#SewQuester Halfway!

My one day off last week, I managed to get the triangles cut and half of the twin sized #SewQuester quilt, pieced.  I chose brown as the outer fabric to set it on point as directed (this still will have more borders to go).  Pictured below in an excited photo opp in its un-ironed state.

Bringing this out into daylight I see a flaw with my decision, it is what it is.  All of the fabrics in the jelly roll were hues of blue or off white with a tad of brownish gray.  All browns are not created equal.  The brown I chose has much red and pink in it, and very little of the turquoise.  Probably not the best choice, but I am sticking to what I have in my stash for this.  I will continue forth and plan on sewing tomorrow to get this pieced.  Not sure if I have the right fabric for additional borders.  That will be an archeology dig in the stash, and not sure I will have time for that for my Thursday/Friday weekend.

I tatted a bit more and have stalled with that, everything is in a state of flux so to speak.  If I pick something up, I have so many interruptions of chores, children, cooking, etcetera, that I have just decided to keep my sewing and tatting to the days were I can do it without so much interruption.  Part of this is me and the anxiousness of time and needing to have everything come together before I go to work everyday.  When getting up early in the morning, the only time I have ever felt like this is if I run late due to flat tire or alarm not going off.  It is a very cortisol/stress feeling and probably taking years off my life.  A hobby I love should not take years off my life.

You know I probably need to be getting back to the 365 quilt.  I have months worth of blocks in my inbox just waiting to be sewn.  I have seen the centers coming together for those who are keeping up, simply stunning.  I hope mine is half as beautiful of those I have seen.  Kick start/butt in gear!

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I suspect the quilt shops in Texas will be re-openning next week.  I am certain myself as well as many others will flock like ducks to water, to get what is needed for all the sewing/finishes going on.  If quilts shows do not commence for the remainder of the year, there are going to be massive shows next year and the next several years that follow because of the extra time afforded for those non-essentials who hobby with this craft.  I do look forward to gazing upon some quilts.  For now, pinterest it is!

I noticed in the last three days that traffic has become more normal.  The quiet nights are now gone as the highway roar is back.  The economy is starting up again.  The economy is the essential right now.  Those that are receiving handouts, will be at a loss when those handouts stop.  As we all know, there is NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH.  Someone is paying for it.  Right now, me being essential, I am paying for it with each paycheck earned.  Things will become lean.  I hope those of you struggling will manage to make your ends meet.  It will be hard, but you will be a better person because of it.  Consider this all a lesson on personal growth, dealing with difficult situations will change your brain forever and make you wiser than you were before.  That wisdom I found about 20 years ago has served me well during this time.  A good mantra to have now is,  hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

Thank you for stopping in and reading my blog!

 

 

 

 

 

We had visitors! And they do not care of Social Distancing Governor!

I keep reading reports all over the internet, with how quiet society has become, the wildlife tends to migrate into territories within the city!  I have seen a herd of deer walking down main street (on the internet).  Have you been outside at all, can you hear the world peace’n quiet going on?  I does not matter what time of day I am outside, I do not hear the roar of vehicles on the road or for that matter modern civilization.  I did not realize how loud we are!  More on this in a bit.

Me working the grave yard shift, tends to be un-nerving while trying to sleep.  The windows are wide open, and the neighbors come home at 1:30 a.m. and they decide to play fetch with the barking little dog.  Or they smoke cigarettes and the smell wafts into the house.  Little things constantly bugging me when I try to sleep but can’t.

One night (I have forgotten which night because there was so much sleep deprivation this week), I kept hearing a buzz on the kitchen screen.  Sounded like a june bug on steroids.  I had to go shew it away.  And by golly, it was not a june bug at all, but a Luna Moth.  I have only ever seen one other Luna Moth in my lifetime, and I think it was at night too.  So I did not shew it away.  I admired it’s beauty and took pictures so I could show the children in the morning what had visited.

The best surprise the next morning, it was still there!  And they got to enjoy it’s beautiful, large green wings with fern, fuzzy feelers.  The little thing died, on my window sill.  In looking at it in the daylight, it looked like it had mildew on it’s wings.  I have not looked into Luna Moth deaths, and have no idea what it died from, other than natural causes.  I was a little sad, that I got to be the last living being to see it alive.

Here it is, a bit shriveled and looking less than lively, but at peace and beautifully so.

And then there was the next night, the damn golden retriever that lives behind us, was alerting us, that something fierce was in the backyard.  That dog wanted to kill whatever it was.  I have heard the dog bark like this before, and it was an armadillo.  Finally at 2:30 a.m. the owner came out and had a talk with the dog.  He only barked a couple of more times.

