iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I bought a kit a couple of weeks ago and made a little sewing roll.

A green felted-wool sewing roll, rolled up and tied with a ribbon. It's accented with brown and orange embroidery and a brown flower-shaped button.

The inside of the sewing roll in the previous picture. The lining is pale pink and the pockets and pincushion are light blue. They are accented with embroidery needles and scissors and appliqued with a spool of thread, a tape measure, and buttons. It's filled with small sewing tools including a needle, pins, tape measure, scissors, thread, sewing clips, and a seam ripper.

Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

If you're in the Lansing area tomorrow, join @lansingmakers.bsky.social (and many other groups!) at How-to Halloween at Impression5 Science Center! The theme this year is Star Trek. how-tohalloween.com

How-to Halloween! Free outdoor festivities! Interactive attractions, trick or treating, make and takes, creative vendors, live entertainment, killer car show, costume contests, zombie walk, ghost tour. Special indoor programming - regular admission fee to enter i5 and REOlds Museum. Saturday, October 3, 2026. 11am-5pm. Riverside parking lot, 200 Museum Drive, Lansing, Michigan.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Here's the quilt I'm donating for the silent auction at next week's hafla in Lansing. It's 26.5x26.5 inches, hand quilted with big-stitch quilting. It would make a great Halloween table topper!

A small square quilt made in an assortment of Halloween fabrics featuring candy corn, black cats, bats, moons and stars. The quilt is made of four square-in-a-square blocks, two predominantly green and two predominantly orange, each with a blue and black center square featuring bats.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I'm enjoying a sunny but cool early morning on my friend's back porch. I think the pattern and the moss on these gorgeous stepping stones have to become a quilt.

Picture of the back step and some stepping stones behind my friend's house. The stepping stones are arranged diagonally to the concrete steps. Each stone is composed of 8 bricks in a cross cross pattern. They are all covered erratically in brilliant green moss. There are some brown oak leaves and acorns on the steps.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

My summer vacation! I'm second from the right.

A group of tourists in dry suits, red personal flotation devices, and blue helmets riding in an inflatable orange raft paddled by a tall blond man in yellow. We were going down the Chena River in Alaska in July. The water was COLD!

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

This makes sense since I grew up in New Brunswick, Canada, right next door to Maine. mydialect.us/quiz-standar...

A map of the US, color coded to show where my dialect is most and least similar to. Maine is dark orange, showing that I sound most like a Mainer. The area around Louisiana is dark blue, showing that I sound the least like someone from down south. https://mydialect.us/quiz-standard.html

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

We lost another great woman today. What a sad time.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

1. US food recalls spike 2. Canadian tourism to US drop Gee, could they be connected? 😄 (Kidding, mostly. I know that's not why, but it's one more good reason not to come here.)

A screenshot of the Trending topics on BlueSky:
1. US food recalls spike
2. Canadian tourism to US drop

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

MapQuest still shows it correctly. I just installed their app and will start using that instead of Google maps.

A screenshot of the MapQuest listing for Lake Ontario.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I put this on as soon as I got home today. I'm currently listening to her cover of Purple Rain. One of my idols singing the words of another of my idols, and they were both ripped from us way too soon.

The cover of Dolly Parton's album Rockstar. She's seated in a car with black leather seats and a leopard print steering wheel cover, wearing a short lace dress and leather gloves. ♥️

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

The folks from Muralmatics are hard at work again today on the gorgeous mural they're painting for us at @lansingmakers.bsky.social ! During the week a group of teens are learning new skills and on the weekends the adults keep the work going.

The side of a building with a mural in progress. The background is purple and there is the beginnings of a stylized woman's face in multiple colors. Three people work on the mural, including one on a scissor lift.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

This is one of the projects being worked on in the quilt class I am teaching this month at @lansingmakers.bsky.social ! It's going to be amazing! #quilting #makerspace

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Habitat for Humanity has been borrowing some of our space at @lansingmakers.bsky.social to build pre-fab walls. These ones are going up in a brand new house next week! #makerspace #habitatforhumanity #makers #builders

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I never understood paper piecing until my friend demonstrated it for me, and then I got the hang of it! This was after trying several times on my own and in classes. And then I was able to make blocks like these!

