What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I know -- I know --- but that little plastic sunflower bag is so cute! It will not take long to finish it! And YES—I could make my own double-fold binding. I know! I'll check out the colors of the purchased first, and if I don't find anything, I'll make it! Sometimes my brain works in mysterious ways! 

I have a bunch of errands to do today, and one of them takes me right past the fabric store. I already checked my stash and couldn't find anything appropriate. 

I seem to have a thing for bags. While ...

Yes --- so true about the words of wisdom. There are times when we feel compelled to criticize a loved one - usually our significant other. But was that absolutely necessary? NO -- so the next time you want to be the backseat driver, or mention that the dishwasher shouldn't be loaded that way, just be quiet. They are loading the dishwasher - be grateful! 

Not saying things that you know will cause issues can improve a situation by 1000%. Don't be the one who invokes the negativity! As they say in Frozen - "let it go!"

OK -- I confess - I was a ...

The other day I wrote about leaving my wallet at the store and thinking I didn't have access to any money, so I wouldn't be able to buy any food except what was in the hotel snack bar that I could charge to my room. I considered setting up a digital wallet on my phone so I could have access to my credit card and perhaps even my debit card. I really don't understand the wallet, so I have never investigated it. 

Then I realized I have a digital wallet with my Tim's app. When I ...

As for the boxes, I told the electricians to leave them. Yes - I know! But they will just dump it all in the garbage, and I can't live with that. So I separated all the junk into the garbage and put the boxes and packing foam in the recycling! I can't help myself! I hate when people just throw everything away without sorting. I am my own worst enemy! That's why I'm so slow when I'm tidying up!

However, there is quite a mess in the garage at the moment, after all the garbage was ...

Oh dear --- I may have to switch out the grass on my blocks for Down on the Farm. I will evaluate it this morning and make a decision. I am going to redo the turtle block as well. This quilt is darn cute!!! And I am on the final block!!! This one also has grass in it, and well, maybe I can switch out the green, and if I like it, then I'll have to remake that section of the rooster block. It wouldn't be a lot of work. Maybe that's why I stopped at that point ...

You are right -- 30 years is NOT old for a house, but the electrical stuff in the house is old! Many of the plugs were outdated or broken. That is not good news for safety and for our environment! Yet again!!!

OH MY -- I never thought about the QUILTsocial blog posts and AI. But you are right—you cannot tell it is AI. The voices and conversation are super smooth and sound just like two people casually talking - literally the way you would have a conversation in a podcast. DH says, I should be happy that it's NOT my ...

Every day is a new day! I think that was what Alex and Ricky say at the end of every episode of The Quilt Show, and it's true! So much is happening, and some days I don't even know where to start. 

I walked to the grocery store and on my way back, my phone started pinging in my pocket. PING PING PING PING. There were so many pings I decided I needed to stop to see what the heck was going on. It was M, alerting me to something extremely creepy, yet extremely hilarious. 

I had set ...

What an insane day yesterday was. It felt like we were living in a warehouse! Every time I turned around, there were more boxes in the house. 

After getting my morning chores out of the way, it was time to head to the lighting store to see what I could find. I didn't have the luxury to be choosy, but I sort of knew what I wanted. And seriously, I think people spend way too much dithering over decisions. I was in and out of the lighting store in about 1.5 hours. 

I walked in the store, and ...

OH MY --- I had to finish that book (Grounds for Murder by Betty Ternier Daniels) last night. I think it was 8 hours in total, but since I was busy sewing this intense quilt block, I had to turn it off each time I needed to find pieces to sew. There are so many similar sizes, and obviously you are sewing two different fabrics together - I had to do a wee bit of unripping from time to time. 

But you are NOT going to believe this. At one point in the book, the main character mentions a small village in ...

OK -- I see I have some gardening to do in the fall!! I spent another hour yesterday removing more creeping vine from the rocks surrounding the pond. That is always a precarious job because you are standing on the rocks, staring down into the water, and if you slip - well, then it's time for a dip amongst the water lilies! 

I would say that over half the backyard is cleaned up now, but the gardener guy is still going to come this week, as there is the side yard and the front that need to be taken care of ...

