What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 I am ANNOYED!!! And I'm annoyed at myself! 

I'm trying to get organized for the events over the next couple of weeks. The first one is tonight. So I'm organizing the samples, and I'm missing ONE. Actually, I'm missing a couple of samples. Now, thankfully, both of them are small and would take very little time to redo. It's the principle of the matter. I had one in my hand last week, and I swear I left it on the table. 

I've been searching for it, and nothing!! Thankfully, I had it in ...

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 ...

In case some of you are getting random responses from me -- I'm trying to catch up on all the comments from the blog! Bear with me -- I should catch up soon!

Somewhere recently, I heard someone say that one of the generations (I don't remember which one, and I'm so confused as to who is whom anyway!) Well, the idea was that you are old if you carry a WALLET! Now, I don't think anyone should generalize about age because of something we carry! For the record, it has been years since I last used a ...

For our American friends who celebrated President's Day yesterday, we got to celebrate FAMILY Day! I don't even remember when they started that day or why. Was it because we needed a stat holiday in February, and Valentine's didn't cut it? 

AH -- If you check the history, it started in the province of Alberta in 1990 to recognize the importance of the home and family of their founding pioneers, and it has been adopted by most other provinces since. We've had Family Day in Ontario since 2008. 

Oh, you will be sick of me talking ...

So this morning is Sunday - right? And what am I supposed to do on Sunday when I get up? I'm supposed to take a pill. I've been sitting at my computer for almost two hours and staring at the monitor. Right in front of the monitor is a pill bottle with an ORANGE sticky label on it - marked Sunday. I never saw it until I was ready to make breakfast. Sigh.................. I think I  need a reminder on my phone because otherwise, it will never happen. 

OK, I did it. I've set a weekly reminder for 5 ...

Hmmm --- where was the lightbulb moment last night? We opened the door to Day 10 on the EXIT Game Advent Calendar and figured out what to do with all the pieces (or so we think!). Now, how do we interpret those pieces? We left it - I was going to go back before bed but didn't, so I'll try again today. We may need to look at the clues, but I think we will need all three before this is solved! Some days, the puzzles are tricky, and some are not! 

I stopped at the library the other day ...

Phew -- both of the Zoom classes went off like clockwork! I knew the applique class would be fine. I swear - they have been inundated with so much information about applique, and in the words of one student - "I never knew there was so much about applique!" And yesterday, we only touched on different stitches and machine functions to make the job easier - and that was just for fused applique. 

I've been doing this for 25 years, and I've made oodles of samples in my time, and I NEVER threw any of them out. Now, there are NOT tons ...

We are down to the wire! While some people may enjoy packing and going away, I don't! It just becomes a mad dash to see if everything can get done because there is a DROPDEAD deadline - the airplane won't wait for me! 

As I checked off the mental checklist this morning, I felt like the Christmas Poem - The Night Before Christmas. 

The presentations for this morning - DONE

Follow-up e-mails to class - DONE

Customer e-mails - DONE

Sample suitcase packed and weighed - DONE - (just eked under 50 lbs)

And the list goes on. 

I think the only left is to ...

The treadmill of life! We can't avoid it, but there are days when I get on, the program is set to MARATHON, and I can't get off! I had two successful events yesterday for the Husqvarna Viking Designer Epic 3. I'm home today and have two presentations this morning - they are prepped and ready to go. We have a Virtual Retreat tonight and tomorrow, along with two more classes tomorrow morning. 

Then it's off to Winnipeg to Carellen Sewing Center for three days. Then I'm home, and that's the end of business travel for ...

Believe it or not, but I still have a blister! Yes -- I'm wearing my Camino shoes to finish them off, so these shoes have a wide toe box, and they are a full size larger than my regular shoes, and I still get that mohawk toe callus on my right foot (baby toe). It's a result of the toe being crushed by the one next to it. And, of course, the side of the shoe. Actually, it's never had a chance to fully heal.

There was a lot of dead skin from the walk, but most of ...

That mental health day was good! It got me fired up to get to work yesterday! And while I don't have much to show for it, I feel accomplished. 

