What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

OH MY --- I was exhausted when I got home. I had a decent sleep the night before, but it was short. Can you believe I went to bed at 6:30 last night and got up at 4:30 AM—that is a rarity for me. I had five minutes of awake time and 1 hour and 13 minutes of deep sleep! Phew --- I feel great this morning, and that was probably my best sleep score ever. Those sleep scores only give you excellent if the sleep duration is long. 

But let's step back and see what happened in ...

It's great to be home!!!! I managed to get a bit more sorting done before we left shortly after lunch. It was another amazing retreat with great company, a new house, and a return date for next year! You can't beat that! 

My hand was a bit sore this morning when I woke up, and I'm guessing that was from all the cutting I've done. I'm surprised it wasn't sore before, but then I wasn't making big swooping cuts -- most of what I did was piddly little trimming. 

Once I arrived home, I ...

Here's an update on several situations. After a few messages back and forth with M, it seems that if I read her text correctly, the designer will make the veil; it's my job to embroider it!! OK -- I think I can handle that. Thanks for the tips from everyone. Now I just need to find out the timing --- and she's in BC, and I'm here! But that's no issue!

As for the house? We didn't have any leaks yesterday, even though the sun was out. My towel stayed dry all day. I spoke to ...

The unspeakable happened! I'm happily getting rid of more paper in the office. 

I had some paperwork that needed to be done, so I sat at the computer, finished it, and got it sent. Someone wants a quilt pattern I designed in 2013, and I'm recreating it for this group. That was the one I couldn't find. I still have a bit more work to do on it, but the finished product looks so much better than my hand-scrawled instructions, never mind how much more professional the diagrams look! My knowledge base with computers, despite my issues ...

View from my window

Let's face it.  Saying you're going to reset and actually doing it are two different things.  This week, I set out to walk the walk to go along with all that talk last week.  To that extent I had to start digging ...

Oh crap --- it's likely that I messed up the links again. I'll repost the link for that video on how learning a second language can save your life. Please tell me that it is only some links, not all!!!

Here is the missing link from yesterday. 

I cannot tell you how happy I am these days! Getting those niggling little UFOs done does way more for my happiness level than money or happy pills ever could. And I've taught (forced) myself to be persistent and focused. And get the darn thing DONE - don't just move it ...

Good to know I'm not alone in my frustration with the call centers! To top it off, DH finally had a chance to look at the new remote last night. For whatever reason, he put the same batteries as he tried last time into the old remote, and it worked. I give up! I'm going to make that note for him - put it on the TV. I'm pretty sure he is authorized to chat on our account. If not, you can be sure I'll make that happen! 

Not my problem -- I'm done with that. For ...

I love that fresh start to the new year, cracking open a new planner book, updating all my trackers to start anew, and loving all the possibilities that a clean slate provides.

This year, I didn’t even hesitate on which planner to buy. Last year, I got a Plum Paper planner, and loved it so much, I got the same thing for this year. I made a few tweaks, since it’s a build-your-own planner, but I already love it!

You can read about my previous planner decisions HERE, where there are lots of links to more planner info ...

Haven't we heard that many times? Well, that situation came up several times yesterday, and I should KNOW BETTER. 

I'm working on a project that isn't hard, but it involves MANY steps, and I've had to get super creative to make it work. I'm sure there's a better way, but this is the way that works for me. When I completed the first part of the project yesterday, I was happy, but I was a bit disappointed that I had tried to economize on the process, and it wasn't quite what I envisioned ...

As you probably know if you’ve hung around here at all, I’m continually trying to get organized. And it’s my firm belief that organizing is an ongoing thing that is never really finished, especially if you’re creating wonderful things.

This past year, I applied that to not only my STUFF, but tried to apply it to my life as well. Just as having an organized work space leads to better productivity and leaves room in your head for more creative thinking, likewise, having a routine, being able to batch certain tasks together, or being free to ...

 OH MY GOSH --- someone else calls that fabric FORTREL!!!! They must be from the west, but what a great idea to make quilts for the homeless. That fabric cannot be destroyed. And now I have two boxes to deal with! But at least I know what to do with it! 

