What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The Zoom sessions for the "day job" are complete! For the remainder of the year, we'll be doing in-person events, and I have some booked near me! So watch for events at Sew Productive in Milton and Thimbles Quilts and Sewing in Windsor (Lasalle). They are going to be fun and informative, and I've been making NEW samples. 

That leaves one in-person event today (all packed) and two Zooms to prepare for tomorrow. The final writing assignment is almost edited, and I'm doing well. I'm a little behind schedule, but it's doable to complete it ...

I have ONE Zoom left for my day job! My, how time flies when you're having fun! There is lots of stuff to put away, but I don't have time to deal with it today. 

I still have an in-person event this weekend for anyone who has recently purchased a Husqvarna Viking Designer Epic 3, and there are two Zooms on Sunday. All the material is prepared for everything; it's just a question of putting it into a presentation or pulling out the appropriate equipment from the jumble!

Speaking of jumbles, I mentioned that I found a ...

I'm happy to report that NOTHING was running around the neighborhood last night or early this morning. On the wildlife front, all is quiet! Murphy is still sleeping, and we're good!

However, we had issues walking in the morning. Snow was on the ground, and Bear came home covered with mini snowballs on his legs. He wasn't happy, and I had to carry him part way. 

Winter is back with dog snowballs

Is it me, or do the days seem to run into each other quickly? It's not like I don't enjoy the days, but they are going quickly! The good news is that I went to bed last night and slept like a log. I woke up when my alarm went off. And seconds later, Murphy was beyond herself with excitement. I ran to the window to see what caused such a panic, and I spotted THREE raccoons chasing each other. 

That's a new one for me. I've seen them running up trees and waddling across the ...

What???  I can't get enough Vitamin D just by being outside? Oh boy --- I guess I have a lot to learn. One day, I'll get it all figured out! What I need now is a good formula for sleep. For the most part, I'm a good sleeper, but the last two nights have been horrible. I feel like something the cat dragged in. 

While I have loads to do this week, there is loads of time to get it done, so there's no pressure. I only have a few problems that need to be resolved and ...

We had our UFO Club in the morning, and I was one of the few who didn't meet the deadline. That's OK - I'll get it done for next month. I completed part of it, but not enough to say I put in a reasonable effort. I wish I had more time to focus on my UFOs - I'm to the point now where I need this project (Cabin in the Woods X two) off my plate as I'm getting bored with it. OK -- so I am working on applique, which stalls me EVERY time. I like ...

Thanks for your thoughts on mental health! I'm OK, and while I still haven't found those items, and I'm still "frustrated" by a piece of technology that isn't cooperating with me, I'm over that destructive feeling. Thankfully, it doesn't last long, but I wish I could control it. Thankfully, my mind tells me to throw things, but don't break things - like dumping an embroidery machine on the floor! 

Oh my gosh—this is just too cute to pass up. When I walk Lexi in the morning, the other two hop up in bed ...

I am even more annoyed with myself this morning. Well, I'm no longer irritated, but yesterday? I was very annoyed. I was putting together the presser feet I was going to demo in my presentation, and do you think I can find my Open-Toe feet for the PFAFF? They are not to be seen. Then I realized that I was also missing my Quilt Binder. I have two of them, and they are in big purple boxes. 

I'm VERY diligent about keeping all my presser feet in a specific location by brand. I'm anal about it. But ...

Well, I did not find that sample, but that's OK because I made new ones, and they are probably nicer than the old ones! It's still super annoying that I can't find them. They will turn up at one point, but where are they hiding?

I'm a bit strapped for time this morning as I have to be somewhere at 8 a.m., which is prime dog-walking time. So the blog will be short, and the spin class will be short, so I can at least get them outside and fed. When someone offers to do ...

 And so another week begins! They seem to be marching along, and here we are, almost in the middle of March!! I see Murphy and Bear synchronizing their sleep pattern again this morning. They are quite the pair, and Lexi is nowhere to be seen. 

We had a fantastic show-and-tell at our machine embroidery club. The ladies are so talented, and I have to say we are full. I expanded the class length by 15 minutes, and we still ran over just a wee bit, so I can't let anyone else in. 

This is what it looked like behind ...

