My day off!!!

OH OH OH --- I love the idea of using the soccer quilt as a NICU quilt. I will look into that!!!!! Thanks for the suggestion. 

I cannot say enough about the Microsoft support team, which is also located in India. I asked yesterday! Every person I've talked to has been great, but the most important thing? When they say they are going to call, they call at that time! We usually set a two-hour window because they could be on a call with someone else, but for the most part, they have called right at the start of the window. 

Thankfully, Reesha knows the history of my claim and said I had homework since our last call. Did I get it done? She even checked!! And yes, my computer and BIOS are completely up to date! Yesterday, she recorded a video of various areas of my settings, downloaded it, and will share it with the engineering team. 

They are determined to find the answer. I'm OK with that, and I will say that when I send pictures to myself, the darn system syncs pretty quick. I sent one email from my phone this morning, and in 30 seconds it was on my desktop! Persistence and patience -- two good virtues. 

The only thing left is that all the emails come back to my folder system. However, I have access to them in the new version, so it's not like I don't have access. 

Well, I took the day off yesterday! GASP!!! Yep --- I knew it was going to be a busy day and I did some work in the morning, but then that was it for the day! 

Here's what I accomplished in the morning. I completed the top of the table runner!! I have to say I'm pretty impressed at how well it turned out, considering it was leftovers from another project, and had been hanging out for years on that current project table. 

The table runner 

I had an AHA moment about the size to cut the center piece. When I get too tired, my brain just doesn't want to work, but once I got back to it yesterday, I realized what I needed to do and look at those mitered corners!!! The blue strip is the edge of the border fabric. I did take a bit of ripping, and I had to cut 1/8" off the short ends, and then it fit perfectly. 

The mtiered corner

The first corner I had stitched just the night before looked too wonky for my liking, and I know I can do better. I'm much happier. Then I figured out how to use more of the leftovers for the backing, and that is cut, and I'll be working on that later today. That leaves the third group of leftovers, which I'll dig out today and hope to finish all three projects while this technique is in my head. They will get quilted later this month.

I had a chuckle when I went downstairs after walking the dogs. Hmmm --- if Murphy is going to sleep on my quilts, she really should learn to tidy up after herself!!

Someone has been sleeping on my project!

The tablerunner is off the floor, and a box is in its place. Hmmmm -- I can see the wheels turning. How do I open the box and spread out the fabric inside so I can test it? 

MOM - I need something to sleep on!!

She doesn't look too happy, but I needed to dig out that box because it contains my photo transfer stuff, and I need to transfer a photo onto fabric. That has to be done today!

Then I went for a massage, and while it was painful, my shoulders didn't seem as tight as they had been in the past. Could all that stretching be helping? I must remember to keep my posture in check and try a bit more stretching through the shoulders. At least, I'm not in pain daily like I have been in the past - that was many years ago. Our bodies are just one big item that requires a lot of maintenance!

Speaking of our bodies, here is the story about the knee. It's not my knee - it belongs to a 49-year-old man who fell off a ladder and broke his tibia and fibula. Quite badly, it would appear. It seems he will be getting new tendons from a cadaver! Yep — it's a thing, and if you want more information, I think this link will work, or you can simply Google it yourself: Cadaver Tendon Graft. 

I would love to have new tendons in my knees, but I'm in pretty good shape, so I'm not complaining. I'll save the cadaver tendons for those who really need them. Anyway, my knee is feeling decent, so I'm going to the gym this morning, and I'll stay for 60 minutes, but at reduced pressure. That is all about keeping the body moving, just not at the same intensity while healing! NO rule says I have to do the same thing every week in that class. 

I saw Brooke at the gym on Monday and told her that I'm healing, so we'll work on the upper body tomorrow. 

Oh gosh -- I had a small package I was preparing to send with one of M's friends who is going out to visit her for her birthday on March 1st. Do you think I could find the birth certificates I wanted to send to her? Actually, now that I think about it, it's pretty funny to get your birth certificate on your 30th birthday! But I had slipped those papers under something, and I couldn't remember what. I thought it was the files in the office, but nope—it was under the files in the kitchen. All is good - the package was picked up last night. 

The missing paperwork!

I have two copies of this book, so if anyone would like it, I'm happy to send it off to you. Hopefully, you live close by, so I won't have to ship it! Anyway, free for the asking if anyone wants it; otherwise, it will go in the giveaway box. 

Free for the asking!

