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!!!

A progress report

Yesterday was a whirlwind day. I've been slacking off so I had to make up some time yesterday. I'm happy to report that I had a great sleep because I got everything out of my brain before I went to bed! I was experimenting with embroidery yesterday and OH MY - there's so much fun stuff!!! Just need more time to fully explore some of this stuff.

Plus I'm totally packed for my day trip to Orillia. Well - the car isn't packed, but I'm about to do that in a few minutes. It sure helps to get things organized the night before so you're not running around like an idiot and potentially forgetting something!

I still have 8 things on my list to get done - some things are going to have to wait and I'll explain why tomorrow. I don't have a lot of time this morning.

Yesterday was Monday sewing and although I didn't stay long, I still managed to get a wee bit more completed on my embroidery. All that remains are 6 snowflakes. Some are more elaborate than the others. I started with the most elaborate one so as I move through them, the stitching will get progressively faster! That block will be completed next Monday and I can finally move to the last block. I also worked on the largest blocks first and moved to the smallest and least intricate so that one should take even less time than this one did.

Progress on the redwork block

Bottom line - barring any major hiccups, this quilt top should be finished by the end of the year. I'm happy about that! It's one of my UFOs.

Slow and steady - that's what I'm all about.

Here's a giant customer quilt that I quilted the other day. I need to trim it and attach the binding (ready for hand sewing). That's a task for later this week. Hopefully, tomorrow since I need to get it out of the way by Thursday when it's Sit n Sew.

Customer quilt

I also managed to get all the juice pouches cleaned and back in their project container. I hope to do something with them by the end of the year. Now that I can clearly see my projects, it makes a HUGE difference. I still have some stuff to squirrel away in Studio B, but I'm taking my sweet time about it because I don't' want to hide anything. I want to be able to see it. I need to work faster! So many things I've unearthed and some wouldn't take long to finish. It's just getting that many extra hours to make it all happen. Doesn't matter how slow I go - I'm still way ahead of those that are in denial that they have a problem with their projects!

Juice pouches ready to go

But that wouldn't be any of you - none of you are in denial about the mess in your sewing spaces. Right? I'm so happy to hear from many of you who say that I'm an inspiration to you to declutter. Well, it works both ways! You're my inspiration as well! I heard from Vivenda over the weekend and her decluttering unearthed something TERRIFYING in her studio. I'd have freaked out and never gone back. It was a snake. Yes - how the heck did that thing  - well, we know how and we know why (winter is coming), but NO NO NO!!!!!   That's just wrong. I know that she was waiting for her husband to come home and get rid of it. But - well - we won't go there. I can't think about it.

I found something much less terrifying in my studio. I have this HUGE ball of twine. What the heck should I do with it?? It's not coiled tight enough to make a rope basket. I don't even remember where I got it or what it was for. It's somewhat coarse. I'm thinking it could be crocheted up and made into pet mats. Any other thoughts???   Any takers????

A big ball of string

That could be my next road trip project. Crocheting pet mats from this twine.

On that note, I need to get my recycling bin to the curb - won't the neighbors hate that noise at 5:31 AM. OOPS - forgot last night. Sorry. It has to go today as it's full and that's one of the reasons why I can't complete one of those 8 items on my list. It's about recycling and the bin is full.

And I need to get the car packed so I can be on the road.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Knitting mishaps

So I took a bunch of pictures with my camera and there was a problem with the disk. I have to retake them, but not this morning. You're stuck with a couple of pictures that I took with my phone.

It's been two weeks since we had our Monday sewing and it was great to get back and see everyone. Lots going on and there was lots of chatter and show n tell. I tucked in the ends of all the dishcloths - that was part of the pictures to show you all that I had made. Tomorrow.

Then it was back to the embroidery where I made good progress. I might finish this block next week and that will leave ONE block to go. I'd better get myself organized and get the pieced blocks for the border finished. I know exactly where they are!

Oh, shoot - I have a wee bit of extra time - I'm going to run around with my phone and snap those pictures for you. Here are some of the missing photos.

I had this much yarn left over after knitting the last dishcloth. I think I told you how I made that happen. When the ball was almost finished, I found the center of the remaining length of yarn. I did the increases until I hit that point and then decreased. The last one was smaller than the rest, but that's OK.

The leftover yarn

Here's the stack of dishcloths that I got from one of those large balls of cotton yarn. In total there are 11 dishcloths. That's a lot of dishcloths. The important thing is that the large ball of cotton yarn is used up! I'm pretty sure that I do NOT have any more of that yarn around the house. I'm throwing these dish clothes in the drawer with the rest of the ones that I have. They do break down after a while and I now have plenty of replacements.

