What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I'm not out of the woods yet, but feeling better. Let's hope this doesn't develop into something serious -- I don't have time for serious! Lots to drink, lots of sleep -- that's my healing process!

It's probably too early to think about cleaning up, as most of you will be thinking about Christmas, but if you're starting to think about how to downsize your stash, here's an excellent and FAST way to make that happen. Comfy Cases, an organization that distributes colorful pillowcases to sick children, donated over 4,500 pillowcases across Ontario ...

It was bound to happen - I've developed a sore throat! It's been years since I've been sick, and I could feel it coming on yesterday. Well, nothing that a few throat lozenges can't cure! (I hope!) I've no plans to go anywhere, and nothing urgent to do, so the timing is right. But still -- I HATE being sick! So far, it's just a sore throat; let's hope it doesn't develop into something more. 

I accomplished more paperwork, and I'm getting things under control. I still have one distribution list that has ...

Someone posted an interesting comment about Louise Penny's book - The Beautiful Mystery (published in 2012). Gamache was partially inspired by her late husband (Micheal Whitehead), the Former Director of Hematology at Montreal Children's Hospital. He got dementia and eventually died in the fall of 2016. I know from following her blog that he was ill for many years, and this is likely the rationale for the troubled storyline in the books. The timeline would be right. Gamache was also inspired by  Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird and Jean Gamache, a tailor in Granby, QC.

Louise has ...

Yep -- I have the best friends ever! I love our Virtual Monday Sewing Group! So much fun to get together, and you would think after this long that we would run out of things to talk about. Nope! However, we have ZERO tolerance for anything political, those who used to be royals, and COVID (anything related to policy). I never want to shut someone down on a call, but if I have to, I will! 

Our calls are so much fun and well --- what happens at Monday Sewing stays at Monday sewing. A while back, we started a show and ...

Who says the internet can't be your friend? I swear with all of you to help me, I'll never be lost for finding things! But the internet is more than that. I reached out to someone (on Facebook) for a specific reason, and we've become friends - sharing a few minutes of our day each morning. No -- we are NOT dating, but we share a couple of common interests. For those who poo-poo Facebook, if used wisely, Facebook can be your biggest friend. I LOVE Facebook, and my world has expanded exponentially because of it! 

Thanks to Tammy ...

Should I or shouldn't I? That's the big question right now about my phone. After our Monday sewing, I went to the mall to chat again with the Bell folks. I could get a new phone, but the S21 is obsolete, so that's not an option. This means I'd have to go with the S22, which requires a new case. Why? Because someone is going to make more money that way! The guy in the store even said so! That is very wasteful as my phone case is perfectly useful, but who will want it? 

They ...

We have heat again! We had heat in the house, but it wouldn't go above a certain temperature. The technician was shortly after eight and made several adjustments, and YES - I needed to clean the filter. It amazes me that since we now lease the furnace, the company is NOT pushing down our throats to have it serviced. When we owned the furnace, they were on us like a dirty shirt to have it serviced twice a year. I'll be making some notes in my calendar to get that done. 

Furnace repair in action

And it's probably ...

The allergies were well under control yesterday! I don't have a fever; I've checked a couple of times. And every once in a while, I get a humbling day like that where my allergies just go berzerk! Then they are good! I've no idea why, but I know I've disturbed a LOT of dust over the last couple of days. I've Swiftering, and hopefully, everything is OK. 

OMG -- I just finished reading a book this morning, and I want ONE more chapter! Seriously! This book had plot twists and turns, and you think - AHA -- I ...

I took MANY pictures yesterday, and I have nothing to share with you today! OK -- that's a lie because I always have something to share. But while I spent the entire day immersed in quilting stuff, I have NO quilting pictures to share. 

However, if you are part of my Pre-Cut or Scrap class today, you'll see TONS of stuff. I have a lot to say about pre-cuts and scraps and how we have a love/hate relationship with both. But I LOVE putting it down on paper. Finding just the right picture to show what I'm ...

The keyboard is back! It needed new batteries as it's a BlueTooth device. But this is the bizarre thing. Look at the back where the batteries go.

Why is this wet?

For some reason, it became WET, and my first thought was that the batteries were leaking. But they didn't appear to be. So did I spill something on the surface? Nope -- I did not. So I don't know what the issue was. I took those batteries out and left the whole thing to dry thoroughly, and this morning, I put new batteries in, and I'm ...

