Monday Musings: The 5 Ss--S-2 Shine and Inspect

How did you do this past week on S-1, sorting and removing? The day before I posted the S-1 post, I had already given away to some friends a lot of my scrap stash and some blocks from a project I'd decided I wasn't interested in finishing. They were glad to get them, I was glad to be rid of them. FTW. 

Specialty rulers and accompanying books I'm not quite ready to get rid of.

On the ruler drawer I said I wanted to sort? Well, it turned out to be harder than I thought. You see, the rulers I've hung onto but not used are pretty much all inherited from Mom. That means they either (1) still have that sentimental "this was Mom's" feeling clinging to them or (2) are no longer readily available so I worry that if my quilting tastes shift again, I may someday think, "Why did I ever get rid of X ruler?" I have used a couple of them and wasn't totally sold, but still am not quite ready to off them, either. So I hedged my bets. I moved them out of my sewing room and put them in a box in the basement, with a note to myself in my ruler drawer that I did that. 

I did, however, get rid of this bendy ruler--virtually impossible to actually use.

I know--it's really not taking care of the problem long term. But I'm typically really, really good at getting rid of stuff, so I decided to give myself a little grace on this one. (Someday, when I'm gone, my kids will open up that box in the basement and think, "What the...?" It'll only serve them right for when I gave their bedrooms a good cleaning after they went away to college and thought, "What the...?")

Time for week 2!

S-2 Shine and Inspect

When was the last time you had your sewing machine cleaned? How old is that rotary cutter blade? Have your pins developed rust? 

I realized recently that my beloved pins--so beautifully thin and long--were clearly showing their age. After about 15 years of stabbing them into my design wall and forcing them into thick stacks of fabric, many of them had developed an inconvenient curve and most of them felt like they had lost their sharp, pointy tips. This particular pin isn't cheap, but I really do love them.

And I suppose I really ought to stop stabbing them into my design wall which, by the way, is a felt-backed tablecloth hung face-side down against my wall. No foam. I'm stabbing the pins into the wall. Pin abuse. (And I don't plan on ever letting that wall see the light of day until we move. It's likely not pretty.) Plus, I should stop using this same set of pins for all purposes. I have thicker pins that would put up better with bulkier seams or stabilizer. These are just so easy to grab. Time to change my lazy ways, I suppose.

Got one of these micro vacuum attachment sets? I love mine for using on my sewing machine (carefully!) and my computer vents. Click here to find it on Amazon.

In any case, we all know that our lives are made easier by well-functioning tools. So this week, check out your equipment. How's that sole plate on your iron looking? Do you need a few new packs of sewing machine needles? Could your sewing machine use a good wipe-down or tune-up? How are your scissors doing?

Leave a comment and let us know whether you found anything that needed some shining and inspecting!

Progress and Goals--Week of April 19, 2015

My goals for this week were to:

• Learn two more stitches for Sue Spargo class project
• Finish prayer flag. (It's quite close to being done.)
• Finish Anne Unrein's Everything in Its Place bag from Craftsy class--maybe. At least, make significant progress.

Progress:

• Stitches--ummm...I did watch one lesson. I'll be sitting down with my embroidery tonight for the first time in about 10 days. So tonight I'll have some progress, but nothing to report here.
• Prayer flag--ummm... see above.
• Finish EIIP Bag--[insert snort of derision here] 

Basically, I didn't make much progress this week on quilting projects; I did, however, do a lot to set myself up for better progress in the future. You'll need to listen to tonight's podcast episode to hear why. That being said, while I was listening to my own episode back again prior to posting, I did make some progress on the EIIP bag. Just know (after you listen to that episode) I did finally conquer sewing on vinyl--woot! It took new needles AND a different thread. I finally landed on the right combination that allowed me to get 'er done. It wasn't fast, and it wasn't pretty, but it was done. 

Goals for this week:

• Second verse, same as the first...
• Also, develop a really solid list of my UFOs for planning.

Monday Musings: The 5 Ss--Riffing Off Wegmans

(Awhile back I was doing Monday Musings. I've decided to reinstitute them, at least for a short series.)

A couple of weeks ago I was doing my usual grocery trip at Wegmans (got one near you?), and noticed this sign hanging next to the employee office near the check-out lines. 

As I read it, I thought, "Hmmm. I could apply that to my quilt studio/sewing room." 

And so, here's my riff on Wegmans' advice for store employees, adapted for us fiber-folk. I'm going to do this in five parts, every Monday, just to keep it--ahem--simple.

S-1 Sort and Remove

You can pretty much guess where I'm going to go with this one, right? 

We may like to think that all those boxes and bins and stacks are the mark of wonderful possibilities. But the reality is, a lot of it may just be getting in the way, keeping us from moving forward in the way we want to move forward.

How much stuff is sitting on the shelves, in the drawers, in the closet, hanging on your wall, that you haven't touched in more than a year? Not only does all this extra stuff tend to get in your way when you're looking for what you need (stealing precious time from your creative endeavors) but it can actually become a burden.

This photo is a few years old. Tellingly, it looks much the same now.

If you've heard my recent episodes, you know I've been struggling a bit with what to do with my stash. Now I'm in a very different place in my quiltmaking than I was six or seven years ago. Yet my stash still largely reflects where I was six years ago, seven years ago, ten years ago.... I've sorted my stash a couple of times and gotten rid of things I wasn't using then, but I hung onto a lot because they're all quite handy fabrics. I kept thinking, "But this could come in handy," or, "but this one's really pretty."

So I kept doing make-work. In other words, I'd find projects to do simply to use up my stash. Those weren't projects I'd have normally done. They may have been somewhat entertaining (although not all of them were), and sometimes I even learned something (although usually I was just going for quick-n-easy). But still, all-in-all, they were a distraction from what I really wanted to be doing. When I realized that I kept putting off my True Love Quiltmaking to try to knock out yet another Stash-User Quiltmaking project, I understood that something was out of whack.

I finally came to the conclusion a couple of months ago that my stash was actually a source of obligation and guilt--not guilt over its size, as it's a reasonable stash. Not guilt over the money--probably half of my current stash was inherited from my mother. Rather, just guilt over all these great fabrics sitting there, not being used. Obligation guilt. I was feeling the burden of needing to use fabric just because it was sitting there--to create projects for myself just to use fabric just because it was sitting there--to not do the projects I wanted to do just to create projects just to use fabric just because it was sitting there....

The lightbulb came on. My stash was actually holding me back. Sure, it was a great stash. I'd actually been very intentional about building a good, usable, stash for those times I wanted to do an impulse project--I could just grab and go pretty easily. But my quiltmaking has changed. Just because something is a "good stash fabric" doesn't mean it's right for my stash. In fact, it might be even better stash fabric for someone else. The only good fabric is fabric that's being used. Everything else is, really, just clutter. No matter how pretty it is.

So I'm giving myself a few more months to use up the fabrics that are still really calling to me, then I'm going to embark on a major clearing out. I'll be sorting and removing. And I'll feel lighter for it.

Rulers. Books. Gadgets. Marking utensils. We all tend to amass collections. If you're using them, even semi-regularly--great! Keep 'em all! But if, instead, you keep seeing a ruler every time you open a drawer and catch yourself thinking, "I really should use that someday," maybe it's just not the right ruler for you. Maybe it reflects things you thought you were interested in a couple of years ago, but you've mentally moved on. Perhaps the ruler would be happier living with another quilter who would love it and use it and make great things with it, than languishing out of loneliness and boredom in your drawer. 