Four New York Beauty quilt blocks. Each block consists of a quarter circle with sharp radiating spokes. The backgrounds are low volume black and white prints. The stars are made from dark and bright fabrics in a variety of colors and prints.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I really enjoyed this class and I learned how to use a lathe and how to tune a flute as you make it! My flute is made of South American Sapele. It looks much darker now that I've coated it in mineral oil. After I give that time to sink in, I'll tie the block on with a leather thong.

A 5-hole wooden native woodland flute in a medium brown colored wood.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

According to Northumberland Free Press, "Seismologists say an earthquake ranked 2.9 on the Richter scale hit the Miramichi region on Friday afternoon. Many residents took to social media and reported feeling it across southern Northumberland County." www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/index-en.php

A map of the Miramichi region of Northumberland County, New Brunswick, Canada showing the location of a 2.9 magnitude earthquake felt on Friday, July 31.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

It was a rainy and chilly day in Denali park when I was there last Thursday, but it was still spectacularly beautiful! #Alaska #Denali #Vacation

A woman with pink hair and glasses wearing a green fleece jacket, jeans, and dark blue hiking boots standing in front of a wooden railing with a backdrop of a braided river and hazy green mountains.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

And still more Alaskan wildlife, these all seen while on a boat trip in the Kenai Fjords. We had the most incredible weather and calm seas. #seastart #seals #stellarsealions #seaotter

A seagull sitting on a rocky shore with several pink sea stars clinging to the rocks above the waterline.

Gray and white seals lounging on the rocks below a bare tree trunk.

Stellar sea lions lounging on the rocks in front of emerald green water. A white gull is flying low over the water.

A little sea otter floating by in a gorgeous calm sea.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

And it wouldn't be a trip to Alaska without wildlife. Here are some things we saw. #moose #squirrel #ptarmigan #moremoose

A bull moose feasting in a giant field of green plants. Photo by my friend who had a better vantage point than anyone on the bus. Taken in Denali Park and Wildlife Preserve.

A ground squirrel who posed nicely for me! Taken in Denali Park and Wildlife Preserve.

A little family of ptarmigan! Taken in Denali Park and Wildlife Preserve.

A cow moose and her calves crossing a river. I took this shot from the bus after someone yelled, "Moose!" I'm so happy I had my camera ready! With the mountains and trees behind and the beach in front of them, this looks like a damn postcard, it's so beautiful!

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

The most unusual thing, according to the guides, was this view of the full Alaska Range featuring Mount Denali in all its glory, glistening in the morning sun! One guide said this is a "1% view". The entire range is almost never visible at the same time. #Alaska #Denali #Talkeetna #Mountains

A photo of the Alaska Range featuring Mount Denali in all its glory, glistening in the morning sun! This was taken from behind the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge which had the best views of any hotel I've ever stayed in.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Just got back from vacationing in Alaska yesterday. The most unexpected thing was how many bouquets of peony roses I saw! This one is from the Pumphouse restaurant in Fairbanks, but there were some at the post office too. They were just everywhere! 😍 #Alaska #peonies #roses

A bouquet of pink peony roses in a clear glass vase.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

It's hard to even see Michigan under that purple blob. gispub.epa.gov/airnow/?cont...

An air quality map of North America showing smoke cover stretching from British Columbia all the way to Nova Scotia. The upper midwest from Wisconsin to Toronto is covered in dark purple, indicating heavy smoke and terrible air quality.

Air quality map. The upper midwest from Wisconsin to Toronto is covered in dark purple, indicating heavy smoke and terrible air quality. The state of Michigan is invisible.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Air quality where I am right now. It's so gross outside. I can smell the smoke and it was hard to breathe just walking from my car into the office.

