A lazy day in the backyard

Let's just say that yesterday did NOT turn out as I planned. Instead, I was a slug and spent time in the gazebo and bonding with Murphy! I'm happy to report that she seems to be feeling much better, and I think I mentioned that she even came into the house on her own in the morning to hang out with me.

Then she lay at my feet while I was blogging, so it was hard to type! But that's OK. 

MOM - I need to be with you!!!

I was in such a relaxed mood that I even forgot to make an appointment with the vet and the physiotherapist. So those are on the must-do list for today. 

It was such a glorious day that how could I stay out of the gazebo? Before I know it, the summer will be gone, and I'll be lamenting that I didn't spend enough time out there. And of course, my trusty companion was right there with me. 

MOM - I love spending time with you!!!

Now that the backyard is fully "done," at least for the moment, it's nice to just take some time and enjoy it. While I don't mind working, it's also nice to just relax and enjoy. 

A glorious day in the backyard

I've decided, and I had better write it in my agenda, to spend one half hour each week maintaining the backyard. I see a few weeds are sprouting up again between the flagstones, so if I keep on top of it, it won't be a big deal. And I need to tidy up the shed, and there are a few things to hang on my back fence. So I will pick a day and get out there - once a week. 

I had a chuckle yesterday as a friend was flying to Toronto and I was in the backyard. It's so nice to be able to communicate with people on a plane these days. Not that I want to, but if I need to, it's possible. Anyway, she was looking to kill some time as it had been a long flight. She was 30 minutes away from landing. I told her that they would likely be landing on the east approach to the airport, not the west, since I wasn't seeing any planes land. In that gap you see above, we can see planes approaching the airport on both east/west runways! 

Thankfully, our house is far enough south and west of the airport that we don't hear the planes unless the cloud cover is just right. The best of both worlds - close to the airport, but not close enough to disturb us. 

Murphy was feeling so much like her old self that I found a toy out of her toy box!!!

Hmm- someone wants to play with her toys.

I also bought some plug-in calming devices. I had noticed them in the exam room at the vet, and someone mentioned them in a comment. So I have two of them on the way. We'll see how they work, but the sleeping outside thing seems to be working. She is venturing into the house much more than she was a week ago, so that's a positive. And she is now safely ensconced in Lexi's raised bed beside me. And she was downstairs with me this morning while I was sewing. She can go down with supervision, but she can't make it up by herself, so I use a towel under her tummy to support her. I doubt she will ever feel comfortable on those stairs again. 

I had put carpet treads on them, but even that isn't enough to secure her, and she slipped even with those. But I am OK with helping her up. We just need to be diligent about blocking them so she doesn't even attempt it. 

Speaking of getting up the stairs, I was chatting with a neighbor yesterday, and they had a chair lift installed in their house because their in-laws live with them and they need assistance on the stairs. It cost $15K to have a custom (curved stairs) chair lift installed. Yikes!!! The way our stairs are, I don't think that is even possible because the staircase is open (no walls) on both sides at the very bottom. I told DH - he better get doing some exercises! I am NOT moving. 

I was at the gym yesterday, and I'm doing OK on my own. I miss the spin classes, but I get on the bike and do half of what I would in spin class, then spend the rest of the time stretching and doing some other exercises. I am trying to get in the habit of doing the exercises I got last week. 

Did I mention that these are mostly for strengthening the hips, but it's also the legs. So Chair Squats - we all know how to do those, and they are easy. But there were two step-up exercises that were challenging. But they are simple and good because they work not only on your strength but also on your balance. 

One of them is to find a step - use your staircase if you don't have an exercise step. Stand on the floor and take one step up. Then bring the other foot up, step down with both feet, and repeat. 10 repeats, 2 - 3 times on each side. You can actually raise your heart rate with this one. I like to add to it by lifting my free leg up, like high-stepping, then back down. That increases the heart rate even more. If you don't hang on, it helps improve your balance. Another important factor of staying independent!!!

The next one is the reverse of the one above, and it's darn hard! Simple but deceptive! Stand with one foot on the step and bend that leg so that the heel of your loose foot touches the floor. OH MY --- that was a challenge for me. I was finding that I could touch the ball of my foot, which I then used to push myself back up, but that is NOT the way to do it. You need to touch the heel so that only your leg pushes you up. Yikes --- I'm going to have to work on that one and, of course, try to remain upright (not leaning forward) while doing it!!!

