Doing things alone is a good thing!

There are several things I have learned over the years in setting expectations for how things turn out. 

1. You can over-plan! You spend so much time planning the event that when it actually happens, it's melodramatic and a let-down. The event occurs in a flash, and there's no time to enjoy it, especially if you're constantly watching to see that everything happens as planned. I suppose part of the event is the planning, but that's not me. I like to wing things! 
2. You can do anything alone! I do not know why doing things alone has such a stigma. It used to be worse, and things like sitting in a restaurant alone were considered very uncool. You had no friends, you were a loser, or whatever. I've since learned that if I didn't bite the bullet and do some things alone, I would never experience many things. So, I have zero issues doing things alone. The first thing DH said when I told him what I was doing was - "and you're going by yourself?" YES, I AM!!!
3. I don't hold high expectations of having the best time of my life. I'm going for an experience, and if it doesn't turn out exactly how I want, I'll go with the flow. It doesn't mean I'll accept shoddy, but I'm OK if I have to be flexible. Being flexible is easier when you're alone.  

Having said that, I had no plans for my birthday until last week. Then I decided that I would go to the mall. I know—big, exciting plans! But one of my favorite "treat" restaurants is at the mall. There is this amazing creperie, and they serve sweet and savory crepes. The place is usually packed at lunchtime, so I went a bit early, and I had a sweet crepe for lunch! As well as a hot chocolate, and it was delicious. 

My apple pie crepe

And my hot chocolate

I sat out in the small seating area in the hallway rather than in the restaurant, and lo and behold, someone I knew stopped by, and we had a grand chat! I rarely meet someone I know at the mall, so I think that was part of the plan!!!

Wait—after I came back from walking the girls, I sat outside on the front patio and drank my tea. I drink the Yogi teas, which are nice. 

Yogi tea

Until several months ago, I did not realize they had a quote attached to each tea bag. Look at my quote from yesterday. 

The quote of the day

I thought that was pretty fitting for me at this moment. I may be one year older, but that doesn't mean I'm still not trying to improve myself. I want to be a better person, learn everything I can about what interests me, and continue my journey. 

Speaking of that, have you ever watched those decluttering shows and then wondered what it looks like a month later, a year later? Did the person learn anything to maintain the neat and tidy in their house? Or was it just a one-time thing, and they returned to their old ways? 

I know this is a very small thing, but every time I open my utensil drawer and see this, I get excited. 

My utensil drawer is still neat and tidy

It didn't take very long to organize, and it cost very little to get the three trays. It keeps the utensils that we use handy, so it's easy to put them away and even easier to find what you want. I know there are things in that drawer that we do not use (like, who needs six spatulas?), but they are neat and tidy, so they can stay. 

The utensils that went into the other drawer are never used or very rarely used, and we don't have to shuffle through a ton of stuff to find what we want. Just a simple task can make a huge difference in how you live your life!

Anyway, once I finished my brunch, I had some shopping to do. I also stopped at the optometrist to get my sunglasses adjusted. They were so stretched and bent out of shape that I'm surprised they stayed on my head. 

I even found some new shirts, and they were all on sale. One shop, so that was good. I have an upcoming filming session, and I really didn't have anything appropriate, but I found three tops, some of which can be embellished with either embroidery or stitching, so I've got to put my thinking cap on. 

And then I went to the movie theatre. Yep—all of this is in the same mall. Rather than me driving around to various places, I'm happy to change. My optometrist moved out of the mall (he was in the Lens Crafters store), but in order to go to his new location, I'd have to drive. I hadn't been with him long, so I have no qualms about switching to the new optometrist. So, I have an appointment for later this week. 

I had a gift card for the theatre, so I got popcorn and a drink and paid for the movie with the card. With enough money left for another movie!

Ready for the movie!

All the seats in this theatre are comfy reclining ones, which I think is changing in most theatres these days. Anyway, it was a great movie, and I was happy. I saw Twisters, in case you wanted to know what I saw!!!

