A gift of time

Like many of you, I was not thrilled when I heard the news that the emergency status in our province will continue for another 28 days. Rather than get angry or frustrated or sad, I think we need to look at this in perspective. We're dealing with something life-changing. While life will go back to normal, the new normal will not be the same. And some people have lost loves ones, their life will never be the same. The front line workers - their lives have changed.

I think rather than lashing out, we should look at the next four weeks as a gift. A gift of time and opportunity to get creative - we don't have any commitments, we don't have to rush to any meetings, and a whole lot of other things that we normally do have been removed from our lives. Ask yourself - What can I do to keep busy? What can I do to help someone else? Maybe you can make a phone call to someone every day to stay in touch. Tired of being in your house? You don't have to be in your house 24 hours a day - go for a walk. Get some fresh air - you'd be amazed at how getting out in the fresh air can clear the cabin fever from your brain.

Sew masks, sew quilts for charity organizations or sew for yourself. Start a new project if you must or get the UFOs under control. Read a book, read magazines, watch some videos or take an online class. There are so many things that one can do - it's all a mindset and means you need to look at things in a positive light - it can make all the difference in how your day goes. 

It will take me a long, long time before I run out of things to do. I can't even get to everything I want to do every day. But that's OK. I'm trying to make the best use of my time. Here's what happened yesterday.

I went for three walks yesterday (almost 17,000 steps). The first one with the girls where it was very pleasant outside. The second was later in the afternoon and it was getting cool and WINDY. I knew that Murphy doesn't handle the wind very well (she's a leaf chaser) so I brought them home and then went for another long walk by myself. That wind was so strong at some points, that I could barely move forward. It was crazy, but it was exhilarating at the same time.

During the walks, I'm noticing more and more of these little painted stones. What a great idea. Thanks to whoever is painting them. They bring a smile to my face as I pass them.

Painted stone with a message

Painted stone

One more painted stone

It's time to get back to the long arm. This is the first of five quilts on the schedule for Quilts of Valour for this month. It's trimmed and I need to make some binding for it. This was one of the quilts that got put together before I made the rule that all quilts need binding before they go in the "to be quilted" pile.

Quilt for Quilts of Valour

I did not get the magazine quilt trimmed and bound. That's on the list of things to do today.

I did get a bit of tidying done. I came across some weird things. Like four meters of small twill tape. Why did I buy it? No idea. But it's now with the other cords and twill tapes. YES - I have a labeled box for that stuff. HEY - sometimes stockpiling this stuff comes in handy. DH needed a new cord for his pants and I found exactly what he needed in the box!!!

Twill tape

Then I found this stretcher canvas. Actually, it looks more like a frame. Why do I have it? Oh - I bought it for a specific reason, but I don't remember. It's now with the other canvases and framing things. I don't mind if I'm not going to use it right away - I just want all similar things in the SAME place. That's my goal.

A stretcher frame - for what?

I found this tool that Ronda bought several years ago on one of our road trips. We had seen a sample in the store and we bought the tool. I chatted with her about it yesterday and NEITHER of us can remember what was so burning that we had to have the tool. Which is totally hilarious. It's still sitting on the cutting table as I'm not quite sure what to do with it. Should I give it back to her - it is hers after all or should I try the little quilt that's in the package? It's woven, not pieced. But I swear what peaked out interest was NOT the quilt. Suggestions????  We could call the store and ask. I know where we bought it.

Tool for weaving fabric strips

I now have two boxes that are packed and the contents are cataloged. The bottom box contains UFOs. There are TEN UFOs in that one box. If you remember from the day before, the project boxes don't fit in there and besides, they do take up a lot of room. Plastic bags saved the day.

The second box is all the samples that I need to be making for my day job as an educator for SVP. There's a LOT of sample stuff in that box - twenty. All are small and probably won't take long to finish up or make from scratch. I put ALL the projects (new and UFO) in there rather than just UFOs. That way, when I want to find something for SVP - it'll be easy to find.

