and it really was a modern family!! 

DH agreed to pick me up, but my phone was dying, so I told him the scoop. He was stuck in traffic (Friday night rush hour), so when I got off the plane, I found an electrical outlet and charged my phone a bit. 

Then we went to the restaurant for a late dinner. Yep, I talked his ear off; I bet he missed me and my chatter all week. 

The girls, of course, were excited to see me, and we did NOT go for a walk because it was late by then, but I was still on Vancouver time, so I decided to do a wee bit of unpacking and then work on my jigsaw puzzle. I have seven nights to finish that. 

A bit more progress on the jigsaw puzzle

I scour the boards for more pieces and am starting to become familiar with what goes where. Then I attempt to locate a spot for them, then find more pieces. It's coming together, but it's slow. That's OK -- I'm good with slow. Remember my motto that I picked up in Africa, "Pole Pole", slow!!! I still wear that bracelet. 

I also got my jigsaw puzzle advent calendar in the mail. This thing went like hotcakes, but I scoured the internet until I found a copy in Alberta. And now, starting December first, I get to take part in it. 

My advent jigsaw puzzle

And that's a wrap for today. It's going to be a very busy weekend, but that's OK. A few busy weekends and days remain this year, but things are starting to wind down. Says me!!!!

Anyway, if you ever get the chance (who am I kidding, we are all going to have to move one day), I really enjoyed this last week. It was a ton of hard work, but it was so satisfying. I really enjoyed spending time with my aunt. Would I do it again? You bet I would. I would have loved to do that with my parents, especially my mom. The memories we could talk about, the things we looked at. All of that would have been fun with Mom, but she doesn't want it, and we would never have thrown anything away. 

That's the sad truth. And while the timing was a bit wonky for me, it didn't matter. I will still get my work done on time, and I had a wee enjoyable mini-vacation! 

I must run; I need to take the girls for a short walk before I have to leave. 

Notice there is no list today, BUT I have one final thought about decluttering. If you're lucky enough to have the opportunity to help a friend or a family relative, TAKE IT!!! Our time on this planet is limited, and if you don't reach out, help, and enjoy relationships, what is the point? 

It is going to be a GLORIOUS day!!!!

Ciao!!!

The right to vote -- be sure to use it!

I made good progress on the paperwork yesterday, but I still have a lot to do. It involved several phone calls (yeah, for a cell phone that works), being on hold FOREVER, and still getting the wrong documents, so I had to start the process all over again. 

I had another task: preparing a document, and I got it done and sent it off. Then the recipient asked another question, and I had to take it one step further. That's on today's agenda.  

Then I wonder why I never make headway. However, I've moved the pile of paper from the floor onto the desk, and I'll whittle it down as best I can. 

But the good news is that I renewed one of my memberships before it expired, and I voted in the advance polls. So I am making progress! 

I won't be around on election day, so I got myself to the voting place yesterday. It was near the library, so well within my daily walk. Only to find when I got home that DH had a book at that library! Sigh..... But that's a destination for my walk today. 

Get out and VOTE!!!

Well, things have changed in the voting world. In the past, it was always a paper ballot, and you marked your candidates with a pencil. This time, I got a long slip of paper with some information at the top and the rest was blank. Hmmmmmm, should I ask, or just go to the voting cubicle and see what happens? 

It was all electronic!! You insert your paper into the machine, and the eligible candidates appear on the screen for the various positions: mayor, councilor, trustee, etc. You select the ones you want to vote for on the screen. You can make changes if you mess up. And then the voting machine spits the paper back out with your choices on it. It then goes into the scanner where your votes are counted.

I was excited about the changes and posted in my Monday sewing group, only to discover that one person votes by mail in their area, while another votes on their smart device. Hmmmm, so many ways, but it doesn't matter as long as the data is protected and it lets MANY people vote. 

So if you are NOT planning on voting, think twice. The opportunity to vote is a hard-earned RIGHT, especially for women. If you don't take advantage of it, you are doing a disservice to your community and to yourself!! 

As I was walking back, I spotted this, and this is not the first time I've seen this kind of mess. 

This looks serious

I'm not sure what type of wires these are for, but doesn't that scream that someone is missing some kind of service somewhere? 

It also begs the question: why did it get damaged in the first place? 

Please note, this next comment has NOTHING to do with the above; it's strictly an observation, and my brain put the two thoughts one after the other. I always seem to go for my walk at the same time the high school lets out for the day. The one thing I have noticed is how LOUD these kids can be. The kids usually hang out in groups, which is typical of high school students, but within those groups (usually girls or boys, rarely mixed) there are one or two more exuberant people. 

They shout at the top of their lungs, usually individual words rather than sentences. I wonder if they have inside voices when they get home? 

Here's a couple of other things I noticed in the neighborhood. We had rain the other night, and I'm not sure how torrential it was, but at one point it was raining hard. As I was walking, I realized I was on the part of the path that gets the worst erosion when it rains a lot. 