You are going to start saying that I sound like a broken record, but this new system of mine is working like a charm. As the number of projects in that blue box diminishes, I am so tempted to walk to the current projects table and pick up a couple ...

OH -- As I sit down to write, I realize there were a couple of other photos I wanted to take. I guess they just have to wait until tomorrow. 

Although the writing was completed and Studio B was mostly back to order, not much sewing was done. It was like Grand Central Station at my house for most of the day. And the phone calls - I rarely get ONE phone call in a day, I had many yesterday. But all good stuff, so I'm not complaining. 

Then things were dropped off, and other stuff picked up. Other things got ...

 Before I begin blabbing this morning, I want to revisit the picture from yesterday. 

The crazy quilter on a bike with her trusty companions

Someone suggested I could download a picture of myself and use it to create the photo. I figured I could, just not there yet. 

What I wanted to say is that I didn't tell ChatGPT anything except "crazy quilter on a bike" and the two dogs, and to make the photo realistic. I did NOT tell it to make a quilted jacket, nor hair or skin color, nor gender, nor clothing. It did that on ...

To my American friends - Happy Independence Day. Be strong! 

Wow --- there were a lot of comments yesterday, and this overbuying and taking on too much is a very hot topic! While I appreciate the positive comments about my teaching, I knew the only way to discourage people from taking too many classes was to not offer so many classes. But that's good for me as well, so I'm OK with that. 

Dare I say that I was at it again yesterday - sorting, pitching, and purging. But mostly sorting. 

The third shelving unit in the stash room held a ...

As I look back on when I started quilting, there are many things that I wish someone had told me. But there is one thing in particular I wish someone had drilled into me. I wish they had embarrassed me, harassed me, or taken whatever means to instill this message into my being. What is it? 

NEVER, and I mean NEVER, take on more than you can do! I'm talking about UFOs. 

Here's a piece of advice for any of you out there (not Elle, of course, as she's on top of it! and I'm darn ...

We all have them - UnFinished Objects that relate to our hobby of quilting. I have them, I have way too many of them, but I've been very fortunate to have room to hide them out of sight. But the UFO creep is hitting Studio B, and I need to do something about it. I have several places where I store my UFOs - in giant tubs under the long arm, two shelving units in the storage room where the community projects reside, three shelving units in the stash room, a closet in Studio B, a closet in one of the ...

YES --- I like SmartWool as well. I have one pair! When I first bought hiking socks, I bought several brands! It was just that I noticed the bottom disappearing slowly on the WrightSock! 

My SmartWool sock

I just went to their website, and WOW—it's easy to pick what you want, as they have a checklist. It's very civilized. I signed up for the newsletter and got 15% off. I might be buying some new socks today! 

I must check with my brother, as the socks he buys have a lifetime guarantee. They are more expensive, but they ...

We're back!! DH and I both read the story in the graphic novel EXIT Game. Then we collaborated, and between the two of us, we got the answer! Not before I goofed AGAIN and missed a bunch of letters, so we had to redo the puzzle multiple times. Although DH insists we found the answer unconventionally, I don't care! We solved it without using the clues. He's so black and white; I'm every shade in between! 

Teamwork! It's all about teamwork! 

Should I mention what happened to the kitchen table? This happens when you use ...

 The weather in Podunk has been absolutely beautiful the last couple of days.  Sunny and 70 is perfect for opening the windows and doing a little spring cleaning.  And that's exactly what I did for a couple of days. Then I was ready to get back in the Studio and play with some fun spring projects.

 It's funny how the days just seem to jumble together. It's almost like Ground Hog Day when the same things happen repeatedly! I am somewhat "chained" to the house because of those presentations. They are all over the schedule, so I must watch the clock. But all is good! I had two presentations yesterday, and both went well. I'm back in the groove for the new topics, although I still have some samples and supplies to organize. 

Guess what I did with my "free" time this morning? I sorted and organized, and every little bit made me ...