Reclining seats are the best at the theatre!

After that, I walked to the thrift store to pick up a book I'd been eyeing—it was seniors' day, after all. At first, I thought the book was gone, but nope—it was still there. And what's the deal at the thrift store? I'm into the Dowdle brand of puzzles these days, but they charge the SAME price for the 300-piece puzzle as the 1000-piece? That's not right!! 

It was a tad HOT yesterday, but that's OK. You just walk on the shady side of the street. All my purchases fit into my little shopping bag, and I was good. 

Let's say I was NOT hungry for the rest of the day. I didn't eat much, but that bag of popcorn, which I couldn't finish, filled me up!!! 

I sat in the backyard, reading my book, and chatted with my aunt, who also shares my birthday. 

Here's a couple of animal pictures to share. This is Lexi at her grooming station in the forest. Three more brush fulls of hair, and she still looks a mess. And the pile in the forest gets bigger. Where are the squirrels and rabbits? They should be stealing this fur to make their nests, but of course, on a hot day like yesterday, they wouldn't be thinking about winter at all.  

Lexi getting her daily groom

And this picture would freak me out. My future son-in-law took this picture from a window in his house. He has company!! He lives near the Capilano Bridge in North Vancouver. But if you look at the map, there are very heavily treed areas right at the city's border, so it's not surprising. This is the second time he's shared photos of bears in the backyard. I guess when Little Bear goes to visit, he only goes in the backyard with supervision!!! 

Hello friend!

I did no other sewing or quilting, other than the little bit I accomplished in the morning. I didn't even touch the applique!! But I have a few extra days built into that schedule, so I'm not worried. It was nice to take a day off! 

Yesterday was the day I was supposed to fly home from Spain. Although I still have three weeks blocked in my calendar, I must return to serious work! I have deadlines looming for some stuff. September will be brutal regarding things that must be done and events to attend, and then the quilting classes start back up in October. But all is good!!!

I know some people just can't entertain the thought of doing something alone, but seriously -- if you wait for someone to do the things you want, you may never get a chance to do them! I had the most fantastic day celebrating my birthday, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Doing things alone is a GOOD THING --- we need to stop the stigma that this is bad!!! Trust me -- it took a while for me to wrap my head around this one - the thought of eating alone in a restaurant terrified me because I thought it made me look like a loser. Today, I look at people eating alone and call them confident and practical!! 

Tomorrow, we're going to revisit the class situation for the fall!!!

On that note, I'm off to spin class this morning. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!!

 

Clueless

I see my camera was NOT working at all yesterday. OK -- it was working, I just didn't take many pictures, and the ONE I have to share with you today isn't even up-to-date!

I did a wee bit of sewing in the morning and went for an extra long walk in the afternoon. I met my neighbor, whom I don't often see these days, so we quickly chatted to catch up. Yes -- it was a 17+ KM day yesterday! That leaves me with 110.5 KM and 6 days to make it happen. At this rate and with the warmer weather forecasted, I'll skip the extra spin session and make it up with walking. The forecasted high here on New Year's Day is 11 above. It's a crazy world weather-wise. 

So we made it to the movie in the afternoon, and when we walked in, the attendant said Theatre 3, so I had Theatre 3 in my head. After having a light meal in the VIP restaurant, we headed to Theatre 3. The first clue should have been that the lights were off and the movie had started. This cannot be right. But ever persistent, we walked up to Row F and then proceeded across the entire row (thank goodness, in the VIP theater, the aisles are wide). All seats were taken. What? 

This can't be right -- OK -- let's go back out. Good grief -- the same movie was in theatre 3 but had started 45 minutes earlier. We were supposed to be in theatre 2, where the movie began at 4:30, and that's where our popcorn was waiting! Good grief -- how clueless can you be? I saw the movie's name but overlooked the start time at the door. I'm sure those people in Row F were wondering what the heck was happening. 

