Best Christmas gift - EVER!

Someone mentioned where my feet are located on the floor, and that is a good point. They both need to be firmly on the floor, not twisted on the chair leg and have no crossed legs or ankles. I don't know that BOTH of my feet are always flat on the floor, but I'll be more aware of that. I'm still trying to learn all the things I can and cannot do and to avoid pain. 

And YES- I will follow up with my doctor next week to see what else can be done. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm experimenting; I just want to find comfortable spots to sit and sleep!

I think we might forfeit our Christmas Day at the movies. First, there isn't anything I want to see, so I will again go to something DH wants to see. But even he doesn't seem that enthused. So I will sit for 2½ hours to see a movie I don't want to see? I don't think so. 

We'll rent a movie online, and I'll get popcorn today! Then, if I need to get up, no problem. It was just such a hassle to find a theatre and a time that worked. I won't start watching a 2½ hour movie at 6 p.m. That does NOT work for me. 

Am I disappointed? Nope --- I'm OK with staying home. Besides, it'll be much cheaper. 

Last night's puzzle on the EXIT Game was interesting but very solvable! We were done quickly, and then we had to talk to each other! 

It's time to get that annual admin work done. The classes are over for this year, but I still have a bit of follow-up to do, and I need to set all the dates for 2025. All of my clubs fall on Sunday, which is fine, except that I signed up for a series of quilt classes (in French!) in 2025 that also fall on a Sunday! Let's say that Sundays in February were at a premium!!! It took a bit of juggling, and I'll have to watch one or two of the ones I signed up for in the recording. 

It was nice not to have to juggle so many around, and I'd like to get rid of one more, but I don't know how to do that as I want to continue with all of them. So this is the way it's going to be! 

Shoot - I promised to post dates of classes or something online, but I'm not doing that this morning. 

However, I will post two retreats. 

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The first is machine embroidery, and I have yet to determine the class schedule and cost. However, here is the information if anyone wants to save the date. 

Hands-On Machine Embroidery - TWO-day workshop

Dates: Friday, February 21 (starting at 1 p.m. - allowing time for set-up and lunch) to Sunday, February 23 (not sure of the end time, but we have to be out of the facility by 3 p.m.)

Location: Spring House Retreat House near New Hamburg, Ontario

Cost: It will be approximately $300 for the two days. I'm working out how many meals it will include. 

I will likely offer a kit of stabilizers and perhaps threads as well. More information on that later. 

There will be no ZOOM option; it's only available in person!

If anyone is interested, 11 spots are available, and three are already gone! 

If you are interested, please send me an email: elainetheriault@gmail.com. 

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Journal/bookmaking -  two-day workshop

The second one is at the same location but will focus on making journals and books. I'm still working out the details, but the dates will be Friday, September 12, to Sunday, September 14. Let me know if you are interested in that one. Only a few people may make journals while the rest quilt, and I'm OK with that. 

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I was up very early this morning and heard the most bizarre thing. At about 4:00 a.m., I heard two very loud, clear WHISTLES, like someone whistling for their dog. Murphy heard them, too, and was alert. But we saw no one in the front or the back. Now, what was that all about? 

I love watching Murphy watch the entertainment in the backyard. There was a squirrel in the trees where that circle is, but look at her ears. She was listening to me! What a silly girl!

MOM -- I'm busy - I'm on guard duty!

I think it's hilarious that in my decluttering, I've got organizing magazines to deal with. I had pulled many articles about organizing and storage from other magazines and put them on a shelf in the office. There was also a stack of storage and organizing magazines. So I pulled it all out and found duplicates, one of which is in the recycling. 

TWO? 

I had great intentions from 2007 to 2013, and I'm not sure what happened after that. I was on my own. 

Back in 2007 - I was thinking of organizing

I have both Storage and Organizing magazines, as well as some books. 

Covered all the bases in my magazine-buying

I now have a shelf in the office with books and a few magazines, and I want that shelf to be CLEAR by the end of 2025. I don't need to keep any of the magazines or books, but I want to read/browse them before they go. OK -- I confess I will read them. I can't help myself. It's just one shelf, but clearing one is better than never touching any! Besides the books and magazines, there is a box of "junk," which I'll also take care of. Trust me, the other shelves will go quicker, and I might even get to one or two other shelves. 

While browsing (OK - reading) the articles I had pulled from other sources, I got a chuckle at this. It was about putting pretty things on a shelf. Hey - we need to have some knick-knack things. But I'll quote the article by Helen Buttigieg, a Certified Professional Organizer, or at least she was in 2011. 

"Evaluate each item on the basis of how it makes you feel when you look at it. Be brutally honest with yourself; anything that doesn't make you smile needs to go., including all those gifts you've received from well-meaning friends and relatives."

