It's a GOOD news day!!!!

I chuckle at all the higher-toilet comments. This might be too much information, but I am not a tall person (66"), and I'm not sure what my inseam is - probably around 30". When I am sitting on the toilet, I need to be at a certain angle. I find the higher toilets are too high for my comfort. So I'm going to keep doing my standing squats so I can keep using the lower toilet! It's hilarious—but I can't use the higher toilet! How do vertically challenged people cope?  

Thanks for the recommendation of The Calamity Club. Oh my -- it's 29 hours!! I've just added it to my HOLD list, which is over 30 books, with 6 books in my inbox. One of those needs to be returned, and I'm partway through several of the others. I have so many in suspended status! Perhaps I've been a bit overzealous in the reading department. But that's OK. 

I must learn to rely on tagging the books as "want to read," but like that elusive Sunday morning pill, that habit just hasn't hit me yet. 

YES -- I am waiting 30 minutes before making breakfast—yet again, even though I've been up for several hours. OK—so maybe I do need to set an alarm on my phone for 5:30 AM. You would think this would be easy, but it's not, and I have another 12 weeks of pills! Yeah me!!!

And to clarify one thing I mentioned yesterday about AI. What I dislike about using AI as a search engine is that it finds the information I asked for. It doesn't let me browse the stuff I didn't ask for, and sometimes there are interesting tidbits there that are very useful. Sorry for that confusion! I love learning, and allowing AI to narrow down the search prevents me from learning other useful and sometimes useless stuff! But at least I get to choose, not a computer. 

Well, it's a good news kind of day!! Why? Take a look. 

I double-checked that the leader on the long arm was loaded in the correct orientation - clockwise versus counterclockwise. That was kind of hard to find online, but I did. When I first took the leader off, I had noted it with a piece of tape on my metal bar, but I didn't trust it. However, the tape indicator was correct, so I went ahead and secured the leader with wide painter's tape. 

The leader is secured with tape.

Using the Sew Tite Magnum magnets to hold that leader in place made this an easy task. I had a pair of scissors in one hand and the roll of tape in the other, and within two minutes, this part of the tape was in place. 

Then I took the roll and added a single layer of tape along the length of the leader. 

The second step in taping the leader in place

Hmm—that took another 2 minutes, and then it was done! 

I rolled it up, and it could be a bit tighter, but hopefully that will happen as I use the long arm. At least it's even on the edges, and that's all that counts. 

Then, since I was on a roll, I decided to load a quilt backing. Oh my—that was hilarious. I started placing the magnets on and then realized I was NOT attaching the back—just adding the magnets to the metal bars in the leader. OK—let's try that again!! And before I knew it, the backing was secured. Magnets on one side and pins on the other. 

The backing is loaded.

This is one of the community project quilts, and I realized I didn't have any batting made. So I grabbed three pieces, and I'll join them later, and I hope to get this quilt done today. Then I can move to some customer quilts. I have only three, so that shouldn't take too long. Perhaps I can squeeze in some from that huge pile of community project quilts. What I need to do is focus on that group of 11 and get that out of here! I think there are five left, including the one on the long arm. 

Then it was on to the next project: finishing the appliqué on those two winter quilts. And I'm happy to report that it is done! The appliqué on both blocks is complete! 

Progress on the winter quilts

You won't remember this, but the bells on the bottom right were NOT done, but I got those blocks completed yesterday as well. Yep—they are scrappy, as I couldn't find enough big pieces, and when I did, I managed to mess up the instructions, and well, it gave me another picture for my scrap class!

The bell blocks

But here they are --- the two winter quilt tops. 

Progress on the two winter quilts

All that remains is to make 88 flying geese. And if I had been smart, when I pieced Down on the Farm with all those stitch n flip corners, I should have been using these flying geese as my enders and leaders instead of those scrappy triangles. Alas -- that didn't happen. 

But I managed to get this much done yesterday. 