I am definitely a creature of habit, and if I go outside that world, I'm in big trouble!!!

I had pretty much packed my suitcase the evening before, so not much to do in the morning except have breakfast. But I thought I would give the wardrobe one last look. I checked the drawers - nothing. But when I opened up the hanging clothes area, there were THREE of my things in there. Good grief!!!!! 

I never, never, never unpack my suitcase, and so all my clothes are hanging around or in the suitcase in the room. That would not ...

While I had a great sleep, the day did not start well. Remember how I said that everything has a home - at least in Studio B? Well, it's the same when I travel; I am NOT one to unpack my suitcases in the hotel room. I leave everything in the suitcase, and there is zero danger of me leaving something in the drawers. It's one less thing to check. 

So yesterday, when I was looking for my conference T-shirts and then my yoga pants, they were not to be found. I thought the pants had been left in ...

OMG—I am stunned, and I'm exhausted. But I managed to finish everything I planned on getting done! If I had had that extra day, I might have finished the two samples I knew I had run out of time for! 

I'm thrilled to death. Did it help that I started listening to a hilarious detective story? I don't know, but whenever I was doing something mindless, I listened to the book, and it helped to keep me on track. 

Let me share the samples that are done. 

You already saw this sample - it's the tablet ...

Last night at dinner, DH asked me if I was going away in two days. I said yes. He then asked why I wasn't all in a tizzy and panicking about getting stuff done. Well, I have a new philosophy - what gets done gets done, and what doesn't? It didn't need to be done! 

Having said that, I did make good progress yesterday, and I've already been working for several hours this morning. I had a bizarre dream which prevented me from going back to sleep. Nothing to do with sewing or deadlines. What I need ...

I didn't take a picture of the progress on my puzzle, but I'm working through the green forest! Are these pieces reflections, or are they the trees? Hmmm..... I started creating a section that wasn't attached to anything, since it was easier to work on. Then I discovered that my section was upside down and fit beautifully into the top part. 

I work on it for about an hour each evening. After that, it becomes too challenging for my brain, which is interesting, since there are other puzzles I could work on for hours. This one is ...

Progress was made, but not nearly as much as I wanted. I've just come to the conclusion that what I get done is what I get done! I am not going to sweat it, and there is a lot of "new" stuff that I'm working on. By "new," I mean techniques I haven't done in a long time, a new design I'm stitching out, and so on. 

But first, let's discuss this quote that Jackie posted in the comments. 

Drop the weight on your shoulders and put it under your feet to rise to the ...

I typically stay at Holiday Inns, and when I arrive in the room, it is COLD, so I have to turn the thermostat up a couple of degrees to turn the fan/air conditioning off. I have no issues putting on a sweater, but I am not a fan of cold rooms when I'm traveling, since I don't typically have my warm clothes with me. 

Something very unusual happened on my reading lists. I typically have an e-book and an audiobook on the go at the same time. BOTH books I'm currently reading are related to a ...

OH MY ---- shipping to Canada. I didn't even think of that, as some companies won't ship to Canada and vice versa because of high shipping costs. Isn't that just the silliest thing, considering we are next-door neighbors? 

I have found a solution: an account with a cross-border shipping company. If I want something from the US and the shipping is high, I send it to my "address" in the US. Then I pay about $10 to have it shipped from the warehouse to Canada, and that warehouse is about a ten-minute drive from my house. 

I recently ...

I think travel and age are creeping up on me. I would like to be totally in denial, but I guess I can't deny any longer. I was so tired yesterday, and I think I had two naps. That's OK. The travel of the last three weeks, the carrying of heavy luggage, setting up machines, traveling in different time zones -- it's getting harder and harder! 

While I did tidy everything off the floor in Studio B, I did NOT get everything done. I simply moved some of it onto a table so it was easier to access ...

I'm home, and the girls are happy! 

As far as travel days go, it was pretty uneventful, which is exactly how I like them. The only issue was getting all that luggage home. I love traveling light, and so when I have three suitcases and two carry-on items, that is a LOT to manage. Thank goodness for carts at the airport. 

I got everything packed into the three suitcases and my backpack, except for a few things which went into the handy-dandy tote bag that I had with me. 

Packed and ready to roll!