Eleven dishcloths from one large ball of yarn

When I found the stuff in my knitting bag, two dishcloths were already made. I don't know what I was thinking, but the edges on two sides (must be the decreases) look terrible. That's OK. It's a dishcloth. I don't think it needs to look pretty since I'm not giving them away. But good grief - I thought I was a better knitter or could at least read instructions better!!!!  I had a good laugh over that!!!

The edges on the decrease side are a tad wonky!

And tension? What tension! The size of the dishcloths varied in size. However, this variation in size is because of the small one with the last bit of yarn. Still a decent size.

The largest and the smallest

Oh and here's the embroidery block that I'm working on. There are a lot of snowflakes at the top and one more snowman so that will take a wee bit to do.

Embroidery block

Here's the bag of pieced blocks. They are cut - just need to be sewn together.

Pieced blocks for Winter Wonderland

I was going to stop at the recycling depot on my way to Monday sewing, but it didn't open until 8:30 so I stopped on the way home. Ah - what a good feeling to wing all that cardboard in the giant recycling bin.

When I got home, I decided to tackle more of those boxes and I was also waiting for someone to come and pick up the tires. I can't believe how many messages I received about those tires. Loads! People even had the gall to offer me next to nothing for them. I don't think so! I still sold them for relatively cheap because I wanted them to go. While I waited, I managed to fill the car one more time with cardboard boxes.

I'm a wee bit embarrassed that I let those boxes pile up for so long. What was I thinking? Oh well - I'm over that - let's move on.

This is what the garage looked like when I started.

Before

And after about two hours of flattening boxes, this is what it looks like now.

After

Except for the bike and the wheelbarrow, a good part of what's left (on the floor) will be heading off in the junk trunk probably next week. And now you can see that big long box on the floor. I got a great suggestion for purchasing some wall brackets and storing it on the wall. I'm going to check that out.

There's still a lot of stuff - well not really. If you took away the three bikes and the recycling carts - there's not that much stuff here.

The other side of the garage

As I was laying awake very early this morning, I was going through the various rooms in my head to see what else can be gotten rid of. I know there are pieces of wood (from shelving) in the basement. Those are coming up today. Along with other stuff.

I'm going to sort the stuff and take one load to the recycling depot each day this week. I'm so pumped about getting rid of this stuff. The garage floor is a disgusting dirty mess. No worries as once all the stuff is out or mostly out, it won't take long to sweep it and then wash it down.

What's shocking is that that mini transformation took about two hours. Really?? I couldn't find two hours before to clean up that mess?

I know for the neatniks amongst you that this is totally a disaster and how could I let it get that way. I don't know. Those damn hoarding tendencies crept in. Thankfully, I'm taking charge of my brain and not letting it win!

I did keep a couple of boxes for shipping things. They are neatly stacked on some of the shelving that we had installed a couple of years ago. Along with our beer store recycling. Don't ask! Did you notice that there's even empty space on the top shelf? We might need that later but for the moment, it's empty space.

Storage shelves are neat and tidy

After the tires left, I was feeling great and I got to work sewing. The borders for this Kimberbell quilt (Jingle all the Way) were cut and needed to be sewn together and added to the quilt. Both borders are now on the quilt. I did find a backing for it. That system is working so well - I'm super excited about it. Imagine how fun it is to walk up to the shelving and quickly scan the items (without moving anything) and within seconds, find a piece of backing fabric that's appropriate. I do need to find something for the binding as I didn't have enough of either fabric used in the borders.

Borders are on the quilt

As I was poking through several closets this morning, I came across two more big pieces of fabric that can be used for backings. They'll get measured and added to the shelving later today. I know there are a lot more large pieces in those baskets of fabric and as space is made on the backing shelving, those pieces will get moved.

Two more large pieces of fabric suitable for backings

The more that I do this tidying, the more that I want to get rid of stuff. It's so freeing. I knew it would be, but somehow, my brain was wired to not let it go. The shed and the garage have been fairly easy. I know the tough part will come when I hit the boxes in the office. I was chatting with one of the ladies at sewing and she said that I probably don't need anything in the boxes. I know that. I truly know in my heart that I won't keep much of what's in the boxes, but I have to go through them. Don't ask me why - I just do.

Hey - when I was a kid and my Mom used to can Saskatoon berries. When we ate them during the winter, I would eat four at a time. Not three, not five, but four on my spoon EVERY TIME. It was a crisis (in my mind when the number didn't work out at the end). There's some wiring not quite right in my brain!!!!  So I'll go through the boxes of paper. I'm just hoping that I can go through them fast!! That's going to be my goal - go through them, but go fast!