And look at that big, brave Lexi!! She is usually so timid about many things, especially about jumping up in this bed, which was technically for both of them. So I pointed to the bed and invited her up, and up she jumped!! She didn't seem too comfy, so I must try to encourage her to spend more time there!!! 

MOM -- this is kind of scary!

Yesterday was the final day of the $5 movie passes for February, along with a small popcorn, also for $5. I invited KU along, and off we went. We walked!!! Yep — she was a good sport and walked with me to the theatre — it's about a 25-minute walk, and the sun was out, and while it was minus 6, it was nice. 

We were early, and the theatre hadn't even opened yet, so we went shopping. One of my favorite clothing stores, Melanie Lynn, is around the corner from the theatre. So we went in, and it was very interesting. While I'm not in the market for new clothes, I saw some very cool items. Oh my -- it would appear that cutwork and lace are in, in a big way!!!! I MUST try something on the embroidery machine!!!

Can you believe that I ended up buying a pair of jeans? Yep—I'll share those with you another day. 

Anyway, when we went to buy the tickets, the movie had been moved to 4 PM, not 3:30, so we had even more time! And yes -- we were the first ones in the theatre! This seems to be a thing for me, because when DH and I went to the movies on Christmas Day, we were there very early, too! You would think I'm getting old and need to be at the theatre to get good seats or something. We had assigned seating yesterday, so that wasn't the case. It's just how it worked out!

The theatre is empty!

I had a gift card with enough to pay for two tickets, two popcorns, and two (very expensive) bottles of water. WAIT -- I was short by 17 cents, and they took that from my Scene card! We went to see Send Help, and OH MY! We had watched the trailer, and it looked like a good movie. It was, but it was NOT what we expected! I won't say more than that in case you want to go. 

But as we watched the trailers for upcoming movies, there seemed to be a lot of gore, scary, and satanic-type films coming up. We did see two that we might like to see in the future, and I hope to go again next week to see Crime 101. I think that is what it's called. 

But holy!!!! They are really getting in your face about disturbing others in the theatre and rightly so!! They called out five bad habits people do in a theatre: sending messages on your phone with that clicking sound on, getting phone calls, the light from your phone if you are texting but still in silent mode, and talking to your companion through the movie. There was one more, and I don't remember it. 

The hilarious (NOT!) part was that KU's phone kept going off! OK -- it was not constant, but she received several phone calls and texts while in the movie. It's not enough that it rang silently, that was NOT silent to me, but her flashlight goes off. Seriously????? She needs to address that before I go with her again! 

Anyway, it was great, and when we walked home at 6 PM, the weather was still nice (crisp), and it was still somewhat light. 

What's with the weather? We had snow again last night - not much, but just enough to cover the sidewalks, so if there are icy patches, you can't see them. Just dump the snow, let us shovel, dry off the sidewalks, and let it be!! Nope, small snow every second day. Annoying!!!

OK -- I must go, or I'll be late for spin class. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Dressing in layers

OH -- I got a chuckle from an email someone sent me about dressing in layers. We all know that dressing in layers outdoors is a huge factor in staying warm. The extra air pockets between layers, as well as the extra layer, hold the warm. If you need ventilation, open a zipper and get some air. Then zip up when you need to. 

But what about in your house? This is hilarious, and yet it's not. There are people, and I will NOT name names here, that feel it's OK to just crank up the heat in your house on a cold day while they continue to walk around in shorts and a T-shirt. Are they the ones that pay the bill? I don't think so. 

There are a lot of factors to consider about how your house works to maintain a temperature. I'm finding that on the colder days, our thermostat struggles to keep the heat at the set level. But I also believe that the heating company can control our thermostat centrally, and they may lower the temperature by one degree to conserve energy. The same way they do with the air-conditioning in the summer. 

Even though our thermostat is set to 21, it goes as high as 20 during these cold days and sometimes drops to 19. I can FEEL that drop in temperature. There is no sun to affect the thermostat, and it's not in the sun anyway. It's only on really cold days when I notice this. Our house is also a bit big, and the one furnace isn't the most energy-efficient, although it is new. To be adequately heated, we should have a second furnace. 

What's with the temperature?

Should I crank up the heat? NO -- because that's not going to solve the problem. Guess what? I dress in layers! I have an extra sweatshirt that I can put on that makes me toasty. I curl up in a chair with a quilt, and I get out my hand warmers. I've worn these for years in the winter if my hands are cold, and I have a few pairs to choose from. 

My hand warmer collection

I even have a dollar store pair of gloves that I cut the fingertips off (when they got holes), and I can wear those. 