I thought that was VERY APPROPRIATE for this time of year. Sometimes, your thoughtful gift is a burden to the recipient. I don't have many things in that category - most of the stuff is gone or will be gone. I never had much to begin with that were unwanted gifts. 

But I may have received the best Christmas gift ever, and it was from M. No, it's not a baby. They'll do that when ready. I'm not pushing or hoping, as it has nothing to do with me.

I've been after her for 10 years to finish clearing the boxes of her stuff in the guest room. And she's promised to do it forever! But her heart was never in it, and I didn't want to throw it out, as it was her job, not mine. 

Well, we've arranged for her best friend (who lives near the house) to come in next week, and the two of them will sort the boxes via FaceTime. I'm practically giddy, and if it pans out, this will be the best gift ever!!!!! I trust Yagana way more than I trust my child—at least to get this job done! 

While standing in the room yesterday, showing Yagana what needed sorting, I put my hand on the bookcase and found this CD!!! I've been looking for that for M for a couple of months! Yeah!!!!!

The missing CD!!

When Yagana rang the doorbell, I was at the sewing machine. I turned my chair to get up, and WAHM - I knocked over my glass of water. I moved a few things out of the way (my phone) and ran to get the door. 

When I got back, I had to clean up the mess. However, my little mug rug did its job, absorbing a LOT of the water. Having many loose things in that white basket also saved much from getting wet! 

OH - spilled water!

The poor mug rug was saturated!!! 

The mug rug doing its job

This morning, it's dry, but it looks like it's been washed! 

It's all OK now

Thanks to Ronda for the handy mug rug - it saved a lot of clean-up time!!!

I was working on the follow-up emails for the UFO Club. Can you believe that we've been doing the online version of the club for 5 years? Oh - I think I said that yesterday. There wasn't enough room left in my notebook to write down the commitments, so I opened a new one this morning. It was easy to find one. I went to my supply cupboard, found a new one, and started!!! 

The new UFO journal

As part of my holiday admin, I must clean up my storage. I have 154.9 GB of crap on my OneDrive, and I'll see how much of that goes. Most of the space is taken with old presentations (some from 2022), and they no longer need to be kept! At least they are NOT older than 2022!

That's a LOT of files!

It's a fun time of year, as I have a break now that all the classes are over. This allows me time to set all the dates and get organized for next year, which is the most challenging part of the entire process. But I did that early this morning, so I'm good to go!!

Remember, today, we have a virtual retreat at 10 a.m. I'll run it until 2 p.m. or until most of us are gone. I must zip out for a 30-minute massage at 11 a.m. 

Here's the Zoom link: 

TODAY - December 24 - open at 10 a.m. EST. Stop by to say HI, Merry Christmas. No need to stay if you are busy. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82943785348?pwd=bGWr9eXWYTj9rybqmMB5e5SeJINw5o.1

Meeting ID: 829 4378 5348
Passcode: 870535

On that note, I'm off to walk the girls!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!

Murphy is a bully!

I don't think any birds will be visiting my suet feeder today. It's windy, like mad outside, and there's a wind chill! Yeah, I can hardly wait to take the girls for their walk! I'll be bundling up for sure. Thankfully, I do not need to go anywhere once the girls are walked. I have one Zoom class this evening, so I can stay indoors!

Speaking of email woes, this one is a doozy! We have a monitored alarm in our house, which I absolutely hate. If it weren't for insurance, it would NOT be here. We actually had part of it (motion sensors) deactivated because of the annoying low batteries, beeping for warnings, and zero follow-up by the company. What I dislike is that they install the system and never show you how to change the batteries in these things or explain what will happen. 

Last week, I received an email saying the battery at the front door was low. No problem—we have a keyless entry, and I know that the battery has to be changed. I'm good with that. However, I was notified one minute later that the battery was OK. Now that's weird. And then, I proceeded to get the same two emails MANY times until I could call and had a technician come to the house yesterday. 

The ^%$$^ battery in the sensor at the front door was low. OK -- I get that I should have received a notification, but I received THOUSANDS of emails in the last week concerning the issue. First, the battery is low, but OOPS - the battery is not low. So is it low or not? 

What drives me mad is why the emails can't say, "The battery in the front door SENSOR is low," with a link on how to change the darn thing. But why did it have to send THOUSANDS of emails? I'm not kidding—I would get a notification about every 5 minutes—two emails back to back. 

I think they need to change how their system works. Perhaps I'll add that to my list - to write them a note on how the emails should be worded! It would save a lot of time and effort on my part and the company's part. 

Here's the bad battery, which I saved and put in my battery box with a note. 

The dead battery

Once you know what to do, it's easy. But since this has never happened before, how do I know how to fix it? And what needed to be fixed? If the email was more explicit, it would have been a breeze. 