If you want to see videos of the exercises I was given, you can find them here. 

Scroll down until you see this. You can download the paper that I have, and the videos are there as well. It's hilarious because it's really for someone who has had a hip replacement! But I'd rather do this now and not need a hip replacement! My joints seem to be fine - but my muscles are not!  

One of my neighbors has this GIANT hibiscus in her front yard, and I grabbed a photo yesterday. The blooms have to be at least 6 or 7 inches across. It's beautiful, and when we had so much rain the other day, I thought the blooms were toast, but nope - they dried out and popped right back open. 

A giant hibiscus

It looks like there are a ton of buds on it. Perhaps I can see if I can find one and plant it somewhere in my garden. WAIT -- I have a perfect spot in the back beside the gazebo. 

Over the last couple of years, we have been compiling a list of tasks that require an electrician. DH is not handy (hey—I have to inflate the car tires if one is low, which I did yesterday!). And I don't want to deal with electricity. 

One complete set of ballasts in Studio B has gone, and of the remaining light fixtures (6), half of the bulbs are toast, so it is getting a tad dark in there. 

Three dead ballasts

The remaining ballasts are sketchy.

I think only one ballast has two working bulbs. 

So after much "nagging" on DH's part, I finally decided to bite the bullet and sent my list to our electrician. They have always been super busy, and I knew it would take some time before they could get here, so I might as well start the process now. The list was LONG. 

Imagine my surprise when I got a call from them asking if I would be home as they would come out and assess the situation that afternoon. Yikes!!!! I happened to be at the sports store buying shorts, but I was almost done. 

We walked around the house (inside and out), and I showed him what needed to be done. He offered suggestions, and we worked out the logistics. And can you believe that the first thing he spotted when he walked into Studio B was that one of the bulbs had NOT been inserted properly (by myself) and that the end was bent. 

The prong is bent

Or did he bend the end when he tried to fix it? Anyway, I didn't put the bulb back in, so there goes another light! 

After assessing everything, he put my world in a tailspin when he said, "We can come on Thursday and Friday to do the work." Yikes—that would not normally be a problem, but we want a bunch of new lights installed, and I do NOT have them. So guess where I'll be today? Shopping for lights. I've got a couple of places in mind, and I was searching their websites last night, so I think I'll be OK. I'm not super picky - I want it to look nice, but I don't need something so specific that it has to be special ordered. 

I need 17 devices installed, but thankfully only 5 styles. As long as they have them in stock, I should be good with what I saw on the website. 

That doesn't include what is going into Studio B, which they'll provide. Then the thought occurred to me that it would require moving a lot of furniture to get those lights installed, but then I took a closer look this morning, and the moving will be minimal. 

I asked him why they had free time. They are waiting for some parts for a big job, and I got lucky! It was meant to be!!! And now we will have proper lighting all through the house! I can't wait. I think they also have a few more electricians than they did the last time we hired them. 

And can you believe he accused me of having OLD light switches in my house? The one in question was installed less than 20 years ago!!! By their company! We still have some of the old toggle switches—we have a huge variety of electrical things in our house. He even noticed a cracked faceplate. An eye for detail to be sure!!!

And as part of my lazy day, I sat down and finished that puzzle. Throughout the day, I would sit and get at least five pieces in place. And sometimes that required taking one piece at a time and trying it in multiple spots. I didn't do a lot of that, as it's very time-consuming, so I tried to go by color (though that was a challenge) and then by shape, which proved challenging as well. It is done!!!

Puzzle complete! 

Now I'll put it back in the box and in the giveaway box, and I won't start another until the electrician is done since that table is near one of the lights. 

And then at last, I did get some sewing done! 

Remember my horses in Down on the Farm and how I didn't like them? Well, the horses were fine - it was the colors in the locations I had that I didn't like. So I decided to move the horses around, and I had only two choices. 

This is the before. So lots of white/grey animals in this block. 

Too many white animals - before

And two darker animals in this block. 

Two dark animals - before

I switched the brown and grey horses, so this is what it looks like now. 

This looks better

And the other block with the grey horse

I like this much better, so I'm good. I still have to remake the turtle, and perhaps I can get that done today and then move on to the final four blocks.

