My apologies for not mentioning that there is a fee for the scrap class. I did not post it, and it wasn't in the blurb that I shared from the Thimbles and Things website, BUT it is on the page where you have to sign up, and it's pretty clear.
To add to the cart, you could not miss the $50, and since there are 10 classes, it works out to $5 per class. This is how I make money for my time!
Here's something that many people don't know or perhaps don't think about. As a freelance person, I ONLY get paid for the time I spend in front of my audience. So let's do some math. Any class requires me to put together the preliminary information for the blurbs - not a big deal. Then I have to create the distribution list. Since the scrap class info is in a spreadsheet, I may be able to do that digitally, but I don't know how, so I manually create the list with up to 100 people. I must ask my gurus!
Each month, I also send a reminder of the Zoom session with the link, and then a follow-up email with the link to the recording (yes - you get to rewatch if you can't make the class), and then answer any questions people have.
Then, for EVERY one-hour session, I have to assemble the presentation, which usually involves sewing samples, pulling out items for photography, and doing some research. Some of those one-hour sessions require upwards of 10 or more hours. Yes - I get a quilt in the end, but I don't get paid for those hours of prep!
So my apologies for not making it clear that the class has a fee. Not once was it mentioned that the class was free. ALL of my classes have a fee!
Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind to say the least. We had not one, not two, but THREE electricians in the house, and they were busy the entire day.
We decided, after many years of discussing it, to change the light fixtures in three of the bedrooms and replace them with fans that also include a light.
So here's what the old light fixtures looked like. They were nice, but not functional for what we needed.
 |
| The light in Studio U |
 |
| The light in one of the bedrooms |
 |
| The light in the guest room |
If anyone wants one of the lights and you are close, all of them will be donated.
And this is what they got replaced with. Three fans are 52" in diameter, and one is 44" in diameter. That's what they had in the store; that's what I bought.
 |
| The fan with a light! |
The fourth bedroom is quite large, and we had the fan installed in a new spot so it has a light and a fan.
The weird thing about these fans is that they don't have a remote. They only have a switch that goes on the wall. Well, I don't know about you, but I probably don't want to get up to switch the fan on or off. So the regular wall switch will activate the fan/light, and we'll use this as a remote. Hmm—could we find something to put these in so they look prettier? WAIT --- could we 3D print something for them to go in? Of course we can!!!
 |
| The remote! |
It's a bit messy looking, but seriously - it's not a big deal. You can order remotes for the fans, but that will require replacing a component in the body that allows the remote to pair with the new components, and I wasn't going to have the electricians come back to do that. This will work. Thankfully, I got them on sale. But I like my idea of 3D printing something.
So they installed four fans, replacing three lights and one brand new install, which meant fishing a wire through the attic.
Then I asked them to change as many light switches and outlets as they wanted, and they went ahead and replaced them all. The GFI outlets in the bathrooms were dated and not working, so those are all brand new. And have you ever counted the number of switches and outlets in your house? Well, some of ours were changed, and some were not. So we had old and new styles. And they found broken switches, which could potentially be a fire hazard. I can't wait to get the final count of replacements.
Speaking of fire, they also installed three brand new smoke detectors/carbon monoxide testers, so we are good to go on that front, and now in some instances, we have two - one from our monitoring company and one from the house.
Then it was on to the family room, where they replaced the old lights.
These were the old lights, and we never used them because we always heard a popping sound at the switch, so we didn't touch them. I know --- it's been light that for YEARS!!!!
 |
| The old lights in the family room |
Remember, I could only pick from what they had in stock. I needed two sconces, and here is what they look like.
 |
| The new sconce |
I was a bit hesitant as they are kind of old-fashioned, but they go nicely in the room.
 |
| The new sconces |
I see we will have some painting to do as the base of those lights is smaller than the original ones. Not to worry, as I have some other plans for the house and that will involve some painting.
I got a new occupancy switch in the office. That's the one that senses someone is in the room and turns on. The old one had died, and I missed it. It works like a charm and stays on for 10 minutes. You can change that setting if you wish, but I'm good with 10 minutes. That gives me time to putter around and then turn on the desk lamp, which is what I mostly use in this room.
A lot of furniture got moved yesterday as they installed the new outlets and switches. I told them to leave it as it's a good opportunity to clean. Yep --- there is a lot of stuff that needs to be put back in the right spot, things that need to be donated or shipped, and I might as well start doing that.
They will be back today, and they will likely be here on Monday as well to finish the job. They still have the main floor (two more lights and switch replacement), the outdoors (11 lights to install - some wiring required), and the basement (11 lights to install). The switches in the basement are all good, except some face plates are missing.
Can you tell that the appearance of my house is NOT a priority for me? DH may never ask me to follow up on a task again! I'll see the final bill on Monday, but with three electricians in the house, it won't be cheap.
The other thing that happened is my SIL moved out. Yep, in the middle of the electricians ripping the house apart, she was packing. Anyway, her niece came to help her drive to her new home in New Brunswick. I did help a little bit to get stuff packed in the car. They left about 3:30 and hope to make it to their destination today. Then they have unpacking to do. I have a "few" things to put in boxes and ship to her when she gets the key!
I made her a small wall hanging for her new place.
 |
| A gift for my SIL |
I used designs from multiple sources. Yes -- the red lettering could have been a bit smaller. But based on the saying, it's OK to color outside the lines! It's sort of a joke - she needs coffee to do anything and was lamenting about how hard adulting is! Yep—sadly, it's part of life!!!!
I embroidered only on the batting and the top fabric (no stabilizer) and put a false backing on it, so none of the sticking would show. It's small enough that I can get away with it. I used some fancy decorative stitches on the embroidery machine to quilt it. Yep—give me some embroidery software, fabric, and an embroidery machine, and I can make anything I want!!!! I even got her some dowel (cut it to size) and gave her a Command Strips hook so she is all set to hang that up. No other things required!
 |
| The back of the wall hanging. |
Since they were changing the switches and outlets, there were times when they had the breakers off. And to find the right ones, even though their company labeled them well back in the day when we had some more major electrical work done, they flicked all of them on and off! So my sewing machine restarted multiple times.
But I managed to get more work done on Down on the Farm.
 |
| The rooster for Down on the Farm |
I think you can now see that that tail belongs to a rooster.
Then I continued working in the evening and finished the grass. Not much contrast between the light grass and the ground grass. But I'm not changing it!
 |
| The grassy section of the block |
And now three-quarters of that block is complete. I hope to finish it today, but I'm not sure if they are going to work in the basement (I hope so, as I want to get things organized), as I know they will make a mess with changing the lights.
 |
| The rooster block is almost complete. |
I still have one complete block and that remaining quarter, and there are still a LOT of pieces on my board. It's getting a little bit easier to find the required pieces!
 |
| The pieces remaining |
But it's all coming together, and I'm really enjoying the process.
Even though my SIL didn't spend much time in our house during the day (she spent a lot of time with her mom and other relatives), you can tell there is one less person in the house. It's just different. DH doesn't get that, but I can feel it.
Well, lots more to say, but running out of time before the electricians are back.
Have a super day!!!!
Ciao!!!