I'm not sure what I did yesterday, but it didn't seem like I got enough done! I have a bit of work to do to get all those presentations together, and well, I'm running out of time, so today, I must focus on that. 

But last night, I wanted to do some embroidery. I've also realized that I CANNOT get the embroidery done for Christmas. I don't have time, as each part takes a long time. I should have started a lot sooner. This is why I never plan on getting things done for Christmas. I'm not sweating it—it was a whim, which I will set aside. I will, however, finish the current project. It's a four-part embroidery, and two of the four are done. 

So, when I went to do the embroidery, I ran into a snag. Good grief—if I'm using this hoop, I need a hoop adapter, and where the heck did I put that? I will say that the new system for attaching the embroidery hoop to the arm is BRILLIANT. I love it. 

Hm - these do NOT go together

I ended up changing the hoop because I didn't have time to find the darn adapter. No big deal. Then, as I sat by my computer doing something, I spied the hoop that the adapter was attached to! I gave myself a scolding because that adapter is supposed to always be left in one spot. 

The missing adapter

It is supposed to be in this box when not being used. I must order a few more to always have one in an "emergency!" OK -- now you can yell at me because I made "fun" of people who lost their keys the other day! Technically, I didn't lose the adapter - it was attached to a hoop, and I knew it was. The question was, which hoop and where did I put it. So I must start remembering when I'm done to remove the adapter! 

The adapter should be in THIS box

I got a customer quilt done. This is Tequila LIme - the paper-pieced quilt we did last year. Choosing the thread color was a challenge on this one. I went with a black thread because it would have muddied the pattern to put a pink thread on the black background. So, while you can see the black thread on the design, it all looks just fine! 

Customer quilt  - done!

I did have to babysit this one a bit, but that's OK. And my long arm FROZE at the end of one row—it just froze! So I had to get out of the stitching program and get back in. But all is good—no one would ever know that happened. 

Oh, I should say that I tried something new with the machine embroidery from the previous night, and I like this method much better. Just because the pattern says one thing does not mean I have to do it that way! I'll be sharing that story with my embroidery group! 

Now that I bought my new running shoes, I'm still getting ads for them. Why did I buy three pairs? They were $50 off, so I saved $150. That's a good enough reason for me to buy three pairs! 

It's so fun to have something to look forward to each day, and right now - it's the EXIT Game Advent Calendar. We finished Day Three last night. I know - we are way behind, but that's OK. We do it when our schedules work. Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but we are three for three! There is no need to look at the clues; as I've said before, we work well as a team on this. I probably would be struggling by myself and DH as well. I'm sure we'll have to look at some point, but I'm OK with that. We give it our all, and I can't wait for dinner! We must wait until Saturday to play again, although DH suggested taking it to the restaurant on Friday. Seriously?? 

I managed to get rid of some paper and answer some emails, so I'm in good shape, but there's still so much to deal with! No wonder my office is such a disaster. The paper comes in faster than I can process it! But any progress is good! I'm happy to celebrate the little things in life and let bygones be bygones. It blows my mind how some people are "happy" when they complain. That's all they seem to do - hold grudges and complain. I complain - get it out of my system and move on! Life is too short to live unhappily!

Murphy is sneaky! We have allowed her on the sofa occasionally, but she usually doesn't stay long and never climbs up when we are around. Imagine my surprise when I came downstairs this morning to find Lexi leaning against the wall in the hall. Yet - I heard someone jump off the furniture. When I checked the sofa, it was warm, and who came around the corner. Yep - that would be Murphy! Why? Did she push Lexi off? Or jump up when Lexi wasn't on the sofa? Lexi was not impressed and said that Murphy was a bully! 

I hope the decluttering is working out OK for you. I know that some of you are diligently working on things like boxes of CDs in the car. We all have these skeletons in our closets, and we know we don't need the stuff, so it's time to get rid of it! We need to be mindful of our stuff, not just living with it but becoming aware of it all. You might be surprised at what you see. If things are around too long, they become invisible. 

On that happy note, I'm out of here. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Recovery!

I counted the number of flannel quilt tops in that bag—25! To be fair, some of them are relatively small as they were made for children. But still! And I forgot to mention that I have a few bolts (5?) of flannel fabric that has to be used up! So yes, 2025 is the year of eliminating flannel from Studio B. WAIT—I also have a large flannel kit. That should be added to the mix. I wonder if there are more flannel kits? 

I'm happy to report that another flannel quilt from the 2024 pile is loaded and ready to be quilted later today. Getting rid of all the flannel will be welcome, letting me focus on the rest of the mess. It's not that flannel is bad or can't be used as a backing—it's just a category I can eliminate, but it will take one year to make that happen. I must write that goal down and collect all the flannel in one spot! It's mostly together, but I might as well drag it all out and put it all together. Oh shoot - I just remembered ANOTHER flannel kit, but I want to keep that one! Don't ask me why! 