Air quality score of 436, which is considered hazardous. Health warning of emergency conditions: everyone is more likely to be affected.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

We're #1 in #2 I guess. www.usatoday.com/story/graphi...

A map of the US showing the approximate number of cases of cyclosporiasis in each state. Michigan leads the way with more than 2600 cases.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

After doing mediocre on a bunch of these, I must brag!

My SMUSH game score of 864 for a perfect game.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

It took a couple of rounds for me to get the hang of this game, but I've gone back to do the older ones and did pretty well! (I keep forgetting you can reuse letters and make even very short words.) You can play it here: www.hankgreen.com/smush/index....

A screenshot of my score from the game Smush from the June 29th round. You can play it here: https://www.hankgreen.com/smush/index.html#1

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Today I was sitting in the dentist's chair waiting for her to examine my infected, previously root-canaled tooth when this popped up on Reddit. Just what I needed to see. 😱

A photo of a chest X-ray with white crisscrossing lines down the middle. The text reads, "We doing chest X-rays? I have wires in my chest from an open heart surgery... which I needed because of an infected wisdom tooth."

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

It's going to be terrible for the next few days. Here are some local cooling centers in #Lansing .

Cooling Centers in the city of Lansing, Michigan open June 29-July 3.

Open Monday - 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Open Tuesday - Thursday - 8:30 am - 9:00 pm

Foster Community Center
Gier Community Center
Schmidt Community Center.

Open Monday - Thursday - 8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Letts Community Center.

Open Monday - Thursday - 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Lansing City Hall Lobby.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

I basically never buy paper books anymore, but this one was not available as an ebook. I'm very excited to read it!

The image shows the cover of the book The Miramichi Fire: A History by Alan Maceachern.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

BTW, if you live in the Lansing area and have never quilted before, keep an eye on @lansingmakers.bsky.social for an announcement of my (as yet unscheduled) class. We'll be making a disappearing 9-patch table runner or table topper similar to the one below.

A small hand-quilted table topper made with batiks of brown, olive, gold, and other natural shades. It is the disappearing 9-patch pattern which features large and small squares and rectangles.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Join us tomorrow at Lansing Makers Network as artist James Friend teaches you to make and use your own stamps in a mini printmaking class! I'll be assisting with the class and am really looking forward to it! Click the link below to buy a ticket!

Black-ink prints on white paper, featuring a variety of common items - scissors, a cactus, a broken egg, asparagus, pencils, toothbrushes, a salt shaker, a pin cushion etc.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

I finished making a spring/summer table runner for myself last night! #quiltsky

A wooden dining table in a sunny room with a pink and green floral quilted table runner. On the runner is a bouquet of assorted fresh flowers and a black and white card with a drawing of a cat's face. In the background are some stuffed bunnies in and around a wool-felted basket of eggs.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

I love that spider plants both clone themselves and have flowers. What is the technical term for a plant that does this?

A picture of a stem from a spider plant showing three white flowers and three or four small clones.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

My friend and I spent the night before my birthday seeing Dirty Dancing in concert. It was fantastic! We had front row seats, and at the end, everybody came up and danced in front of the stage while they sang all the songs for a second time!

The cast and some of the audience of Dirty Dancing in concert.

The picture shows a band on stage, with two male singers, and a female singer. In front of them are the backs of some of the other concertgoers.

Behind them is the movie screen with the words Dirty Dancing in concert.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

I just got back from seeing Come From Away - opening night at the Meadowbrook Theater. They kicked ass! The cast was incredible! 😍 It's a good thing I listened to the Broadway cast album this morning. I got (most of) the crying out of my system. 😭 Oh, and I was in the second row center! Perfect!

A photo of the empty stage for the musical Come From Away, taken before the show started. Before anyone came on stage there were the sounds of birds, and of airplanes flying high overhead.