I'll be back on the road soon with SVP and have events in Edmonton and Saskatoon. So -- if you're going to be in that area, here's what's happening. 

On September 11 and 12, I'll be at Central Sewing in Edmonton. There are three events - 

Monday - September 11 at 9:30 - 12:30 -- Adventure in Applique -- this is EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about applique ...

Oh - I'm not sure what happened yesterday. The blog was written, and I swear I hit PUBLISH before I left for the gym. But apparently, that didn't happen. Today -- I had a bad night and slept in -- I really slept in, so it's late again! 

You all know about Lexi and Murphy, and I talk about their personalities and show you lots of pictures. However, their personalities are very much linked to their breed. I found these videos, which I think explain PERFECTLY how they differ. I laughed my head off watching these. 

The first is a ...

OK --- I feel like I'm somewhat back in business. I slept a LOT yesterday, with my leg propped up on the back of the sofa -- well, both legs on the back of the sofa (well-supported, mind you), and my knee is feeling better. I'm not going to lie -- I won't be running any marathons any time soon, but the physio suggested that I do exercises where I don't have to put weight on my knee -- like spin class, so I'll be back to spin class on Monday.

I walked both girls yesterday, but shorter than ...

Hmm -- what did I do yesterday? I spent the ENTIRE day, and it was a long one, in Studio B. What happened? Well, lots of stuff happened, just nothing I can share with you now. 

What kind of progress was made? Well, I made progress -- just not as much as I would have liked, but I'm almost at the point where I wanted to be. 

I had to do machine embroidery, and I swear I couldn't piece the blocks fast enough to get them embroidered! Was that because the PFAFF creative icon 2 is FAST? Or was the ...

Leaps and bounds of progress are being made. Well, not exactly, but I'm closer to getting everything done. I have a couple of hours of editing, and one of the critical deadlines will be done! I worked on the second critical deadline project and might get more done today. Then it'll get set aside until next weekend when it becomes my only priority! 

The Zoom calls went off without a hitch yesterday. And the two presentations for this morning are ready to go! Being organized and having a system works amazingly to making this all happen. 

The one ...

More progress is being made -- but it never seems fast enough. The tasks are getting completed, but are there enough days in which to complete all the tasks? 

Spring is definitely on its way, and I've now walked at least three mornings in a row with no hat! WOW! That's exciting, and the snow is melting like mad. 

I spotted this cardinal on the tree in the front -- not that they are a sign of spring, but all the birds are chirping like mad in the morning. 

A cardinal visiting the front yard

I am trying to figure out what is happening with the blog. There used to be a link on the page where you could sign up for e-mails, and each day, you'd get an e-mail with the link to the blog. That doesn't seem to be happening, and then I hear from people that they just got an e-mail. Then others say they are no longer getting it. ACK!!! I have no control over that! The link is still there, but it doesn't work -- I should investigate and remove it! 

So if you want to ensure you ...

 I should schedule some time to go through ALL my quilts and take pictures of them, whether they are finished or in the "to be quilted" stage. Then I need to zero in on the details of those that are noteworthy! That would save me digging through all the tubs! But then I must also search through all my existing photos and tag and sort them. But I don't have the time for that! So I must sort and file the ones I take so I don't have to retake those. 

I'm pretty good about it, but ...

 From time to time, one must charge the Fitbit. I had plugged it in the other day, only to realize that the charger was not connected to anything! Oops. 

So I had it charging yesterday morning. I try to put my phone under the Fitbit as it charges, so as I grab my phone, I'll remember to grab the Fitbit. That did NOT happen, and I was part way through my walk with Murphy when I realized - no Fitbit. NO!! 

I was a bit dismayed, but I soon got over it. I can simply not track that distance (about ...

 OK --- so how many of you are saving the "good" stuff for a special day? Don't use the good china - that's for a special day? Or the linens, the new shirt, or whatever item you save for a special day?

I hear so many stories of people going into their parent's home to clean it out and finding so many items that are brand new and were being saved for a special day. A friend gave some nice embroidered kitchen towels to some friends, and they all said they were too nice to be used daily. So ...