I'll be pulling flannel items out of nooks and crannies all next year, as I remember various things. 

I love my new desk space. I have my work set out for the morning, and there is room to work, and well, I should have done it years ago. I have a few emails that I need to respond to, and I still have that one presentation I need to finish - I MUST get that done today. 

But there is good news! I got an email from OneDrive yesterday saying that I deleted many files. If that was a mistake, I can go to the RECYCLE bin and recover them! I think I will remember this for the next time. 

AH - the recycle bin

Do NOT yell at me, but I did. I put the files all back in my OneDrive. 

I emptied the recycling bin

Now, I will go back into OneDrive and start ruthlessly deleting them. But I shall do it the CORRECT way, which is to delete them off OneDrive and not on the computer's hard drive. 

Deleting files

I wish I had known that, as it would have saved me some time. But that's OK. I almost have all the old data off the old laptop and onto the new one. Actually, it all went onto an external hard drive. And then, I had to reload my programs. I have one more program to move. I updated some software on some equipment and got the latest software versions, and all is good. 

Reloading programs

Oh my—that new laptop (Windows 11) is like greased lightning! It's fast! I should have moved years ago!

There is one app that I can't reload as it's no longer available or not available on Windows 11. So I need to find a substitute. I'll test it out this coming week to ensure everything I need is there - Office 365, access to Zoom, OneDrive, and all that. I think I'm good. But next week, being away from home for the week will be a good test. And I need to change some settings as the screen is white-on-black, which is not my preference. 

I also did some work in the quilting department. The backing for my T-shirt quilt is complete and ready to be quilted next month. As I finish a UFO, I will also try to quilt the quilt rather than just prepare the top, backing, and binding. I'm running out of space in the "to be quilted" area, so I can't keep that bad habit alive. 

The backing for my T-shirt quilt

I finished a customer quilt. YES, it's very small, but it had to be done. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I had to postpone a class last weekend until tomorrow as I just couldn't get around the prep work with everything else going on in my life. I'm happy to report that I made leaps and bounds in that area. I still have a bit more to prep later today. It's a very interesting project and I'll share with you after the class tomorrow. 

I don't think I mentioned the latest issue of A Needle Pulling Thread, which had the theme "In the Woods." It's issue 68 if you're looking for it. There are always so many great articles and patterns! You can get a physical copy or a digital copy. 

Remember, if you want to search for a pattern (quilting, crocheting, knitting, rug hooking, etc.), their website has many choices!

Issue 67 of A Needle Pulling Thread

For this issue, I included something I've never done before—applique!!! Well, I've done loads of applique, but never in a quilt pattern. It's all the things I see in my forest!! Except for the owl! So I'll have to pretend the owl is a hawk! 

My quilt

I believe there was another FREE issue of the QUILTsocial magazine on their website. I love these issues as they contain some of the QUILTsocial blog posts but in a magazine format. In this one, I participated by using the Husqvarna Viking Opal 690Q and making piping, welting, zippers, etc., for my outdoor accessories. You can see it online for free, or you can download it for $4.95. My apologies—I meant to share that link while it was still free. 

I called my doctor in the morning to make an appointment to see if I could get an X-ray or ultrasound to check out my issue. Of course, I could come later in the day. Turns out DH needed something, and we ended up there at the same time. Good grief—how cute—we visit the doctor together in our old age! But I walked, and he took the car! 

The X-rays are already done. But at that clinic, which is in a medical building, the ultrasounds were booked solid for December, and I could call back in a week when the January schedule opens. OR I could take the requisition to another clinic. Well, there just happens to be another clinic near the thrift store, so I walked there and could have gotten an appointment for next Wednesday. However, since I'm away, I went for the following Monday, and I have the choice of multiple time slots. 

So -- why would people wait for over a month when going somewhere else will allow them to get in quicker? Lack of knowledge? That would be my case. Or laziness to go somewhere else? This other clinic is better because there is ample free parking, while at the medical building, you have to pay! 

Anyway, let's see what happens, and if necessary, I may need an MRI. The best news is that she gave me something strong! Meds, that is. I'll pick them up later today, hopefully. If I lay flat on my back with that pillow under my entire leg and DO NOT MOVE onto my side, which I caught myself multiple times trying to do, then I'm OK at night. But sitting and even standing can be challenging, so I'm coping. 

On my way to the new clinic, I passed the Indigo bookstore. I spotted something in a Black Friday email in the morning. I MISSED the part about buying online and picking it up in the store. They only had one in stock, and it was long gone by the time I arrived. It seems orderable online only if you want to pick it up. And while there are ten at another store - it's not close, so I will let it go. But it was darn cute!!! It was a Book Nook (a 3-D puzzle), and then you store it on your bookshelf. 