I awoke the next morning, doing my normal morning routine, and that dog started up it’s fierce barking again.  I threw on some clothes, thinking I was going to find one of my cats taunting the dog.  Nope, as I got closer, the dog’s barking increased, he was really upset whatever was in the tall grass.

I got about 5 ft away and saw something orange in the grass, at first thinking, is this a robin?  Why would the dog be barking at a bird?  Then I got closer, and saw the dog was having a fit over a tortoise.  Can you believe that?

I used to have a turtle like this one in my youth.  He was more green and yellow spotted, than pink and orange.  I brought him inside long enough for his beautiful head to poke out so the children can see the dots and color in nature.  I could not have designed fabric as vibrant as the head and neck of the trespasser.  No social distancing for the wildlife that crosses into the yard!

On the crafty side of life, very little sewing has transpired.  They did release the final mystery clue in the Sew Quester quilt along.  I aim to work on this on my only day off for the week, tomorrow.

I have enjoyed a bit of tatting here and there, but find I do not want to pick it up, if I am just going to be interrupted with chores or questions, or other silliness the children seem to offer relentlessly.

I hate being idle.  It seems like such a waste of time.  I did learn a dutch word this week about how nothing is really going on right now, it is called niksen, to do nothing.  Yup, niksen (pronounced nixon) is what my life is all about at home right now.

I know I can speak for us all, we all want things to be normal again.  And the good news is, it will return.  The gesture of a handshake will be most pleasurable, as well as hugs to go around.  It’s the simple things in life.

During my commute I did hear an old Alabama song, it made me smile.  To All the essentials, it was written for you, years before it’s time, if that makes any sense.

 

This song make me a bit sad, as Pittsburg steel workers, are no longer, coal mining is no longer, Detroit is no longer,  NAFTA has killed American jobs.  Thank goodness the farmers are still feeding the world.  Thank goodness the truck drivers are still delivering goods.

Maybe this virus is a reset.  And all will live and be happily ever after……food for thought.

Thank you for reading my blog!

 

My Week In Review

In the crafty corner of life, not much has happened.  I did get caught up on the Sew Quester mystery quilt along.  The blocks are all sewn, I just need to press them.  I can’t wait for step 5 and 6!  🙂

With life and it’s hairy-ness I decided to do something different for a change.  It has been a good while since I got out the tatting shuttles to tat a bit.  Boy have I gotten rusty.  I chose a pattern which I thought was manageable at my skill level.  It was harder than I anticipated, but worth the growth!  I started this yesterday before work, and realized I forgot to make a couple of joins.  So, I just cut that off, said a few dang its, and started over.  This heart took me all day.  It was nice to keep my hands and mind busy.

I also figured out when doing a pattern of this nature to print out the pattern and proceed to mark it off as I go, otherwise I will get lost on which ring I am making, or the count on my chain.  For smaller pieces that is not big deal.  As I get more rehearsed, perhaps the need to make tick marks on my pattern will become obsolete.

This heart is for the world, a world full of worry, of illness, of stillness.  My heart goes out to those in the extremes throughout the world.  Some will have a horrific future of adjustment, hunger, loss.  All of us will grow from this and become wiser, with a bit more character.   Human’s unite!  The hidden message in all of this, the year 2020.  It is giving us the vision to see how we have never seen before.

This heart was originally given away on Georgia Seitz’s website.  Thank goodness Frivole transcribed this into a tatting diagram to help me make my joins.  Click here if you are interested in this free pattern.

I had previously written about tatting and how therapeutic it is to work and keep your hands busy.  Tatting is the art of making knots.  I find I like to tat when life is stressful.  You work the knots out of life by working them into your work, does this make sense?

Since my schedule is not leaving much time for sewing or quilting, I thought tatting would bring a little joy to those spare bits of change called time.  Time well spent.  I am currently printing off my next pattern to keep the hands and mind busy.

And thanks for reading my blog!

Tackiness

Bloggers, do you read others blogs?  I read many wordpress blogs and enjoy every moment of them.  If there is hate, or stupidity, I simply unfollow them.  For the most part this group is a great group of crafters and the like.

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There are blogs that are not compatible with wordpress.  Those I can follow, but cannot comment or like.  Those blogs are few but I keep following them because they are a wonderful resource and read!  And then there are those I cannot do in wordpress.  Those I bookmark and read daily.

One blogger in particular has a huge following.  Huge mystery quilt alongs, huge.  She has virtually taught me much.  But, I have come to a point in my life realizing, her blog is all for show.

I always admired her for her writing style.  It was much like mine, and easy to follow.  Of late, her writing style is the same, but her morals are show a change.

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We have all been sequestered for a bit now.  It is inevitable to have to get out.  I work each day and then there is gas and groceries like life is normal with less traffic.