Progress on the flying geese

It's a start, and this morning, I got more cut, and I'm ready to sew. I don't think I have enough white squares, but I'll cut more from my scrap bucket when needed. Who can be bothered to count?

Ready to sew

Once those are done, then I get to sew the quilt top together. I need to find two fabrics for borders and binding. And then the back. I'm making progress, but I'm going to have to put it aside because I need to work on the class prep for next weekend. 

I'll see how the day goes!! It would be nice to get this off the wall, and I'm close, so I may get that far at least. 

I put away a few things that were on the cutting table. These batik strips are to die for!! You can find others like them at Heather Bell's Sewing Studio! 

Striped batik fabrics

Miss Murphy is doing OK. She only coughed once during the day and twice last night, so she seems to be getting over whatever this is. I left a message at the vet, but they didn't call me back yesterday. If she continues to improve, then there's no need to take her next week. 

But I'm noticing lots of changes in the behavior of the two. It's like Miss Lexi is coming out of her shell. No longer dominated by Murphy, she is becoming more "aggressive." She wants to play, and Murphy is the one to stand still (or lie down), and Lexi does all the running. Murphy is doing great on the stairs; she is allowed to go down as she seems to have zero issues, but she waits for me to help her up. We kind of have the hang of it now, but I keep the stairs barricaded at all times so we don't end up with a disaster. 

She doesn't make a fuss about not going downstairs, although she does come down every so often. It's just not the same, but this is life. She still has lots of love to give, and we have lots of love to give her, and we've found a way to work around her issues. The only thing we can do is to keep her comfortable and make sure she gets lots of love every day. 

OH MY GOSH -- you would think she is dying from my comments. She is not - she's just getting old, and because she was so boisterous, it shows more than it would with Lexi. 

And Lexi seems to be less skittish as well. She stands at the door to the office, asking to go out! And she will come and stand right beside me and let me hug her, which she never allowed before. It's strange how their behavior changes as they age. 

MOM - I'm ready for my walk! NOW!!

And this is the ONLY dog bed they share. Never at the same time, of course! But if the blankets aren't nicely laid out, she won't sleep there. 

Well, I've become Miss Chatty Cathy with the neighbors! I stop and talk to anyone or at least say HI. There is a house two doors from us - the same house as ours. That house was purchased about 4 years ago for an exorbitant amount of money. A real estate agent bought the house. It was funny because the house was the same as ours, and the lady who lived there before the real estate agent was named Elaine. 

Anyway, a while back, the house went up for sale, and she was asking for MORE money than she paid. She bought it just before the market crashed, and I swore there was NO WAY she was going to find a buyer. Imagine my surprise when I saw her putting a SOLD sign on the house as I was returning to the house with Lexi. 

Of course, I had to stop and chat. She was never forthcoming with any neighbor during all the time she lived here. The occasional glance, but that was it. 

Yes—she sold the house, and the closing is next month. A family is moving in. I checked the price online, and she sold it for $50K over what she paid. I am STUNNED. Who the heck bought the house? Now I have visions of a family of five adults moving in, and the driveway will be packed with cars. It can only hold two cars. 

The backyard is huge, but it doesn't back onto the forest, yet it sort of does. Because the house is on the corner, it backs onto two other houses and has a narrow gate into the forest where the two yards meet. 

Let's keep our fingers crossed that we get good neighbors. There are two other houses for sale on the street (this is unheard of), and both of them were significantly less money. 

At dinner last night, DH and I discussed it and said - she must have fudged the numbers. The house still has its original carpet everywhere - that would be 30 years old. And no bathroom or kitchen updates. It's all very suspicious to me. 

We got really nice new neighbors two houses in the opposite direction; can we be so lucky again? 

I think my alarm system is on point with the day and time, but the weather? Not so much!!!

The panel is half right!

I really lucked out with my fish. They had a lot of babies, and they are growing like weeds. 

These are the baby fish.