Dare I say that I'm back to normal? I walked 11.5 KM yesterday in those open sandals. Yes --- I'm keeping an eye on the dead skin on the blisters to ensure they don't open, and everything seems fine. I'm not running marathons here! But I need to look at a pair of new runners, which is a task for this week. 

The hardest thing is figuring out what day of the week it is. With no deadlines, it's a challenge! However, it's MONDAY, and we have Monday sewing today. Yeah!!! 

I was a ...

I survived the day, but not without a couple of laughs. I had been texting one of my colleagues in the morning, and we were both saying that we didn't want to talk to anyone, especially each other! Then my SIL, who doesn't live close but is here because MIL had her second knee done, stopped by, and guess what? I had to talk! 

I tried to have an extra nap in the morning, but the cleaning lady came, so that wasn't going to work! It was just one of those days! But I did end up ...

Well, I did NOT get much done in the sewing department yesterday, and I'm OK with that. I went shopping instead! And there were two reasons for that. I have to take my car in today for a recall on the fuel pump. That requires that the gas tank be ¼ or less. I was at a half tank, so I had some gas to burn off. I'm just at the ¼ mark, so hopefully, that works for them. 

It was a good trip as I found something that I didn't think I would find! Let's ...

 Yes - I got photos for you today. A full tour of Studio U. I haven't been sewing a lot up there - there isn't even a sewing machine at the moment, but on some of the nice sunny days, I hope to move up! And speaking of the sun? Where has the sun been hiding? There was some sun yesterday when I went for my walk, but it's been pretty cloudy lately!

Did I get my e-mail woes solved? No. That was after spending two hours on the phone with Microsoft. At least the support person got my ...

I was all excited yesterday. I would set up a series of rules for my e-mail so the appropriate e-mails would be filed and it would be easy to find them. I've used rules before but haven't set them up in a while. So if you signed up for a class and cursed me when I asked that you send one e-mail per class, it's for that reason. 

I set up the rule and hit APPLY. Oh - I think something went wrong. It moved all my unread e-mails to the new folder. Oops! Then I thought I ...

 I PROMISE to get the photos of Studio U to you tomorrow! It's dark up there at the moment, and so you won't see much. It's best to wait until it's light. 

Mission accomplished - the magazine article was approved by the editor, although I had to scramble to get a wee bit of information to her. No problem - it's done! Already thinking about the next topic. I'll let you know when the article gets published.  

The other magazine quilt is done! I didn't get a box out yesterday, but now I have two ...

 WOW -- It's amazing what I can accomplish when I focus! The current projects are assembled on one table, totally out of sight when I'm sewing. Well, they are behind me when I sew, so technically, I can't see them! I did place a few odds and ends on the cutting table that need to be addressed, and the ironing surface is clear. So is the sewing table EXCEPT for the Cherrywood Challenge. 

There's NOTHING to distract me. I started a new audiobook, and I was good to go. I got so much done!

I'm happy ...

 Yep - today, Bear and M will be leaving. They have a mid-morning flight to catch. I'm sad to see them go - it's been great fun to have them here, even though Bear has totally thrown my routine off! He gets one more walk this morning before he has to be bundled up into his carrier - he's NOT going to be happy about that. 

M and Little Bear

Yum!!! Slurp!  Yum!!

He is so darn slow. No - that's not true exactly. He's unpredictable. One day, he runs the entire time we're out, and the next ...

 It's a bit too early to start reflecting on what happened this past year. And I'm sure that many don't even want to go there. 

However, here's some interesting food for thought. Two days ago, I finished my 2020 challenge with The Conqueror. It initially started out as a cycling goal of 3,000 miles for 2020. When things started shutting down, I lost my spin class mileage, and my cycle trip was canceled. I needed to rethink that goal. I started counting my walking mileage. I did feel like I was double-dipping on this, but ...

 Do you have days when you feel like an antique? It happens to me from time to time, but thankfully very rarely! 

I don't often visit antique shops as I never seem to find anything, so what's the point? Last week, I had a chance to pop into one for a few minutes, and I thought, "why not?" Well, I managed to pick up some old photographs for 50 cents each, which is rare in antique shops. BUT I also found a treasure, so I think the timing was meant to be. 

Pretty much the first thing I ...