While there, I browsed the puzzles and games. Oh boy --- a Monopoly/Scrabble game? Well, why not? 

A NEW game

For a dog that was terrified to come into this office a few years ago, Lexi has progressed 1,000% percent. She is tucked underneath the desk and had to squeeze between several things on the floor to get there. One thing was my chair, and the other was a bag of batting that I was sending an email about. There is NO JUNK on the floor. What a silly girl!!!

Lexi hiding out

And then you have Murphy. I don't know what got into her, but she was rifling through her toybox, grabbed an antler, and brought it into the family room. Then she proceeded to toss her blanket about, all the while seeming quite pleased with herself. And yes, when I went to do my exercises before bed, she was all over that mat like a dirty shirt! She thinks it's time to play! 

MOM - a girl has to have fun!

As I was browsing another storage magazine, I came across the most ridiculous idea ever. First, as I read through some of the articles—hey—they are short! I'm shocked because there is ZERO talk about decluttering. It's all about containing the clutter and hiding the clutter, but there is NOTHING to talk about decluttering or how much is too much. So yes, there are some great ideas, but a lot of those storage magazines aren't worth buying. 

But look at this. 

Is this for real?

Yes -- that is what you think it is. A dog's food AND water dish is in a pullout drawer at the bottom of a cabinet. Yes -- it's a good idea, except what if your dog is a grazer? Or how does your dog get water during the day? The editors of this section were NOT dog lovers. It might not be practical even though it seems like a good idea.  

Well, I'm off as I need to get more paperwork done. And part of this is not urgent - it's just dealing with some of the papers I've found in the office, so that's exciting! And I might start my computer file delete process - a few folders each day as there are hundreds of presentations everywhere, and they are taking up a lot of storage and duplication. I need to learn how to deal with the duplication. I think I've got a plan, which starts by putting all the same topics in a folder and then delete - delete - delete! 

OH -- here's another blog post for QUILTsocial. Check it out - pretty fun stuff. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

FOCUS is key to success

I've been learning so much about myself and how I function (or don't function). First, while I thought I was managing my stuff well, I wasn't. I was productive, yet I was struggling to meet deadlines. OK, I am productive, but I struggle with paperwork. And there are so many things to do. 

The same is true for my quilting. There are just so many UFOs, kits, and other things. 

I'm learning that focus seems to be a huge factor in making stuff happen. OK, so that's not rocket science at all. But when you have too much stuff in front of you, it's a huge distraction and hard to accomplish anything. You are really not focused if you don't have space to work. That workspace can be tiny, but it needs to be clear of crap! 

I've learned (and am still learning) to put away the crap that you can't deal with at the moment. Yes - I get that you should get rid of it, but depending on your style, you may want to go through it, like me. Don't harrass us slow learners - that's how our brains function. But the key is to keep going. And when you clear a spot, you have the choice to fill it with more crap so you can go through it or leave it hidden. I'm preferring to bring the crap out so I don't forget it. It looks messy, but it's hard to forget!

I think we would be shocked if we calculated the amount of time we are spending managing the crap we accumulated. But that managing gives me so much satisfaction, and I'm learning so much by dealing with stuff. It's easy to give it away or toss it, but to learn to manage it so you don't repeat history? That's for me!!

So what happened yesterday? Loads of stuff. 

First off, I got my desk organized. It wasn't hard - it was just a question of DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. The big shelf I had there before was taking up a lot of room, and there was no place to put my work. It's been like that for years. Why do we do that to ourselves? 

I moved that shelf to another spot on my other desk and will use it as a sorter until the paper is gone. Don't worry—I grab a couple of pieces of paper daily and deal with them. 

I bought a much smaller desktop shelf and put my little knickknacks on it. Yes - I could have gotten rid of them, but a person has to keep some little pleasures in life. My pending folder is on the far left, and my writing utensils are in a cup behind the lampshade. The pile of papers beside the pending is the current paper crap that I'm looking at. It will take me a week or more to go through that pile, but I'm making valiant efforts. Hopefully, it won't take a week - it's just that some stuff takes longer than others. 

The clear desktop

You can't really see, but behind the paper crap is a white basket filled with odds and ends that collect. My goal is to take ONE item per day and deal with it. It's incredible how much that little stuff creeps up on you! The one item for today is in the garbage! 

Perhaps I could do it at a faster pace, but I don't want to get overwhelmed by the crap. Slow and steady is my motto. Now I have space to work, although I still miss a space on my right-hand side to write, but I don't write that often, so I think I can live without it. I have space to spread out the current project and still have room to put the next thing - that makes me happy. 