The movie was long, and I managed to stay awake. Some parts were slow, and some parts were painful. I won't mention them in case you are going to see Avatar. But there was a moral message there. The cinematography (or CGI) was beautiful! With 20 minutes of trailers (hey -- did you know there's going to be a new Indian Jones movie?), the movie started, and it was over 3 hours. For me to stay awake -- that's amazing. 

It was worth it, though; despite the moral issue, I enjoyed it. 

However, I had a situation. My throat is parched, and it's due to a lot of dehydration, dry air, allergies, and of course, this cold which has hit me ONLY in the throat. Every once in a while, I get a tickle that just won't go away and is uncomfortable. I can't stop coughing when it happens. I took my lozenges with me, and I was fine until 15 minutes before the movie's end. I quickly popped the lozenge when I felt the tickle. So far, so good, and then I got the cough. Soon I was getting hot, but I managed to hold back the worst of it and willed it to stop. That was NOT pretty. 

So throughout the day, I was glued to that puzzle instead of sewing or doing anything else. I know -- I'm like that, as I'm sure everyone else is. It was slow to start- too many similar colors and pieces. But as the puzzle went together, it got easier -- not faster, but easier. 

And this is what it looked like at some point in the day.

Progress on the puzzle

 

When I went to bed, I read for a bit, but I was not tired and afraid I'd have a coughing spell in the night. Sometimes, you get the sensation that your throat is so dry the sides will stick together, and you won't be able to breathe. Weird! So I got up and worked on the puzzle while drinking water. The constant comment of "just one more piece" soon had the puzzle done. OK -- so it was late into the night before it was done, and I didn't even take a picture. 

It was a challenging puzzle, but it was not super hard. Slow and steady, I have spotted about three or four things different from the box picture. Now I have to solve the mystery, the solution of which is still locked away in the box. Before going to bed, I reread the short description of the mystery to solve. Hmm -- there are eight puzzles to solve from the picture. What could they be? 

I hope this isn't one more that I'll have to "cheat" on. There is a QR code in the box. At some point in the night, I woke up with what I think is the "answer." Not the final answer, but what to do with the solution to the eight puzzles. The picture is covered with numbers; I'll need to study it to separate out what I think the eight puzzles are. They are math related, but they can't be too complicated. So I need to solve the eight puzzles, which will help me zero in on two specific items in the picture. 

Here's a link to their Escape Puzzles. 

It's Monday sewing so I hope to get a binding or two of the quilts. And to work on my pre-cut project. 

Well, I'm a few minutes behind as I slept in since I went to bed way past my bedtime. Another nap will likely be in order later today. But I also need to switch from the old phone to the new one. 

On that note, have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

How many friends do you have?

 I worked very hard and was extremely focused, and I basically have NOTHING to show for it! 

I'm teaching some classes at Thimbles and Things in the fall, and the registration is being done by e-mail. I received MANY e-mails, and it was a tad confusing to deal with it all. Especially when the e-mail said, "sign me up for all." And then people decide they didn't want all after all. People -- this is a LOT of administration!!!! 

I had to make seven distributions lists, and each list has approximately 40 people on it. If their e-mail wasn't on my contact list, I had to make that happen! 

Then I had to write a comprehensive e-mail introducing the first group to the class format, so I wouldn't get inundated with questions. I moved pictures around to help the students pick colors for their upcoming project starting in September. I made new Facebook groups, set up polls, etc. 

Let's just say that I accomplished a LOT. One e-mail introduction (of three) was sent out. The second one is almost ready to go later this morning, and the third one will hopefully go tomorrow. I still need to double-check the distribution lists associated with that one. I do not have n e-mail service, so I have to be careful how many names go in one list, or I become spam! 

So if you signed up for the Long Time Gone class and did NOT receive an e-mail from me, let me know. Everything else should be coming soon. 