Hmm, I didn't see any signs of erosion at all. No ruts, and no gravel running off into the forest. Could that section really be fixed? 

Zero erosion on the path

And there are still lots of beautiful flowers out. Miss Lexi and I spotted this one on our walk. 

Some plants are still in bloom.

In that same garden, we spotted a different colored flower, and I was taking a picture when a bee flew into another flower, and I captured this picture. 

The bees are still busy.

I decided to set up my iPad with the new puzzle website. I don't think this is going to happen. My brain just wouldn't function properly with this setup. I tried. Then I tried a different puzzle style, and I went from my desktop to the iPad. That isn't going to happen either. The format is different on the iPad, and it sucks! 

Trying to do a puzzle online

So I think I'll be relegated to the desktop, and I'm OK with that, although I much prefer having a piece of paper in front of me to solve a puzzle. And I tried!!! Multiple puzzles, different sites - didn't like any of them. 

I got one presentation ready to go, just waiting for a few more photos from the students to add. And I've got most of the next quilt cut and ready to sew together today. I hope I can get through it quickly; I seem to be in slow-motion mode this week. 

However, I need some help! I am missing a small piece of this fabric to complete a block. If I can't find it, I'll substitute something, but I thought I'd try. 

This is a Jinny Beyer (eyelash) fabric from the late 1990s. It is deep purple in color. I don't need you to suggest a substitute - I can look in my stash for that. I am trying to find this exact fabric. I did a bit of searching online, but I haven't had much time, and I was hoping someone might have it in their stash. I need a 1 1/4" by 20" strip. 

MISSING fabric

I also got the next quilt loaded on the long arm. But not before I had to load the back THREE times because I wasn't paying attention to centering it. Thankfully, I was able to quickly do that because of the magnets. Note to self --- put a mark on the leader indicating the center before you load the next quilt. 

I was hoping to quilt it, but that isn't going to happen. 

The next quilt is loaded.

Now seriously --- why can't all dogs be as good as Miss Lexi? She is a bit eccentric and likes to sleep with her head between the table legs, but I'm OK with that. 

MOM -- trying to get some beauty sleep here!

Murphy, on the other hand, is just trouble. I had laid out some fabric on the floor to see how it all fit together, and the next thing I knew, she plunked herself down like it was just for her. Never mind that there are TWO mats on the floor especially for her. 

MOM -- this fabric needs to be dog approved!

It looks like one area passed the test, so let's test a different section. 

MOM -- I need to test the edges - they are very tricky!

She was back at it this morning after I sewed part of it together. 

MOM - this feels very comfy after you sewed it together - I approve

I spent more time on the jigsaw puzzle, and yes, this one is tough, but I have managed to put part of one corner together. Can you guess what it is? 

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

It's candy!! There are multiple spots with the same colors, and none of them are big. It's a very busy puzzle, and it will keep me going for a while. I NEED to have it completed by the end of the month. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but I'm away for most of the rest of the month, so timing will be tight. 

Shoot, I'll post where I'll be for the next couple of weeks, so if it works for you to visit one of my events, you'll know where I am. I'll attempt that tomorrow. 

OK, I get alerts for houses for sale in my area, and I sometimes look at the pictures to see whether the house has been upgraded or how the kitchens and baths were redone, etc. From time to time, I spot unusual furniture, and well, this is unusual!! That looks like a princess chair!!! You can sit on that in your big, fluffy princess dress, and everything is contained. 

A chair fit for a princess.

Maybe Murphy would like that chair? Although she isn't a big fan of jumping up anywhere on her own. Not even her window seat at the front window. Those days are past for her. But she still does the stairs with our help, and all is working just fine. 

I see there is only one Frank Lloyd Wright house in Canada, and it's privately owned, so no go to visit. BUT I could buy one --- there are currently seven of his houses for sale in the US! I finished the book yesterday, and while the man was a genius with architecture, he was lousy at love. Married four times, and two of the four wives were very manipulative and caused him a lot of grief. The man could have done so much more without their interference! 

I'm also reading a book about Princess Diana. Her brother wrote it, and I have to say I'm on the fence about it. While the book is technically supposed to be about Princess Di, it seems to include a lot of information about the author. 

From the reviews, it seems no one likes the book. I tend to agree; while there are some interesting tidbits about their lives as young children, it keeps harping on how bad their lives were. And the struggles they had. I don't know why everyone assumes they had such a bad childhood - not openly loved by their parents, etc. That was pretty common for parents back then; not many showed one iota of affection toward their children. 

What the book tells me is that she had mental health issues that were never addressed, and then she became Princess of Wales, which only exacerbated the situation. It's the story of someone who married too young into what she thought would be a fairy tale and ended up with a nightmare. 

It's all rather sad! And a good part of the book seems to focus on the eulogy at Diana's funeral. 

Anyway -- I must get organized for the day. 

IT WILL BE A WONDERFUL DAY!!!!

Ciao!!!