Gloves turned hand warmers

Someone knitted these for me years ago, and I thought I had lost one several years back, but all is good -- I have both and use them. Thanks - you know who you are! 

Hand-knit hand warmers

The other thing I find about being cold is that you will get cold if you are sitting around, on the computer, or reading. You need to get up and get that circulation going to warm up! 

How we can teach this concept to the younger generations is beyond me. I guess we just have to wait until they start to pay their bills to see. And I wonder if we are seeing a further drain on our electricity grid because of the number of electric cars that need to be charged in our neighborhoods overnight? What would you choose - heat? Or power for your vehicle? 

DH was away all week, and our car sat in the garage for almost the entire week. I went to the gym twice and once for a massage. It's 4 KM one way, so it's a bit far to walk. But I walked to the mall several times and to the doctor, and well, I haven't lost any independence or gained a desire to use the car since we went to one car. It's been almost two months, and so far, so good! 

I was a busy little beaver yesterday, and it felt GOOD! I got one of the writing assignments out of the way in the morning as I had plans for the afternoon. 

Yep -- it was National Popcorn Day, and you could get a free small popcorn when you went to the movies with your Scene Card. So I did! I went for the 1:30 showing and used Scene points for a free ticket. Then, free popcorn, but can you believe I paid $6 for a small drink? That's outrageous, and I don't usually buy anything, but since the rest was free, why not! 

The empty theatre when I arrived

I get that the theaters have to make money, but don't they think more people would buy if they dropped the price? The movie I wanted to see (The Beekeeper) wasn't showing at this theatre, and I wasn't going to drive to another theatre - I'm flexible. I saw a rom-com (Anyone but You) instead. It was a silly movie, but it was funny, and well, it was just a fun afternoon out. 

I do NOT need to do things with someone else. If I waited for someone, I would NEVER do anything. So, as an independent person, I just do what I want, when I want, and guess what? I LOVE it. When I was younger, the thought of doing anything by myself was terrifying. Sitting in a restaurant or going to a movie. But, seriously -- who cares if you're alone. People probably don't even notice; many do things alone these days. Yep --- I wait for no one! 

Then I walked back home and got to work. At the end of the day, I had walked almost 15 KM. Not only did I walk to the theatre, but I spent a couple of hours tidying up, cleaning, and sewing. Yeah!!! It was a FUN day, and sometimes, you just need that. It was glorious. 

I put those pills in the cupboard with the gummy multivitamins, but I needed a post-it note to mark the day of the week. I'll have to investigate when it is best to take the Vitamin D and joint supplements and all that fun stuff. I think I could go around in circles, but it's good to check it out. Someone mentioned that in the comments. I need to go back and reread that. 

My meager collection of pills

I gave away all the open packages of Post-it notes but knew there was an open one in Studio B. There was an open pad, and I found an entire package of the darn things. So they are all in the same spot in the drawer in the office. The same thing has happened with erasers. How many erasers does one person need? I'll have a few more things to donate once I round more stuff up around the house. 

MORE Post-it notes

Here's my bag of reading material! Yes -- it's full, but I like variety! So when I sit down to read, I can choose. I finished a book on organizing ideas for creative studios, and now I can choose something else today. I think the biggest thing for me is that the stuff has to be in a container that is easy to move around. If it's in piles, something else gets piled on top, and then it's lost. So, containers it is, and these little bags work well. 

My reading bag

My desktop by the computer is a total mess, and it drives me crazy. The desk is NOT the most efficient for a right-handed person. So, I did a clean sweep yesterday. 

My desktop got a clean sweep

And all the stuff got put into the basket, which is back on the floor. That basket is overflowing with things that need to be addressed. I MUST remove several things every day from it and deal with them. I have a few "urgent" things to deal with today, which are on the desktop. Tonight, I'll choose something exciting for tomorrow. Having too much in the basket is overwhelming, so I hope taking a couple of things out at a time will help. I've tried before and failed. But unless I keep trying and refining the process, I'll never find a solution that works for me. 

Bear is protecting the basket of crap! 

I got into tidy-up mode in Studio B. I had put some stuff on the cutting table and now had to put it away. I'm happy to report that ALL of this is put away! I know --- I was a busy bee!!! But it didn't end there. 

Crap on the cutting table to put away

Here's the "after" of the cutting table, and I managed to cut some projects this morning, ready for sewing later today - I hope! 

The cutting table this morning

I cleaned up the kitchen and washed (by hand) the few things that wouldn't go in the dishwasher. DH came home very late last night, and I wanted him to see that I wasn't a slob (which I'm not) while he was away. Everything is neat and tidy, and the counters are clean. The table is ready to play an EXIT game later tonight or tomorrow. 

A neat and tidy kitchen

Oh god --- I even cleaned the knobs on the stove. What was wrong with me? Some were pretty grungy on the outside and pretty gross on the inside (see the one on the left)!

Cleaning the front of the stove

With the help of a bit of elbow grease and my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, they are spotless now. 

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Oh -- I didn't take a picture of the knobs back on, but they are on. That's the one thing about DH. He's willing to clean up, but he just washes the dishes. He doesn't notice if stuff like the stove knobs are dirty. 

The stove front is clean now

But who designs all this stuff? Yes -- I know it's a panel that fits together, but these crevices? They are DIRT COLLECTORS. And don't even get me started on those bowl sinks for the bathroom that sit on a counter. How do you clean where the bowl sits on the counter? 

A nasty groove to keep clean

And that's about HALF of what I cleaned and tidied in the afternoon when I got back from the theater! Maybe I need to take a Friday afternoon off more often! I sure came home energized!!!

As I was walking to the theatre, it made me think of a couple that used to live on our street. They sold their house several years ago and moved to a snobbier town nearby. HEY -- everyone says it's a snobbier town! They were unhappy living beside the rental house with the neighbors from hell, but they said their new house was close to places where they could walk - 20 minutes to do things. I wonder how many times they have walked? Or was that just an excuse! 

I love my neighborhood, and while I appreciate the solitude some people have living in the country, I LOVE where I live, and I take advantage of the fact that I can walk to almost ALL conveniences. The gym is my biggest issue, but I see they are putting in a bike path, so that might become an option in the summertime. There is a gym within walking distance, and well --- who knows - maybe I'll check it out. 

Well, it's time to go. It's freezing out there again this morning! Oh yeah!! Lots of layers! 

As I was cleaning the stove yesterday, I remembered that I was supposed to be cleaning the drawers in the kitchen. Well, I totally got off track on that! I don't have time, so I'm good with what's happening. But I hope you are getting a chance to get something done!! If you're feeling cold in your house, layer up and start cleaning something. You'll be warm in no time!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Published

Oh my -- another magazine quilt published! This time it's in the Fons and Porter Quick + Easy Quilts. I hadn't forgotten about this quilt as I already have it back, and it's been sitting on the banister. I've been looking for the magazine for a while, but I couldn't it when I went to Indigo last week. The selection of magazines is pretty sketchy these days. Although I do find that some stores are better stocked than others. 

December/January 2021 issue of Fons and Porter Quick + Easy Quilts

From time to time, I include a story with my submission, and in this case, it was all about using scraps. OH my -- they published my little blurb! Well -- it's all about using up, making do, and buying only what's necessary to get things finished. 

My blurb about my scrap quilt

I know that doesn't help the economy or the local quilt shops, but hey -- I can't keep buying. I have no room left, and I'm madly trying to get things used up because my time as a quilter is one day less every day. Not that I'm going anywhere anytime soon, but I have so much already that I certainly do not need more. 

I have a bag sitting beside me with fabric for FIVE quilts to send to Diane, and I'm not even touching my stash for most of what goes to her. I've long since lost count of the number of quilt tops Diane has put together during COVID. And none of that fabric was purchased. And none of it came from the stash room - it had either been donated to me, leftovers from magazine quilts, or from my days when I worked for a fabric company. Yikes!!! 

Yesterday was like a merry-go-round. I made progress on answering e-mails, getting out Zoom links to stores for classes starting this week or next, and I'm not done! And 15 minutes before starting a presentation, I realized that the topic was different from the one that I envisioned giving, so that required a fast uninstall and reinstall of the mySewnet embroidery software so I could change the language from French to English. I sure wish we could keep both languages installed simultaneously, but that's not possible. I can have ONE or the other, but not both on the same computer. 

It doesn't matter - I'm getting super fast at doing that! 

I must say that when all this sewing machine/embroidery software stuff came out a couple of years ago, I was totally lost. I couldn't get the apps connected to each other; I didn't understand all the components, but now? I can very confidently give that presentation, and hopefully, I'm making it clear to others just how they all connect and work to make our sewing/embroidery lives so much easier! 

Then it was off to quilt the quilt of the day. 