I sent some emails yesterday that required spreading things out a bit, and it worked like a charm. I was HAPPY, and that's all that counts. WAIT—one more thing—I was PRODUCTIVE. That counts as well. 

Let's move downstairs to see what happened there. One more community project quilt got quilted. Diane made this flannel quilt from all the baskets and baskets of flannel that I bought over the years. 

Community project quilt

 I haven't gotten around to binding these, so I need to start on that. 

Quilts to be bound

When I started this group of twenty flannel quilts, I pulled a basket of flannel pieces that would work for backings and put them in a basket. I pulled twenty flannel quilt tops and put them in a bag. Yesterday, I could consolidate the backings and the quilts into the laundry basket. I know -- my brain works this way. I get things out, and then as I deplete them, I consolidate them. I think I ENJOY the managing of things. Which is good as I'll be sorting for the rest of my life. When I arrive at the nursing home, buy me one of those brightly colored sorting toys, and I'll be happy! 

Flannel quilts and backings for the remainder of the year

I think there are still at least a dozen quilts in that basket. As many as I've quilted, the numbers don't go down! But I gave myself until the end of the year to get them done, so I'm not behind and am realistic about my goal. 

That left the bag empty, so what does one do with an empty bag? You have to fill it! So, back to the storage room, and OH MY - I found another flannel quilt. Then I got digging, and before I knew it, the bag was full of flannel quilts. Where did they all come from? 

Another bag of flannel quilts

So, I got digging on the shelf that houses the backings/fabric that was set aside for community projects. I found a ton of flannel pieces large enough for backings, so those got set beside the bag of quilt tops. 

Large pieces of flannel

I found two NEW flannel kits. There is plenty of fabric for the backings—they just need some time to piece. 

Two flannel kits

I've left that bag and the backings in the storage room, but they are set aside. The two kits are on my sewing table, and I may start piecing them in a couple of weeks. They need to be cut first. 

Then, I surveyed the flannel to see what remained. Oh gosh—the basket on the left is full of scraps. My intent is to make improv flannel blocks from them, and I'm sure I'll get a couple of quilt tops from that basket. I've already pulled a small bag of scraps] to take to the retreat next week. 

Flannel that still needs to be dealt with

The bag is filled with green pieces. The other three baskets are more or less sorted by color. All of that is flannel! We ran out of time before Diane could finish. 

I've already been there this morning and rejigged it a bit. While lying in bed (pain-free) thinking about the day, I knew I had to further sort this. I pulled a couple of large pieces of red and put them in the backing pile. The green (in the paper bag) went into the now empty basket where the red used to reside. What remains is a basket of scraps and four baskets of flannel pieces that could be made into backings or could be cut into squares. I'll wait and see what happens when I get there. 

But I have made it my goal—and I need to write this down somewhere—that I want ALL the flannel in this area dealt with by the end of 2025. You thought I was going to say 2024, didn't you? 

I'm going to hazard that there will be about FORTY (that's being generous) more quilts of flannel to deal with! And I should be able to handle that next year. Slow and steady, focus on what's set out, which is the laundry basket at the long arm. Plus, I inherited a partially pieced flannel quilt from that donation. That is going to the retreat; I'll deal with it there. 

I'm using my batting bits, and I'm sure I'll have enough for all those quilts! 

What is nice is knowing there's a plan. A plan to use up the closet of batting, a plan to get rid of the flannel, and then it'll be time to tackle the cotton tops. But that's for another day!

Oh—and then some flannel quilts on this rack are done and ready to be donated, as well as a handful upstairs. I must dig those out. I've decided that I'll donate them at the end of the year. Yes, it would be nice to have them ready for Christmas, but that isn't in the cards, so they will get donated when I'm ready. I'm not rushing to meet a deadline. 

Quilts ready to be donated

Then, I spent some time dealing with computer files as I have to migrate from the old laptop to the new one. My desktop was sluggish, so I deleted some of those OneDrive files that were synced to the desktop. Oops—that also started to be deleted from the OneDrive shared drive, so I CANCELED pretty quickly.  

I wish someone would tell me exactly how that DARN OneDrive works. I have an account that allows me storage and space to save my work. I dislike that we are FORCED to use that drive if you want to use AUTOSAVE, which I always use when writing a document. You don't want to write for hours and realize you didn't save. And you can NO LONGER do that on your computer. 

OK—so move on! Then, when the sync function is turned on, it somehow links the files to the hard disk on your computer. NOT an external hard drive—oh no—you can't do that. It has to be the computer's hard drive, which I hate as it takes up a lot of space. 

When I realized what I had done, I thought, "Great—I just deleted some files that I need." Many files I don't need are gone, and I'm OK with that—they needed to go. Then I went to my laptop and found the files still on OneDrive, but they didn't appear on the desktop OneDrive. Why? Yes - it's all about syncing, but it's a mystery and how it works. 

