Let's find a hobby - hurrah for craft kits!!

It's amazing what you can learn by asking perfect strangers! And even complimenting a perfect stranger is amazing. I've run into two instances where I saw someone wearing a garment that looked custom-made for them. The fit and the color were perfect. And I told them both - one in line at the grocery store, and the other in a restaurant. I think both were a bit taken aback that I would approach them until they realized what I was saying! 

Funny how we are reluctant to interact with a stranger even when they have good news! 

Well, I survived the time change. However, I had the most bizarre dream. I was dreaming in my dream - does that ever happen? DH woke me up to tell me to turn the electricity back on and set the clocks or something to that effect! 

Thankfully, we only have two devices that need to be set manually - the stove and the microwave. Easy peasy - it's already done. The rest change automatically, so if it weren't for those two appliances, the time change would be a non-issue in our house. I don't think "old time" or "new time" - I just think current time! 

I grew up in Saskatchewan, and I had a discussion (I believe I mentioned this on the blog) with someone and was shocked to realize that Saskatchewan stopped changing the time in 1966!!!! Who knew? 

I have more stuff from the magazines, but I have other stuff to share as well. It was the Family and Friends version of the virtual puzzling. It was NOT a competition and was not timed - thank goodness for that- but the first team to finish did so in 33 minutes!!! But there were about 5 of them, so that makes sense. 

The puzzle was cute and YES - it was a Halloween puzzle. But when I opened the box, I knew I was in trouble - the pieces were huge, and I didn't have enough space on my table. 

There's the box wrapped in the shipping label, and before we started, we were able to open the box and remove the plastic wrap. 

The wrapped puzzle

I think this was about the 33-minute mark when the first team was done! I was still working on the border. 

After 33 minutes

At 90 minutes, they called the event done! I think many people were finished, but then again, they were working in groups, and I was working alone. It would have been nice to work with a friend or family member, but hey—at least I was there. And the host said it was fun to work on a surprise puzzle. I agree, but you don't need to buy them this way - get a friend to give you a puzzle wrapped up, and then you have to work on that! 

After 90-minutes

After the Zoom closed, I removed all the pieces from the inside of the frame. It was driving me nuts. 

AH -- some room to work - this is better.

Later in the afternoon, I went back and finished the puzzle, and it took me 2:18 minutes. I timed myself, just for fun! That was 20 minutes faster than the cat puzzle. Both were 500 pieces. It was a Cobblehill with all the crazy shapes, which helps, and yet it doesn't!

The puzzle is done! 

I would have been much faster if I had clued into the picture. Most people started by working on the individual rooms, which I sort of did, but not with the vengeance that other teams did. Imagine if you have five people working on the puzzle and they each take two or three rooms—of course, they are going to be done way before me!!!

I also bought a third puzzle for a virtual event this coming weekend, but I won't be able to attend because of work. I'm glad I participated in the events, and I'm glad I finished the puzzles. It was interesting to learn the times, and I might do some timed "events" myself - perhaps redo these puzzles to see how I do. But speed puzzling? I don't think it's my thing. I love being able to spread out the pieces, take time to do the border, and enjoy the process. 

But I tried, and that's what counts!!

I had to pop out to Michaels for some paint, and while I was there, I browsed the shelves. They have tons and tons of kits, which is great if anyone is looking for a hobby. Everything you need is in the kit. They have their brand - Loops and Threads and seem to be ramping that up. Probably since Joann's is no longer around, they are filling the gap. 

Felting kits

They had all kinds of kits - felting, embroidery, punchneedle, etc. 

Other types of kits at Michaels

They also had some crochet kits. 

Crochet kits

Knitting was a huge deal several years ago, and I think it still is. But crochet seems to have stepped up its game. 

When I later went to Chapters (didn't buy anything), I spotted more crochet kits. 

Crochet kits at Chapters

I spotted this at Michaels - a banner bar. How cute for dressing up a room. So even if you can't "make" things, you can buy the components and make something. 