I never see more than five big ones at a time, so perhaps two didn't make it, but the babies more than make up for it if we lost two. We now have new electrical plugs and a new bubbler, so there should be zero issues for the winter. I often see the fish swimming amongst the leaves, so this is the perfect setup. They have shade, and they have sun. 

The fish love the pond.

Someone posted a note in a puzzle group about this the other day. How can so many border pieces of a puzzle be missing? To be sure - this doesn't look like enough border pieces. 

All the border pieces for a 1000-piece puzzle

But within a "few" minutes, the border was together. I feel like I speed-puzzed that one together, although in speed puzzling, few people focus on only one area at a time unless it's an event with two people, aptly called a pairs event. 

The border is together.

I didn't do more than that because I have some reading to catch up on. In addition to the ebook and audiobooks, I have a few physical books from the library that I must get read! No one can accuse me of not having personal time! I am taking way too much personal time!

Here's an interesting sign at a local Michael's store - learn to sew!!! Michaels is now selling Singer sewing machines. Well, they have been for a while now, but there is a big push, especially since they are now selling fabric. 

All about sewing at Michaels

I'll be hosting a "Teach The World to Sew Day" in the afternoon of September 19th at a Michaels in downtown Toronto. That should be fun—I hope we get loads of people out! 

How true is this? How much do we want to think that we are irreplaceable and yet ignore the fact that someone else can do just as good a job? 

Therefore, we need to take some time and do stuff for ourselves, which I seem to have zero problem doing! I love sitting in the gazebo, with my new cushion, and listening to the water. Reading, napping, petting the dogs, or whatever makes me happy at that moment. 

I'm really liking this weather—it's cool in the mornings and nice in the afternoon! 

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

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

Ciao!!!

AI is NOT helping the Maker Space

A reminder: if anyone wants to join the second session for Making Scrap Quilts Beautiful, hosted by Thimbles and Things (taught by me), a second class has been opened, and it is filling fast! I wouldn't wait if you are considering joining. That class starts on September 20. You can get all the details at this link. The class is ONLINE, so anyone from anywhere can join! 

I gave the first session a wee bit of homework yesterday, and I'm seeing some pretty interesting quilts! 

I am back in work mode - at least for yesterday! It's funny how some days you have all the energy to conquer the world, and the next day? Well, not quite so productive. Oh - I get things done - just not always what I need or want to. Perhaps I should say my focus, not my energy, is the problem!

I finished another audiobook yesterday. Only at the end did I realize the audiobook was abridged, but it was still very interesting. And all I can say is my heart goes out to those living in war-torn countries and countries where women are not respected. And even in our first world country, some women are badly abused by their spouses. It's terrible that anyone has to live in those conditions, and under so much fear for their lives and the lives of their children. 

The book is called "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. I learned at dinner last night that the author is a man. OH MY!!! That was interesting. How the heck could this book be written by a man? But he did a great job, and I think he covered the woman's point of view very well, considering his nationality and the topic of the book. 

His family sought political asylum in the US when he was 15. He writes to raise awareness of the Afghan people and what has happened in their country. The books are hard subject matter, and although they are fiction, a great deal of them are "real." I haven't read any of his other books, but I might have to read the first one - "The Kite Runner." 

Let's just say that a lot of progress was made yesterday, and I'm happy. 

The backing and the binding are made for Down on the Farm, and I hope to get it quilted before the end of the year. We'll see how that goes, but at least it's in the pile. OFF MY plate at the moment. 

Down on the Farm ready to be quilted

Then I decided to get myself in gear and get the metal bars sewn into the leader for the long arm. I had already stitched the channel a while back, but I needed to stitch pockets so the magnets didn't float around in the channel. So I stitched the edge of the channel, then inserted a metal bar, then stitched that pocket closed, and then along the edge for the length of the next pocket, inserted another metal bar, until the entire 14 feet was stitched. 

YES -- I had to insert the metal bar from one end into the channel and scoot it down to where it would reside. I don't know if that makes sense, but I stitched one long seam, with little jogs to close the pocket. It was easier than stopping and starting. 