So, this week--my suggestion to you is to practice a little S-1. If you don't want to tackle your whole sewing room, choose one drawer, one shelf, one bin. Sort and remove. (If your sewing collection is just fine, thank you very much, think about the rest of your home or your workplace. Everyone's got a problem drawer somewhere!)

My goal? 

On the left of the two photos below are the rulers I use on a regular basis, although there are even a couple hanging on the ends of that wall that I don't know that I've ever used. (The ones right next to my cutting table are my go-tos just about every time I'm working on something.)

On the right, the drawer of all the specialty rulers I inherited from my Mom a few years back and, for the most part, have never used. It's really time for me to make some decisions. I could use the drawer space.

So, go get your S-1 on.

Leave a comment letting us know what you are going to tackle and how it goes!

Progress and Goals--Week of April 12

Did you notice Craftsy is having a flash sale this weekend? Use the banner in the right sidebar of this blog post to check it out! And thanks for supporting this podcast and blog.

My goals for this week were to:

• Continue progress on the "Everything in It's Place" bag from Anne Unrein's class.
• Get the binding on the D4P baby quilt.
• Learn two more stitches on my Sue Spargo class project.
• Put beads on the prayer flag

Progress:

• Got the D4P baby quilt done! It has no name, it has no current destination. But it's done!

• Got the beads put on the prayer flag. And a few other things done on it besides. Now I just have to figure out what finishing touches I want to do--it doesn't need much, though, so it won't take long.

Cast-on bullion stitch

• Learn two more embroidery stitches. I learned three, actually--woo! I finally finished lesson four. Took awhile--lesson four stitches are all pretty time-consuming. I only used one on the project; the other two I practiced but decided I didn't want to actually use them yet.

The cast-on bullion stitch (at left) is pretty but very similar to the bullion stitch I did last time; so, since it takes even longer than the bullion stitch, I wasn't in the mood to do it all again. I did one to see how it looked, then cut it back out of the project. I may do one down the road as I still have a heck of a lot of project to embroider, but right now I wanted to do something different.

By the way, being able to slow the video down to 1/4 speed and put it on 30 second repeat helped a lot when I was trying to coordinate my thumbs for that cast-on stitch. Not being a knitter, that  isn't something I've done much and she whipped hers off pretty quickly. After watching her do it very s-l-o-w-l-y several times over I finally got the hang of it.

Drizzle stitch

The drizzle stitch is darn cute (at left) but doesn't really work on this current project so I did one for practice and then cut it all off again. Good to know for the future, though. Yep, it's supposed to look like a wad of knots, basically, though generally it would be neater than this. You can't quite tell in this photo that it's 3-D--the stitches hang off like hair or fibers or some such. Cute in the right place--not right for my project. I cut these off when I was done practicing.

Double cast-on stitch

Finally, the third stitch was a keeper on the project this week. The double cast-on stitch is also very, very time-consuming, but pretty cool, and I was able to use it in a very limited space so I wouldn't be working on it for the next three years. I didn't get mine touching each other the way I'd have liked to--it was a little hard to see where my needle was coming out in comparison to the completed stitch before it. And I still need to work on evenness, but that all comes with practice. It's also a matter of learning how your thread will behave. This one was variegated in such a way that it divided in half color-wise, which was kind of neat, but now I know how to picture that ahead of time as I'm choosing threads in the future. 

She has several examples of how she's used this in various ways (as she does with all her stitches) and this one has great possibilities for other places on my project. You may see more of this one later.

• As for the Anne Unrein purse project? Well, not so much. I looked at it the evening I finished up the baby quilt but decided the next step is not one I can leave half-done easily, and since I'm about the head out of town, it's better to be left until I'm home. So it's on next week's goals--but this time I hope to get it finished!

And yes, it did help listing my goals like this. Mostly, it got finishing that baby quilt stuck in my head until I finally just sat down to knock it out! 

I'm actually on the road as this posts (waving at you as I drive by). I don't get home until Thursday, but I have Friday as a comp day. Friday evening my husband and I need to clear out of the house for a couple of days as my daughter is turning it into a weekend boarding house for her and some of her buddies attending a Comic-Con in the area. We're just staying in town because we've got some things to do locally, so it's not a terribly exciting weekend away, although we'll make the best of it! In any case, I won't have access to my sewing room for the weekend. For all those reasons, my goals are small, and largely involving embroidery that I can bring with me on the weekend jaunt. 

Goals for the week of April 12

• Learn two more stitches for Sue Spargo class project
• Finish prayer flag. (It's quite close to being done.)
• Finish Anne Unrein's Everything in Its Place bag from Craftsy class--maybe. At least, make significant progress.

Fight the Funk Friday

Nothing to see here, folks. Just step away from the post.

(Next week's not likely to be too stellar either. But my schedule settles way down after that--high hopes for future posts!)

A Finish! Disappearing 4-Patch Done

It's finally done. It's a little ridiculous it took me this long to get around to getting the binding on, but there it is. I had the blocks done before I went to Burma in December ; got the center pieced together in January, got the quilting done in early March and had the binding strips cut about two weeks ago. And it just sat, n' sat, n' sat...

The center is a charm pack by Moda--I've had it for awhile, but I think it's the "Good Morning" line or something like that. I had two of the same charm pack and used one for a lap quilt for a friend of mine last summer who was going through cancer treatments. I like the fabrics--it's nice and cheery. It's supposed to be a non-gender-specific baby quilt but, frankly, it's definitely more girly according to our societal definitions of color assignment (!) so I went with quilting feathers in the border and free-form flowers in the center. I used this to practice some of my developing FMQ skills.  They're a little whonky but better than I used to do. The inner yellow border is a ribbon candy design--gol dang, but that's hard to keep even! 

Still n' all--it's done, and it ain't half bad. And best of all, it's done. Did I mention, it's done?

No intended recipient. It'll hang out on my shelves until some sort of appropriate occasion presents itself. 

Thinkin' about It Thursday

This week, I'm thinkin' ...

• about stubborn snow.
• that I really need to do laundry tomorrow.
• how I have very few clean clothes left in the "professional" category.
• that I need to have enough to pack on Saturday.
• how good it feels to have finally finished a project.
• that it's best not to think too hard about the rest I still have left to finish.
• about stubborn snow.

(No Thinkin' about It Thursday post next week as I'll be traveling.)

A Nifty Little Tool

I keep forgetting to talk about these, and they're the best new quilting-notion-y thing I've gotten in awhile!

There are any number of "bobbin buddies" out there (and the vast majority of them are named "Bobbin Buddies" which makes it difficult when searching for a particular type). The problem is, most of them don't work with Aurifil thread spools. I've tried golf tees, I've tried clampy things, I've tried blue stopper-type things, and rubber bands just annoy me.

So when I saw a picture of this new type in a magazine, my heart sang. This Aurifil Girl may have finally found the solution!

It took me a few minutes of Googling to find the right ones because the magazine didn't list the supplier. Go figure. But I tracked them down at Erica's Craft and Sewing Center. I got the 20-pack and absolutely love them. They're perfect for my Aurifil but, of course, also work in all the other spools I use too. 