All my classes are FULL, except Long Time Gone. One or two spots may be left in Boho Heart and Gypsy Wife, depending on whether someone drops out when I confirm their registration. 

I am reluctant to do this, but I must. The original pattern was called Gypsy Wife. The name has been changed to Wanderer's Wife. I was going to continue to call it Gypsy Wife; however, when I searched Pinterest, it says "no --- we don't use that kind of language on our site," or something similar to that. So Wanderer's Wife it is. 

I came across something funny when I was in and out of Facebook yesterday. I happened to notice the number of friends I have. 

The number of Facebook friends 

What's this all about? I got a chuckle from that, but I've moved on! In case you don't know, 666 is supposed to be a sign of the devil!

I did sort through a bit more paperwork. OK -- so part of me falls within the parameters of my mother. I still have SOME of M's schoolwork. I'm not sure why it didn't all get dealt with before, but it didn't. There wasn't much in this folder. And here's the sad part -- I hate to throw away this folder. However, would you want to get that folder if you were going to school? Already written on by someone else? If we lived in different times and locations, this would be valuable, but here? I put it in the recycling. 

Poetry folder

I went for a massage and am happy to report that my neck is coming along just fine, but don't touch those insect bites!! I was fine until I was in the car on the way home and they started to itch like mad! They are smaller this morning but still look pretty angry. At least the largest one. The other one is not bad. 

Here's the thing about going to the massage person - and it's not just him - it's the physiotherapist, the chiropractor, or any practitioner dealing with the body. If you could ONLY improve your posture. I know  - my posture is bad. I try to correct it - I really do, but then I forget. So I've got to remind myself to stand up straighter ALL THE TIME. Amazing how we get into some of these bad habits, and it feels better to slouch! I don't want to be that hunchbacked little old lady when I'm older. 

And I know that it'll help my neck! 

I had to fix the dishwasher again! What's with this issue coming up twice within a couple of months? I didn't find anything in the little drain gizmo, but the filter was pretty disgusting. So I cleaned it all out, and it seems to be working just fine. Make sure you clean that dishwasher filter regularly!!!

Then it was date night! Yep -- DH and I headed off to the movies. I told him I would only go on Tuesday when the prices were lower. So we were off to see Free Guy. It was pretty funny and sweet. 

And yes -- I had a medium bag of popcorn (no butter) for dinner. I was also bad and had a medium pop. That was an adventure itself. How to make the darn machine work. Oh well - I did get that figured out. 

The theatre was fairly empty, so social distancing was a breeze, and when we exited the theater at 7 PM, the lobby was the fullest I've seen in quite a while. I did go to a movie last year during a period when we were semi-open. 

As promised, here are the Zoom links for the Virtual Retreat this weekend. And not to freak anyone out, but if someone clicks on those links before the date - I get an e-mail! But that's OK -- I know some people are new to Zoom and need to see how it works. 

Saturday - August 21 from 6 PM - 9 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday - August 22 from 10 AM - 8 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87246635892?pwd=VGY1cUUyLzRaRi9VUVV2ZWFINXc2dz09 Meeting ID: 872 4663 5892 Passcode: 440473

Well, that's it for me this morning. I'm off to spin class! Who said going to the gym was exciting? I'm OK once I get there - I just have to build up my new routine!

I'll be back at the computer for a wee bit this morning. I need to get that second e-mail out, and then I had better hit Studio B - I don't think I even went downstairs yesterday! The last e-mail will go out tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Trust your instinct!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! It was a very quiet day at our house - just the way we like it. We had popcorn for lunch while we watched the new Star Wars movie. I'm not going to say anything about the movie today, as I know some of you haven't watched it yet. It was an awesome way to spend the afternoon!

After we got home, I took a long walk with the girls to compensate for the popcorn (which had no butter, so it wasn't that big of a deal), but still, a medium popcorn has 430 calories and 20 grams of fat). That's almost ONE-QUARTER of what I'm supposed to eat in a day! It was a treat so I wasn't worried, but imagine if you did that regularly. And if you added butter. Oh boy!