Sewing the metal bars into the long arm leader

It really wasn't a big job as I anticipated. As is the case in almost all jobs that we procrastinate on. Why do we do that to ourselves? 

Before I knew it, I had reached the last pocket. 

Sewing the last pocket

Then I placed the leader on the bar of the long arm. It was super easy to hold it in place using the magnets, as the bar is metal. 

The magnets hold the leader in place.

Now that the leader is in place and quite sturdy with the magnets, I can tape it to the metal bar by myself. I hope to get that done this afternoon, and I might even attempt to load a quilt. I have two other leaders to switch from pinning to magnets, but just getting this one done is awesome. The rest will come, but I need to get the long arm back up and running. 

I have to laugh because someone at Monday Sewing mentioned that if you are learning something, it's not enough to just make one - you ned to make several to master the technique. I learned that with my table. The first assembly was a challenge; the second was fast! Now that I know what I'm doing with the leaders, I suspect the next two will go much quicker. Except it is a ton of work to scrape off that goop. 

Next on the agenda was to get to work on my UFO for this month. Of course, some appliqué was holding me back. So I got out my threads, and I started my satin stitch. 

Satin stitch appliqué

And of course, there are two blocks!!! Because I started making two quilts about 25 years ago! 

Working on two blocks

The trees on the left are done, leaving the boy on the sled and his dog. That will take a bit of time, since the pieces overlap and are small. But that is my goal for the day! I hope to get a few other things done, but at least if I get that done, I'll be happy. 

As for the current jigsaw puzzle? I finished it last night. 

Jigsaw puzzle done - almost.

Dang it, but there's a piece missing. I bought it at the thrift store. BUT WAIT --- I had noticed a few pieces were falling off my design boards as I was working, so I had a peek this morning. AHA - look what I spotted. 

The missing piece

That piece fell off the design board and onto the shelf, so I was able to put the last piece in this morning. 

The last piece

Yeah!! No missing pieces - I love that, and I only paid $5 at the thrift store. I probably got a discount because I rarely buy anything at full price. So that was a very good entertainment deal. 

Jigsaw puzzle complete!

Am I getting faster? I think I am. Am I ready for a speed puzzling event? I doubt it - I'm not nearly that fast, but what the heck. It will be fun. 

I didn't have any large zippered plastic bags, so I got some at the dollar store the other day. I always pack the puzzle into one of those bags and put an elastic around the box. That just helps to prevent pieces from going missing. 

I'll be meeting a few of my puzzle friends next month, and I might pack up these puzzles and see if anyone wants them. If not, they go back to the thrift store. 

And yes—the next one is ready to crack open tonight. That one is the theme puzzle for September, which is to work on a Eurographics brand puzzle. Last month, with the theme of Wild Animals, over 800 people submitted a picture. Well, I noticed one woman submitted more than one entry, and that is within the parameters of this event. But she makes it very noticeable. When we take a picture of the finished puzzle, it needs to have a piece of paper with the code word on it. Hers is very distinct. Oh well - if that makes her happy, then it makes me happy. 

Let's face it, some people are fully retired and probably spend all or most of the day puzzling! 

Our library has been closed for most of the summer as we are getting a maker space and new carpet, among a few other things. The library is now open, and I popped in yesterday to see if the quilt had been taken down. Nope—it's still hanging, which is good. The last time they painted, it got taken down, and it took a long time to get it back up. I don't think it gets a lot of sun, but it is looking faded. 

The library quilt is still hanging.

I didn't look around much, but I spotted the new carpet. Where is the maker space? I didn't see that. 

But look at the pretty display of books. Typically, you see the spines pointing out, but this time, it was the pages. Isn't that pretty!! I bet most of those books are fantasy, which isn't a genre I read. I checked a few, and yes, they are mostly fantasy. 

The pretty pages of books

I found a quilt book on scraps, so I brought that home to browse for any tidbits! 