The Banner Bar at Michaels

And here are some of the components. 

Some components of the Banner Bar

Back to Chapters where diamond art is big, as are those 3D models. Diamond art is huge these days, and Michaels had a ton of it as well. 

Diamond art and 3D model kits

Chapters also had an "adult activity " table with adult puzzle books. And I spotted this sign in Chapters somewhere. 

Why we love hobbies

And this is why we have hobbies!!!! I love it, and it's a shame that some people never experience that. We NEED to encourage young people to get involved. STOP scrolling. 

Someone mentioned in a comment that I must have 30 hours in my day. Nope—I have several things that save me time. No TV- I haven't watched in over 16 years now, although I will watch some movies and mostly learning tools on YouTube. I was watching videos of this young couple rebuilding their house, but in the last video I saw, I think they were still putting the roof on. They have now been living in the house for ten months. Oh -- I guess I'm behind! 

This is a motto that I found in my tea yesterday that I love, and it helps me to be more aware of how I spend my time. 

A great motto to live by

Other areas where I gain time—STOP SCROLLING. I do scroll, but I do it consciously. I don't let the hours pass by. I get that it's fun to watch all the stuff and you can get sucked down a rabbit hole, but do I really want to live my life watching strangers make money because I'm watching them? 

While these people make videos for fun, they also earn a decent living from the number of people who follow them, like them, and watch their videos. I spotted a video the other day of a man posting about his wife who had some health issues. He was "pleading" for people to sign up so he could get 350K followers, so his wife could make some money and buy some things she deserved. 

At what point will that bubble burst? It will! And then what will all these content creators do? How will they earn a living if no one watches? 

While I enjoy scrolling, I keep it tightly controlled and am happy not to be watching the most up-to-date video. I don't care. 

I also NEVER go into Pinterest, which is a rabbit hole! I won't touch it with a ten-foot pole. My version of Pinterest comes from my head when walking the girls. I look at things, and I use my imagination to dream up ideas. And a single picture can be the starting point for me. I may do some searching (consciously) to expand on the idea, but I don't scroll just to be inspired. 

I wanted to share a couple of other pictures - I guess the magazine treasures will have to wait until tomorrow. 

This was the floor number on one of my hotels. This is made of a felt-type fabric. It reminded me of a young girl (not sure where she lives) who cuts up old yarn and other fibers, adds glue, presses it flat to dry, then cuts it up. 

The floor number

So the "2" shape gets cut from the blue as well as the grey. Then the blue "2" is popped out, and the grey "2" is inserted. 

There is no seam

There was the tiniest gap in this one, so I knew it was the same technique as I had spotted on Instagram. 

The insert isn't quite in position.

I don't want to give you someone else to follow, but here's a short clip of her work, and it's fascinating. I love that a young person is interested in saving the world by making things with recycled textiles. I think she mostly uses yarn, but I've seen others use shredded pieces of textile waste to make the same thing. Can you imagine the insulation factor in that material? 

Speaking of glue, I had to glue some appliqué last night, and I realized that this container of glue I bought MANY years ago is finally empty. So I set it upside down on another container to get the last dregs (come on—you would have done the same). The empty container is now in the garbage, and I have a full container to work with in the future. 

Draining out the last bit of glue!

How about these signs on the bathrooms at Tim's? 

OK—so I recycled one more magazine, but while I was initially searching through the piles, I also pulled this stack out. Some magazines regarding machine embroidery. Seriously??? Why wouldn't I be reading those now instead of waiting until I no longer do machine embroidery? So that stack is also sitting on the puzzle table - hence the small space available to do that large-sized 500-piece puzzle. 

Magazines about machine embroidery

And did you know that PFAFF used to have a magazine? I love the title—especially since the whole thing behind all the connectivity with SVP (Singer, PFAFF, and Husqvarna Viking) these days is CREATIVATE!!! I couldn't find a date on it. 