She had her scraps at one house, but was quarantined in another.  She really wanted the scraps, but said she would have to get gas, touch the pumps and inadvertently either pass the virus or get the virus. So she refrained.  People who follow her blog, commented to just go get them.  She firmly and said no, she did not want to risk touching the gas pumps because she needed gas too. But about a week later she took her new dog an hour away to get it fixed.  This negates what she said.  She said the spaying of the dog was necessary. In time probably but her choice she chose to write about, also is showing her true self.

She refused to visit with her son when he came to mow her lawn to practice the social distancing, but I’ll be damned she met up with him for easter.  She says one thing, does another!

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She has made masks.  Come up with her own, as I am not surprised, heaven forbid she do it like everyone else.  She wants everyone to do it her way.  People complained that the masks fog up their glasses and then cannot see.  She chastised them and told them how important it was to wear the masks for the safety of all citizens.  She told them to go by glass cleaner that prevents fog up.

That kind of anti-fog stuff is not in my house.  So she just encouraged people to go consume something they did not have.  A tad on the negative side.  I have seen these things come to a head before but it never bothered me like it is now.

I look back to this years mystery quilt and all those extra pieces we were told to cut and sew only for them to be unused in the quilt.  I have a whole gallon bag of unused fabric cuts that was a huge waste of my stash and an even bigger waste of time.  That peeved me back then, but this idea of her being a model citizen when she is NOT really shows me who she is.  She really likes attention.

On a few occasions I have emailed her to thank her for the free stuff she puts out there.  Her emails were cold, and unfriendly.  Again I dismissed this behavior.  It amazes me she pretends to bond with all these quilters as she writes about in her blog, but her emails spoke volumes of her true nature.  It is obvious she does not like people.

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I am thankful I have never bought any of her merchandise.  Although she did push tools.  The tools I have I like, but there are other tools she ooos and ahhhs over, and that is for a couple of weeks, and then she quits using them.

She always wants us to feel sorry for her and her busy schedule, meeting her magazine demands, mystery quilt plans , and book shipments, claiming she is doing her best.  But now that I know what I know, she is just making her schedule for what she wants to do, and if she gets busy and overbooked, it’s a pitty party and she is the only one invited.

I have drawn a line in the sand, a line of demarcation.  I no longer follow this person.  She is unsubscribed in my youtube feed as well as in the CT Publishing connection she has.  Not following them now.  I refuse to read her blog anymore as she is as fake as fake can be.  Now this has all happened within the year, is it possible she is sick?  I just wonder if there is an underlying reason for all the weird behavior.  She keeps it up, her mass of followers will get tired of her text lashings.

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I must say I am being a bit tacky by ranting about this, but it is under my craw.  My level of maturity is normally kind.  I guess what I am saying, what you put out there is what you get back.  Am I the instigator?  Is it me?  Obviously it is 50% of the “relationship”.  But too many tally marks in this past year have moved my two thumbs up to 2 thumbs down.  I cannot continue the blog reading relationship I looked forward to everyday, I am done.  Life goes on……

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And that was my 2 cents worth.  Lived and learned, my next chapter awaits….

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog!

 

Sew Quester Momentum!

Tomorrow, back to work I go.  It is my Monday.  My Thursday-Friday weekend consisted of cooking, laundry, and quilting, yay!  Today I finished quilting this.

I had 2 blocks completed from the Sew Quester quilt along by Cozy Quilt Designs.  In the last two days, I turned 2 into 20.  Got all the star blocks done.

I’ll be danged if I was about to be caught up, and clue 4 was released.  I have all of  the 4 patches sewn and now two of those together as a block.

Here is what I believe clue 5 will reveal, but I will wait to start assembling until that becomes a green light.  The corner stones between the blocks call for the matching neutral, which I did cut them.  But here in the photo I placed a scrap.  I may go this route.

The pattern called for more than 4 yds of neutral.  I did not have a piece that big except for the muslin, which I thought was too much solid.  Glad I shook this up a bit with my neutrals, otherwise the muslin would have been much non interest for these eyes.  All of this came from my stash.  And it will be a twin when it’s all said and done.

We completed the defrost of the fridge.  It took 2 days.  We have went through 2 large blocks of dry ice, with two more now shrinking.  Tomorrow is grocery shopping.  For those of you living in the big metropolis areas.  Expect to stand in line, 6ft from the person ahead of you or behind you just to get into the store.  The early bird catches the worm.  I have heard of directed parking in addition to security guards at the stores.  All for crowd control.  I just don’t see people keeping their peace much longer.  It is a matter of time before things turn scary in those regions.

The virus is here in my county, just 4 currently.  The county I work in is around 18 people, and the county I have to shop in is up in the hundreds.  These numbers are not that scary.  From most of what I have read, if you get this and are sick, you are in bed at least two weeks, says the young, 3 if you are older, and if you have a pre-existing perhaps longer.