Good grief-- now Murphy seems to have developed a cough. I'm not sure where that came from, but I need to see if I can get into the vet today for meds for her. The poor thing! Of course, like people, she mostly coughs at night! But she is happy as a clam to sleep upstairs, so all is good at our house. 

I'm going to go on a wee rant here about AI. I know that people use various AI bots to do stuff for them. However, I don't see the point of using specific AI bots when our Google search does the same thing. YES - I know they have their own AI now, but it's just a glorified Google search, and Google has always been good to me. However, I will confess that I used MapQuest the other day when searching for a location. 

It's getting harder and harder to work "normally" when all these companies are strong supporters of the political unrest. 

Anyway, that was NOT my point. My point is that so much stuff that we see on the internet is AI-generated, and much of it is NOT specified as AI-generated. People are struggling to tell the difference, although for most of it, it is easy to spot. 

In the world of makers, AI - enhanced photos of projects are lending a VERY BAD image to the industry. I spotted someone on IG (might have been a store) saying that people are complaining that what they are buying or making is NOWHERE NEAR the look of the picture they saw. 

I see it all the time. Here's an example. This is a picture of the original project—NO AI involved.  

Original project - No AI

And look at the AI-generated picture. Totally different. In this picture, those leaves and flowers look 3D and made of some non-fabric material. I'd be ticked off if I went to a class and expected this and made the above picture. It's not a huge difference, but the enhancement is detrimental to roping new quilters/sewists into our world. 

AI- generated version

In a world where people can't tell the difference, this is going to keep causing so many problems. When researching anything, AI is only as good as the material it scans. I say, let's keep using our brains, figure stuff out ourselves, and leave AI to, well, I don't know who. But there is a place for it, but certainly NOT in the maker space. 

The big argument is that AI will quickly compile from various sources, but why can't we go to the sources directly and gather the information? What I dislike is that I learn so much from going to a site - that step alone increases my knowledge base rather than just the narrow focus of the search I asked some AI bot to perform. Keep your options open - stop being complacent and letting AI dictate what and how you gather information. Let's do some of this work ourselves, and I bet you will learn more than you could by using AI. 

On that note, I'd better get myself organized. I have a few things I want to get done today, and there's no time like the present to get started. 

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

Ciao!!!!

Sewing updates!

Let's get back to the T-shirt quilt. All the shirts are cut up and hanging on the wall.

The first part of the T-shirts

Make that two walls. This second wall also includes the backs of the T-shirts, and thankfully there were only seven of those. There are 44 T-shirt fronts and seven backs. 

The second wall of T-shirts

I sent a note to Dillon to ask how to proceed, as they will not all fit on one quilt unless we make a giant quilt, and I'm happy to do that if that's what he wants. 

Let's just say that the T-shirt cull happened when they moved in together. M kindly suggested to him that I could make him a T-shirt quilt, but he had to cull his collection, which is mostly concert T-shirts. He saw the first picture and sent a note back that he wanted one of them back. LOL -- I kindly explained that what he was looking at was no longer T-shirts, but just the logos from them. I also said that if M found out that I returned a T-shirt, we would both get in trouble! 

I told him to take a week to figure out what he wants, and then the fine-tuning begins. 

As I was digging through the laundry basket where the T-shirts resided, I found my collection of T-shirt books. Yep -- why have just one when you can have everything published about T-shirt quilts? Good grief—I don't know why I do that. 

My collection of T-shirt quilt books

Hopefully, I can get started on the math later this week. It will take some finessing to make this one happen. And once that is done, then I have one for myself I'd like to work on. 

But in the meantime, I now have two weeks to complete 4 new samples and make a shirt for myself. The ONLY thing on my schedule is a massage next week. I'm in good shape, but I also need to deal with that garden. The weather has cooled right down, and it's the perfect weather to get out there. What's even nicer is the humidity is gone! Let's hope it lasts for a while. 

What is this new label all about? I only recently started noticing it, and it can intimidate a person. ALL chocolate bars I buy at the grocery store now have this label on them. If that doesn't make you sit back and think! Thankfully, I have halved my daily intake, so I'm good - a little bit of saturated fat is not a big deal. It's really how much you eat. I wonder what type of food has three warnings on it? 

New warnings on food labels

They have not resorted to putting danger pictures (obesity) on the foods we eat, like they did with cigarettes. Like everything, it's all about moderation. Just Googled it and it's a new label system that Canada has implemented. You will find it on packages of food items that are high in saturated fat, sodium, and sugar. Hmmm -- that makes me think of the book: Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss. I read it a while back, and it's shocking to learn how companies deliberately load foods with those three items to make us CRAVE more. 

When I went to the post office to mail that puzzle, I got a bit of a surprise. There was a line because our small satellite post office is closed, and the lady said their location is now quite busy. The line never stopped. Once I was done, several people were behind me. And it seemed that everyone took their time to run their mailing errands. 

And the other thing I noticed is that they changed the size of the flat-rate boxes. Yikes!!!!! I didn't know that. They are now larger, and I think they cost more. Of course, they cost more! 

New sizes of flat-rate boxes

When I stopped at Indigo, they had a puzzle sitting on the table. A few pieces were clearly in the wrong spot, so I took them out. 

The in-progress puzzle at Indigo

And then I stood there and found ONE piece. That was all I did because I could get caught up in the puzzle, and I was already running behind schedule, with a line-up at every place I went that day. 

My lone piece in the community puzzle

I was looking for some strong clips for the long arm. These clips had been recommended to me when I was at Quilt Canada. But where to find them? Imagine my surprise when I was at my friend's as we changed her leaders and she had the same clips (white) on her table and was switching to those clips, instead of the clamps that we currently have. 

She bought them online. I was determined NOT to buy online if I could help it. So on the way to the mall, I stopped at HomeSense and found exactly what I needed, and they were HALF the price of buying online. So I got four for what she paid for two! I have yet to put them on the machine. 

My clips were on sale! 

And in case you are wondering, I got the hem on the leader done the other day. I need to sit down with some peace and quiet and determine which way the leader needs to face and then sew in the channels. I might attempt that this afternoon once I get the long arm (sample-making) up and running. 

Hemming the leader

I'm also trying to get a handle on the stuff that's on the cutting table. That seems to be a constant battle, but that meant trimming more half-square triangles. These are the insane ones that are trimmed to 1¼". I'm not done with the bag, but I believe it's the last bag of ones that are sewn and not trimmed, and I made progress yesterday. Any progress is good. 

Progress on trimming the small HSTs

These next ones are from the sewing I did on a quilt, which I need to share with you this morning. 

More HSTs trimmed

And some others, so everything, except that one bag, is pressed and trimmed. 

More HSTs trimmed

I almost forgot to show you what I've been sewing. My Tequila Lime quilt is in one piece!!! Now I have to remove the paper from the back, but that's OK. It's a mindless task to do while watching some YouTube videos. 

Tequila Lime in one piece

And someone had quilted two community project quilts for me, and I got them back the other day. I must have made these twenty+ years ago! Having them quilted was an experiment, and I realized it's so much work to prep them for someone else, so we won't be doing it again. But the quilting she did is gorgeous! It sounds silly that it's so much work, but it adds another deadline, and I don't need one. 

Quilt number one

While these two quilts look identical - wait, I think I used the same picture twice. But you'll see in a minute that there are two quilts. I had to check - the borders aren't even the same! Pictures tomorrow. 

Quilt number two? No -- that's the same picture.

The backing of one is purple. 

One back is purple

While the backing of the other one is blue. 

One backing is blue

The binding, made from lovely polyester fabric, is on both quilts. How can I tell it's polyester? The smell when it's pressed. It stinks of synthetic. 


Well, I have lots more to share, but I must get the day started. 

Have a great day!

Ciao!!!

What NOT to sew!