I'm a happy camper. Sometimes it's the little things...

Follow-up on Comments Testing

Hey, y'all. While I was running giveaways and the like, SquareSpace tech support was checking out any comments people were leaving that gave information about whether or not the comment had worked, how they'd accessed the blog, and so forth. Here's what they've found out:

1. Most people who comment directly on the site itself, or through the email version of my blog posts, have no problems. (And, actually, the vast majority of people reported in that they didn't have a problem commenting.)

2. When you want to comment, you're getting redirected to a screen in which you can choose or not choose to actually register on the site. You do not have to register, but you do have to leave a name. This is a spam-protection feature. So if you've been asked to sign in and don't want to, know that it's not necessary to actually register--but it is necessary to leave a name.

3. Commenting by logging in with your Google and Facebook accounts seems to be working fine.

4. To sign in to leave a comment, you have to have enabled pop-up windows for the site. If not, you'll either get a failure message or your screen will just sit there and look at you blankly, in confusion. I can't tell you how to enable pop-up windows--it all depends on your own set-up; you'll need to do a little Internet browsing if you don't know how to do it on your computer.

5. There are particular issues with BlogLovin'. The BlogLovin' feed for the blog doesn't actually reference to my SquareSpace site somehow--BlogLovin' changes the feed. So if you try to comment through BlogLovin', your computer (or whatever device) won't actually know where it's supposed to go to comment. I actually have this same problem when I'm trying to comment on some other people's blogs through Feedly (which I use because I prefer it to BlogLovin'). There are certain blogs I just can't ever comment on through Feedly, but other ones work fine. So if I want to leave a comment on certain blogs, I know I have to go to the blog directly from the web in order to comment. 

6. Under the category of "other": This same issue as #5 may occur in other RSS feed readers. I can also personally attest to occasional issues I have commenting on other blogs when I'm on my iPad--but I don't have those same problems on my iPhone or PC. So there is something just a little funky about the way iPads talk to the Internet or something. 

So, basically, what we found out is that most of you have no problems leaving comments. So I hope you'll continue to do so!

For those of you who have experienced issues, please check the information above to see if any of it may fit your situation. If you've had a completely different experience, then (again) give me very specific information about what you're seeing when you try to comment, how you're trying to access the blog to comment on it, and so forth, and I'll go back to tech support again. Thanks!

Progress and Goals for Week of April 5, 2015

Yeah, I know--I'm entitling this blog post for April 5, which was yesterday, even though I'm writing it today (April 6, Monday). But for some weeks now I've been thinking I should take a page from the books of Jackie at SewExecitedQuilts.com and Philippa from Ozzypipquilts.com and do a post every weekend in which I recap what I've gotten done and set goals for the coming week. That just seems so nicely organized. And I've just become so...well...disorganized. I've been all over the place is my quiltmaking lately and it's time to settle down and move some projects through finishing stages to get them off my cutting table, design wall, or shelves where UFOs go into hibernation. I'm thinking Jackie and Philippa have a good idea--doing a weekly report on my blog may keep me on target. Or, here's hoping, anyway.

I guess I should start with the master list. Oi--this is going to hurt. I won't include this full list every week, though I should probably put it in the sidebar or on it's own page or something; I just always forget to update that kind of thing. Anyway...engines started, here we go:

Things I need to get done in April but haven't started yet:

#JBBOM kit

• Mug Rug for Sandi at Quilt Cabana Corner's Mug Rug/Potholder Swap--I know what fabric I'm using, and have mentally toyed with several designs. I need to settle on one and execute.
• April Journal Quilt--no definite thoughts about this one yet, although see art quilt design class-related list of projects below--one will likely become the April journal quilt.
• April Jinny Beyer Block of the Month (Craftsy)--aka #JBBOM
• One Feb JBBOM block
• March JBBOM block--the fact I'm a couple of months behind on this is really stressing me out. I need to devote a couple of days to catching up again.

Works in Progress (things I'm poking away at on an on-going basis)

• March Journal Quilt--it's partly done; I probably have another couple of hours of work to do on it.
• Two bags for Anne Unrein's Craftsy class--first bag is in progress. It's taking a long time. And I had my first temper tantrum over it earlier today. But I'm not giving up!
• King-sized Jacob's Ladder quilt--first stage of cutting done
• Sue Spargo Embroidery project
• Prayer flag--needle-felting and embroidery project that I haven't talked about yet because it was purely spur-of-the-moment; it should only take about an hour of embroidery/finishing.

UFOs (projects that have sat for at least one month or more with no progress being made)

D4P Baby Quilt

• D4P baby quilt--just needs binding. Really? And it's sat for this long?
• Duffle bag--probably only has about an hour or so left of work to be done. 
• Color and Curves class project--working on border, then needs quilting/finishing. Probably would only take a few hours to finish, all in.
• African Star Quilt--the one I did in Ami Simms class in Lancaster last spring. Needs quilting/binding. I want to quilt this one myself.
• Scrap-in-a-Box--I did most of mine last spring/summer when I was pattern-testing, but didn't finish it once everything moved to Charlotte's blog and I was no longer responsible for the reveal, LOL. I've had breathing room while everyone caught up, but I think next month y'all will be caught up to me, so then the pressure will be on to actually finish it in my lifetime.
• Color Circles art quilt design class project--needs quilting and finishing
• "Flames" hand-dyed tapestry project--needs quilting and finishing
• Art Quilt Map--stalled, went after it with a rotary cutter and completely changed direction, then ended up sort of backing myself into a corner. Need to make a decision about the future of this one.
• Jelly Roll Sampler--I think all my blocks are made. I just need to decide sashing/no sashing, then get the top pieced and send it out for quilting. This is something that will be a gift for someone who is likely to redecorate before I ever get it done. Need to just get it done!
• Fibonacci Sequence Quilt--my own very simple design using Fibonacci Sequence. Strips all cut, one block done, another block completely messed up. Need to decide if I'm finishing this or not and if so, figure out what I did wrong.
• 2008 Guild BOM--blocks all done. Have to decide sashing/no sashing, then get top pieced and send it out for quilting.
• Katerina Project--this one is an ancient UFO, probably over 10 years old. My own EQ design to use a fabric collection my Mom gave to me for Christmas that year. Some of the finished block sizes were way off, though, so it got set aside. Now I'm no longer in love with the fabric but there's still a lot of sentimental attachment to the project due to its connection with memories of my Mom. Need to decide what I want to do about this one.
• This one's a little embarrassing, but do y'all remember the Hexie Challenge I did with Pam and Jaye, and I only ever got my Hexies cut out? They're still sitting in that bin. Hmmm.

Projects in Planning Stages but First Cut Hasn't Been Made (so, technically not a UFO in my mind!)

Burma Fabrics

• Laurel Burch wallhanging--have had fabrics for-freakin-ever; keeping it simple in design. Need to just get 'er done.
• Art Quilt Design Class project Feather
• Art Quilt Design Class project Hope out of Darkness
• Art Quilt Design Class project Monochromatic Trees
• Art Quilt Design Class project Sunset on the Irawaddy colors
• Art Quilt Design Class project Finger Lakes Wine Country (FMQ)
• Art Quilt Design Class project Monochromatic Cave
• Zipper pouches with fabrics from Burma
• Hand-dyeing colorways--I want to start working my way through the Ives color wheel and dye sets of fat quarters in every color, several shades/tones/tints of each. That's a long term project but there will be immediate benefit since I'll immediately have new fabrics to put into projects as soon as I get rolling on it!