Two boxes of stuff to do

And those neatly labeled boxes look way better than this mess of bags and other stuff that is under the long arm. My goal is to box up all this stuff (or put it where it needs to be) and the boxes will reside under the long arm. I'm OK with that. I also have the goal to NOT use any IKEA bags and to get rid of the laundry baskets. I have a lot of decorative boxes that I should be using for this stuff. So I have a goal. A goal is GOOD.

Stuff to deal with under the long arm

So yes - the area under the long arm and the worktables are my focus for the moment. The worktables are first, but I'm pulling stuff from under the long arm because stuff is scattered everywhere and it needs to be sorted into the appropriate boxes.

Even more empty spaces on the worktables

I've emptied a few containers as well and I'll be reusing these to store the UFOs and new projects.

Empty containers

 But this is so exciting to FINALLY be dealing with that stuff. Some of this stuff, I've moved MANY times. Why do I have packages of thread? I was going to make some wonderful projects. Well, I can't make anything if I can't find the supplies. So I did put away quite a bit of stuff yesterday. More to do today. It would be amazing if by the end of the 28 days that the worktables and the area under the long arm could be finished. OH MY - what would I do with my spare time? Oh - clean the office!!

I've no idea why, but it was way easier to pick stuff off the tables rather than deal with those boxes on the cutting table. It doesn't matter - as long as progress is being made. But I really wonder how my brain works sometimes.

More stuff to sort through

Then it was upstairs to get some sewing done. I got the binding made for the twist and turn quilt. It's now moved to the "to be quilted" pile and all the bits got put away.

Another quilt to be quilted

It was time to get to work on the second Night Sky quilt. This one is going to be different from the first because the colors are not equally distributed. In the first quilt, I had five blocks of each of four colors. This time, I have seven blocks that are orange and seven that are purple, and three each of blue and green. I may have to work out how it fits on the wall so no two colors touch. I'm not sure that's even possible. I don't care - I just want the quilt done!!!

I had to do some short (very short) interviews on cycling and COVID for CBC yesterday so while I waited for the various stations to call me, I got all the cutting done for the sashing of the Night Sky quilt.

I even got three blocks sewn and on the design wall. I was tidying up before I shut things down for the day and was so happy - the cutting table is again clear except for the binding for this quilt. Now that's a sign of a compulsive quilter!!

The cutting table is clear

My true nature is surfacing after years of being squelched. I'm a Virgo and we like things tidy! I was scrapping the scraps from the cutting mat into the scrap basket when the basket fell to the floor. OH, good grief. I had a good chuckle about that.

Upside down scrap basket

Before I shut the lights out, everything was prepped for the morning.

Prepped to sew

I was up bright and early (I REFUSE to change my routine because of this situation) and I got NINE more blocks sewn.

Twelve blocks for the second Night Sky quilt

And this is what I have waiting for me when I get to Studio U later today.

Eight blocks left to sew

Gosh, when I made the first quilt, it seemed to take forever. But I still have to sew all the blocks together. Now I'd better get busy and find some backing for this one because it's going to be finished soon.

I've been pretty good about not adding anything to the weekly laundry basket, although I did add two things. One of them is a small bucket of scraps that needs to be sorted. That's easy to do when I'm on the phone and I have the nice bright light and the view of the neighborhood to keep me entertained as I do that. I also added a small box of scraps to cut and that's easy to do upstairs if I'm on the phone. I don't get the best reception in the basement. So that's all good. I'm trying to be very efficient with my time because as much as I get done in a day - there's so much more that I want to get done.

I didn't have time to watch any videos or online classes so I hope to do that today. I had some paperwork (a quilt submission) that had to be done yesterday and today, I need to sort out some fabric requirements for another quilt with a deadline. That HAS to be done today.

Anyway - it's a nice mix of things to keep me entertained so I'm good with all that. And let's not forget the reading - I couldn't go a day without reading something.

Well, it's almost time to hit POST and I've got a LOT on my plate for today. Remember - the next 28 days is a GIFT of time. USE it WISELY - whatever WISELY means to you. We do not get this kind of opportunity often.

Have a super day!! 

Ciao!!!