Customer quilt - DONE 

Now, I will say that this quilt was a challenge. WAIT -- that's so not true. The quilt was fine - no issues with the quilt. It was the COMPUTER that gave me grief. 

I've received this error message at the end of a row for the last FOUR quilts that I've quilted. 

Error message

When you touch OK, it boots you out of the program. WHAT?????  Someone in the User's Group suggested I was hitting the FINISH button too soon, which is possible, but this has never happened in the past. 

When this happens at the end of the row, you do not have a registration mark to move to the next row. Unless you saved the pattern for the entire quilt or took note of the measurements, you're not sure that you have the exact same size pattern. Well, let's just say that because I happen to know this part of the software very well, it's a snap to get it back where it needs to be, but it's still time-consuming, and that's time that I don't want to waste these days. 

I've learned to take a picture of the set-up screen BEFORE I start quilting, and it saved my bacon yesterday. 

The vital settings for this quilt

I must call or try some experimenting with this to see if, in fact, I am hitting that button too quickly at the end. I don't think it's me. I ended up shutting the whole thing down at one point, and that seemed to make it happy, and I was good for the remainder of the quilt. Let's just say that something is NOT right. 

Sometimes, the technology works, and other times, not so much! And at one point yesterday, I had to reboot my desktop computer - it was so slow, and there were hardly any windows open. Thankfully, there were no issues when I had to switch out that software on my laptop.,

Here's a shot of some of the trees near my house. These trees always turn this vibrant red and are the last to drop, so we get to enjoy the show for a while. 

Fall leaves

I'm not sure I should share this next photo because it's hideous! This is from a Facebook memory of six years ago. There's Alex Anderson and me! We were at Houston Quilt Festival. But look at my hair!   Look how cute she is and all nicely quaffed. Me? I look like my Dad and my brother! Speaking of Alex, I haven't watched any of her live videos for months! I need to get back to that, but there just doesn't seem to be a lot of extra time to sit and sew and watch the videos. I need too much brainpower for what I'm doing lately. 

Alex Anderson and I at Quilt Festival in Houston - six years ago!

I did turn the sewing machine on at one point during the day, but I never even got close to it! I have one presentation tonight, and all is prepped, and YES - I have the correct presentation lined up! 

Last night, DH and I went to the movies. Something we haven't done for a long time. Our local theatre now has a VIP area, and we decided to splurge since we haven't been to the movies in a while. And YES -- I had popcorn and pop (very rarely do I drink it, but once in a while for a treat!) for dinner! James Bond's movie was great, but long so I didn't get to bed very early. 

At the VIP theatre

The seats - or should I say the recliner chairs are fantastic. Much better than at the other VIP theatre we used to go to, and this one is much closer. Footrests, headrests, and heat!! Now, what more could you ask for? 

A barking dog in the middle of the night?  I have no idea what Murphy's problem was, but she alerted us that a rabbit was most likely on the front lawn. Like I care!

And there were two porch pick-ups, and I spent a bit of time chatting to them both. I haven't seen one person in a while, and it was so nice to connect, albeit short because I had my presentation to do. Yes -- we need to communicate with our friends a bit more often, but it's been hard, as everyone knows. 

So today will be filled with answering more e-mail; I can't even keep up with what comes in in one day and then never seem to have time to go back and deal with the ones I didn't get to.  And any of the junk stuff? Every once in a while, I do mass deletes. It's silly. I'll get there, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. 

E-mail is great - I love it and am not sure how we functioned without it. But sometimes, it involves tons of follow-up. Thankfully, I was able to clear a couple of those follow-up e-mails yesterday. Perhaps today will be equally as productive!

On that note, it's Wednesday, and I've got a date with Joseph - our fantastic spin instructor! I have to laugh at the class. I go to the class to crank out my 30 K. I set up the bike (seat and handlebars) and immediately get on. It probably takes less than 30 seconds. However, some people have arrived before me, and it takes them a LONG time to get organized. I can sometimes have 2 KM already completed before they even get on the bike. They are the social people! I just want to get it over with! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Back to normal?

 

Yesterday was a bizarre day. At the end of the day, I didn't feel like I had accomplished much. Why? Well, for starters, I did a couple of NORMAL things, and they both consumed a LOT of time. How quickly we forget how time-consuming errands can be!

I got my hair cut! And can you believe that I messed up the time? Got the right time (almost), but on the wrong date! Fortunately, Paula wasn't very busy, so she could accommodate me into her schedule. Seriously??  I had to laugh about it as I didn't even have the time right. That's what happens when you do things in a hurry! 