I'm not yet including in this list the recent UFO I inherited from Vicki (I talked about this an episode or two ago), nor a set of blocks I inherited from Mom years ago that still haven't landed in a project. Those just need to brew for awhile before I worry about getting them on any official list.

UFOs I think I'll be releasing to the wild

Some UFOs just don't jazz me anymore, and I'd be finishing them just to finish them. And there's not enough time in the day for that kind of nonsense. I'm not big into obligation quilting--if I'm going to spend what little, precious time I have in my sewing room on a project, it's one that's really going to jazz me. So there are certain UFOs I think I'm ready to just send on to someone else. I'll ask around at my guild to see if someone wants these.

• Bow tie blocks--I was playing with a technique I'd learned when I was out on a speaking engagement. I thought it would be a great way to use up 5" squares, which it is. I've got something like 12 or 13 blocks done--just enough for a wheelchair quilt for a guy. It probably wouldn't take all that long to finish, I just have zero interest in putting any more time into it. Someone may love these blocks and enjoy putting it together.
• Snail-trail top--I believe this one dates back a couple of years to when I was doing creativity challenges on my podcast. I vaguely recall this was my start on the warm color challenge--I did a background with snail trail blocks in black and sort of a taupe-y fabric. The intent was to do applique flowers on the top in oranges/yellows. The background is nice enough but I have no interest in finishing it at this stage.

There may be others I decide to send away to new, loving homes, or ditch altogether if I've learned what I need to learn. These are just the ones I've run across recently that I immediately thought, "Nope, not interested."

Oh, I'm so sure I'm missing something on this master list. But it's enough to make me feel overwhelmed so here's to starting to chunk away at it.

Goals for This Week

I'm home most of the week, though after today I'm back to work. I'm out Tuesday night but I think that's it. I'm gone next week, though, so I'm keeping my goals very limited until after I get back from this next work trip. Then I've got a few weeks of a fairly low-key schedule so I hope to make significant progress then.

This week I plan to:

• Continue progress on the "Everything in It's Place" bag from Anne Unrein's class. Unlikely to get it finished, but would like to at least feel good about where I'm at.
• Get the binding on the D4P baby quilt. I mean, really. Can't believe that's still sitting there.
• Learn two more stitches on my Sue Spargo class project.
• Put beads on the prayer flag so it's easier to travel with--I'll bring this with me on next week's trip because it's very, very small and easily portable.

Winners of My 5th Podcastaversary Giveaway

Thanks so much to all y'all for being part of my celebration!

I've had a lot of fun reading your comments and will probably do a summary on an upcoming podcast episode.

The winners were:

• $25 Fat Quarter Gift Certficate: Carole Ann W.
• Aurifil Thread: Jeanie C.
• Scrapitude pattern: Jeanne B.
• PRO Chemical and Dye gift certificate: Carole D.
• Craftsy class: Helle S.

(I've already emailed all five winners so if your name/last initial matches one of the above, check your email. If you don't have an email from me, that means your Doppelgänger is the winner--sorry!)

I wish I could give all my listeners out there gifts to say "Thank you!" Thanks so much for making these past five years fun, creative, and interesting. Part of the benefit for us podcasters to doing a podcast is that we try to stay on top of our projects knowing we need to have something to talk about! I know I've been much more productive these last few years because I knew I had people waiting to hear about my progress. Accountability, donchaknow.

Also, for me, knowing that I have listeners who enjoy learning new things pushes me to learn new things myself. I likely would have ended up doing art quilting and hand-dyeing and working with fibers eventually one way or the other, but I strongly suspect that having you all sending me encouraging comments, asking questions, and sharing your own experience with me has propelled me forward more effectively than I'd have done on my own. And I know my family is very happy that I have other people to talk about all this with, so I'm not constantly bending their ears about color schemes, accurate 1/4" seams, and struggles with fiddly bits! (They're none too sure about the Mad Quilt Scientist, either, but the less said about her, the better.)

So, thank you, thank you, thank you. And thank you again. 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

While I've Been Away...Playing with a New App

I left you in the good hands of my 5th Podcastaversary Giveaway and Rafflecopter, while I was off and traveling about. Meanwhile, I entertained myself with playing around with a few new apps on my phone. So far, the big winner--in terms of coolness and actual usability--is Steller. (And no, I'm not an affiliate, so this is just a straight-up review and introduction!)

Steller is a really super-cool storytelling app for smartphones. Steller allows you to create online photo books, of a sort, called stories. You can create pages with photos, videos, or text, or a combo package. It has several very nice templates and several layout options for pages within those templates, so it's pretty simple to learn. It also has a social-networking aspect in that you can follow and be followed by other Steller users, "like" a story, and leave comments. A lot of Steller users are professional photographers so just scrolling through all the Steller stories available is wonderful eye-candy. I'm a particular fan of the travel-related stories. Gorgeous. There are also a lot of stories that are recipes with step-by-steps included that may be useful, although I haven't tried any yet to know how well that works in the kitchen. 

When I first found it, I thought (of course), "This will be GREAT for documenting the process on quilts!" I've thereby got a Steller WIP on one of my quilty WIPs going on. Meanwhile, to learn the app and to entertain myself on my second trip that involved a ton of time sitting around in airports, here are the three Steller stories I've created to date.

Story #1:  I had pictures from our vacation to Washington D.C. handy on my phone still, so it was pretty fast to throw together. I was just learning the basics so I didn't get fancy with anything--it's pretty straightforward.

In Story #2, I had other photos on my phone from fibers I'd recently acquired. I messed around a little more with Steller layout options on this one.

For Story #3, I had to wait until I could get on WiFi and download a few photos from one part of my trip to Burma. I only did a little photo editing and for some reason I couldn't download a couple of the videos I have related to this, so this one is still fairly straightforward at this point. I might edit it later to make it a little more whiz-bang.

Finally, Story #4 is the one that kept me entertained in airports. I decided I may as well kill time messing around with all the various photo and video apps I have on my phone--and I have a lot. So you'll see at the end I listed which ones I used in this particular Steller story.

Super-cool, right? Love this app. It's probably my favorite new app find of the year. I even got @carolewool hooked. Here's a link to one of her Steller stories. (She beat me to the punch on getting one done on a quilt process--mine's not finished yet! The project is taking me a lot of time to work through so it may be awhile...) I've found several people to follow--including one young man who is documenting his study-abroad semester in India, which is fascinating!

You can follow Steller on Twitter if you're not sure you want to actually sign up for the app yet--they tweet links to newly posted Steller stories (although only featured ones), so you can see what they're like. You can also set up a Steller account even if you never intend to create a story, and only want to be part of the network. It really is a beautiful app.

I use it on my iPhone (it's not available for iPad but I'm checking out similar iPad apps to decide if I like them as well); it's also available as an Android app. I really do suggest you check it out!

Keep an eye out for an upcoming post on my favorite photo editing apps. Like I said, I have a lot, but a few are standouts! 