The set is sparse, with two wooden tables, an assortment of 12 chairs, and a small stage in each back corner for the musicians. The back of the stage is made of horizontal wooden slats, backed by a brilliant blue light that shines through them.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Yesterday I laid out all the blocks for my quilt. Well, most of them anyway. My design wall is too small to hold them all!

Colorful quilt blocks hung on point on a wall. They are a variety of colors including pink, orange, and green and feature flowers including dandelions and peony roses.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

I flew from snowy Michigan to sunny Orlando for #drjspring Just attended my first session with the incredible Regina Phelps and have new ideas to improve our incident assessment process.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

I wonder if people realize that this bird motif is based on the rebal sign in the Star Wars show Andor?

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I volunteered here today with the Lansing Maker's Network, and it was so much fun! Here's a picture of one of our blacksmiths making a cool project.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

I wouldn't mind being a member of the Bridgerton household at all.

A still from the TV show Bridgerton showing Benedict Bridgerton, dressed in black and wearing a black masquerade mask. He's dancing with and kissing the hand of a young woman in a short-sleeved silver gown with a low back and bows on the sleeves. She has her hair up and is wearing an elaborate silver masquerade mask.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

I need 72 sets of 4. Here are 40 piled up with a few more in the background. Time for a break and lunch! #quiltsky

Stacks of cut fabric squares on a green cutting mat with a yellow rotary cutter. The fabrics are shades of peach, green and gray with dandelions and other floral prints. Fabrics designed by Robin Pickens for Moda.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

These are fabrics from at least three different collections by Robin Pickens for Moda. I love her fabrics and I love how the colors all blend from the different lines. I think they may end up in this quilt. I will do a black sashing rather than white just because that's the fabric I have. #quiltsky

An assortment of brightly colored fabrics laid out on a cutting table. The colors are mostly peach, green, gray, and deep reddish orange. Some of the fabrics have prints of peony roses, dandelions, and coneflowers with bumblebees. Others have small abstract prints. In the middle is a quilt pattern consisting of blocks of four squares of the same color. The squares are divided by a narrow white sashing.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

I finally finished the top of a quilted table topper that I started at a retreat last year. I set it aside for several months and just made the last two blocks last weekend and sewed it together with the setting triangles today. #quiltsky

A multicolored New York Beauty quilt top, consisting of 12 blocks in a variety of colors.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

This is how a good leader responds to a tragedy.

In a statement Tuesday night, Carney said he was “devastated” by the news of the killings.

“My prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence,” he said.

“I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens.”

Carney’s office also confirmed that he was postponing an announcement scheduled for Wednesday, as well as international travel plans, in light of the tragedy.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Every accusation is an admission. Everything they accused the Chinese of doing with TikTok, they are now doing. Including censoring words like Epstein. I have seen multiple reports that people cannot upload videos, particularly ones showing the recent Minneapolis murders. Abolish billionaires.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

For me, it's a tie between these two, released in 1990 and 1993.

The album cover for Depeche Mode's album Violator, released in 1990. It features a stylized long-stemmed red rose on a black background with the word Violator in script across the middle of the rose.

The cover of Depeche Mode's Songs of Faith and Devotion album, released in 1993. It features stylized images of the band members smeared with purple shapes on a black and red background.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

This is what will happen in Florida very shortly if people stop vaccinating against polio. I guess if they *want* their children to spend their entire lives in a mechanical breathing tube... Well I don't know how to finish that sentence. Who would want this? Who would think this is a good idea?

This is a black and white photograph showing a historical polio ward. Dozens of children are in iron lungs and being tended to by nurses.

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Kelly Smith 🍁 @kellymjsmith.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

From a WIP I started in 2014 and then forgot about when I moved cross country. I found it languishing on my hard drive last week. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Since Moira had the plane to herself, she sprawled in the cushy seat that folded down into a bed and feasted on delicacies—her first cup of real coffee in years and a tiny square of real chocolate. It was rich and sweet and she let it melt on her tongue as the plane made the short hop from Saskatchewan to the North West Territories.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

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