I typically stay at Holiday Inns, and when I arrive in the room, it is COLD, so I have to turn the thermostat up a couple of degrees to turn the fan/air conditioning off. I have no issues putting on a sweater, but I am not a fan of cold rooms when I'm traveling, since I don't typically have my warm clothes with me. 

Something very unusual happened on my reading lists. I typically have an e-book and an audiobook on the go at the same time. BOTH books I'm currently reading are related to a long-time family feud! What are the chances? Lots of drama, but now I need to know how the drama ends! Absolutely amazing what can happen when you don't talk it out. Something as silly as a cake can cause a 25-year feud? Oh boy!! 

One book is called Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, and the other is This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman. Both are good if you are into just following "normal" family lives. It's also amazing how today's generation feels guilted into things or traditions by their dead parents. I thought this only happened when your parents were alive. Yikes!!!

I have loads of books in my hold list, and two are on suspend, which I need to fix soon. I will be able to unsuspend at least one, probably later today. It's when they all come in at the same time that is a problem. But thankfully, you can suspend books if they come in before you can read them. 

So how did the day go yesterday? 

This is how my crazy dogs handle the heat. Murphy is outside lying in the full sun. 

Mom - I'm not hot at all!!! Pant Pant!!!

Lexi is happy to sit or lie in front of the fan. She has the hang of the fan now, and it's her trusty companion. 

MOM - this fan is pretty cool!!! LOL!!

For me? I went for two short walks yesterday. I put my hat on to keep the sun off my head, and with my ventilated Tilley, it worked just fine. That walk to the library was in the morning. Then I walked to the grocery store just before dinner. Not an issue - it's just a pain when you come in the house, and your face takes longer than you would like to stop perspiring! A few dashes of cold water help. 

I had computer work to get done in the morning, and then I went downstairs to see what was in those laundry baskets. Oh my—I'll share a bit more tomorrow, but I also found this bag of hankies!!! To be honest, I forgot I even had this bag. Someone gave it to me, but I don't even remember who. I have a few ideas for making things with these, so they will be set aside. 

A bag of hankies

I had an inkling of where my Goo Gone was, and when I opened the container, there it was. I should have looked the previous day before I borrowed a bottle. It's in a container with a lot of small things that need gluing, so the old glue needs to be removed. I should work on that container during the virtual retreat! 

My Goo Gone is no longer AWOL.

The good news is that after a LOT of hard work, that one rail is clean as a whistle. I ended up rubbing a coat of Goo Gone into the thick gob of glue on the rail. I let it sit, and then I went back with the scraper and scraped it off. It peeled off in long curls for the most part, but it was a slow process. Then I scraped up the little bits left, and I ran Goo Gone over the rail several times before it was clean. The floor is also clean. 

The rail is clean

I need to sew the channel with the metal bits into it, and I'll try to do that today. Then tomorrow, I can get the new leader on the long arm. Slow and steady. I don't need the long arm at the moment, although I do have quilts to quilt. And then I need to find out when the other two leaders will arrive and plan accordingly. It's going to take a long time to get each one on, but that's OK. I can do one at a time and take a break in between. 

I bought a bit of fabric on my recent voyages, not that I need any. However, one can always use white. I often use white as a background, and you never know if you have enough, so I just end up using several of them and make a scrappy background. Guess what? You never run out, and you are using up bits all the time. It's a great way to work with backgrounds. 

More white fabric

I also bought these two teal fabrics. They are gorgeous, and I don't need them, but I don't have a lot of these colors, so why not? 

Two teal fabrics

And then I bought a wide back. I love dandelions, and this one is gorgeous. It's from Northcott's Whisper collection. 

Wide backing

And then I did a bad thing when I was in the store. I was showing a quilt that I made from "vintage" Tula Pink fabric. I am not a super fan of Tula Pink fabric, but I had bought some years ago. I actually have made two quilts, and I'm not a fan of either. The staff gasped (they stock some Tula Pink fabrics), and so I felt compelled to redeem myself, and I bought a bundle of some of the latest collection, along with some "blenders"  

My Tula Pink bundle

You can see the fabrics in the bundle here. 