March 2015 Craftsy Class Update

If you're looking for my 5th Podcastaversary Giveaway, click here.

Hey, did you know that Craftsy now also has some downloadable ebooks? Check out this one on hand embroidery--it's free! Just click on the image to the left to find it.

This month wasn't stellar for me in terms of progress because I was gone for pretty much the last two weeks of the month--one week on vacation, the next week for work.  I did manage to get a couple of classes done, though--woo for me! Plus, while traveling, I did make some progress here and there on other classes. I'm so glad I now have embroidery to take with me on trips. I don't often get time to just sit and relax with a hand project (even on vacation!) but it was nice to have it with me for those spare moments that I did have that opportunity. That being said, the beginning of April is a little hairy as well, but by mid-month things settle down again and I should be happily ensconced back in my sewing room on a more regular basis.

New Completions

(+2)

• Secrets to Cooking Fish: Eight Essential Techniques with Joel Gamoran. See review here.
• Fun Techniques with Fabric Paints with Cindy Walter. See review here.

Classes in Progress

(7--I know, it seems like a lot all at once, but it all depends on if I'm on the road or at home, doing class projects or just watching, etc. Note that they're "in progress," not "being finished as we speak.")

• Fabric Patterning with Wax Resist with Malka Dubrawsky (this is a little stalled at the moment, until I'm home for a prolonged period of time again)
• Embroidering Texture & Dimension by Hand with Sue Spargo (still going on this one--it's been great while I'm traveling!)
• 2015 Craftsy Block of the Month with Jinny Beyer (well, not much progress this month; I'm now two blocks behind going into April, but hope to get caught up before May.)
• Clever Cuts for Efficient Quilting with Debbie Caffrey (see Classes Added This Month, below)
• The Essential Guide to Photoshop with Skott Chandler (see Classes Added This Month, below)
• Sew Sturdy Travel Organizers with Annie Unrein (poking away at it here and there)
• Painted Pictorial Quilts with Annette Kennedy (I think I'm just going to be watching this one and not doing a class project--the class techniques can be applied to other projects I've got in my head to do in the coming weeks.)

Classes added this month

(+4)

• Clever Cuts for Efficient Quilting with Debbie Caffrey--got so much out of the first one of hers (see review here) that when this one went on sale, I went ahead and got it. It's technique more than project so I'm just watching the lessons for now and will apply techniques to future projects.
• Stitch it with Wool: Crewel Embroidery with Kristin Nicholas--this has been on my wish list for a long time; I'd just decided to do Sue Spargo's class first. Again, when it went on sale, I figured I may as well pick it up to have it at the ready when I'm done with the other.
• Love Your Vegetables with Anna Bullet--I'd just signed up for another CSA (Community Supported Agriculture--a delivery of fresh produce weekly from a local farm) for this summer earlier on the day I got the Craftsy sale announcement and decided this might help me find new ways to use some of the heaps of greens I tend to get. I didn't do a CSA last summer, but you can see posts from previous years here. (I was recently re-reading my posts to refresh my memory about recipes I'd developed and decided my favorite line from all of my CSA posts was this: "Basically I assess most foods on a how-are-they-as-a-goat-cheese-delivery-device scale." True dat.)
• The Essential Guide to Photoshop with Skott Chandler--I use Photoshop all the time for work and play but have never really learned more than the basics and a couple of nifty tricks. So when I saw this new shop posted on Craftsy, I grabbed it. 

Classes To Be Completed

Current count: (16, +2 from last month since I'd finished a few as well)  

• 2015 Craftsy Block of the Month with Jinny Beyer
• Art Quilt Backgrounds: Beyond Log Cabin with Judith Trager
• Clever Cuts for Efficient Quilting with Debbie Caffrey
• Crazy Quilts with Allie Aller
• Embroidering Texture & Dimension by Hand with Sue Spargo
• The Essential Guide to Photoshop with Skott Chandler
• Fabric Patterning with Wax Resist with Malka Dubrawsky
• Free Motion Fillers Vol 1 with Leah Day
• Free Motion Fillers Vol 2 with Leah Day
• Free Motion Machine Embroidery with Terry White
• Love Your Vegetables with Anna Bullet
• Machine Quilting the Home Sweet Home Quilt with Frieda Anderson
• Painted Pictorial Quilts with Annette Kennedy
• Pictorial Quilting Techniques with Wendy Butler Berns
• Sew Sturdy Travel Organizers with Annie Unrein
• Stitch it with Wool: Crewel Embroidery with Kristin Nicholas

Completed Classes

Current count: 53 (+2)

• 20 Essential Cooking Techniques with Brendan McDermott
• A Modern Take on the Mother Sauces with James Peterson 
• Art Quilting 101 with Wendy Butler Berns
• (The) Art of Cloth Dyeing with Jane Dunnewold
• Artisan Bread Making with Peter Reinhart
• Basics of Digital Photography with Rick Allred
• Beyond Basic Machine Quilting with Ann Petersen
• Building Flavorful Soups with Peter Berley
• Chain of Stars Mystery Quilt with Kimberly Einmo
• Color Play for Quilters with Joen Wolfrom
• Complete Knife Skills with Brendan McDermott
• Continuous Line Quilting with Ann Petersen
• Cooking Essentials: All About Chicken with Marge Perry
• Cooking the Perfect Steak with Bruce Aidells
• Craftsy Block of the Month 2013 with Laura Nownes
• Creative Photography: Capture Life Differently with George Lange
• Creative Quilt Backs with Elizabeth Hartman
• Creative Ways with Whole Grains with Anna Bullett
• Cut to It: Strategies for Smarter Quilting with Debbie Caffrey
• Designing Modern Quilts with Weeks Ringle
• Design It, Quilt It: Freeform Quilting Techniques with Cindy Needham
• Dot-to-Dot Quilting with Angela Walters
• Finishing School: Edges and Bindings with Mimi Dietrich
• Fire up the Fish with David Bonom
• Fun Techniques with Fabric Paints with Cindy Walter
• Free Motion Quilting a Sampler with Leah Day
• Free-Motion Quilting with Feathers with Angela Walters
• Hand-Stitched Collage Quilts with Laura Wasilowski
• Homemade Italian Pasta with Guiliano Hazan
• Homestyle Pan Sauces with Martha Holmberg
• Know Your Wool with Deborah Robson
• Learn to Sew: Simple Bags with Nicole Vasbinder
• Machine Quilting with Wendy Butler Berns
• Machine Quilting Negative Space with Angela Walters
• Machine Quilting: Small Changes, Big Variety with Angela Walters
• Magical Jelly Roll Quilts with Kimberly Einmo
• Pattern Free Quilt-making with Joe Cunningham
• Pictures to Pixel Quilts with Carol Sheridan
• Piece, Patch, Quilt: Basic Quiltmaking Skills with Gail Kessler
• Perfect Pizza at Home with Peter Reinhart
• Roasting Techniques Every Cook Should Know with Molly Stevens
• QuiltCon Lecture Series 2013
• Scrap Quilting with Pepper Cory
• Secrets of Slow Cooking: Mastering the Braise with Molly Stephens
• Secrets to Cooking Fish: Eight Essential Techniques with Joel Gamoran
• Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer with Carol Sheridan
• Simple Soups from Scratch with Kathy Gunst
• Spindling from Fluff to Stuff with Drucilla Pettibone
• Stitch & Slash with Carol Ann Waugh
• Strip Your Stash with Nancy Smith
• Stupendous Stitching with Carol Ann Waugh
• Thread Art with Lola Jenkins
• Travel Photography with Jad Davenport

It's My Fifth Podcastaversary--and a HUGE Giveaway! Woo Woo Woo Woo!