I can't wait for the end result! For the moment, I'm sneaking in an hour a day to get that garage in order. And it's so doable and I haven't even called the junk people yet!

Speaking of knitting, I found this article about a rebel knitter. She's 104 years old.

Here's a challenge for you - what can you do with ONE HOUR devoted to decluttering in your house???  If you dare, send me a before and after. I'd be happy to post the pictures!!!!  Here's my e-mail. 

On that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Motivational Monday

It's interesting how non-quilting family members FREQUENTLY ask the quilters in their family "how many more quilts do you (we) need?"  What's interesting is that if the quilter in the family didn't quilt, what would they do all day?  Seriously??  I was up early this morning because I went to bed really early last night. What did I do? I sewed of course! But what would I have done if I wasn't a quilter? I'm certainly not cleaning my house.

My response when people mention this obsession with quilting? This is our hobby, it's our therapy and it's what we do to keep from killing, bugging the non-quilter in the family. Quilters love to socialize with others and quilting is often an excuse to meet with others. It keeps us sane!!  Just remember that the next time someone asks you how many more quilts you're going to make. I've still got hundreds (thousands - even) in me!!!!   What will happen to them all? They'll be given away/donated when I'm no longer here and I'm OK with that.

OK -- this keyboard is driving me nuts this morning. It looks like I can't type worth two cents. I just want to give it a good whack on the side of the desk, but I know that won't fix the keyboard, but it might make me feel better!!!

Yesterday was our Monday sewing day. I got loads done even though I had to leave early because a package was arriving at my house that I didn't want to leave on the doorstep. The package arrived at 6:19 PM!!! Oh well.

Here's what got done at my house yesterday.

Let's start with the weekly update on 150 Canadian Women quilt. (Kat - I'm almost done!!!!!) Six more blocks were completed yesterday. That leaves 18 blocks.  EIGHTEEN!!!!!!   I'm super excited about that. All the white is cut and hopefully, I can get the rest of the reds cut this week. I'm almost done!!!!   Yippeee --- divide and conquer. A little every week. If I had not done that, I wouldn't be this far along.

Six blocks for 150 Canadian Women quilt

I managed to get four more blocks from Night Sky sewn together. I think that leaves 7 blue ones to go. But I had to leave and I had other things to do when I got home, otherwise, I would have had more blocks completed. I thought I had reversed the little points on one of the orange sections. Turns out I had somehow got the triangles mixed up in two blocks. But I didn't realize that until I had "reversed" one and that meant that I had to reverse the second one as well!!! DRAT!!

Four more blocks for Night Sky quilt

Since I was home, I thought I might as well load the next quilt onto the long arm. Well, it was already loaded, but it needed to be quilted. And I was RIGHT!!!!!   Double tap on the file folders and they opened instantly! Amazing what we take for granted. I knew that on the computer, but it just never occurred to me on the tablet. My frustration tapping must have somehow had two taps in a row and that's how I managed to open the files before!!!  Too funny!!!!

My quilt - done!!!

However, I did learn a very valuable lesson yesterday. I was doing a very loose pattern on this quilt. It's foundation pieced (with the muslin still attached to the blocks) and lots of seams so I didn't want to have the long arm jumping over all those corners. I managed to fit the design nicely into the rows and it worked well. Since the pattern was loose, there weren't a lot of bobbin changes. And I meant to look at the bobbin before I sent the computer merrily on its way to stitching.

I never thought anything of it and when I came back to the long arm, I hit the NEXT ROW button without checking the quilt.  ACK!!!!!   The bobbin had run out halfway across the quilt and I HEARD it do that, but I didn't check.  ACK!!!!!!  I AM AN IDIOT!!!!!    OK - this should be easy to fix, I said bravely to myself. I'll just restart the row and then trace forward to where the thread ran out. OH shoot - there's an even row and an odd row and they are NOT the same!!! But I managed to fix it!!!  It took a wee bit of thinking on my part, but I learned several lessons yesterday.  If I hadn't made that error, I wouldn't have learned how to fix such an error or such "delicate" repositioning.  Yep - making mistakes is good. The important thing - DO NOT PANIC!!!!

While that quilt was quilting, I was attempting to put the binding on the four #Humboldtstrong quilts. It's a challenge to try and do two things at the same time. I think I managed ONE binding in the time it took to quilt that quilt. But they are all done - finishes 31, 32, 33, and 34 for the year. Even though I didn't do all the work on them, I'm calling them finishes as I did a fair amount of work on them (quilting and binding) to call them a finish. I searched through the stack of boxes in the garage (I keep all kinds of boxes now so I can ship quilts out) and found this one that was perfect. I had received a fifth quilt for #Humboldtstrong at our guild meeting on the weekend so there are five quilts in this box. It just needs to be taped shut and dropped at the courier this morning.