A PFAFF Creative magazine

And in the magazine, I spotted a flyer for a PFAFF store just a few minutes from my house! Actually, I remember visiting the store - it was inside Bouclair when Bouclair sold fabric. I was not a PFAFF person at the time, so I probably only went there to buy fabric. 

That is all long gone!!!!

Here are my two beauties "begging" to go to the grocery store with me. They stayed home. 

MOM - can we come to the grocery store with you?

After Miss Lexi fluffed up her quilt, she lay in the sun. And now you wonder why that dog sheds like mad!!! I brush her daily, but it does no good. 

Fast asleep in her little world 

We haven't put out Halloween candy in a long time, as our street is mostly adults only now. But we have a couple of new families with kids, so I thought I'd get some mini chocolate bars, and since we were going out for dinner, I left them in a bowl on a small table. That was at 5:30 PM. 

Trick or Treat

When we got home at 7:30 PM, five chocolate bars were left. At 8 o'clock, someone kept ringing my bell because the bowl was empty. I grabbed the bowl and my tea towel and shut off the lights. There were hardly any lights on our street, so I don't know why there were so many kids on it. YES—I know most kids probably took way more than one! That's OK. 

But the houses with kids that I expected to have lights on did not. So next year? I won't hand out candy! 

October was a bit of a crazy month - the weekends just filled up so fast. And there was no time for a Virtual Retreat. BUT there will be one in November - the dates are November 28 and 29. 

And there is no time left to delve into the magazine treasures, so that will have to wait for tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Use the good china NOW!!!

Organiziation! It's so critical to how we work. Wait — it's critical to how much we get done, or how easy it is to get something done. Even if you love working in chaos, when things have a home, it's so much easier. 

Right now, if you looked at Studio B, you would GASP. I gasp because there are boxes of threads and stabilizers all over the floor. The cutting table and the ironing board are heaped with stuff, the sewing tables are strewn with embroidery hoops, and other "debris." It's in quite a disarray. BUT since everything has a home, when I am done stitching, it will take mere minutes to put everything back in order. 

I didn't quite accomplish everything I had planned to stitch out, but I made great progress. While there are loads that I want to stitch, I think I just have two small things left. The rest is icing on the cake and can wait until I'm back. 

I started the day with a walk with the girls - separately, of course. Even though Murphy is slowing down, I don't want to put any competitive pressure on her by her needing to stay ahead of Lexi. Yes - that girl is competitive! 

Lexi and I spotted more giant hibiscuses - white ones this time. Hmmm - I walk past here often, but never noticed them before. Why is that? Did you know that Rose of Sharon is in the hibiscus family? I should have guessed because they look very similar. Of course, you all knew that!  

Giant hibiscus

And then I had my morning tea in one of my two china mugs. I don't remember how long ago I pulled these out of the cupboard and decided to use them, but it's been years since I started using them. I bought them in 2015 or 2016, and they were relegated to the back of the cupboard, still in their boxes. Yes - they are fading from repeated dishwasher use, but guess what? When I can no longer use them, and someone comes to pack up my kitchen, they will say that those mugs were well used and well loved. And they would be right. Don't keep the good stuff for a special occasion. Life is short - EVERYDAY is a special occasion. 

My well-used china mugs

Then I was determined to find the error that I knew existed in that pattern I was testing. The number of pieces in the cutting instructions for one block was short by two, but which two? I know it's of no value to me to find those errors, but I felt duty-bound (OK - I'm a Virgo) and I wanted to find the darn errors. And I did - one mislabeling and two cutting quantities that were incorrect. 

Finding an error

I think there is one more error, and I know I shouldn't spend any more time on it, but I want to know where the darn error is!! I can't help myself. I did spend some time on it, but I didn't spot the error, so I will take some time later today to try one last time. 

DH left an article about travel on the table for me to read, but I found an article on ceiling fans in the same newspaper section, so I read that instead. I was a bit disappointed in the article. While I already knew that ceiling fans do not cool the room - they only move the air around- I found the article to be a bit on the negative side. 