The fabrics on the right side

And here are the fabrics on the second side. 

The fabrics on the left side

The big question now is what the heck am I going to do with it? I need a pattern that will accommodate those larger prints, or do I just cut it up and make something? I'll need to think about that. 

As I was unpacking my samples, or should I say, putting them away, I hung up my "goals" sign. This is my word for 2026. Now that we are in the second half of the year, I still have a lot on the Visual To Do list, and I need to make sure I am on track to get them done. 

My word of the year for 2026

And you also get to see the state of my Tequila Lime quilt. I had 3 of 8 sections done. I decided it would be a good thing to work on, so now there are only two sections left to sew. 

Progress on Tequila Lime

But it wasn't without its issues. I sewed the two sections of points onto the center diamonds, and then I needed to add two pieces to make the 1/8 triangle. Well, I sewed one piece on and realized that it was on the incorrect side of the diamond. So I took it off and sewed it on the other side and then added the final piece, only to realize that what I had originally sewed was correct, so more ripping! But at least three more sections were completed, and the top half is all together, as is the bottom-right corner. 

I should be able to finish today. 

However, there are some pins in the edges as markers. And I was remembering to take them out as I stitched. One was hidden, and I couldn't figure out why the sewing machine was veering off the ¼" seam allowance. I pushed ahead instead of checking, and it was only when the machine went into high gear that I realized a pin was there. 

And the sewing machine needle went right through the center of the pin. 

Oops -- I sewed right through the pin!

What are the chances of that happening? And that is what they mean when they talk about penetration power on the PFAFF creative icon 2!!!!! 

I'm not sure if you have seen the ads, but the PFAFF creative icon 3 will be released this fall, and they are releasing teasers. It seems to have a very interesting quilt feature, and I hope to have more information later this month when I get to see a working version in person. Software is a huge component of our sewing/embroidery machines these days. As we know with all software, it takes time to get all the components working correctly. 

I was clearing off the puzzle table from all the stuff I had brought home, and that was done, although I still have loads of things that need to be tidied up - i.e., serging the edges of samples. 

But since that table was clear and I haven't done a complete puzzle in a while, it was time. After all, look what this puzzle box says. 

So true!!!!

It is so true - you can mindlessly scroll for hours. And what do you have to show for it when you are done? Nothing! Probably not even any new knowledge, since there are a lot of political reels these days, and a fair amount is just for entertainment, but the bulk of it is just rubbish!!! But gosh -- they know how to make things that make you want to click!!!!

So I placed all the puzzle pieces (even for a 500-piece puzzle) onto my design boards and kept the border out. This puzzle is wicked, as there is one corner at the top where the pieces are very hard to place. There are no identifiers along the edge, and I had to leave the pieces out until I had the inside done in that area. 

The next puzzle is prepped.

I will share the puzzle with you tomorrow. I finished it this morning while listening to another chapter of the audiobook. Hey --- now that the child is old enough to participate in the story and the mom has fed her lies about her father - I want to know what happens!!!! 

I also dug out my UFO commitment for June - we had to delay the session for one week because of my travel, and now I need to finish that off today. So lots to do and that's OK by me. I have a very interesting audiobook to keep me entertained while I sew. 

And on that note - I'm out of here. Let's hope the heat breaks after today, and we have a bit more reasonable temperatures so that walking outdoors isn't a killer. Thankfully, my body is happy with the heat, and it's all about taking it easy. 

OH—the links for the Virtual Retreat. 

Here they are:

Saturday: July 4th from 6 PM - 9 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88967393876?pwd=vcTbpbd0PF0zZYrL5D8XH5jaRAugPg.1

Meeting ID: 889 6739 3876
Passcode: 753764

Sunday: July 5th from 3 PM - 9 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84936943764?pwd=F4GB0CFWZUDAukXjGmbNLR1GS6CreN.1


Meeting ID: 849 3694 3764
Passcode: 777609

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!