What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I'm surprised at how "quickly" this basket of green scraps is disappearing. Wow—who knew that it could happen so quickly once I put my mind to it? It has taken eight years to get to this point. Well, maybe not eight, but I started the project eight years ago, and the water incident was about six, so it's been a long time. It feels good to get this cleaned up!

The basket is almost empty

At one point as I was picking out the pieces, the bottom actually peaked through the scraps. I confess before I take ...

Thanks for the comments! Yes --- other crazy people like me love scraps. Most people love scraps to some degree, but the definition of scraps to some people kills me. It still blows my mind, and let's face it, people have no patience, so they toss what they don't want. NO - give it to us scrap users! There's a good story coming about some scraps. I got a note yesterday, and I'm unsure how to respond. I must look at that later today. And then I can tell you the story!

It makes me laugh, but as ...

Let's start off with the progress report on the green scraps. 

I watched an entire episode of The Quilt Show, and all the while, I was pressing scraps.

Pressing scraps

The basket last night

And for reference, here's the basket from the previous day. 

The basket the previous day

This basket of scraps will be a good example of how slow and steady will always win. The amount of usable scraps in the basket for the 365-day quilt ...

 Oh, my --- I had another fantastic day! Do you ever feel guilty when you have a great day? Not guilty for others, but do you deserve a great day? Sometimes, I do, but then I've worked very hard to achieve this flexibility in my schedule, so I don't feel guilty. At least not for long. The more I do, the better I feel, and those days are becoming more frequent. I LOVE it. 

Let me start with my teacher's story, and then I can get on with the rest of the day. I think I was struggling ...

Some of that euphoria popped out of me yesterday as I attempted to play with some technology! I almost gave up technology at that moment! 

So I have a couple of digital cutters and I needed to cut a file using one specific one. I turned it on and went to connect it and NOTHING, despite the fact that it said it was connected to a network. Why??? I was frustrated! 

Then I went for a walk, and when I came back, I realized that this cutter had never been used by me! It appeared to be connected to the ...

Oh gosh—I'm not even sure where to begin or how to say it. The NEW Studio B is a dream come true! If only I had known years ago what I know now! Would I still have tons of UFOs? I might, but I sure would have looked at my buying and making habits a whole lot differently. 

I guess it's like trying to tell a teenager to do something differently based on your experience. They don't want to do it and must learn their way. 

Please do NOT be jealous of me and where I ...

I seem to be relegated to saving stuff! OH - I mean rescuing, not saving, although those words could be used interchangeably. That story to come in a minute. 

Since we were not supposed to have electricity in the morning, I had planned my day accordingly. Part of that planning was to pick up tea since I couldn't boil the kettle when I returned from walking the dogs. 

I also had to go to the bank, so I altered Miss Lexi's walk to do both. She is happy to walk a new route since there are new smells. 

MOM ...

I'm home, and there was no blog yesterday. We were up at the crack of dawn and then whisked off to the airport. One of my colleagues and I were on the same flight, so it made sense to travel together. But first, I want to return to the show's last day. 

The last day was another great one, ending early at 4 PM. I'm not sure why, but it still seemed busy the entire day, and I don't think any part of the show passed slowly for us. I was helping out in the classrooms ...

Here's a prime example of why that list of ten things I set out to do two days ago is still incomplete. Three items remain on the list. 

We've lived in this house for almost 21 years. Several times a year, we get letters addressed to the previous owners from a utility company. We have an up-to-date account with the utility company. 

For 21 years, I've tossed those letters addressed to the previous owner. When I recently received two, I decided to open them. As I suspected, there was nothing significant in them. But this seems like ...

Yesterday was the complete opposite of the previous day. I accomplished lots, and I went to bed, exhausted but happy, after walking over 20,000 steps.

Quite a bit still needed to be put away, so I got out my audiobook and got to work. I also had to start packing for Quilt Canada in one week, so as I was sorting and putting away, I pulled out the samples I needed for that show. 

Stuff to put away

Of course, my faithful companion was right there with me, lying in the middle of the floor space. It doesn't ...