I am surprised they have not mandated for those that have beat it, to donate blood, which contains the antibodies for those that are in the hospital.

May your grocery store aisles be well stocked with blessed toilet paper!  Thanks for stopping in and reading my blog!

The new schedule and time.

I went from the mundane same ole schedule of getting up, bathing, brushing teeth and hair and then commuting to work, to all of that but at odd times of day.

I look at the clock during my commute now, if I was turning back time, I would see, the clock reading about an hour to go before I am done for the day.  Now that is the time I arrive.

All the same things I did before, are all done now, but without the rut.  No smooth flow, bathe a child in the morning if not both, step in the shower yourself at 1 in the afternoon, while supper is cooking on the stove.

The only difference of then and now, no alarm clock to wake me.  That is nice.  For a few days of this new schedule, I am not tired, but worry I am not sleeping right.  I got to bed at about 2ish and wake wide awake at about 7:30ish.  The rest of the house is still resting, so I am quiet.  But by 8:45 I go back down for a nap.  I thought this is crazy, but did you know before the invention of the clock how things worked?

You either had meet ups at dusk, dawn, or high sun.  Then someone went and invented the time piece which aligned with the industrial revolution, and we all fight this insomnia.  But I found out today, it is not insomnia, it is normal.

Before clocks, the masses would go to bed at dark (because they had no light).  And they would wake up around 4 hours later, and move about.  Read a book, talk to a neighbor.  And then they would lay back down to get up around sunrise.  This was the norm, and everyone did this.  A cicada rhythm.  Natural.  My goodness without the alarm clock my body took only a few days to resort to the old fashioned ways of the world.  I will worry naught about that furthermore!

This weird sleeping pattern has totally upended my quilting time.  There simply is not time for it.  The meager offering I will show you now is what I accomplished while I was taking my weekend last week!

I started quilting the jelly roll race, prints by Elizabeth Hartman.  I was not too fond of this color scheme.  But as I quilt it, I like it more.  This was going to go to a coworker, but now everything is changed.  I cannot gift something that could kill a baby or a parent.  I will wait for all of this to pass and then give it, if they will accept.

I am quilting this with a very old panto.

This is in the same place as I left it over a week ago.  I aim to get back to it over my weekend which is today and tomorrow!

I tried to gift this quilt to a boss at work.

He would not accept.  Never said he would not accept, just left me a copy of the newspaper with Covid 19 headlines with the quilt.  This would have been for his grandbaby.  At first I was taken aback, but I understand.  I left it at work for him to take home when it is safe.

He also has a second grandbaby on the way.  But I have lost steam in trying to hurry up and get it done, when he will not accept, why hurry.  Here I am quliting it with what I call a dog bone meander.

Need to hand stitch the binding down on this one.

I did get the diappering pinwheel basket quilt completed.

I used an orange thread, probably close to a terra cotta.  I like it.

I am not sure what life will hold for me in the coming week.  I am essential and have to work but am socially distancing from my co-workers and working weird hours.  I have not found my rut yet.  I hope the rut will win, or the damn virus will let us all get back to normal, if that will ever be possible again.

Brisket is set out thawing, ready to go into the crockpot and turn into bbq beef brisket.  Our frost free fridge is being defrosted, yeah we have to do this a couple times a year because it is a direct result of nafta and being made in mexico.  Quality out the window.  When you make a choice to purchase a fridge, you are with it for the long haul.  Dry Ice to the rescue and it will hold us over until the ice damn melts.

All of this seems pretty boring and mundane, but at times like this, that is the way I like it!  We live yet another day, each day is a gift, that is why it is called the present.  Make the most of your present!  Thanks for stopping in and reading my blog!

Sew Quester Quilt Along!

If you do a brief internet search there are always lots of sew alongs, especially now.  Bonnie Hunter, Moda Block Heads III, Pat Sloan, are just a few.

I am a subscriber to Jordan Fabrics on youtube.  Donna is always stitching beautiful quilts using the patterns from Cozy Quilt Designs.  So I subscribed to them as well.  Last week while I was on weekend, Daniella Stout of Cozy Quilt Designs announced a SewQuester sew-a-long on her youtube channel.  I had just purchased a nice jelly roll from Laundry Basket Quilts and have a whole bolt of muslin, so I started cutting.

Today I actually got to sew!  Block A it is!  If you are interested in this free pattern click here to save and sew later, or sew now, or both!  Sharing the wealth of info as well as, sharing my wealthy stash.

And here is one block I managed today.  I am not using her pattern precisely, I am using my easy angle ruler which achieves more cuts and less fabric.  So I will have to be careful on my counts.  I love this!  And all from my stash!

I love the scrappiness, it is pure happiness!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog!