What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The best laid plans and then life happens! But yesterday was an amazing day, even if I didn't accomplish anything. WAIT  - I actually accomplished a very important thing -- nurturing a friendship, which is way more valuable than making things, except when you are supposed to be making things for your daughter's wedding! LOL. 

I had planned a lunch date with a friend, and yesterday was the only day we could make it happen this month. That "lunch" date turned into hours and hours of lively, energizing conversation. It was glorious, and I'm surprised we didn't get ...

My brain always seems to be working overtime, and yesterday was no exception. I'm sure you all have your favorite people that you follow on Facebook or IG. You know the ones that are either building/renovating a house/castle/chateau or own pets (goldens, huskies, or other breeds with a few cats thrown in. And as they reach their various milestones, they post the numbers. 

But have you noticed how the number of content creators has exploded? Everyone thinks they can be a content creator because how hard can it be? And some of them are definitely better ...

THANKS to all who gave me great suggestions about the witty comments. I will reread them and memorize them because they were great!!! You are the best, and thanks for putting up with my little tirade yesterday!

And yes -- it was just a question of time before I approached the CJPA (Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association) to help. I love helping out, and used to help a lot with the quilt guilds I belonged to in the past. Then, when it became too political and cliquish for my liking, I stepped away, and I don't regret that decision. 

Thankfully, there ...

I'm so glad to hear that I am not alone in getting books. And Sharon mentioned something extremely important yesterday. So many books are no longer relevant because technology has changed, and the information in the books is so outdated that no one wants it. The only thing to do is to put it in the recycling bin. And that is hard. I have a few things around here that should go in the recycling bin, but I'm not there yet, either. 

However, I spent quite a bit of time in Studio B yesterday, and I learned a ...

And it feels good.

We took an 8-day trip. First stop to my sister’s to leave the bird and have dinner with her. 

Everyone wants on the Hubs' lap. The bird is in another room.

I received some shocking news yesterday while I was at the gym, and big changes are coming for me! OK -- I'm exaggerating, but for me, it will be a big change. I will not be like my parents -- I will embrace the change, although it's very upsetting. What happened? 

I learned that Joseph, the most amazing spin class instructor, was LET GO!!! No one seems to know why, and I don't have his contact information, but I'm going to try to find it so I can reach out to him. I'm also going to write ...

You are the BEST!!!! Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I don't have time to digest them this morning, as I need to be on the road shortly for my guild presentation. I'll be at the Thames Valley Quilter's Guild, and it's an hour and a half to get there. Their meeting starts at 9:30, which I think is the most civilized thing I've heard from any guild. A large percentage of guilds meet in the evenings because many members work, but I would no longer go out to an evening guild as ...

OH - I love the fact that puzzles helped calm someone down. I can see that. I find it extremely relaxing to sit and work on a jigsaw puzzle. I am going to try to always have one on the go since I have learned how to tackle my addiction to them. 

MOVE OVER MOM!!!! 

Hello everyone, this is Murphy and Lexi, and we have something to say. 

It's the girls -- Murphy and Lexi!!!

We love our Mom, and she is very good to us, although we do NOT get nearly as many treats as we need. We are starving ...

Taking my computer out of sleep mode was a good thing. Before I knew it, the syncing had finished, and my folders in the Classic Version of Outlook now have email in them!!! I must get busy and start deleting and resorting what's in there. I don't want to have to go through that again. 

And the program is no longer frozen. It wouldn't allow me to do anything while the syncing process was happening, so that is one positive thing that happened!!!

I went to the post office to check on my missing parcel, and they ...

Despite this newfound focus, it seems challenging to move ahead. WAIT --- I know that I'm getting things done, but the progress seems slow. I know it's not, when you consider how many hours I actually sew each day. I make the most of the time I spend in Studio B and call it a day. There is NO RUSH to get these things done!

Oh my gosh --- what am I complaining about - I still accomplished a LOT. The abbreviated "Dear Jen" is now quilted. I was hoping to get it trimmed, but that didn't happen. A job ...

I fell into bed last night, totally exhausted. After the heavy upper body workout with Brooke in the morning, working with the embroidery machine and the giant quilt, plus a walk to the dollar store and the grocery store, I was done! But that's OK -- it was a productive day! Plus, I finished listening to a book, which I have to share the details with you. 

Let's start with the giant quilt! It is 109 by 109 inches. It is done, almost trimmed, and ready to be dropped off later today. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I am leery of ...

Last week, I took a class on Thread Painting, taught by Carolyn Tabarini and sponsored by our local guild. She was our guest speaker at the morning meeting with an impressive trunk show of her work. These two pieces have light threads on black backgrounds, all free motion machine stitching.

A thread painted dragonfly was stitched over a background of thread painted fabric. The background is done in pastels to provide texture.

This flower is thread painted on pieced log cabin block.

Examining it closer, the color blending is apparent.

Thread coverage is denser in some areas and lighter in ...

I LOVE hearing all your stories of repurposing projects, prepping for upcoming surgeries (good luck), and ideas for my Prince challenge. It's a process to be sure, but when you have a plan, or whatever you want to call it, life is good. I know the times I find hardest are when I have something (or multiple things) to do and no plan. Sometimes that is as simple as writing things down. 

I had several computer tasks to do, and I kept reviewing them in my head. That was taking up a lot of energy to keep track of ...

And the busiest weekend for February is over! I survived it, and all the work got done on time, so my new time management is working out. By time management, I mean I have reduced the number of classes, which made time management so much easier. I didn't juggle my time better - I just had less to do. There's a huge difference, and I feel so much better!

I will always have things to do, but I will always ensure there is time for me!

If you remember, I talked about doing a couple of Zoom sessions on ...

OH MY!!!!!! When I sit down to write the blog, I have to come up with a title, and some days that's a struggle because nothing super exciting happened. But there are days, like today, when I have many titles! I called it "The Best of both worlds," but "Happy Dance," "Exciting update," and "The email saga continues (part two)" would have worked as well. 

It was a good news day all around, so I'm excited. 

The knee update is all good. I did a short walk with the girls in the morning. While I feel perfectly fine ...

For the record, I do NOT give my dogs people food. Currently, three adults live in this house, and TWO of them think it's OK to slip them the occasional tidbit of food, including veggies. I'm OK with the veggies, though some are not safe for dogs. And for this reason, those two dogs hang around those two people waiting for the tidbits. Trust me, I have repeatedly said, DO NOT FEED the dogs people food, and it falls on deaf ears. Thankfully, it's not a lot of food, but I keep repeating the message. 

Since this ...

As I was lamenting the loss of my distribution lists with the sewing group, TWO people piped up that they keep theirs in Excel. Of course, both of these people are familiar with Excel from their working days. They were pretty adamant that I should use EXCEL to manage my lists. 

WHAT? I do NOT get that. The issue is: why would I enter the darn lists twice (Outlook and Excel), which would require duplicate management? I already struggle with duplication. Some lists are needed year-round; others are temporary for my ongoing classes, which last about 9 months. Then those ...

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who believes that if you fill your retirement with busyness, it's not right! WAIT --- I get it -- it's your retirement, and you can do whatever makes you happy, but why would you want to be filling the days with running around and not have time for spontaneous stuff? Nope --- I will not let that happen to me. 

And I stand corrected, the movie with the book communication is called Interstellar! Thanks for the correction!

Speaking of free time, I sometimes have to double-check my calendar to make ...

My friend, Diana, gave me this kitchen print fabric recently. She had purchased it for herself, but lost interest in making anything with it. I thought it would be perfect for an embroidery project for the kitchen. Measuring it out, I could cut it into four rectangular pieces about 18 x 20. Adding a band with the embroidery would bring it up to a great size for use.

Red and teal are such a popular combination, not only for modern kitchens, but also the ones vintage inspired. I pulled threads to match the colors in the fabric, and assigned the ...

Happy Groundhog Day! I think I'd like to watch the movie tonight. Moving along...

Along with that came headaches—I ...