I got myself busy trying to finish that UFO. Here's what happened.

Remember how I did NOT really calculate the measurements. Oh sure - I did in my head, but I wasn't writing them down. Well, after the third row was almost together, I was sure the row was going to be longer than it was supposed to be by one-half inch. So I chopped a half-inch off the last block. Guess what? I was a half-inch SHORT. If I had trusted my instincts, I would have been just fine.

Oops - now the row is ½" too short

So I ripped out one of the red pieces and made it a half-inch wider and all is well in the third row.

The third row now fits

It's very deceiving if things are going to fit - it totally depends on how many sections there are and how they are laid beside each other. See how row four and five do not look like they will fit at all.

Will rows four and five fit?

Wouldn't you know it - I did the SAME thing on row four. I was certain that I was over so I chopped down some of the red inserts only to realize that I shouldn't have chopped them at all. TRUST - where's the trust???

Row four is now too short

Thankfully with the improv style of piecing that I did, it was easy enough to fix. I made the red piece beside the PEACE block larger (after I had cut it down) and then row four fit perfectly.

A larger piece of red was required to make row four fit

Notice how the LET IT SNOW blocks on rows four and five are on the extreme right of the quilt. They're not supposed to be. Yep - made a mistake there too with the piecing! It was just one of those days. And I had inadvertently put some white blocks touching in rows three, four and five and so with a little bit of magic, it got fixed. There's only one small spot where two white backgrounds touch each other and I can live with that. I'm much happier with this improv setting than I am with the original one. I'm happy, I decided to change it up.

Work in progress

The bottom line is that it's all together - the top is anyway.

The top is finished!

I used the leftover 2 ½" wide strips as a starter for the binding. It's now completely made and I found something that'll work for the backing. It'll get made later today and that's going to be one more to cross off the 2017 UFO list. That'll leave THREE items on that list. This is SUPER EXCITING.

The backing (to be made) and the binding

I pulled the backing from this project box. This is one of the three remaining on the 2017 list. It's a red and white log cabin. I'm tempted to start working on it and NO, this isn't the one that Shelly is going to get excited about. That one is also pulled and well - I need to be working on other stuff, but I have a couple of UFO days left this year. Could I get THREE projects completed before the end of the year?? Hmmm - I could try.

The red/white backing was pulled from this box

There are loads of reds and whites in the box. I won't miss the backing that I pulled.

So does that mean the Holiday Redwork project box is empty? Of course not!!!  There was a hunk of white fabric in there that I used for the background. It's now back in the basket of white fabric. The embroidery floss is with the other embroidery floss. The crystals, which will go on after the piece is quilted, are in a plastic bag with the pattern. That bag will stay with the quilt until it's quilted so it'll be easy to make a label.

The bits from the redwork project

Is the box empty now? You'd think, but sadly it is NOT.

OK - so I confess that I'd bring home a stray puppy. Heck, I'd bring home anything stray. Well - I would have in the past. I might still bring home a stray puppy, but I won't bring home a stray project. So during one of the garage sales at The Textile Museum, I came across this.

OH MY GOD - it's the same pattern (by the same designer) as the redwork, but it's applique. I MUST have that. So I rooted through all the boxes that were there and I found patterns 5 - 12.

Holiday Sampler - Applique version

For each of the 8 blocks that I acquired, there is a fabric kit for the applique and the pattern.

The pattern for the applique and the fabric kit

Yep - I've got patterns for 8 blocks and 8 fabric kits. I paid $3 per pattern. Someone out there has the blocks 1 - 4. The scale of the blocks is slightly larger than the embroidery version.

However, it wouldn't take much to enlarge the embroidery patterns to the same size as the applique patterns and find some matching fabrics and finish (OK - start) the quilt.