"It's my podcastaversary, it's my podcastaversary, it's my podcastaversary..."

Okay, so that doesn't have quite as much groove to it as the birthday chant, but hey, it's still a big deal! Five whole years of podcasting--woo woo! 

I've heard from several new listeners in the last few weeks that they've gone back to start listening from my very first episodes. Even I'm not that brave. We've come a long way, baby.

It's been five years of learning, experimenting, messing up, but having a ball. It's also been five years of talking to some very, very interesting people.

There's been Jaye of www.artquiltmaker.com, of course, for a lot of episodes. She helped me and--I know from comments--a lot of you learn a lot more about design principles and elements. Thanks so much, Jaye!

The roll call of the rest of the people I've interviewed? It's a long one! Let's see, there's: Tara Thom (long-arm quilter); Anne Sayuri Fujiwara Clausen (Hawaiian quilter); Beth Davis (quilt appraiser); several members of my guild--some of whom I had to twist their arms a bit; Charlotte Hawkes (Scrapitude designer, now of www.scrapitudequilts.com);  E. Aminata Brown of BabaBlanket.com; Amy Milne, executive director of the Alliance for American Quilts; Hollis Chatelain (www.hollisart.com); Kim Templin, designer of the Double Diamond Ruler; Erin Rissberger of Quilting Acres (hand-dyed wool); Lauren Sgranfetto (threadpainter); the meet-up during the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA (can you believe that was 3 years ago?); Karen Lee Carter, quilt artist (here's her Facebook page); Tiffany Sherman of Quilter's Corner; AJ of the Quilting Pot podcast; Kimberly Einmo (www.kimberlyeinmo.com); Wendy Butler Berns (www.wendybutlerberns.com); Jane Dunnewold (www.janedunnewold.com); Carol Ann Waugh (www.carolannwaugh.com); Valerie Goodwin (www.quiltsbyvalerie.com); and Ami Simms (www.amisimms.com).(Did I miss anyone? I sure hope not!) I haven't been doing so many interviews lately because my schedule went all haywire, but I love doing them so you're likely going to hear more in the future! 

But, forasmuch as I love talking about quilting, and forasmuch as I love doing interviews, what I really, really love is the conversation with listeners. That's why I always keep listener feedback as a part of my episodes--I think you've got some great stuff to say and I want to make sure you can all learn from each other. So keep those comments going!

The Giveaway

In thanks to all of my listeners, in honor of my fifth podcastaversary I have FIVE great birthday presents to give away. Lots of really, really great ones! I wish I could enter my own giveaway!

There's a $25 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop for one lucky winner! Thanks, Fat Quarter Shop, for being a sponsor of my birthday party!

Ooh, I bet you can't wait to go shopping! If you win this one, I'll send your email address to our friends at the Fat Quarter Shop and they'll email you the gift certificate so you can start shopping in your jammies right away.

There's a really beautiful collection of Aurifil thread for one lucky winner! Thanks so much, Aurifil, for being a sponsor of my birthday! We all know I'm an Aurifil girl!

This Reel Time collection of 12 50-wt large spools goes for $130 in the wild. It could possibly be yours for the low, low price of having listened to 179 episodes of me. (Well, okay, maybe you've not listened to any episodes and you've just stumbled across this giveaway and want to take your chances. That's okay too! The more, the merrier!)

One very fortunate person will win a free copy of Charlotte's Scrapitude pattern! Thanks, friend Charlotte, for sponsoring my birthday party!

Remember Scrapitude, the mystery quilt I posted on my blog in 2013-2014? Charlotte is giving one lucky winner a free copy of the pattern she has now published and has for sale.

The picture is my completed Scrapitude quilt, aka ScrapiBonzaTude. To see other people's completed Scrapitudes, visit the Scrapitude Flickr group. To see what Charlotte is up to these days, or to get the clues for her 2015 mystery quilt, Scrap-in-a-box, visit her website at www.scrapitudequilts.com. It's going on right now--the reveal will be in another month or two so you'll want to catch up!

And one person will be the lucky winner of a $10 gift certificate to PRO Chemical & Dye at www.prochemical.com. Thanks, PRO Chemical & Dye, for sponsoring my birthday party!

Haven't you always wanted to be able to create gorgeous, one-of-a-kind fabrics? C'mon, you know you do. (See one of my own faves at left.) PRO Chem also has fabric paints, fabric markers, stamps and molding mats, Shiva paintsticks, tie-dye supplies, PFD fabrics and yarns, plus lots of books and videos on how to use all this great stuff. If none of that appeals to you, they sell collections of hand-dyed gradation fabrics (already dyed for you!) in beautiful colors.

And, finally, it wouldn't be a Sandy Giveaway without...drumroll please...a Craftsy class to give away! Thank you, Craftsy, for sponsoring my fifth birthday!

Yes, one lucky winner will win a free Craftsy class of their choice! If you win this one, I'll send you a special link for you to use to go to Craftsy's site to choose your class. If you don't already have a free Craftsy account, you'll be prompted to set one up when you use the link. (If you've been a blog or podcast follower of mine for any length of time, you'll definitely know how valuable I think their classes are!)

Use this Rafflecopter widget to enter in the giveaway. Five winners total!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends at midnight, Eastern time, on Sunday, April 4th, here in the United States. 

(Remember, just leaving a comment below will not enter you in the giveaway. You must use the Rafflecopter widget.)

Have fun!

Fight the Funk Friday

Today, I'm fighting the funk by gettin' outta Dodge. 

I'm heading into a spate of travel for the next couple of weeks--some fun, some work.

No Thinkin' about It Thursday or Fight the Funk Friday posts for the next couple of weeks. But hopefully some of this travel will up the step count for me!

Thinkin' about It Thursday (and more reveals)

This week I'm thinking...

• That maybe I need to buy some more black and white fabrics just to dye them pretty pretty colors.

• But that I need to do a little more work on my technique to get more interesting tray dyes.

• But that no matter what, it's always a hoot to get back in my dye studio again.

Craftsy Class Review and some reveals! Fun Techniques with Fabric Paints with Cindy Walter

Dyes are great. I love dyes. But using fabric paints as well just gives me more ways I can create really, really cool original fabrics.

So the #madquiltscientist has expanded her repertoire.

Now, here's a true confession moment: I've owned a lot of different types of fabric paints for awhile. I kept collecting them, swearing to myself that I'd immediately spend time figuring them out. And they were all neatly organized and sitting in labeled bins in my dye studio in the basement. Collecting dust.

Finally, last weekend, I got the fire lit under me to pull them out and start playing. I honestly can't remember what the catalyst was, but whatever it was, the bug hit fast and hard. I spent a couple hours on Saturday messing around with my PROfab opaque textile paints. They come with instructions but not much in the way of guidance beyond that and, as usual, I didn't bother to first go on YouTube or sit down with one of the many art quilt books I now own. I just pulled out the paints, grabbed a piece of the PFD fabric that's always sitting at the ready in my dye studio, and went to town. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't getting quite the results I was going for. Then I remembered--Doh! I owned a Craftsy class on this, didn't I?