OH --- someone mentioned that it was funny I went to the bank to deposit that $20 bill! Well, I was pretty sure it wouldn't go through the ATM, and I asked the teller, and he said NO. I thought this polymer bill was introduced years ago. I was a bit surprised that it was in September of 2015. Seriously? I thought it was older than that. AHA --- a bit more research and it was, in fact, introduced in November 2012. A commemorative note in honor of Queen Elizabeth was introduced in September 2015. 

I could have spent that $20 ...

Yesterday was another one of those days where I accomplished lots, but I don't really have anything to show for it! But my Fitbit Steps? Off the chart!! I've been walking at least 13 km every day for the last week. Some of that is intentional walking with the dogs and my afternoon walk, but also all the running around the house collecting samples, setting up equipment, etc. It's totally insane! However, I have aggressive goals, so I need 11.5 KM every day, so I'm not that much ahead!

There are days when I feel ...

I survived another day! Actually, it wasn't too bad once I got all the equipment set up for the second Zoom call. When the Zoom session is about software, the set-up is easy because everything is on the computer. But when it comes to showing the sewing machines, I need to do a bit more work. This is what it looked like last night behind the scenes. 

Behind the scenes on a Zoom call

I was too far away from my computer for my liking, so I need to rearrange that a bit. It gets tight with tripods and ...

Someone suggested I run a defrag on my hard disk. Yes -- that's a good idea, and I must remember to do that. 

What I think I need to do is get myself organized first. I must write down each place where I have storage - how much I pay and what is stored there. There's Googe Drive, One Drive, and soon iCloud. I have Dropbox (which I need to cancel), my external hard disks, and my storage on the two computers. Wait -- there's also the phone and the iPad. Can you see the craziness of all this? And ...

My storage woes are far from being over. Every place I look - Google Drive, One Drive, my laptop -- everything is red-lining! The biggest issue is I need help understanding what is going on. I have files that are sitting on my phone that are also sitting on Google Drive. Some of them do not download when I download from my phone, but I see that I can do that manually on the computer. I best try downloading today and then manually moving what doesn't come automatically. 

And despite deleting many emails, the storage space has not budged. Why is ...

Today, there are two presentations, and both are as ready as they will be! There is so much to share with the groups, and I can only hope the message gets across. I get some questions and know that some are getting it, and well, I need to review for a few! The biggest issue with EVERYONE in any class is STABILIZER!!!! It's not that hard!!!! 

But all is good. Then I have nothing on the agenda until Monday morning, but I have eleven Zooms next week, one in-person event, Monday sewing, and a meeting. And that's the ...

What a wild day!!!! The temperature had dropped, but it was totally bearable with the sun! Those who were able to come to the full-day INPERSON session for the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC 3 went home with their heads spinning from the amount of information I spewed at them! The intent was to give them a broad overview of the capabilities, but we need MORE than one day!! 

I was fired up and had fun!!! Thanks to Brampton Sew n Serge for hosting the event. I wonder if there are enough people with EPIC 3 around to host a Zoom ...

While I don't have a lot to show for what happened yesterday, I did get stuff done! That seems to happen a lot these days! I have two classes to prep for this weekend, and I'm at a local store teaching all day, so my time has been spent prepping for that. 

For the life of me, I cannot find ONE sample that I'd really like to have today. What the heck could I have done with it? Sigh!! The store might have the same sample, so I'm HOPING! 

Yesterday was all about the weather - it ...

Yesterday was a LOST day! I accomplished nothing, yet I did do TWO things. 

My passport expires near the end of June, and I've had a note in my calendar since January that I need to renew it. There was no urgency to getting it done, but I knew I would need it probably in April, so I had time. I had gotten pictures taken, and I worked on printing the darn application. 

My plans have changed, and I need the darn thing in March. Oh boy! I intended to mail the application in, and it would take 20 ...

I need to renew my passport which expires in June. I had so much trouble printing out the form -- of course I did! I must have filled the darn thing out 10 times before the stars aligned and the form was printed! So I'll drop it off today. How many hours will I wait? 

I could mail it, but I'd rather know immediately if there is an issue with any part of the application process. 

We had Monday sewing and it's always fun! I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but I ...