Other than that and a bit more on the pattern testing (counting the number of pieces), I didn't get much done. So far, I've been able to match the actual number of pieces in the blocks with that in the cutting directions. Except for these last two blocks - the numbers don't match, and my anal brain won't let it go, so I'm going to attempt it one more time. Out of 250 pieces in those two blocks, I can't account for three! 

An update on the class signups -- the Scrap Class is now available for signups. And OH MY -- did you see how fancy the information was laid out? I was so excited that even I wanted to sign up for the class. LOL!!!!!

I have a feeling that a wee bit of AI went into making that, but I'm good with that. I see that quite a few people signed up yesterday. Remember, the class has a limit of 99, and if we go over, we may have to do some fancy work to accommodate everyone. Here is the link for you to sign up. 

An update on the 40 Shades of Grey patterns: 30 patterns have been ordered by the Out of Hand quilt shop, and if you are signing up for this class, please use this link and select the NOTIFY ME WHEN AVAILABLE button so when the patterns arrive, you will get an email alerting you to that fact. I will try to put together the distribution list to alert you as well, but since most people have probably only seen this class information on my blog, I'm telling you here. 

And again - here is the link for the class list if anyone still wants to sign up for something. 

On that note, I'd better get myself organized. I have to tell you about my short shopping, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

 

Color My World Show and Tell - Part Two

Weren't those Color My World Quilts from Part One stunning? The group did such an amazing job at interpreting the design and then making it their own! So proud of all the work they did. And while I'm not ready to post the dates — OK, I should be, but I'm not — you know what quilts are slated for the new fall classes. OK -- if you don't know what they are, check out this blog post, which has all the classes. And there is a scrap quilt class as well. OK -- I need to get that organized! 

But what I wanted to say is that you will get the same kind of encouragement and instruction to make those quilts as the group did for Color My World. So when the signup opens, be sure to get yourself on the list. But as always, it's one thing to sign up for my classes; I can guarantee you won't learn much if you just lurk because of FOMO. You can't learn by watching - you must be doing! Plus, sharing what you are doing is part of the fun! 

How many people who just sat in on that class intending to do it later will have the motivation to design their four buildings on their own? It's probably not going to happen!

And how about this quilt? I so want to add this to the list, but I don't think that's a good idea because there isn't enough time. This is Busy Beach by Sew Fresh Quilts. I bought the pattern yesterday - it was just released. This is so cute, and the price was so low!!! 

Busy Beach by Sew Fresh Quilts

I'm keeping it on my list of quilts to make, and hence it will become a sew-along!

Speaking of Color My World, I spotted this quilt on Facebook yesterday. This is one of the quilts I shared yesterday, but it is now quilted and done!!! This is so exciting!!!! 

Brenda's quilt  - now quilted! 

Now let's have a look at the others that I didn't have time for yesterday. 

This quilt also has custom corners: the CN Tower, the Peace Tower, an Inukshuk, and a lighthouse. The small houses in the center of the outer row are also customized, and the trees changed. The backgrounds vary by section. As with all quilts I've taught, they start off timid and then by the end of the quilt, they are making so many customizations!!!

Lois

Three of the four corners of this quilt were customized: the Eiffel Tower, the CN Tower, the Peace Tower, and a lighthouse. What I love, and I hope that everyone takes away from this quilt, is that the way each person created their CN Tower, or Peace Tower, or whatever building they did - it will not and SHOULD NOT look like everyone else's! This is their interpretation and pattern making! Each person should be extremely proud of their accomplishment.  

Margaret

Look at the bright blue background with the srappy border! The tree trunks are white or light grey to accommodate the background so they show. You may notice that the main points in some of the Mariner's Compass in the center are situated at the 12, 3, 6, or 9 position, while others are not. It was all about how you sewed it together. Neither is right, neither is wrong. My goal was to get everyone to make a conscious decision and then sew it together. 

The four corners of this one are very unusual. They are different styles of religious worship. They are beautifully designed! 

Marina

Three of the four corners were changed in this one. I would say the Eiffel Tower and the CN Tower were the two most popular corner blocks! This quilt has the Eiffel Tower, the CN Tower, the Peace Tower, and the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. That building took a lot of planning and some bias tape!

Nancy

Another quilt with a busy background, with butterflies and dragonflies. Notice how the inner and outer roads do not match the pattern, and they blend into the quilt. The shape of the trees was also changed, as were the small houses in the outer row. 