Yep, several weeks ago I'd bought Fun Techniques with Fabric Paints with Cindy Walter. Woot woot! I spent several hours on Sunday just blasting my way through watching all the lessons, then descended back into my dye studio freshly armed with knowledge and a few new techniques to try. I had an absolute ball.

I switched to the Dye-na-Flow paints I also owned (ahem) and tried the same effects I'd been going for on Saturday, but to much better end results this time after watching Cindy Walter's techniques. 

I did a colorwash on a cotton PFD piece I had left over from a previous project, and then (again, testing out something she teaches in the class) salted it with Kosher salt, the largest salt crystal I had in my house, my husband having used up the last of our rock salt on the driveway in the most recent snowstorm. 

I also had a leftover piece of what I think is silk--although I bought it at a sewing guild's rummage sale and it was unmarked, and once you get me out of the world of cotton and wool, I'm a bit lost in the fabric-identification department. But it's shiny. And it feels like silk. So that makes it silk in my world. 

I also salted this one.

Part of what I love about paints versus dyes is they're not fiber-specific. I can use my dyes on silk but the colors come out a little different than they do when used on cotton. With paints? It makes nary a never-mind what you're painting. I could paint my dogs and it would still work just as well. (Whether the dogs enjoyed it would be another story.)

Then I did some colorwashes and, instead of salting, did some scrunching and folding to test out some other things that Walter teaches in the class. Being my first time out of the gate on this one, I learned a lot about how much I need to scrunch or fold to get the volume of lines I want. But still, as a test, it's all good. And these can still be overdyed or painted again or whatever, so it's just a start.

I've heat-set all of these, but they have to cure for a bit before I can run them through the wash and really finish the process, so you can still see some leftover salt-crunchy that's embedded in the fabric until I can give them a good wash, and lots of wrinkles that didn't want to come out with just using a dry iron. 

A little tired of being in the basement, I moved my operations to the kitchen table to do some more work with the thicker PROfab paints. I'll post pictures of that one later on when it's finished. I also (sigh) couldn't resist running out Monday evening to an art supply store in the city that carries a decent selection of fabric paints. I picked up a couple more Dye-na-flow colors, plus some Jacquard Textile Colors, Jacquard Neopaque, a handful of Jacquard Lumiere (and I already have a specific project in mind for those), and one Jacquard Pearl-Ex Pigment so I can add it to my other paints to turn anything I want into a Lumiere-style paint.

So much like Jane Dunnewold did to me a couple of years ago with hand-dyeing, Cindy Walters has now done to me with fabric paints. It's a logical addition to my arsenal of textile art and surface design. And I'm just having a blast. 

Ah, you want to hear about the class now, is that it? 

It's just boatloads of fun. If you need more detail than that: She does an excellent job giving tips about setting up a work space, the difference between the types of paints, how to dilute thicker paints for different effects, and a variety of techniques for using several types of paints. She also shows examples of how to use the painted fabrics (and garments too!), so there's a lot of visual inspiration alongside the practical information. 

I think this class most likely marks another turning point for me in my development with art quilting. I've owned Painted Pictorial Quilts with Annette Kennedy for a couple of years now--it's one of the first Craftsy classes I ever bought, but I always found it a bit intimidating to think about diving into that one. Now I feel so much more prepared--it's just gotten bumped up to the top of my "next class" list! I've also pulled out my art quilt books and am going over anything related to fabric paints, and spent a pleasant hour or so reviewing Mickey Lawler's SkyDyes, which my BFF/BQF gave me a few months ago. I enjoyed it then, but I'm enjoying it even more now!

The Basics

• 7 classes, ranging from 14-45 minutes--most are around 25-30 minutes.
• Lesson 1 gives an overview of fabric paints in general, and she talks about the difference between dyes and paints, and color theory as it relates to fabric paints. 
• Lesson 2 goes into more detail about types of fabric paints, how to buy paints, and how to set up your work space.
• Lesson 3 and 4 are about doing color-washes and variations; lesson 5 is about using thick paints (stamping, stenciling, and painting); lesson 6 gives direction for painting a miniature quilt in a couple of different ways (this is the project I'm currently working on, to be revealed later); and lesson 7 goes into mixed media--including 3D paints, ink pens and pencils, oil sticks, and using yarns and embroidery for embellishments. 

Do you even need to ask? Two thumbs up for Fun Techniques with Fabric Paints with Cindy Walter.  Way, way, way up with a bit of dancing around involved to boot. 

(Using Craftsy links in this post helps support this podcast and blog. Thank you so much!)

Craftsy Class Review: Secrets to Cooking Fish: Eight Essential Techniques with Joel Gamoran

As I've referenced in other posts, my husband and I periodically talk about how we really should eat more fish. I'm a bit iffy on fish in general; I have a few types of fish and a few ways it can be prepared that I can almost say I enjoy. He likes fish better than I do, but it's still not something he really looks forward to. I have been wanting to learn more about different ways to prepare fish (in the ever-diminishing hope I'd ever find something I really, truly loved), so I was thrilled when I saw that Craftsy now has a second class on fish. I had already done Fire up the Fish with David Bonom and enjoyed it (here's my review of that one). So, here's my review of Secrets to Cooking Fish: Eight Essential Techniques with Chef Joel Gamoran.

Joel Gamoran is executive chef at Sur La Table. You can tell he's used to teaching classes--he's very easy to watch: he's dynamic without being over the top, and makes you feel immediately comfortable. One very nice twist to this class is that he brings in a student for each lesson; the student serves as a visual "stand-in" for you as the viewer, of course. It's nice to see someone slicing and chopping as slowly as I might, and giving him the occasional uncertain look. I enjoyed how that made this class feel a bit different from other cooking classes I've done on Craftsy. 

Because he's associated with Sur La Table, there is a certain amount of product placement in this class. And I did almost "bite," so to speak, because my fish spatula is a very cheap one that's not at all flexible when I try to get fish out of the pan, so I tend to end up with crumbly bits on the plate rather than a pretty filet. Still, I decided I'd wait to treat myself to a decent fish spatula for if I ever start cooking fish on a more regular schedule than Once in a Blue Moon.

Each lesson introduces different ways of cooking fish by going through a recipe for that technique. There were only a couple of the recipes that I thought my husband and I would be able to agree on, so I ended up making the Sole with Browned Butter, Lemon and Almonds recipe, although I substituted tilapia for sole. In the grand scheme of fish, I will say I enjoyed this fish more than most, and it was certainly a very easy recipe to throw together on a weeknight. Next time I make it, though, I think I'm going to throw a little Panko crumb on that fish as my husband and I both like our fish to have a bit of a crispier outside. 

On the other hand, by the time it's soaking in that very tasty butter/lemon sauce, you've probably negated the vast majority of the health factor to eating fish in the first place. But that's beside the point.

I did really enjoy the class, despite my half-hearted feelings about the main course. I feel like I understand a little more about fish and what types of fish work best with what kinds of preparations, and I really appreciated his discussion of sustainability in the second lesson; great information there. There was a decent amount of information in regards to blending flavors and what kinds of sauces, salsas, or side dishes work well, although I always wish for more along those lines.

Still n' all, I do really recommend this class. For this non-fish-aficionado (see what I did there?), it was a good class. For someone who actually likes fish, it would be a great class!

The Basics

• 8 classes; absent the 2 1/2 minute introduction of lesson 1, the other 7 range from 14 minutes to 26 minutes.
• Lesson 2 is an excellent overview of types of fish, what to look for when buying fish, and sustainability; it also has a no-cook recipe included.
• Lessons 3-8 go through grilling, roasting, poaching, sauteing and pan-frying, steaming, and curing and smoking. The recipes range in complexity but none are very difficult--they're all quite achievable by the average home cook. Some excellent tips for testing for doneness and how to slice and serve certain fish dishes are also useful.

I can't allow my two-thumbs-sideways attitude about fish to color my review of Secrets to Cooking Fish: Eight Essential Techniques with Chef Joel Gamoran, so I'm giving the class two thumbs up. And if you act fast, it's on sale right now!

(Using Craftsy links in this post helps support this podcast and blog. Thank you so much!)

Fight the Funk Friday

I'm determined to keep doing these weekly posts even if I've been a slug all week without any progress to report. Because at least typing is moving my fingers and therefore burning a few calories, right?

This was not a good week in general, although there's a happy ending to the story. My very, very intense week last week extended into a very busy weekend which culminated with yet another presentation followed by an evening conference call on Monday and my guild meeting Tuesday night... Introvert Sandy was racing pell-mell towards full melt-down by then. 

I wasn't sleeping much at all during most of that time, and what sleep I was getting was due to sleeping pills which, after a few days of taking them in succession, significantly affect my mood and not to the better. So I've not been sleeping, which means I've not been exercising and I've not been eating well. And because of my mood, I couldn't even bring myself to care.

Basically, everything went to pot this week and I finally had a full-on (mostly introvert) crash Tuesday night/Wed morning. 

In terms of the "fighting the funk" category, however, I did try to take care of myself in some ways through all that by using various relaxation techniques just to get me through. Addressing symptoms only goes so far, however, until you can sort out the causal factors. 

Three days of gorgeous sun and over-freezing temperatures--woo! But there's still a lot of snow left to melt...

That being said, I feel like things finally took a big turn for the better midweek, after my crash. Wednesday really seemed to be a turning point for me. First of all, WE HAVE SUN!!!!! So that's a big boost. I haven't been using my light box this week because I'm actually getting real live sun from the windows and when I go outdoors. Wow. That feels good. Plus Wednesday was the first day, after 12 days in a row of stuff going on, in which I had no conference calls, no presentations, no in-person meetings, no one other than my husband and dogs I needed to interact with. Blissful quietness. I didn't talk much to my husband or dogs that night, either.

Therefore, no surprise here, I got my first really solid night's sleep Wednesday night without the help of any pills at all! Thursday my mood was vastly improved but I still had some residual tired going on so I allowed myself to take it a little easy. Because I knew I'd be spending part of my day off today (Friday) with a bunch of people for my guild sew days, I let Introvert Sandy stay in hiding for one more night and didn't attend my WW meetings or go to the gym. I will start doing Daily Burn and/or the gym again this week--I know I have some lost ground to make up for.

Meanwhile, I did have a little fun with the current Craftsy sale and picked up three new classes. (One was nearly 60% off! Woo!) In my defense, however, one is a cooking class about vegetables that I have had on my wishlist for awhile. Since I just signed up with a new CSA for the summer (another woo!), I figured it was a timely purchase.

So although I have little to report this week, I am happy to say that all signs point to vast improvement for this coming week. We're supposed to keep getting sun and mostly-decent temperatures, even though we're also due for a little more snow sometime in the next few days. DD came home last night for her spring break this week; DH will be gone on business for some portion of next week so DD (a vegetarian and very good cook) and I will be playing in the kitchen with some healthier, adventuresome recipes that DH would never eat--he's generally a meat-and-potatah-kind of guy. So I'm really looking forward to getting back on track.

By the way, here's a very entertaining view of what an impending Introvert Melt-Down looks like. All I can say is, yep.

(As per yesterday's post but with new information: I'm testing out some problems I've been having with this site for a long time. If you haven't already done so on yesterday's post, it would really help if you'd leave comments so tech support can see what's going on. If you leave a comment, just mention in parentheses how you've accessed the site--phone, tablet, PC/Mac, iOS or Windows, directly or through a feed reader, etc. If you try to leave a comment and are unsuccessful, use this link provided by SquareSpace tech support: http://supportdetails.com/. This will give technical details that you can then forward to me to send to tech support. It will allow them to test the problem further. All information is confidential. Do, however, remember that you can sign in as "guest" if you don't have one of the other accounts that the comment feature mentions. Also, be sure to check that your browser is the most recent version--something you should be doing on a regular basis anyway for security purposes. Here's a helpful link for the most updated versions of your browsers: http://outdatedbrowser.com/en. Thank you!)

Thinkin' about It Thursday

This week, I'm thinking... 

• How absolutely, fantastically, overwhelmingly good it is to see sun again. 
• That a little sun makes a huge difference to my overall mood. 
• That even after three days of 40s (and dabbling toes briefly in the 50s) I can still only see a little patch of green on our front slope. 
• How it's still good weather for driving around with the sunroof and windows open. 
• How sore my fingertips are from embroidery.
• That I'm going to have to keep practicing that darn rosette chain stitch.  
  • Waterloo. 
  • Dang, that one's tricky.  

• That my favorite stitch so far has been the fly stitch. 
• How fun it is to do the same stitch in different lengths, widths, tensions, and with different threads, to see how completely different it can look. 
• Because that means I can use my favorite stitch a few different times and most people wouldn't even notice it's the same stitch.

• That I've once again put a quilt in a show--my second time ever. 
• How I noticed something I should've fixed even as I was putting the quilt into a bag for drop-off at the quilt shop hosting the show.
• That hopefully it'll be hung a bit above eye level. 
  • So no one can look too closely. 
  • But it's not too noticeable, really.
  • And is just due to using old fusible.
  • So that makes it the fusible's fault and not mine, right?
• That I'm looking forward to my day off on Friday and will be going to my guild's sew days, even if just for a few hours. 
• How I need to figure out tonight how many strips and squares a certain honkin' big quilt will take so I can cut them while surrounded by buddies to keep me from thinking about how mind-numblingly boring all that cutting is.
  • But what an opportunity to put Debbie Caffrey techniques into practice. 
• That, other than DD coming home for spring break, I have nothing scheduled for this weekend and that feels great! 
  • Other than an eye appointment
  • And they'll dilate my pupils
  • So I won't be able to see really well for awhile
  • And going to the quilt show to see my and my friends' quilts hanging will be poorly timed if I'm still wearing sunglasses. 

(Shameless plug for comments, but for a good reason: I'm testing out some problems I've been having with this site for a long time. It would really help if you'd leave comments so tech support can see what's going on. If you leave a comment, just mention in parentheses how you've accessed the site--phone, tablet, PC/Mac, iOS or Windows, directly or through a feed reader, etc. If you try to leave a comment and are unsuccessful, email me that same information. Do, however, remember that you can sign in as "guest" if you don't have one of the other accounts that the comment feature mentions. Thank you!)