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Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Stash (and Other) Organization and Audible



Teresa in Alabama wrote several posts about how she organizes her sewing room.


Stash (and Other) Organization

https://fabrictherapy.blogspot.com/p/stash-organization.html

She credits this book with helping her come up with a system that works for her:

"Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morganstern is the definitive book on the topic of getting...and staying...organized."  

She has an incredible amount and variety of fabrics! And she can find what she is looking for!

I have purchased some clear boxes from Costco and will be transferring my fabric from the bankers boxes I had been using.

And I'm going to be looking for "these drawer units" she found on sale. She shares photos of the filled unit in part 4 of her 5 part set of blog posts. I like that the system she has has the little drawer so they pull out and can be easily rearranged.

She stopped posting May 2021.  I hope she is having many quilt adventures. She certainly is organized and has enough supplies to keep her busy!

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I am going to listen to Organizing from the Inside Out while taking a driving trip later in the week.  We'll see what I gain from the book!  

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AUDIBLE

I have learned to not listen to Audible samples without my glasses on.  I'm now listening to a cowboy detective book.  Any Other Name by Craig Johnson.  I suspected I had clicked on the wrong buttons at the time, but then there was the book in my library ready to be listened too! It's pretty funny, the same kind of story one would see in a cozy mystery on Britbox, but this author is throwing in Indians, guns, drinking and buffalos!  Makes me remember when I was hired by the county office to do teacher training.  My speciality was evaluating software.  One day they needed a workshop leader for a group of Special Ed teachers.  My supervisor told me it's just the same class as what I had been doing, but be sure to mention special education during the class, and think about examples to tell them.  I had been a Chapter One Reading teacher so I suppose that was easier for me to do than it might have been for other workshop leaders.

My favorite novel on Audible so far is A Gentleman from Moscow.  A wonderful, interesting story narrated by a man with a voice that is so expressive - he adds to the story.  Lots to think about and picture in your mind.  (The TV series didn't do it justice.)

And the book I have listened to more than once is The Psychology of Money.  Such insight. 

The book I stopped listening to as I think I need to take notes, or perhaps read a paper copy is Atomic Habits.  It could be a life changer. If there were a class to take to go along with the class I think I would sign up!

Some of the other books I have listened to I think starting with:
  • Drift
  • Fast Food Nation - my son had read in high school so I was interested to read it myself.  I didn't realize so many of the successful entrepreneurs that created things we use all the time now knew each other.  Or that at least some of them had connections to Nazis! 
  • Blowout
  • The Handmaid's Tale (I read paperback too)
  • White Fragility - I only liked this one as it was set in Winchester MA so I recognized some of the places she discusses. She was too distant to be believable.
  • Becoming - Incredible lifes
  • Interview with the Robot - Can't remember the story, but think I liked it
  • War and Peace
  • The Plot against America
  • The Indigo Girl
  • Anna Karenina
  • The Queen's Gambit
  • The Elm Creek Quilt Series - Such fun!  I see the Civil War and early life in California in a different way now.  And I want to go to quilt camp in Hawaii!
  • King of Sting: The Story of Australian Conman Peter Foster
  • The Lincoln Obsession
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane
  • Klara and the Sun
  • The Jane Austin Books
There are more.  Guess I didn't remember I'd listened to so many!
  • Unto a Good Land and the Emigrants There is another book in the series that Audible does not carry.  I read at least one of the books when I was a student in Sweden.
  • The Bee Sting - my second modern Irish novel.  Shocking sometimes, but again I recognized some of the places mentioned.  It is set up so each chapter is told by a different character and different time period. The Irish names made it more difficult for me to figure the connections.  At the conclusion the author did a masterful job of bringing the story together, and leaving me wanting more!  My first is Mouthing - I read it in paper. Same kind of shifting in time and focus, lots of new Irish phrases to look up before the story made sense to me.
  • Lessons in Chemistry
  • Nobody Wants Your Shi*t - funny
  • An Irish Mystery Bundle (not recommended - stories were too simple)
  • Breakfast in Burgundy - a really interesting story by an Irish wine critic who buys a place in France.  Renovation stories.  And I learned how there are ferries to take to Europe from Ireland.  So we took a ferry Dublin to Isle of Man and then on to Liverpool.  So much more fun than taking a plane.
  • Fates and Traitors (by the author of the Elm Street Quilt series)  
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
  • Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
  • Snow Crash
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures (Fun)
  • The Dutch House
  • The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
  • Beginner's Mind
  • The Book of Lost Names
  • Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
  • Tiny Habits
  • The Good Life
  • The Nordic Theory of Everything
  • Remembrance of Things Past - I haven't finished this yet
  • You Can't Be Serious
  • Books that Matter: The Decameron
  • Saturn's Monsters
  • The Lincoln Highway
  • Best in Snow
  • Learning How to Learn
  • Untouched by Human Hands
  • 52 Ways to Walk
  • The Idiot
I'm not typing out all my Audible list as some were just throw away stories or writing.  

I try to pick a variety of topics and authors.



Monday, January 20, 2025

Glue Stick Basting

Found this link today while taking a break after a long walk at the zoo. 

Nice pattern and directions for using a glue stick for basting! I didn't see her baste the backing, but guess it's the same as for the front.

