Hallowe'en In January/To-Do List/Technology Whining

Because I'm someone who has three Christmas quilts, two sets of Christmas pillowcases, two sets of Christmas placemats, and a set of Christmas napkins, I TOTALLY understand someone's desire to celebrate the seasons with themed quilts.
So cute. 🎃

I used a medium grey thread and quilted a design of bats.

The back is the best place to see the design.

As far as my Winter Holiday To-Do List progress, it's kind of stalled.  The drapery panels and the linings are all cut.  The decorator fabric has been hemmed.  The lining hems are pinned but not stitched.  I dug around in the cobwebby recesses of storage where I keep drapery sundries to discover that I don't have any drapery weights.  That means I either have to go to the fabric shop, or I have to ask DH if he has any stainless steel washers about 1" in size.  I also have 2 custom quilts and 1 panto that I want to finish before the end of the week, along with a dentist appointment and two guild meetings.  So my time this coming week is all accounted for.  Maybe I'll get back to the drapes next weekend.

TECHNOLOGY WHINING
I left the Royal Bank in 1998 and started this little home business, which has been working really well for me.  My darling brother wanted me to be efficient, so he gave me (Christmas present, maybe?) a copy of Money 98 so I could do my bookkeeping.  This was back in 1998.  I've been using that program ever since - if it ain't broke, don't fix it - right? So...I needed to look for something yesterday and tried to open the software.  Fuddle Duddle!! 

I am assuming there is a 20 year something-kind-of-deadline which expired on December 31, 2018.  Even though I've backed up my files religiously, and I have 75% of my bookkeeping already input for 2018, I can't get at it.  Now, my project (because the Universe thinks I NEED a project) will be to see if there's some kind of upgrade available from Microsoft, or if I'm chewed, screwed, and tattooed.  It is also possible (but not likely) that the Windows Update that needs to be downloaded will fix this problem.  What do you think the chances are, hmm?

Zentangle Workshop and To-Do List Update

I joined the Ancaster Modern Quilt Guild, partly because I know some of the members, and partly because they seem to have a pretty vibrant program.  Last Saturday I attended a Zentangle Workshop hosted by them, presented by Kim Mastromartino.  You can find her on Facebook as The Inspired Quilter.

Here's some of the little cards we were working on...

Here's my same card after I (maybe?) finished it.  The class was lots of fun AND INSPIRING.  Which we all need, especially in January.  Right?

TO-DO LIST
Yep.  Knocked another item off my list.  The mending & hemming item - complete.

My plan for today was to start the drapes, however that was slightly interrupted by ... oh, let's call it TECHNOLOGY. This is how my day has progressed so far:

• 7 am, go for a pee then crawl back into bed.
• 8 am, try to shut off the alarm before it wakes DH up, but inadvertently turn the radio on.  Oops.  Sorry.  Get up.  Let Sadie out of her crate and give her a morning massage.  Lucky dog.
• 8:03, take my morning pills and head out with Sadie for a pyjama walk.  She's recovering from knee surgery back in November, so in the morning she gets a massage, Range Of Motion exercises, and then a short walk.  Usually it's DH who takes her, but sometimes it's me - jammies & housecoat, yoga pants, ear muffs & winter coat.  It's surprisingly refreshing.  And I really Do.Not.Care. if people call me the weird old woman out in her pyjamas.
• 8:30, coffee & internet - read the forums, check the news, decide to investigate the KETO diet, and message on/off/on/off/on/off...etc. with the Beach Girls.  Discuss diets with them and pretend I have no idea what they're talking about when they mention the number of calories in alcohol.
• 10:00, beg DH to go get us breakfast from McDonalds.  Continue internetting & messaging while waiting on food.  Decide that KETO is never going to happen in this house.  DH would not eat 90% of the required foods.  Salmon?  Avocado?  ZUCCHINI?!**?!
• 11:00, breakfast is finished, go down to the "real" computer.  Search out "low carb diet", print out recipes that have a slim chance of passing muster.  (ha ha - "slim" chance - get it?)  Let's face it - if we're going to continue having McDonalds for breakfast we need to cut down somewhere else.
• 1:45, finish and send the letter of concern to one of my sales reps - yeah, I'm not particularly happy about something.
• 2:30, update the Caledonia guild blog after having gone through the photos I took at the January meeting.
• 2:45, start working on my blog.

Did you notice anywhere in that timetable a place where I mentioned "brush teeth" or "get washed" or "put on real clothes"?  So, here it is, 3:30 in the afternoon, and I have yet to make myself presentable.  Do YOU think I'm going to get those drapes started today?  

Stay tuned for the next instalment of The Caledonia Quilter's "Never-Done-Because-She-Won't-Get-Off-The-Damned-Computer List".

Christmas VacationTo-Do List Wrapup

Chic Picnic - quilted & bound & labeled.  Many of the fabrics in this have special meaning for me, so the whole time I was hand stitching the binding I just felt... happy.

The fabrics are so busy that the time spent to custom quilt this was wasted, but since it's mine... I figure I'm worth it.

I used up some random fabrics on the back.

In keeping with the "word" theme of the quilt, I included my QUILT GIRL comic strip yardage.  (Spoiler alert:  she saved the day.)

I made two kids drag-around quilts which I'll donate to the Catholic Children's Aid.  A big pat-myself-on-the-back for the mitered striped border on the right.

It was a few years ago that a friend gave me the panel, the border print, and a half meter of the stripe.  I had the remnants of a whole bolt of the stripe in my own stash, so I used it on the back.

Sixteen placemats quilted for Meals on Wheels.

I completed eight out of fifteen items on my list, and the day is not over yet.  I've already taken Sadie for her walk (brrr - chilly wind!) and DH has supper under control, so this afternoon I will tackle the mending pile.