Seriously?? Why oh why did I think this was a good idea at the time? The patterns and the fabric kit have gone back into that project box. I don't want to have to deal with this at the moment and my goal was to finish the redwork quilt, not the applique quilt. There is embroidery in the applique quilt as well. Hmmm - it might be fun to recreate the embroidery with the embroidery machine and get it done quick. It would be a great exercise in digitizing. And I could learn to digitize the outline of the appliques as well. Oh, shoot - that would be an awesome exercise to undertake. Ah - maybe that project needs to be pulled back out.

As I was cleaning, I've come across the oddest things. Do you know what this is?

What is this?

Well, it's the purse strap for my orange purse that I bought years ago. It was a "fancy" purse so the thing was completely wrapped in tissue paper so the leather wouldn't get damaged. Normally, I would just whack off the hardware and throw the strap away, but this is too nice of a strap to do that. I put it with the rest of my bag hardware and hopefully, I'll find something that it can be used for.

The leather strap - unwrapped at last

 I HATE straps on my shoulders. Rather, I should say that I can't use a shoulder strap for ANYTHING. My neck doesn't cope well and it's not good. So I refrain (and have for years) to use a shoulder strap for anything. I wonder if the strap is long enough for a crossbody strap? It could be shortened and used for a handle???

I wonder if the company that made my "fancy" purse would offer to give me a new one if they saw how the old one is wearing. Don't get me wrong, it's actually wearing very well as I would expect it to for the price I paid. I was just trying to get a new purse - which I don't need. So I won't even bother!

We didn't move the long arm back into position, but we need to get that done today so I can get back to work. And I was looking for two particular quilts this morning to get quilted. I have a burning desire to quilt them. I'll share them with you tomorrow because guess what? I couldn't find them. They are supposed to be in tub 15, but there isn't a tub 15 in the "to be quilted" pile. Hmmm - what does that mean? And I'm looking for a binding that got misplaced along the way. I think it's time to revisit those tubs and get things in order. Tubs 1 - 14 are in good shape - it's the ones NOT in tubs that have the issue.

I did pull two of my own quilts out that I would like to get quilted as I use them for trunk shows. It's a pain to have to pull from the "to be quilted" pile. They are now in the URGENT pile for me. A job for later today - to sort through the tubs to find the missing quilts and the missing binding. It won't take long - things are in pretty good order. I don't want to buy more tubs - I need to quilt faster!

I'm working on the class list and it should be finished by tomorrow.

Here's something to contemplate as the end of the year approaches. Some people like to make resolutions. How they want to become better or do more things or do better things or whatever they resolve to do. Most don't follow through. So here's something to contemplate. Think about all the GOOD things that you are currently doing. Give yourself a pat on the back for those things and then see how you can add, subtract or modify the good things you do to incorporate something you'd like to change. Be absolutely sure that those changes have consequences, goals, timelines, etc. I'll be chatting more about that in the next couple of days. I'm in the process of evaluating that for myself and I'm also in the process of CAREFULLY choosing my next 12 UFO projects. Two down, ten more to go.

All food for thought as the year draws to a close!!!

On that note, have a wonderful day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!

And so the story goes..............................

Not that it helps me one bit - but I do remember more about my sequence of events with the camera.  I remember wanting to tidy up my office and there was one quilt that I wanted to take a picture of - so I could show you!  Trust me - you'll get a kick out it.  So I took the pictures and then laid the camera on the corner of my desk.  That's why it was on the corner of the desk.  Then I moved it to my chair when I stepped out.

I must have taken it from the chair to get the photos in the back later in the day.  I bet I left the camera on the work surface and someone probably just tucked it underneath the shelf rather than bringing it to me or moving it to another visible work surface.   I know - I've only myself to blame. Let's hope it surfaces tomorrow.

Now here is another twist to the story.   Here is DIRECT QUOTE from my blog yesterday.......   This was concerning the new point and shoot that I had bought several years ago and never used. Remember - I knew where the box was, but there was no camera in it.


