What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I laugh about the subwoofer! It would be in my STASH room if it was bolted to the floor beneath the family room. It's going to stay where it is - behind the sofa. But it makes sense - it's a SUB woofer, and it's just an ugly-looking box. I've no idea why, for 20 years - it had to sit front and center in our family room. But that's a thing of the past. 

And if all goes well, the old TV and surround sound will be picked up in an hour! I have a few other ...

YES—I know I should shut my computers down once a week. I should attempt to do that on Saturday night and boot everything up on Sunday morning. It also helps that if you send an email with pictures to yourself, you actually touch SEND! Oh, I don't know how often I've done that. I "send" an email and wait for it to arrive, except it doesn't. Then I decide to resend it, only to find the draft on my phone. FARCE! 

Today stretches ahead of me with NO commitments. Yes, there is a Virtual Retreat today ...

WOW --- Rose didn't even need 20 questions! One guess! I'm impressed and how the heck did she zero in on that? Check out the comments - I won't say here in case you're still guessing. 

It's good that I'm not afraid of a blank page, also known as "blank page syndrome." I face a blank page every morning when I write the blog, and sometimes, it's very early in the morning, and sometimes, it's shortly after getting out of bed. I don't think I was much of a writer when I was ...

I had a feeling that yesterday was going to be a fantastic day, and it was. When I got to the gym, Joseph approached me and said that the first seven minutes of his video were for me. And sure enough - my new adventure was documented on the screen! Keep in mind that the videos he plays are usually extreme sports or other crazy things that people do. While this isn't exactly an extreme sport, it has some element of danger. Good grief - who am I kidding - there's an element of risk in crossing the street! 

The Monday ...

OH my -- I always get a chuckle from the comments, and I need to get back to answering them individually. I'm not a math nerd, so I don't calculate how much batting cutoffs get used in a year, but it is shocking when I see people throw those batting bits away. I "glue" them together for smaller projects like table runners, bags, placemats, etc. I am working my way through the batting cutoff closet, and once April is here, I plan to be on the long arm to try and finish up some community projects where I use ...

The week is done - but not quite. I have one Zoom this evening - an odd time, but all that would fit everyone's schedule. Be sure to check it out -- it's all about Free Motion Quilting AND thread painting, and my session is excellent. The store? Sew Productive in Acton! You'll find some valuable tips for those who want to up their game with free motion or just get in the game. 

So, I have almost a free day to do what I want. It's more like playing catchup than getting anything done! I've already tidied ...

I hate it when computer programs don't work how I think they should! But that's OK - there's always a workaround, and perhaps there is a better way, but for now, I'm OK with how it works. Things are good - my schedule, while not slowing down, is comfortable. 

I hung my calendar in the office to enjoy the photos and be reminded of my upcoming walking/hiking journeys. What exactly is the difference between the two? It doesn't really matter. I will enjoy January for a week, then switch to February for a week, and then ...

Delete, delete, delete - the number of spam comments seems to grow by the day. Today was all about license plates. Have I mentioned anything about license plates recently? NO. And digitizing - I  may have mentioned that, but it's all part of our new world filled with AI and bots that are supposed to do a better job than humans. Well, not exactly. I'm reading some articles about AI, and it seems that no one can even define what it is and how it's supposed to work. So, how are we going to figure it out? We won ...

Here's an interesting observation. I had a busy week last week, as have been the last several weeks. It's not so much about being super busy - two 2-hour presentations per day don't fill the day, but there's prep work for each and other bits of life. Usually, one of the two events would be held in the evening. 

While I had three shorter Zooms yesterday, they were more "casual" than during the week, and after 2 PM, the rest of the day was mine. What a huge difference that made in my day! I could actually ...

What a whirlwind day! I ran between Zoom and shoveling snow and Zoom. But there is good news—wait for it. 

This was after the first shovel in the morning. This picture was taken around 8 a.m. and the snow was covering up my handiwork as I finished. 

8 a.m.

Noon

Then, there was the shovel session at 3:00 p.m. Each time, it took between 40 - 50 minutes to shovel. Is ...

OK -- we talked about comments the other day and how the power of suggestion, even in your mind, will trigger things. Well, where did this comment come from? 