#Humboldtstrong quilts

 Actually, I'll write a small note and put in the box before I tape it shut.

I was reading on Sheri's blog (Whole Circle Quilts) about her challenge of doing some handwork every day for one year. She just finished that challenge and hopefully, this link will take you to that post. I should try to do that. Now that I'm liking how accessible audiobooks are (on my phone), I'm listening to the darn things all the time. I listen to the radio in the morning, but during the day - I've got my audiobook on. Even when sewing. Oh god - another addiction!

Anway, I decided that I had better get my act together or I'm never going to finish this embroidery project which is on the list of UFOs for 2018.  So for the last three nights, I worked on this embroidery block. It was mostly done, but the snowman on the right needed a wee bit more work. I'm happy to report that the block is DONE!!!

Snowman block - DONE

 That was a LOT of detail in that scarf and took forever!!!!

Loads of detail in this snowman's scarf

The pattern is Winter Wonderland by Crabapple Hill. I've only been working on it forever!!!!  I've seen many versions of this same quilt and someday, mine will be done. I now have five blocks (there are ten blocks) complete. The worst ones are done. Well, I'm halfway through the last of the big blocks. I had to wash the block and remark it as the blue wash away pen I used had faded. Another lesson learned.

Winter Wonderland

The blocks in the borders are all cut but not sewn together. Perhaps I can work on that once I'm done the 150 Canadian Women?  No, I've got other plans for that. I might work on those blocks when Night Sky is completed.

Anyway, if I could manage a wee bit every day, I could get it finished. Looks like a lot of audio books in my future!!!


But that's not all that happened. This is the binding for the scrap quilt that I quilted yesterday. It was already made but it's now with the quilt, ready for binding later this week?

Binding for the scrap quilt

There was one other quilt in that binding pile that didn't have a binding so I made that this morning.

Binding for a community projects quilt

And this is the stack of binding that I still have to do. As some get binding put on, more quilts get added to the pile! It's totally insane. Thank goodness for putting the binding on by machine or I'd never get finished anything.

Pile of quilts to be bound

This is one of the table runners for our class at the end of April. I made it at the retreat, but haven't had a chance to share it with you yet.

Flying Geese table runner

 Lots of neat areas to quilt in that one. Yellow is probably the color I use the least, but I was determined to find something in the yellow stash basket for backing. I found bits and I used them all up to make the backing. That's sad when you have to piece so much for the backing of a table runner! But I'm OK with that. It used up some smaller pieces and I got the backing for the table runner. It's all about using up our stash and now that my very local quilt shop is closed, I'm using my stash way more than I ever did and that's a GOOD thing.

Scrappy backing for the table runner

I had made the binding for this one when I made the top so it's all together now and in the "to be quilted" pile.

Backing, binding and table runner - ready to be quilted

This is one of my favorite sayings and I guess we can call it the inspirational quote of the day.  Seriously, if you stop, you will fall. I just don't allow that to happen. A lesson I learned from my parents. This was a gift from one of my students!!!   Thanks so much - I love it!!!

Inspirational quote on a notebok

One can never have too many notebooks. As much as people keep all kinds of information on their electronic devices, I still like to write stuff in a notebook. Just like I like to read a real book - I love to turn and touch the pages. You just don't get that same tactile feel from a computer/tablet screen. You just don't!!!

Hopefullly everyone is making good progress on their Monday projects?  I decided that I need to focus on them a wee bit more which is what I'm doing these days and I'm seeing some amazing progress. I'm super happy about that. But as I look around the studio, there are so many projects that are almost done, but just need a wee bit more work. Ah - to have the luxury to get those finished. One day!!!

On that not, I'm out of here. I can't stand this keyboard any longer. I'm ready to whack it. BREATH DEEP. REALLY DEEP!!!


Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Ironman Challenge - Day THREE!!!!

So?????????????????

How is the ironing board situation coming along at your house???   AH - you thought I wasn't serious about this? I am going to bug you the entire week!!!!     Helen Anne sent me pictures of her ironing board

This is the BEFORE picture. apparently the week before the board was a DISASTER.  So even though it gets to be the dumping ground, it looks like Helen Anne does a good job of clearing it off rather than just use a corner of the board to iron!!!

AFTER - but we both agree that she needs a new ironing board cover. Actually I wonder what would happen if you  washed it????   Hers isn't ripped and mine isn't ripped, but very badly stained with water.  I will check out the instructions to see if I can wash it or look at getting a new one. 