"Now if M was here - I would have woken her up and accused her of taking my camera. I doubt that she would have  - no reason as she also has a good quality digital camera - I am just saying that to tease her."



GUESS WHAT - turns out that as M is reading my blog - she looks at the point and shoot that she has in her possession - OH - I guess this is the camera Mom is talking about.  She told her father that I gave it to her - if I did - I would remember. I mean - really?????   If I know where the box is - I would know if the camera is in the box or not.  And I would certainly remember giving it to her.  No worries - I wasn't using it - just would have been super handy this weekend - but that is one of the main reasons that I am glad that M has moved out.  I will know where things are and if I can't find them - it is only my fault. And thank god she told me or I would have been ripping the house apart yesterday to find something that wasn't here. I wonder how many others things of mine that she has????????   Just sayin........................

Case in point - I could NOT find the charger for my video camera either.  In my frantic search yesterday - I found the charger in a bag of stuff that she had given to me that she found in her room that belonged to me.  Rather than putting it back where it belonged - it all got shoved into a bag for Mom to deal with.   Oh yes - my life is going to be so super stress free in the future!!!!!

I did find the battery charger to the old point n shoot so hopefully between that (my camera reader on the computer doesn't like the cards which is why I stopped using those little point n shoots) and my phone (which means I have to e-mail the pictures to my computer) - I hope to get the blog pictures up today (it's for QUILTSocial and there is a DEADLINE - not even a fake deadline - the pictures HAVE to be up by Monday AM - no delays are allowed as the blog has to go live on Tuesday AM and the pictures have to be reviewed!!!!!)   so you see why the panic!!!!

I even contemplated buying a new camera - I know!  Everyone thinks I am nuts - but I was considering a new camera because mine is so crapped out.  It is super sturdy, but it does need a good cleaning - it's been banged around in the handle bar bag of my bike for thousands of KM.  In the rain and wherever else. It would be good to have one GOOD camera for "work" stuff and one to just knock around with. And then there would be a backup should I do something stupid again. I even went so far as to go to Henry's - I arrived at 5:08 - they closed at 5:00.  Is that a sign?????


Well - enough about the damn camera business - I did take some photos with my cell phone for today.


Trying to get some order into the studio. It is going to be a disaster until after the holidays.  But I'm OK with that. Yesterday I managed to get the rest of the border fabric that I needed to finish off a quilt that I was working on at the retreat.  I think you have seen this - it's the tiles. But you haven't seen it with the borders on. I was missing a half meter of the outside border.  Now it's on!!!!

Finished quilt top!!!!

It's all Northcott fabric (Artisan Spirit - Shimmer - Emerald) and in the event that I want to have a Northcott trunk show or just to hang in my office - I would like it to be all Northcott.  Since I used to be a Northcott customer - there is a LOT of backings to choose from in my stash. A LOT!!!!!   I found this green - what do you think???

Good enough for me!  

 There was a HUGE whack of this pretty green so it got chopped up and made into a backing - with enough for another backing.

Backing, binding done - quilt now ready to be quilted

HA - I laughed when I put that quilt in the "to be quilted" pile.  That pile just gets bigger and bigger.  I hope in the new year that I can start to tackle some of my own quilts.  We'll see.


I was so disgusted with the mess in my office (which is the dining room that we have NEVER used as a dining room in 12 years) that I decided that today is the day.  While there are several work surfaces in the room - there is NO room on any of them to actually do work.  I removed EVERYTHING from the table. Then I placed the most urgent things on the table or things that I could easily deal with. Then throughout the day - I went and did a task or two.  It is going to take a long time to get through all this mess - but if I don't - well I could just scream!!!!   I guess I could just toss most stuff without looking at it, but I CAN'T do that.  It is so against my nature.  I will try - I will seriously try to break myself of that habit. But if I deal with somethings every day - I am sure that I can work my way through it.  Some days it might be only one thing - other days it might be 100, but I  must deal with something every day.