Article on ceiling fans

Ceiling fans have a reputation for being ugly. Well, that has changed - my fans look just fine, and since they are white with a small light, they aren't even obvious. They circulate the air because we know that hot air rises, and so they can be used in winter and summer. They are quiet and no longer wobbly if properly installed. They aren't cheap, but the article mentioned they start at $800 for a nice one, and I certainly paid less than that for each of mine. But apparently, buying ceiling fans is in again! 

I could have written a much better article that was way more positive than the one in the paper. 

I needed vinyl for a couple of my embroidery projects, and well, I have a small stash of vinyl. It's all on rolls in the depths of the stash room. I pulled one tube out to get to the black and look at all the wonderful colors I spotted as well. What can I make with that hot pink? 

Marine vinyl

I cut the black into sizes that I need. I cut them upside down, so I can mark them and cut with scissors. I do this on the kitchen island. It's a tad short, but the space is much bigger than any of the tables downstairs. WAIT -- none of the tables are free downstairs, so this is my only option. 

Cutting vinyl at the kitchen island

And the suitcase is in the hall, and I've started packing it. My goal is to fit everything into the one suitcase. I'm not sure that will happen, but I'll also have room in my clothes suitcase for stuff. 

The suitcase needs to be packed.

I looked but didn't find the onesie or the blank cushion covers, so I headed to the thrift store to see what I could find. Oh my --- a Twister hopscotch game. Of course, I had to look in the puzzles and games section! I should have bought this to put on the rocks by the pond! I did not. But I spotted two puzzles that kind of went into my bag. 

Twister hopscotch? 

I managed to find three onesies that were not stained and didn't have anything on the front. That cost me $3.99, less 20%. Then I hit the mother lode in the cushion department. I found one cream cushion cover, two beautiful green ones, and two yellow ones. They all have invisible zippers and will work perfectly for my project - showing off the free arm capabilities on the PFAFF creative icon 3. 

I decided to start with a onesie. I will confess that I rarely do T-shirts. Have I ever embroidered on a T-shirt? There was a wee bit of a learning curve, but I managed just fine. No one will know that I had to do a major rip-out job about five minutes after I started! And we all know that what takes five minutes to stitch takes a long time to rip out!

Stitching a onesie on the free-arm

While you can embroider this type of thing without the free arm, it is so much easier with the free arm. There's zero danger of the T-shirt falling back into the hoop. 

The onesie is done!!!

I also wanted to do a tote bag, but do you think I could find anything that worked? I tried several that I had, and they were too big. But then in my "panic" to find something, I found this tote bag from Micheal's in my stash. It's one of their MAKER bags, and it was the perfect size. 

However, I swear I marked the center of that bag, and look—the design is off center. I finished that last night, and I was too tired to investigate the problem. That's a job for today. I may do the other side today, but centered!

The embroidery on my tote bag

I got three other things stitched out as well, and now, except for adding to my polar bear and one more stitch-out on vinyl, I think all that remains is to clean up the samples, which I can do at Monday Sewing. That involves removing stabilizer and clipping threads on the back where necessary. 

The rest can be done at a later date. 

YES -- I finished the puzzle, and I was not disciplined, and I did part of it during the day while I was waiting for the embroidery machine to finish stitching! Rather than tidying up! I didn't get a picture of it, but I will for tomorrow. OK - I finished it in the afternoon. Obviously, I wasn't desperate to get those samples stitched out! 

I am addicted to those sayings on IG from thought.minds. They are amazing, and I have several today. 

This is one that I would like to change. I am a bit of a lecturer, and I need to shut up and listen a bit more. I've improved a whole lot on the home front, and that makes things so much easier and better. As someone said, you don't need to comment on everything that you don't agree with. Just shut up and let it go. It's not the end of the world. 