There is a lighthouse, the CN Tower, a church, and a beehive burner, which used to burn sawmill waste and was important to this person because there is one in her town. Obviously, buildings had to be modified (in shape and perspective) to fit the block's shape. They did a fabulous job making that happen!

Nicole

Here is another with extensive customization. The roads are a solid fabric, the small houses in the outer ring are custom, and the four corners are lighthouses. Not just any lighthouses, but if you could see them up close, the detail that went into them is stunning. I'm not sure if they were modeled after real ones or generic ones. And the background is fluffy cloud sky fabric. So many choices!!!! 

Sandra

And the last one for the Show and Tell is one that was started during The Quilt Show sew-along. Well, I could be wrong about her actually starting it then, but I believe it was a kit purchased through them. She chose not to customize anything on the quilt, and that works just fine! It wasn't my job to persuade anyone to veer from the pattern - I only offered encouragement if they chose to go that way. In case you have forgotten, the original corners were Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, One World Trade, and the Centerpoint Tower (Sydney). The background fabric is polka dots, which is quite neat!!!

Zildi

And there you have it—the show-and-tell of all the completed tops. I'm seeing more progress on the Facebook page, and as the finished tops get posted, I'll share them with you. I'm sure everyone is taking a break over the summer, and I will host a couple of remedial sessions in the fall for those who still need a bit of encouragement to finish the quilt! They have come so far; it would be a shame to not get these tops done!!!

I had a better day, but I don't have pictures to share with you yet, except for this. I made it back to the fabric store and purchased the remaining fabric on that bolt (1.7 M) in case I screw up again! I hand-washed it and threw it in the dryer so it would shrink (if any) at the same rate as the previous piece. 

Ironing the missing fabric

As I was prepping the fabric for the embroidery, I had a change of heart and decided to pick a different design which I like better. See that symmetrical issue was resolved in a better way! Although the new design is also asymmetrical, I'm giving myself plenty of room for the embroidery. That's not the issue - the issue was in cutting, so I'll use the yoke I cut yesterday to cut the new one! I was about to start the embroidery, but realized I was still missing one component to finish it. Off to the fabric store again, only to realize they closed at 6 PM. Sigh.............

However, the project I started out with earlier in the week, which is an amazing example of showcasing the EPIC 3 placement tools, has now been redone! And I have to say that it's pretty EXACT! I'm quite thrilled with it, and while that was stitching, my brain wasn't functioning. Well, it didn't want to sew, so I did this instead. 

The puzzle is done! 

It was funny how easy it was to slide those design boards with the pieces on them up just a bit so I could work on the bottom! And then I said, why hide what you are doing - let's just get it done! And so I did! I need to take a picture with the code word of the month and post it online! There are 215 posts so far this month. It might be a slower month because the puzzle was to be a certain brand, and some people may not have that brand or want to go out and buy one. I see they have a new series of 250-piece puzzles that you can buy in a bundle or separately. This puzzle is called Vancouver Island by Villager, and I love their puzzles. 

And FYI, their Advent Calendar puzzle box will be on the shelf on September 21st. No pre-orders!

The bottom section was easy as pie - the top? It was challenging! 

In the midst of prepping for next week, I needed some page protectors, and I couldn't find any empty ones. I pulled a book off the shelf in the office and found a few articles/patterns I no longer want or need. So those articles/patterns got recycled, and I got a couple of page protectors. 

A mess of articles/patterns from eons ago!

But I also spotted a couple of neat articles that I want to reread. Oh yes -- I know that I have some fun things in those binders that I pulled from magazines. I just need to read them, and one of them is right up my alley—quilting with your embroidery machine. But can you guess what date it was written? 2005!!!!! 

I made great progress yesterday on the prepping for next week. I have two things I'd like to embroider today, and then I need to switch into full-steam sewing mode. If I can finish a few of those small items that have piled up, that would clear the way to finish the remaining few things before I leave. 

I'm up early, and I don't have to wait for a specific time to get to the gym (no spin class). I notice that the 6 AM Wednesday class has also been canceled. What a shame because many people liked that class and loved the instructor. That's progress! No, that's some idiot manager who got a bee in her bonnet about something. I don't know the details. 

And with that, I'm off!!! 

Have a wonderful day!

Ciao!!!