The mystery of the internet, for sure! 

I have a favor to ask all of you, particularly those who live close to me or are on the Pony Express. You could always send the items via mail, but I don't want people to incur costs. 

A local group of sewists meets at the library several times a month—maybe even once a week—to make medicine dolls. These dolls help hospitalized ...

Oh my -- I need to get back to answering your comments. So many great ideas -- thanks for all of them. Maybe I'll get back to a few today. 

Yesterday, I gave two more presentations. This time, our format is 90 minutes, not 60, and that extra 30 minutes is tough. No, it's not tough, but I'm so used to a 60-minute format that it's just a question of getting used to it. Plus, I open my calls 30 minutes in advance, so each call is now 2 hours. No bathroom break, so I have to watch ...

OH MY! As I create a folder each day to store the blog photos, I date it. It's January 25 already! Where has the time gone? 

Someone mentioned the stand-up/sit-down exercises. The chair height is important! Obviously, we are NOT doing this from a step stool. If you can do that, then you're still young! But try various chair heights, and as you become comfortable with one height, find something a bit lower. I get it that some of us have knee issues, so the height can't be too low. But how easily can you get ...

It was a busy day, but it was a GOOD day! I decided to get off my butt and start putting some of this stuff away. Some things in Studio B have languished on the tables since September! Seriously? I know better. So I made HUGE leaps and bounds to get things back in order, and you know what? I feel so much better. I can see open spaces. And I'm much calmer and happier. 

Maybe all those quotes are helping me to see the light! 

Since my decision to change the coloring for Dear Jen, I could put ...

I know that I shouldn't be reading all these old magazines. I'm above that - toss them and be done with it. Buy no more than you can read. However, I have to say that I LOVE reading them. They are almost more entertaining than reading the current ones, which tend to be filled with patterns I'll never make. 

Here's what I learned from a quilting magazine that is over 25 years old! The magazine is called Sampler Quilts by Quilt and has a copyright date 1999. 

Sampler Quilt magazine

Didn't everyone make a sampler quilt ...

Merry Christmas!!!!!  

Okay—we looked in the box, outside the box, and scoured everywhere, but we are stuck. I needed to sleep on this next puzzle in the EXIT Game, and hopefully, today will be the day to solve it. It doesn't help that my friend, whose son is a wizard at these, mentioned that he was challenged by this particular puzzle. Let's see what happens later today. 

We decided to do another Virtual Retreat Zoom call this morning! If you are around, here's the link. I'll open the call at 10 a.m., and we ...

It's all how you look at it! I never considered getting up and down from my sewing machine as a squat. But it's a SQUAT! I'll take it! Elle mentioned that she works inefficiently in her sewing space, and so do I. We all need to keep moving, or you'll end up like my Mom. She can't move, because she didn't move! I need to move - if I don't, my body is going to seize up, and I'll be in worse shape than I am. 

But I love this little command station ...

Do NOT YELL at me, but I fail miserably at ergonomics at my house, especially in the office. Hence my poor posture, which was never good, and whatever other ailments that brings. 

What happened? Well, you know I have this silly pain in my leg, and sitting on a hard chair is a tad uncomfortable. I've been good on my sewing chair in Studio B because it's somewhat cushy. But my office chair is not too well padded. Last night I hauled a comfy chair from Studio B to the office, and well, I'm embarrassed to say ...

I hear you about the paper -- deal with it right away. I try - I really try. But here's what I face. At the retreat, I made a list of things I needed to send to people. The list is half complete. I bought a magazine and wanted to share an article with a colleague - it's still sitting on the desk. I must finish writing some documents - the paper is still on the desk. I must follow up with emails - some of that paper is still on the desk. I got a book from the library to help with ...

Oh boy—this paperwork is going to be the death of me! I spent the entire morning at the computer, and I swear the desktop doesn't look cleaner! Emails and phone calls got done, but I don't think any physical paper disappeared. I'll try again this morning, but I also have a lot of sewing/embroidery to do, and I need to be downstairs! 

But any progress is progress, and we just keep moving forward. I tackled a few more CDs, and the pile is almost gone. What did I find? I found three photos that I ...