What I left behind

But it feels good to get that extra length off. It was driving me crazy when I could feel my hair inside my shirt. Well, it's gone. I can still make a wee ponytail if we ever get back to the gym and on the bikes. 

Then Ronda and I went to a movie last night. GASP!! I know. I don't normally go to the movies, but I like to go from time to time. She had a coupon, even though it was Tuesday, which is the cheap day. I'm guessing they have the start times staggered, and when we arrived, there were no other patrons in the theatre lobby. Three or four employees, and that was it. 

The lobby at the theatre

We had popcorn for dinner! On our way out, we saw two customers coming in, but we saw no one else. It wasn't difficult to do social distancing! I might go to a different movie next week. I mean - why not? We need to get life back to normal as much as we can. 

We had assigned seats, but I had to laugh because when we entered the actual theatre. There wasn't a single person in that particular theatre. Just the two of us! We could have chosen the 4DX seats - the ones that move, but like the good people we are, we stuck to our assigned seats! 

An empty theatre

I'd say that the cinema is a pretty safe place to go to—loads of room for social distancing. I felt very comfortable and safe. We need to remember that it's contact with PEOPLE, not things that spread this virus. As I said, we barely saw anyone!

Both of those events took a fair amount of time! And several lengthy phone calls didn't help the situation. Miss Lexi is not happy with me. I couldn't take her for a walk yesterday. Why? Well, I had called my service provider yet again, and the technician was scheduled to arrive between 8 and 12 yesterday. I was just arriving at the house at 8 AM with Miss Murphy, and the technician had just arrived. So I wanted to hang around while he did the testing and whatever he needed to do. 

He tested the pair of phone lines that bring in our service. He showed me the tests. Those lines are NOT balanced. Not even close, and I'm certain that has been our problem all along. They cannot get the two lines to work together. That's what happens when you piecemeal things together. 

Can we drop one line? That didn't seem to be a good idea because he didn't like the look of any of the lines coming into the house. What's next? Why bring in a totally new line. I'm good with that. So he drilled a hole right through the wall into the family room. 

New wires for the phone service

It had to be there because of the gas lines outside the house. Personally, I didn't care if it resulted in a large cable that had to be taped to the floor (OK - I'm kidding), but I want STABILITY with the internet. You can't really see the cable - it's stapled to the baseboard and runs under the large, built-in cupboard where the modem sits. 

Installing a new wire

Murphy was freaked out because the technician was outside pulling the wire, and Murphy couldn't figure out what was happening. 

Mom? What is this big box?

We only need ONE pair of wires for the service, but now we have FOUR pairs. That's three spares - just in case! We weren't on any Zoom calls yesterday, but I stream the radio on Alexa, and we were on the internet for part of the day, and DH watched TV. We had no issues. So we are in wait mode - did this solve the problem? We can only hope!!!

But I learned some things because I asked questions when the technician was here. Can we test the bandwidth that we are using? How do we know if we are maxing out? Well, guess what - there is NO test for that. Do you know why? I'm guessing here - but the companies advertise that you NEED more bandwidth with all the devices you have connected to the internet. More bandwidth means they can upgrade your service because MORE is better. 

However, I found an article on-line that says that most of the streaming services that we use have COMPRESSED their files so much that the likelihood of us maxing out our bandwidth is extremely unlikely, even if you have many devices connected. Let's say your phone is connected, and you get notifications. The amount of bandwidth required to do that is so minimal that it probably doesn't even register on the bandwidth scale. 

However, you can test the SPEED by going to fast.com.  That might be just for Bell customers. Then you can see your speed. Oh - it's not high enough - well, you can buy FASTER, but faster doesn't get you anything! Isn't that interesting?? 

If I were a gamer or had many, many people streaming Zoom calls or TV or whatever, then bandwidth MAY be an issue, but highly unlikely! Something to think about as you see all those ads for fiber optics and fast download speeds. You don't need it! Just two simple phone lines and we're good to go - provided they like to talk to each other. I need to have a conversation with my Dad because he understands all this stuff. I should have asked him first! But now I'm armed with knowledge! 

Not that you're likely interested, but here's an article about how much bandwidth is required for Zoom. Here's the number for group calls. 

• 800kbps/1.2Mbps (up/down)

Guess what we have?    ---      7.2 kbps and 47 (average) Mbps.  Do we have a bandwidth issue??? I think NOT!!! I wish I had known all this before we switched. I wish that there was someone that could have helped me before we upgraded! BUT -- this is good information for you! DO NOT be persuaded that you need more until you check what you already have!!!  So even if we have MANY devices (that would take a whole lot less bandwidth than Zoom, and a computer or two and even a TV connected, we would NEVER top out our bandwidth! 

I got this customer quilt off the long arm yesterday, and the next one is half loaded. I hope to work on that later today. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I had been trying to make squash soup for a couple of days. I had baked the squash on the weekend. So while the technician was doing his thing and I had to bring dogs in the house and then out of the house depending on where he was working, I got the rest of the veggies (potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and an apple) chopped (very coarsely chopped I might say) and into the pot. I added sage. 

Last night, I added some coconut milk, and when I got home from the theatre, I heated up a bowl. Oh my gosh - it was so good. I wonder why I don't do this more often - it really didn't take long. Obviously, it's been a while since I last made soup because I couldn't remember where the immersion blender was stored!

Squash soup

I got my Trendtex 2021 challenge kit in the mail. I have an idea - I'm just not sure it'll work with those fabrics, but I'd like to get started. But FIRST, I must finish the Cherrywood Challenge, which is due December 31. 

Don't forget to bid on your favorite Trendtext Challenge pieces for 2020. It's a fundraiser for the Canadian Quilters Association. I see there are no bids on mine yet. That's good as I want it back! 

Instead of writing this morning - I did manage to get one more written thing done yesterday; I decided to cut some stuff that needs to be done. I almost got all the Summer Moon blocks cut. And I almost got the border cut for PRISM Squared. It looks a wee bit askew in the photo. 

PRISM squared

I have a presentation tonight that I have to prep for, but hopefully, it won't take too long, and then I might just get some sewing done. 

Hopefully, today will be a little less crazy. My car didn't know what happened as it went out TWICE on the same day!

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Clean up in Row H

Before I get to what I've been up to, I have to share this story because it's so funny. A couple of years ago, we started to go to the movies on Christmas Day. Why not? A couple of weeks ago, we decided the movie would be Star Wars and as a treat, we booked seats at the VIP theatre. Oh - let me rephrase that - it was DH's job to book the tickets. I remember him telling me, "I booked them and printed them right on my phone".  Before leaving yesterday, he hands me the tickets and I threw them in my purse.

We arrive at the theatre in plenty of time to order a drink and order our food which we would have delivered to our seats. Ah - nice and relaxing. Nothing like popcorn and a beer while you watch the trailers and just enjoy the nice seating.

I did think that the lounge was a tad quiet for a nearly sold-out movie that started in 40 minutes.

I handed the tickets to our server so he could take note of the seats to arrange delivery of the food. "AH - excuse me folks - but these are AVX tickets, NOT VIP. AVX is on the opposite side of the theatre." WHAT???  Can we switch theatres?"  DH goes to the desk and finds out that there is a 4 PM showing of Star Wars in the VIP theatre - it's now about 4:05. Yep - we should be good. Can the food be delivered? Yep - we should be good there too.  However the best-laid plans - it took forever for the tickets to be switched. And I should have gone and claimed our seats when we realized we could switch. Some codes had been changed in the system and didn't like what we were doing.

We arrived at our seats - that would be Row H, Seats 1 and 2 (on the right). The movie had already started and the theatre was pitch black. Remember this is Star Wars - it's a dark movie! Couldn't see a thing, but the moment I moved into the seats (thankfully we were by ourselves on the side row), I felt something fall over. OH NO - that would be my popcorn! The manager had assured us that they would NOT drop the food at the seats if we weren't there. Well guess what - they did! DH didn't even realize he had knocked his popcorn over and was grumbling that there was popcorn in his seat! 

The server comes with our HOT food - yep - we ordered that as well. So I had a wrap and a salad and NO IDEA what it looked like. Did I have a fork? DH had both of them. Oh - they put the dressing on the side. Yum - yum as I dipped my fingers into that! Now I know how a blind person must feel when they are served food. You need someone to tell you what is where or you have to feel it all up!

I don't think the server was too happy about several things. First that we dumped the popcorn on the floor and secondly that she had to bring us the food in the dark! I'm sure the people behind us weren't too happy either and I'm sorry for that!

Let's just say that when the lights came on - it was a mess!!!  There was popcorn all over the place. Our dirty dishes were on the floor. Thankfully I didn't drop my beer out of the cupholder. Oh no - I felt for that darn cupholder ever time I placed the bottle down!

There is a lesson to be learned here. Several lessons actually, but the most important one - CHECK the damn tickets. I think DH is going blind and he can't see the small print like on his phone!

It was a bit disconcerting to arrive a few minutes into the movie starting - oh yes - it's 3-D so where the heck are the stupid glasses, your food arrives in the dark - it took me about 10 minutes to get settled.

Let's just say - it was good for a laugh after the fact!

So that's my funny Christmas story! Now let's get into what happened the day before Christmas. I told you I was motivated and I'm going to get this all done even if it kills me!  Here's what happened.

I want to get those last few quilts done for the Ronald McDonald project - so I got myself organized. Here's the first one for the day.

Community project quilt - DONE

Community project quilt Number 2 - DONE

Community project quilt - Number 3 - DONE

On a roll here - might as well keep going. And so I got ONE more done for the day.

So yes - I got three more of the quilts done. That makes seven done and only TWO left. I had to make backings and piece batting. The backings are all together and the pieces for the last batting are set aside. The second to last quilt is loaded on the long arm and it will be done today! That leaves one small one as you can see below and my goal is to get that done today as well. 

One community project quilt left on the rack

So Jane --- better get ready for a big binding day!!!  I think some people went a little overboard with the sizes. The quilts were supposed to be 3 blocks by 4 or 4 blocks by 6 and yet some of these are a wee bit bigger than that. No worries - this batch is almost done and I know how to say NO now!!!  

But let's not just do one thing at a time. I can multi-task and I tell you that I'm on a roll here. I fired up the embroidery machine as well.  Look what happened......................

Halloween blocks are DONE

Yes -- ALL the blocks for the Halloween quilt are done!!!  All twenty-five of them. I did three of them on the day before Christmas and I completed the last two yesterday. I was determined and so at 5 AM, I got the second to last block started. 

Close up of two of the blocks done yesterday

Now you notice there is also a green block at the bottom. What's with that? That would be the sashing! Yes - there are a couple of options for the sashing or borders. I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to do, but if I need sashing, I need a LOT. I can stitch three of them in the hoop at one time. And there is only ONE thread color so that makes them somewhat easy!

Sashings for the Halloween quilt

All these blocks and sashing have a product underneath them called battilizer. It's a thin batting but helps to stabilize all those stitches. As I was using a big piece for the sashings, I remembered that we used this product for a rug project a couple of years ago. I still have the bag of scraps and sure enough - found that within seconds. I might have to join a few pieces, but I can easier use this up for the sashings. 

Scraps of battilizer

Between the long arm and the embroidery machine, I was using up spools of thread and bobbin thread like crazy!! And getting in a ton of Fitbit steps as the machines are in opposite corners of the studio. 

But that's not all!  I managed to get ALL the applique done for the Amish With a Twist. OH MY GOD - that's huge! It's not my best applique job, but it's done and that's all I care about at this point. 

Applique borders for Amish With a T

Sometimes the embroidery machine doesn't like to finish off the spool of bobbin thread so I save them and they were perfect to use on the other machine for applique. 

Empty bobbin and full bobbin of pre-wound bobbins

I love having two machines going at the same time, but in future when I've got huge embroidery jobs, I prefer to NOT sit right beside the machine - it's noisy. I'm going to have to get earplugs or something. 

When I sat down to piece the backings for those two community project quilts, I thought it funny that the needle wasn't quite as dead center as I thought it should be. No worries - it didn't break.  BUT when I went to do the applique and had a much different foot on the machine, I noticed that the needle was rather bent. How the heck did that happen? 

Bent needle

It's hard to tell in the photo, but trust me - it's bent!

When I had a wee bit of downtime, I was trimming half square triangles. I'm almost done with this set of green and white ones.  What to make? what to make? A mini quilt of some kind to be sure!

Trimming half square triangles

Whew, wasn't that exhausting!  I was so happy to get some of those ugly jobs done! They've been hanging around forever. Now the big thing is - can I actually get those borders on before the end of the year? And how many of the remaining projects can be done? There are SIX days left. Six days when I don't have any commitments per se.  Let's forge ahead!

Oh - I should mention that I had to write some QUILTsocial blog posts that were out of my normal schedule. I forgot to post the links yesterday.  Here are the first two.

QUILTsocial - Monday   - All about Northcott basics

QUILTsocial - Tuesday  - working with digital "fabrics" to design quilts

On that note, I have two very impatient girls who are demanding to go for their walk!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!