I was able to save the missing files onto an external hard disk. 

I don't understand why the darn thing doesn't sync to everything simultaneously. I'm glad it didn't, but what a mess. So, if anyone knows a guru who understands OneDrive, I would like to talk to them. Or I should Google it as part of my paperwork this morning and get it set up once and for all. Wait -- it's set up, but I want to know HOW it works. Reading anything online is like having your teenage grandchildren show you how to do something. They just do it, but you don't learn anything from it!

I believe the files have been transferred from the laptop, and the missing files have been saved. So, I can now start deactivating my programs on the old laptop and reinstalling them on the new one. 

OK—I found the Microsoft training for OneDrive. It tells me how, but I want the WHY. 

I had a good chuckle as I was digging through a journal. Oh my - this was when the EPIC 2 was released. And the lighting makes me look like I have a clown nose on!!! What fun! 

Three Amigos

A quick update - the physio thinks my issue is nerve-related, not strictly muscle, since I've done everything I can to release the muscle, and she doesn't think it's that tight. So she gave me a couple of simple exercises to take the pressure off and told me that the ones I was doing were likely exacerbating the pain. I've learned to sleep with a pillow under that leg and NOT move at night. Side sleeping was my issue the previous night, and I paid the price. She suggested I get an X-ray and see if a disk or something is out of place. So I'm good. I'm just careful, and today, everything is good! 

I'm like Murphy. All I need is a stick, and I'm good!

Murphy and her stick

But it's a challenge to get any exercise in with her around. The instant she hears that mat touch the floor, she is there, rolling around and trying to be helpful. You can't help but laugh, and laughter is good! Love you, Murphy!!!!

Here is another blog post on QUILTsocial. 

All about embroidery with the Husqvarna Viking Designer Quartz 29

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!

Getting HIGH on decluttering

I got rid of more CDs/DVDs yesterday. A few more have made it onto the desk to be looked at this morning, including a new box of 10 CDs that's not even opened. So that will be easy to cope with. Everything fits into one container now, which is good news. I'll just keep whittling those down until I get to the end. You can't imagine how exciting this is! 

I went to spin class yesterday and had a great workout, but I have to say that I got more UP feelings (those endorphins) from tossing out those CDs than I did from the workout! The sense of finally making decisions and getting rid of stuff is exhilarating. I can't explain it, but you'll know what I mean once you get started. It is ONE of the few areas in my life where I am 100% in control!

While I'm not calling this a regret, I sure wish someone had given me a good talking time when I was younger so I would not have let this mess accumulate. There are days when I spend more time "managing" my possessions than I do having fun or using them. While I don't think I'll ever become a minimalist and live in a 100-square-foot house, I love the fact of getting rid of the clutter and unnecessary things. 

Nothing is sacred in this house anymore. Watch out, Murphy and Lexi, you had better become more useful, or you might be on the curb with a FREE sign! Oh my—that would never happen. While they can be pests occasionally, the love, comfort, and joy they bring are well worth their shenanigans!

There is one problem that we have with our stuff. And if anyone has a good suggestion, I'm looking for it. Thankfully, it's not one that I have to deal with. But what if most of the clutter in your house belongs to your significant other? And they don't want to part with it. Hmmm --- can some of the stuff be secreted out of the house? Would they notice? Some of those SOs are very cagey! I knew a lady who would take things to the curb in black garbage bags, having secreted them out of the house on garbage day, only to return later and find that the SO had brought them back into the garage! That SO needed a solo vacation away from home!!!

Start small—but START!!! Start with the easy stuff. GET RID OF THE GARBAGE that is clearly visible. You know you have it—the car, the house, the garage. I bet most of us could fill a garbage bag or two with garbage. Even I, who has been decluttering and trying to keep up with this stuff for ten years, could quickly fill a garbage bag with things that I know are worthless, broken, or have no other good home! 

The second small thing (well, perhaps it's not so small) you can do is to STOP buying. Think twice before you buy the next whatever - a book, magazine, clothing article, or pantry item. Do you need more if you already have a ton of the same type of thing? Reading material is readily available through online apps or at the library. How many pairs of pants can one wear (especially if you are retired), and how many do you have that no longer fit? Etc. Etc. 

Yesterday on our Monday Sewing, we were chatting about how many organizations do things a certain way. When questioned, the answer is, "We've always done it this way." How true is that? I'm sure you've all heard that. Well, if you want to break out of the mold, now is the time!! Do something different! Purge!! Or start to declutter! Take charge!! 