YES—that is a flowering dogwood, thanks to some green thumbs. The bizarre thing is I do not remember seeing it bloom in the 20+ years we've lived here. Or perhaps my nose was buried in a book and I didn't see it. How could you not see that? It's quite pretty - I wonder how long the blooms will last? 

My flowering dogwood

Anyway, there is lots of neat stuff in the backyard—always something new—but it'll quiet down for a while—except for those lilies, which are going to explode soon. I see many ...

The saga of the jelly roll race quilt continues. I checked out the video, and YES, she has you join all the strips together (jelly roll race technique)and then cut the first length (non-jelly roll race technique). The next step makes me shudder: To make this quick, like the jelly roll race, she takes the remainder of the long strip and sews it onto the first cut length. And you continue to do so until you run out of fabric. 

That is a wonky quilt waiting to happen!

That first video was released five years ago and has 500 ...

I haven't had a chance to check out that video on the wonky quilt yet. I hope to do that today. 

I had a Zoom in the morning and also had to check the equipment for my upcoming Facebook Live tomorrow. It's on Applique and on the PFAFF page. The microphone I want to use isn't working, and this story is why I LOVE to shop locally and in person. I seem to be missing a cable. I've used this configuration in the past, but used earbuds instead and I have to say I'm not ...

Although I didn't have solid plans for yesterday - there was a quilt to trim, applique to cut, etc. —I got none of that done. 

Instead, I was repaying a favor, and someone came to use the long arm, so I spent the day helping with that. WAIT—that was the easy part. She also brought a wonky quilt that we attempted to square up. Hmm—that was quite the mental exercise, and before we knew it, it also turned into a physical one. 

I will say (and I told her) that I disagreed with the construction method, and something ...

I was back at the drawer situation in the kitchen. What a long process, but then I'm not dedicating hours at a time. This shows that even a few minutes a day can make a difference in decluttering, especially when you're on the second pass like I am. 

The cutlery was all washed and dried. 

The cutlery was washed and dried

The cutlery tray was washed

Some artists use cutlery in their art, and I wish I knew someone ...

Well, I made out that list of things to do, but I didn't get to check any of them off yesterday, although I made progress on several things. The couple I worked on just generated more stuff to look at!

However, there are a couple of things that I need to address before I forget. I did look at the drawers in the desk. There are three of them. Here's the first one; it looks neat and tidy, so there are no changes. 

Drawer number one

Here's the second drawer, which is actually the top drawer. Hmm ...

Hey, it's good to be back home again! If you want to hear John Denver sing it, check this out. I still find it amazing that you can find pretty much everything and anything online! He died in 1997, and while the internet wasn't what it is today, it was still there! So that makes sense, I suppose. 

We had loads of wind yesterday, but nothing that transpired into a storm—at least not where I was or where I live now. 

We had the windows open at the retreat house, and at several points, what we were ...

I feel like I'm back in a marathon—there is so much to do, so many time limits and things take longer than planned! 

However, I got a few more things done, but not as much as I would have liked. I'm afraid that today is going to be eaten up with computer work, as I have a lot of emails that need to be sent and that need to be done today. 

I've mentioned missing things from time to time. One thing has been missing for years. It's an embroidery file I purchased many years ...

I am a slug on a rug!! I did NOTHING yesterday despite the fact that there are quilts to quilt, emails to answer, sewing to do, and so many more things. First, it was a gorgeous day outside, and I didn't want to be in the house. Second, I got reeled into The Rose Code (an audiobook), and while I could have worked while I read, I didn't. Thankfully, the book was finished. Excellent read (it was recommended by someone here). Anything by Kate Quinn is a good read!

I also know what happened to make me feel ...

I think I'm back on track with the sleep patterns despite being awakened by Murphy at 2 AM. I have no idea what her problem was, but a simple bark was all it took to wake me up. I did go back to sleep, so all is good!

What a day yesterday was. The weather was amazing! The sun was out, the temperature was in the double digits, and what can I say? The gazebo beckoned. 

I sat in my chair and read for a bit, napped for a bit, and just enjoyed the day. It was glorious. Even ...