What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Yesterday was such a different day from the past month. I puttered all afternoon, but I also got some sewing done. OK, I mostly sewed and didn't putter much. I'm good as long as no one can see the mess on the screen. The camera faces a wall, so there is plenty of room in front of it to stash the mess! 

With everything going on, I haven't been reading much lately. However, I recently received notifications about two ebooks that I had let lapse without finishing. I accepted both—more on that in a minute. I ...

Oh my—I'm rereading these blog posts about keeping a quilter happy while on vacation, and I love this one! It has lots of tips for keeping everyone happy. 

I think I've discovered why those links didn't work last week. When a link comes up and I copy it, I need to ensure the "https:/" is included, or it will redirect back to my blog. How do I know that? I'm experimenting! 

Today is election day in our province. For anyone eligible to vote, please get yourself out there and vote. And for those who think ...

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 ...

It warms my heart to know that I am not alone! Boxes and bags of stuff are being donated to various organizations nationwide. We will conquer this mess we've created, but we must be mindful not to let it happen again. Slow and steady is all I can say. 

Let's not forget to keep celebrating those little steps. Maybe it's one magazine that got tossed, or perhaps it's a book that you donated. It all counts. What's most important is that as you start to let go, the more you want to let go. 

I ...

It's hard to believe, but it's New Year's Eve 2024. Tomorrow, a new year begins with many goals, aspirations, and plans. I don't make resolutions, although how different is a resolution from a goal? 

Remember, we do NOT need New Year's Day to make improvements in our lives. EVERY DAY is a new day, and if you screw up one day, you can restart the next day! 

So, consider making the Stand-up/Sit-down exercise a goal for 2025. You can start at any time, at any age, and at any ability! Yes, even if you ...

Stand up, sit down!

Even though I was supposed to be at my desk, writing, I needed to get back upstairs. I wanted to continue the momentum and finish the year - well, start the new year with those rooms in order. 

This is what happened. 

While the guest room was more or less organized, some of my stuff had been moved to Studio U for the big clean-up, and some had not been put away. This was the state of the room when I walked in. 

Studio U is a bit messy

Stuff from the guest room

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 ...

There is a bit of good news. I managed to get about 5 hours of sleep (with no drugs) - well, I had taken a Celebrex earlier in the afternoon. I felt much better than the previous day when I slept less. It helped that I was able to get 50 minutes of naptime once I came back from walking the dogs. 

The worst part of the day is getting out of bed and waiting for that morning walk. Yes -- I could walk when I get up, but at 3 AM? A little bit of stretching, a little bit of muscle ...

Did you get a chance to watch that video on one woman's journey with her Mom and Swedish Death Cleaning? If you have been following my blog and you are NOT convinced that you need to be cleaning up your crap, then you need to watch this video. It's 22 minutes long and well worth watching. 

I cried at the end, not just because of what she said about the time wasted with her Mom but because it made me think of my situation. I would have loved conversing with my Mom about her stuff—where it came ...

OH! I'm so confused now. 

I went back TWO months with the online data and in my Fitbit. I entered them into a spreadsheet, which didn't take too long. 

We get a summary from The Conquer monthly that gives us our monthly KMs and the running total for the year. 

In September, I was shorted by 52 KM, which is a lot. The number on the left is the number on the website, and the number on the right is the FitBit Number. 

And this was the summary from September. 

September summary

That number exactly matches what was ...

I never received any training to be a teacher; it seems to come naturally to me, for which I am eternally grateful. I never planned on being a quilt teacher, but the opportunity fell into my lap (thank you, Gail, at the Hobby Horse for believing in me!), and I took to it like a duck to water! 

I also try NOT to DICTATE RULES to my students. I try to create an environment where they feel comfortable asking questions, and I explain why we do something a certain way. If they want to do it differently, that's OK ...

While I accomplished a lot yesterday, I have nothing to show for it! I was in the car most of the afternoon and on a call in the morning! However, I managed to cross several things off my list! Yeah! I hate those kind of days, but every once in a while, they need to be done. 

I have to say that I LOVE the navigation system in the car. Actually, LOVE is not strong enough. It is so easy to use compared to the other vehicle! Well, there is NO comparison. 

I have Android Car Play, which I love ...

People are much more relaxed about getting Zoom links, but seriously? Certain people need to relax or STOP making a nuisance of themselves, and if they read my blog -- they know who they are. It's FREAKING ANNOYING! 

Some instructors will send out the Zoom link several days before the class. People are comforted to know they have the link and won't miss the class. I do NOT send the link out several days in advance because many people lose them, which results in more emails. People are WAY BETTER than they used to be, so issues are rare ...

Is there hope? I'm leaving for a week-long quilt retreat. I may or may not have a one-hour Zoom to present while I'm away. Just ONE! I have a couple of other phone calls, but nothing is work-related, so all is good. No preparation is involved, and they won't last one hour. 

All my admin work, except one tiny detail, is up-to-date. I've sent out emails this morning, all the follow-up from classes is done, and I'm sitting here with NOTHING to do until it's time to leave! 

As if! I'm writing the ...

WAIT -- there's a Virtual Retreat tonight and tomorrow, and I kept forgetting to put it in the blog this past week. DUH!!!! So much for the warning. I'll be working away, so if no one shows up, I'm OK with that. The link will be at the end of the post. 

 The decluttering stopped DEAD! Was that because DH was home? Was that because I had a deadline to meet and struggled with passive writing versus active writing? Or was it just time to take a break? I think it was a bit of everything. HOWEVER, I ...

Gosh -- it's hard to believe that 24 years ago, we were all watching the New Year ring in in Sydney, Australia. Everyone was expecting the world to start ending as the computers couldn't handle the switch from 1999 to 2000. Now, here we are 24 years later, and all is well. But if the "experts" were that shortsighted for "small" detail, imagine how many more things are being ignored - like the disposal of batteries for electric cars! But I won't go there!

I want to apologize to those who came to the Zoom call yesterday, and I ...

Why is there always so much to do before leaving? At least this time, things are a bit calmer - I just have to pack myself and a few clothes, and then I'm out the door - no samples to pack or sewing to finish. But still, there are e-mails to send, and it always seems like there is a ton of stuff. But what doesn't get done will get done when I get back. I'll be back before the Virtual Retreat, which is next Saturday and Sunday. YES -- I get it's a busy time of year, but ...

I caved and looked at the third clue for the 10th puzzle in the Advent Calendar. Even after getting a hint from someone also doing it, my brain just wouldn't go down that route. Even though we had a similar type of clue earlier, well, it just wasn't happening! I get it, and it makes perfect sense. At least we figured out the first part of the clue, so we're not complete idiots! 

The puzzle that almost brought me down

I had a day to myself, which was glorious, even though I didn't accomplish much. That's part of why we need days to ourselves, so if we don't accomplish much -- it's OK! 

I had two Zooms in the morning, and both went very well. One of the projects is down to the wire, with the final reveal next month. I have started sewing my Barn Star Sampler together, and I have three small blocks to assemble, and then I can finish the quilt top. There was one more Zoom in the afternoon for our remedial Jen ...