A woman (who reads my blog) posted on Facebook about purging her stash of all her pet-themed fabric. She was donating it to someone who makes pet-themed items and sells them to raise money for animal rescues!!! Awesome!!! It's exciting to see stories where an item will be used for something useful instead of languishing in someone's house. 

I don't want to be on this journey alone, so the more I can encourage you all to do something, the more I'm happy to do it. I know a few people who get caught up in social media and can spend hours and hours watching videos and reels and scrolling. Set the timer for 15 minutes of purging and then set the timer for 15 minutes of screen time. We need to stop spending so much time online. It's not healthy and certainly not productive. And how can we tell our children/grandchildren to stop watching when we are just as guilty? 

I once worked with a woman who had ZERO clutter in her house. It always looked like it had been staged for sale, and that's how she lived all the time. She got rid of anything she didn't need daily! Most of us were in shock (and awe) that she could live this way. But looking back, I'm very envious of her skills!!!

Oh, and there is another area where I try to chip away occasionally—my CONTACT list in Outlook. With some of the issues I had in the past, the contact list from my phone is mixed with the computer. Anyway, I found some empty contacts on that list. There are oodles of people I no longer know or need to be in touch with. Some people have up to three or four listings, so those need to be consolidated. Why can't AI help me with that? 

So, I pulled these two bins of fabric for my Dear Jen quilt. Remember those?

My fabrics for Dear Jen

OH -- I emptied something in the office and reclaimed this plastic tub for the solids. 

The solids are now in a bin

After pulling the fabrics for the blocks I need to make for the weekend, look at what's left. It's all neat and tidy. 

The remainder of the fabric for Dear Jen

Each fabric has to be used multiple times, and I pulled the largest yardage pieces for this month's blocks. All is good. By the end of next month, I might even be able to consolidate it all into one container!!

So, the other day, I had an interesting quilt to quilt. There were TWO blocks with open edges. This one was very open, and the other had been stitched in place, but still with some edges that could flip. The blocks are beautiful but not friendly to the long-arm quilter. 

Open edges on a quilt block

I've had to deal with these in the past, and holding the edges down with your fingers is not the answer. I now use a piece of Golden Threads tissue paper to cover the block. 

A piece of tissue paper covers the edges

I hold the tissue paper in place when the stitching is happening. The paper gets perforated and is easy to remove. And VOILA—the block is quilted and has no flips. 

The block is now quilted

Here's the front of the quilt. Does anyone remember the Stonehenge blocks from several years ago? Stores sold tons of that fabric for this blockhop. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And here's the back. It's a great way to use up some blocks. Thank goodness those loose-edge ones were NOT on the back. 

The back of the quilt

The next quilt is loaded and ready to go later today. 

I almost have the binding video done. I tried to edit it on my old laptop, but it drives me crazy when all the YouTube videos say the function is right HERE. And it's not. So, I ended up getting the new laptop out to see if I could be more successful. 

My new laptop

Yes, I found the video editor. I'm too cheap to buy one, so I'm going to try the one that comes with Windows 11. I've done a bit of video editing in my day, so it shouldn't be too hard. It's the same thing everywhere—if what you start with is garbage, then the output will not be great. Thankfully, I'm getting very handy at filming myself. 

The instructions for use were slim and not easy to find, so I started exploring. I had two choices to start—I could control the edits or let AI take over. Oh god, this AI's version of the video used a CREATIVE mode. Seriously? That's crazy!!! Imagine trying to figure out how to put a binding on by watching this! 

AI's creative video editing

But when I took charge, it was much better! I couldn't figure out how to advance frame by frame to know where to crop out some parts. But I soon figured that out. All that remains is to splice two bits together and add a title page. Then I'll be happy. I hope to get it done today. It's long overdue, but it can't be helped. 

Editing video

So here's something else I've started to do, and I know many of you do this all the time. I have a cream duvet on the bed, but I need something else. I need the weight when I sleep. So now I put a quilt on the bed as a topper. I do NOT care if the quilt is a lap quilt - I prefer the smaller size as you can see the entire quilt, and no part drags on the floor! I plan to swap those quilts frequently so I get to enjoy MY quilts. The ones I want to keep. If I am going to keep them, I better be using them. This is my way of using them. This one is called Wanderer's Wife by Jen Kingwell. 

A lap quilt as a topper on a queen-sized bed

 I did some embroidery last night and went through a few bobbins of prewound thread. I taught a class on the embroidery software last night, and all is good! There are so many little details, but they are essential to success. 

Empty bobbins

So all is good. I'm using the stuff I own and trying to get rid of what I no longer need, want, or use. As my daughter would say, "Life is GOOD!" And I would have to agree with her. 

On that note, I'm out of here. It's going to be another busy day. I've been letting a few things slide each day, but I no longer have that luxury. There is stuff that has to be done by the weekend. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!