In light of the topic of the week - I dug out ALL my ironing/pressing supplies.

Yes - there are FIVE jugs of distilled water and I bet by Christmas - most of that will be gone. I am going to go through these supplies this week (or it may be next since I am going away for the weekend. But I have a feeling that there are a few things that I don't need. Now I have to say that this isn't that bad, but there has to be a better way to keep track of it all. I'll walk you through that process hopefully tomorrow. 

I took my sewing machine to Monday Motivators yesterday and I was on a roll. I don't have a picture of what I worked on, but I was fired up when I got home and kept sewing. This is what I have got done in the last couple of days.

Another one of our community projects quilted!!!!

This basket is TOPS for the MM community project that need to be quilted!!!!   And there are TWO HUGE tubs of fabric that needs to be dealt with, but I need to get the tops out of the way before we make more!!!!

The binding is now on and I will give it to someone at MM to hand stitch that binding down. 

Oh - here I am working on the mystery quilt for the Halton Hills guild

Here is my Bag One and Bag Two for the mystery - all done!!!!    Got the next clue cut out and ready to sew (well almost). But I'm not sharing that until it goes out in the newsletter!!!!

Cut some of the white triangles needed to make half square triangles with those red cut off pieces. Using them as enders and leaders and hope to trim as I go!!!!   (rather than do it all at the end)

Got the binding on another Monday Motivator quilt - it is in the back (green) on the left of the table. I didn't take a picture of it, but I gave it to someone yesterday so they could hand stitch the binding down. The radio - we talked about that already - it is in the garage waiting to go the recycling depot.  You see I am trying to keep this set of tables clear so that when I need some space to work - it is there with NO effort!!!!

ONE of my biggest problems is that I am a shuffler. Rather than DO (or finish) a project, I will often shift it to a new space. It goes from cutting table to ironing board to work table and then they all rotate back again!!!!!!   Rather silly and so I am trying really hard to deal with those projects that are in that perpetual shuffle!!!

Cutting table is in the perpetual shuffle loop!!!!

Sewing table area stays pretty clear!

More blocks done for the winter samplers!!!!!

I've actually done other stuff, but no time to take pictures. I'll get them up tomorrow.

Here is an area that I really really want to clear up. These are all finished quilts. OK - maybe some of them need labels. Well they need to be sorted, labeled and then they will either get hung up or stored away. I want the table underneath to do some scrapbooking or art stuff. 

So the other morning or maybe it was evening - with DH away and M flitting in and out, I have no concept of time!!!!   Anyway - I am cutting away and then all of a sudden - BANG!!!!!!!!!!!    I hear something metal has fallen. WHOA!!!!    What the heck was that and it was LOUD and it was CLOSE to me.

I check around the studio - nope - don't see anything, I check in the stash room - nope - nothing there either. I continued working and about an hour later, I bent down to pick up something and AHA - there was the source of the noise. A metal tin in fact had fallen off the shelving units under the cutting table.

Fallen tin!!!!   

What do you do with your leftover bindings????

Left over binding from the third baby quilt

Well - I bind a LOT of quilts so I decided to keep the bindings.

I now have an entire BIG tin full of them. This is super because I am going to use those bindings scraps for the binding of my scrap quilts. 

Berke loves car. It is that simple - he would live, breath and eat cars if he had the choice. So he needed a job and what kind of job does he get?????   A valet downtown!!!!

He stopped by the other night all dressed up in his snappy uniform. (M - next time - get him to take off his coat and have him wear the tie!!!!)

I asked him if the staff has had to peel him off of any cars yet. Nope - but he has just SAT in a couple of them enjoying the moment!!!!   A perfect job for a car fanatic and pays pretty decent as well. Or so I hear.


Speaking of cars - did you know that only 1 in 10 cars sold these days is a MANUAL. I have always driven a manual car. Unless I had a health issue, I would ALWAYS buy a manual. They are cheaper to buy, more fun to drive and LESS LIKELY to be STOLEN. Think about how many people know how to drive a MANUAL!!!!     Berke had to prove that he could drive MANUAL before getting the job.   Now if he could just do an alignment on my car I would be happy.  Can't get in this week - too many people getting snow tires put on.


I like to walk in the forest with my girls and this is a HUGE source of my energy, my creativity, my calmness and patience. Just being in nature - well it makes a huge difference to me. And if I didn't have the forest - well I would find a park or some other place. I guess it is just being outside in nature.

MY sanctuary (if only it were really mine!!!!)

Well on that note - I have tons to do today (I know - what else is new). But honestly - taking my sewing machine to Monday Motivators has pumped me up. So much so that I am NOT getting anything done by hand!!!!!  


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!