Pile of crap to deal with!!!!!

I know that I have said it before, but if I could only get it tidyied up - then imagine just having to deal with one or two things each day instead of this huge mess.  It's like our kitchen. It was a HUGE chore to do anything in that kitchen because of the mess.  And if you cleaned up - it got messy very quickly and NO ONE would take responsibility.  Now that issue is solved and the kitchen practically keeps itself tidy.  I love it!!!!!    I have a few things in the office that belong in the kitchen - two bags of recipe books that no one uses since they have been there for 10 months.  I will go through them - pick out one or two books and the rest will either be donated (as if the donation places want them) or tossed.

I can safely put the rest of the utensils back in the kitchen and in the spring - I will empty the kitchen again and try to eliminate more stuff now that M is gone. Since we don't cook much - and certainly never bake - there is NO NEED for any of those items to be in the kitchen.

Oh yes - this is going to be fun!!!!!  

As I was tidying up the pantry - NO - I was looking for camera stuff that is partially stored in the kitchen pantry - I found a BRAND NEW toy for Little Sammy.  So I gave it to her  - a cute squirrel. She loved it!  Since she is too old to chase real squirrels - she can have fun with this one.

Little Sammy and her new squirrel

So you know my orange running shoes.  Many times I get asked where I bought them or what brand they are.  You know - I can't see the brand name on the darn running shoes. Now if I was in the know - I would realize that there is a swoopy symbol on them that stands for Saucony.  I never knew that, but I found the box in my office.  I think they need to do better branding before they take their name off the shoes. Seriously - I had no idea what brand they were.

Box for running shoes

 But if you google Saucony orange running shoes - that is what you get. MY SHOES!!!!!

Saucony orange running shoes!!!!!

I was at Sew Sisters yesterday and had to take pictures with my cell phone which I will share with you later.  But look what I found.   This gorgeous fabric is a Philip Jacobs and it is to die for.  (Yes - I know it is competitor's fabrics - get over it!)  It is so bright my eyes went weird after looking at it.  I LOVE it - I bought 6 repeats (just in case). Not sure what to do yet - but it will have to be toned down by some solids for sure!!!!

Gorgeous print by Philip Jacobs

Decided to go to a movie last night. Not just any movie theatre either - but VIP!!!!   We've never gone before but thought we would try it out.  First we walked into the regular theatre having no clue where to go. Then we were personally escorted through the emergency exit doors to get into the VIP part of the building.  Same building - two DIFFERENT entrances.  We decided to have dinner before the movie.  I was quite impressed with the food - very spicy which I liked and the salad was excellent. Then we grabbed our alcholic beverages and moved into the threatre to our reserved seats.

Inside the VIP threatre

OK - I wanted to stand up and take a picture, but thought that was too geeky to do, so I quietly snapped this shot.  HEY - that's not the movie playing - just the trailers.  We enjoyed the experience very much. Although I'm not sure that I would pay that for every movie I went too. But we spent about $120 for two for dinner, drinks and a movie which isn't that bad considering that we had a nice meal, beer and wine, not popcorn and pop (which we never drink).   And we spend close to that for dinner out - so not much more and we get a movie as well.

The only thing that was annoying were the people in our row.  The servers were constantly passing us as they served the 6 people to my right.  Even when the service stopped while the trailers were on - these people had ordered stuff that had to be delivered. Since it was during the trailers - it wasn't the end of the world, but it was annoying. Next time - sit on the OTHER side of the theatre since they serve from the side we were on!!!!

We watched Spectre - OK - I am of the clueless kind in a movie - I go for the action. If I am to figure out or recognize a face or god forbid recognize a clue from ANOTHER movie - nope - not going to happen.  So there was a lot of action in this movie, but it was also a slow movie - just like the title song!!!!

And now today it is back to some serious work. For breaks - I get to sort and organize!!!  Yippeeee - my kind of day.

On that note - have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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