M was the first person who made me realize I was a fixer, not a listener. And I've backed off so much. I still do lecture from time to time, and if you are on the receiving end of one of my lectures when you just want a hug? STOP me and ask for a hug. I'm not a hugger, but I'll give you a hug. 

This next one is so true, and that's how I'm tackling my decluttering. Slow and steady. I'll get there—in my own way —so it's enjoyable, as much as decluttering can be enjoyable. 

And the final one - I know there are so many good ones from yesterday. 

I was in bed contemplating going to the gym this morning when I spotted this. Oh my --- I'm going to the gym this morning. 

And on that note, I'm out of here. I'm a bit behind and need to step up my game to stay on schedule. Not that it matters, but I like to leave the house by 5:55 at the latest, so I don't have to wait at the traffic light. At 6 AM, the pattern changes and the wait is longer. How silly is that, but it's a tiny motivation to get me going before that changes. Hey -- whatever it takes. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Slow and steady and all will be done!

I thought I had a system to remind myself to take my once-a-week bone density meds, but I haven't done it in weeks! I got an auto-renewal at the drug store, and I'm weeks behind. I'm going to have to set a task on my phone to remind me early Sunday morning. It is the most ridiculous thing in the world. I told the doctor to not give me that prescription, and when I renewed it, they forgot and sent the old one to the drugstore instead of the one I can take with food. Sigh..................

Hopefully all this strength training will help, and I can stop taking that pill. I should look to my personal trainer for inspiration. I'm not sure how young she is, but she participates in bikini fit challenges. Oh my ---- something to aspire to! 

But onto bigger and better things! 

Here is the garage. The line of crap on the right side is my sorting for the recycling depot. There are piles of styrofoam in the middle for recycling. And a few boxes of wires and lighting stuff that need sorting. 

The garage, also known as the sorting spot.

The left side is a bit messier, but not that bad. A little bit each day, and it will get cleaned up! And I'm OK with that. I need to sweep the floor and start moving the stuff I want to keep into the far left corner. My goal is to get that space tidied up by October 1. I guess I can say that I've tackled the garage several times, but never gotten to the bottom of the piles of junk. 

The other side of the garage

I found a company that will come to the house to pick up books, so I have notified them that I need a pickup, and I now have 9 boxes of books for pickup. I still have three bags and one box in the office that I will try to sell or give away to other places. If no one takes them, they can go to the thrift store bit by bit. 

My pile of books for donation

Once the last two boxes for the electrical stuff and those books leave the office, I'll have lots of room! It's not bad, not perfect - far from it, but progress is being made. 

There are so many great quotes online, and of course, I had to stop to find one. This quote is so true—I could rush through the entire thing in a day. I could be exhausted and hate the process. I do what works for me. I'm slow and methodical, and I'm not about to change. I don't want to change! At least not with decluttering. 

Here is an interesting question DH and I seem to discuss frequently. Yep - it's the use of AI. I lament about my calendar, and he says I should use an agent to help me. I don't need or want an agent to deal with my calendar. Seriously? I have trouble enough trying to remember things that I personally book - actually, I don't, but that sounds way more dramatic!) My problem is finding room to schedule something in. I'm not talking about a one-hour meeting like he needs; I'm talking about booking a quilt retreat, or a weekend away, or a day to help pack and ship puzzles. 

I don't need an agent to show me what to do - I need more weekends!!! I have wide-open weeks, and weekends are booked. Well, that's not completely true either because I have weekends open - just not the right ones! 

Then DH suggested that I use AI to help me research my subjects. Seriously? We are in totally different worlds. I'm a creative person, and if I'm looking for a quote, how the heck will AI know which one is the perfect one for me? I like to be in control and pick the one I like the best, and it takes mere seconds for Google AI to find them. I do NOT want some AI suggesting what I should use. 

And there are times when I'm researching something and something else pops up, and that is the beauty of manual research. Besides, who doesn't remember searching those card catalogs at the library? I was in my glory when I discovered those! 