When I was in Cambridge I used liquid glue to help me place my binding. Worked so well. I was on a metal kitchen table and I think I just pressed every few inches to dry the glue. I shared to the Liberated Quilters group in Yahoo and got a comment on how I was destroying the fabric. That was before spray basting. I wonder if that woman has switched from the basting she was using (would have been pin or needle and thread)? I sort of stopped writing on that group after that. It had been so fun to be in that little group. The leaders then advertised so it grew by leaps and bounds. And there were too many people then. Everyone wanted to be nice and respond to posts but there wasn't very much new content or sharing. Then Yahoo stopped supporting their group system so it disbanded as far as I know.

Anyway glue stick basting seems like a good idea to try.

I have glue sticks waiting to try it with. Just have to finish a quilt!

Traci from Sewing Channel on YouTube
https://youtu.be/nDb88RaBTaw?si=Yfa9DDvLO53OHKmk

She also does a good job of showing how to bind a quilt too. Similar to how I think I do it, but would be nice to refer to too.

Photos from the zoo and previous week below:

These were little birds, so light they could sit on the leaves.  Other types of birds were flying down and dipping their feet in the water, then they would fly to a tree branch and shake the water off.  There were at least eight of those birds doing it.  One at a time, in no particular order.

My first time seeing the water lilies here.  Made me think how my Godmother decided to change her pool so she could grow them.  I remember my mom made a comment to me about how it was so dark one wouldn't be able to see if there was a body at the bottom of the pool!

In person these Bee Eaters were so cute, shoulder to shoulder on the branch.

A pretty duck by the Polar Bear exhibit.

Colorful flamingos at the entrance to the zoo.





Today is Monday on the Pedometer screen. Last Friday I went walking with the same friend at Costco.  I used to walk by myself and called friends to chat, but now they are all busy and do not have time to chat so I haven't been walking as much....


Earlier in the week, my guys made me a delicious and beautiful birthday cake, burnt almond.  I found four (stainless steel!!) cake pans from my mom, that made the process much easier to end up with four layers.





I made some nice meals too:






And although I miss little Buffy, little Melon is lots of fun to be with:






The vet recently said she was 6 pounds.  Son got her as a rescue the end of August, she was just a few weeks old I think.

Monday, January 13, 2025

2025 New List of (mostly Quilting Related) Activities

2025

I'll add to this list, or start another entry.  

Maybe this will be my hobby, collecting links, looking at blogs, pinterest, and more.  Although I do hope I can get a lot of sewing in too!

Houses and towns seem to be a theme for 2025.  You'll see below.

In this somewhat uncertain times, it is understandable to focus on our different communities.  Cleaning and decluttering has been a theme that I write about embarrassingly often.  More and more the writing supports that a clean home makes for space to be happy and create memories and more.  

The media tells us that the country is so divided.  In a way I hope the Republicans are right and the media is not correct on this.  In an effort to protect myself, I haven't been attending to the political news or opinions the way I used to...



A Quilting Life BOM (released 1st Monday of the month)

This year’s 2025 Mystery Block of the Month features 18″ log cabin blocks with 6″ centers inspired by my Summer House (Heart of the Home) quilt from last year.

https://www.aquiltinglife.com/a-quilting-life-block-of-the-month-january-2025/



Material Girls BOM "Home is Pieced One stitch at a Time(released on 15th)

We’ll have six new 3YD quilt patterns, three new runner patterns, one new place mat pattern, one new mini (Bite Size) pattern, and one scrappy throw. Each free for one month.

https://materialgirlfriends.com/2025-sew-along/



Old Town Mystery (free until until Feb)

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/old-town-mystery.html


Free FMQ Workshop (until Jan 25)

https://ipatchandquilt.wordpress.com/2025/01/11/free-workshop/


Quilted Summit (Feb 5 and 6)

https://tickets.quiltedsummit.com/


White Elephant Rummage Sale in Oakland

Preview Sale: Sunday, January 26

Open Warehouse Days: Select days between January 29 and February 22

https://www.whiteelephantsale.org/


Claire Sherman Art (updates frequently)

https://claireshermanart.com/

Gift Giving

I'm not entirely sure why I'm not that into the gift part of Christmas - but it's the gathering together that has pretty much always been what I have been attracted to.

When I was a kid our house was the center for many family gatherings.  It was always so much fun to have my aunts come over to make food and wrap gifts with my mom before the event and then to have my cousins come over and laugh and have fun together.  Long after the other families though had switched to fewer gifts, our house always had balls, cowboy things, records, play things.  My folks did this for my down syndrome brother, and I guess they thought I'd feel left out if they lowered the number of gifts I received.  But it was sort of embarrassing. At some point I remember saying I didn't want any birthday gifts...

Our son isn't very enthused about gifts.  We have so much stuff already.  After my parents passed away, for about 6 years instead of gifts, we would go on a family holiday together.  Usually starting the week between Christmas and ending a few days after New Years.

I'm glad we did that.

This year, son is working and didn't get days off.  Still we made a nice meal and ate together, and later that night (or was it New Years Even) we watched a movie on TV together.  It's been years since we have done that, so it was nice.  Can't talk during a movie, but can be together.