So what is wrong with Murphy? She was outside and started to bark around 10 PM. Not a lot, but enough. So DH brought her in, and she went upstairs. Why? She lies in the bedroom at the back of the house so she can hear the backyard noises and the waterfalls. She slept like a log and didn't get up until I coaxed her downstairs this morning. Then before I could move my barricade to the basement steps, she went downstairs. Sigh..............

At least, we have a workable solution as long as she can do the stairs. I don't understand why she slips on the basement stairs, which have those carpet treads, and yet she can sneak her way upstairs, which are just wood. The mysteries of an aging dog. 

While you can't see it in this photo, the spider (and he's a giant one) is happily spinning his web, and it's huge. It covers a huge portion of that open space. I have no idea what it is connected to, but it's big. The spider is probably big because he is capturing lots of insects with that giant web. 

A giant spider web

I was madly stitching out embroidery samples on both machines. Here is one of them. It's a polar bear made with felting (acrylic wool on cotton). He's so cute, and I want to add some words of wisdom to him. I hope to make that happen today. The samples will NOT be finished as in quilted and bound or made into a bag, but that's OK. I feel he needs a can of Coke! 

My felted polar bear

I have a couple of other samples, but forgot to take pictures. I'll try to do that today, or perhaps I'll wait. 

I went through a lot of bobbins. 

A lot of bobbins got used.

Wait -- before you gasp at the quantity, all of those were partially used, and I was tired of seeing them in my bobbin box, so I used them up! They went in a bag and will be donated to someone who uses them for fidget quilts. 

What fabric do you use when you make samples? I needed some plain fabric to test out some quilting - wait until you hear about the new functions on the PFAFF creative icon 3 for quilting! Anyway, I got to the point where rotary cutting wasn't happening. I was ripping the fabric as it was faster and easier. GASP - I never thought I would say that.

RIP!!!!!!

And the room looks like a tornado went through it, but that's typical when I'm in intense work mode. 

Studio B in disarray - again!

I created a few embroidery files to stitch out today, and I'm searching for two things to embroider on, and I haven't seen either. I swear I have them, but where the heck are they? I might just go to the thrift store to see if I can find replacements, or I have one other tub to check. Darn annoying! 

And then I spent the evening with the puzzle. Actually, it isn't that difficult of a puzzle and rather fun, once you get into it. Can you spot the duplicate doors? They are almost the same, and that threw me off. I'm definitely working by color and still have red and miscellaneous. I should be able to finish that by Monday night and pack it in my suitcase. Oh yes -- I know puzzlers across the country, and why not share my wealth rather than donate it back to the thrift store? 

Progress on the puzzle

Now that I've worked with it a bit, as I scour my design boards, I can quickly identify the location of pieces and find them a home. And in my slow, methodical way (I will never be a good speed puzzler), I try to find a home for all the pieces I pull. I had some yellow pieces left, and by scouring the picture on the box, I found a home for all of them. Now that's satisfaction! I'm onto red later today. 


I have to share these with you. Yep --- it's my daily dose from Thought.minds on IG. I love seeing what they post, and so much of it is true! OK—so the artwork is AI-generated; you can't have everything. If only we could live with all those words of wisdom. I think the goal is to pick one we already do well or believe in, then find a new one or just think about them. And try to be a better person. Not perfect - just better. 

OH MY --- how true is this one!!!! I'm not quite like the dog, but it doesn't take much to give me joy. 

And I love this!! You have to read it a few times to realize what they are saying. But are you a chicken? 

Let's face it - panicking doesn't work! 

And on that happy note - I'm about to panic! Kidding—I just have lots of work to do and am trying to declutter the house at the same time. Have you noticed that it's nothing for me to declutter these days? I may not do a lot, but almost every day, something gets put away in its home or finds a new home. It's a habit that can become addictive, which is good since the flow of stuff to deal with is steady!

I have enough samples to take with me - any more is icing on the cake. 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!