Journal: He Arose!

Last Tuesday, my brother Loren picked up the new camper he’d purchased a week and a half earlier.  It’s a 29-foot Bullet Premier, with two opposing slide-outs. 

When Larry got off work, we went to look at it.  It’s so roomy, with slide-outs on each side.  Loren is looking forward to taking it somewhere... probably not the Rockies just yet, as they’ve been having snowstorms, and more keep rolling in.  I told him of some places in Kansas that are pretty to visit, and there are campgrounds nearby that don’t charge an arm and a leg, too.

By the time I turned off my sewing machine that evening, the Americana Eagle quilt top was finished and ready to be quilted.  More pictures here. 

First, though, I wanted to make a throw for son-in-law Jeremy, who will have a birthday next month.  I would use a panel with a screen print of mountains and elk.  I got the first narrow border sewn on that night.

For a while now, I’ve known that it was just a matter of time before my Rowenta Iron and Steam Station gave up the ghost. 

Wednesday was the day.

The plastic around the fill hole in the separate water reservoir had gotten discolored from years of high heat, and was gradually crumbling away.  I knew that soon the cap, regardless of its many threads (it took almost 30 turns to loosen or tighten it), would no longer hold the pressure.

So there I was that afternoon, sewing happily away in my quilting studio.  The steam station was hot and pressurized in the room across the hallway, where my ironing board resides with my roll-top desk, a tall chest of drawers, a bookcase, and filing cabinets.

Suddenly, there was a resounding BOOM!!!  This was followed by a sound reminiscent of the Union Pacific Big Boy steam engine releasing all its pressure at once.

I leaped up and dashed around the corner, making poor ol’ Tiger cat, who’d been snoozing out in the hallway, run for his life, ears back, slipping and sliding as he went.  What with the steam station going up like a geyser, and me running at him like a rampaging buffalo, the poor kitty probably thought he’d been teleported to Yellowstone National Park whilst he slept.

I found the steam station spewing steam and hot water hither and yon.  Fortunately, the thing has a long cord, was plugged in close to the door, and it wasn’t blowing hot water that far.  I jerked the plug out of the wall and let the beast simmer down while I swabbed the deck.  I was glad the bookcase and the rolltop desk had not been in the direct line of fire.

Since I still needed to press some things, including the clothes I planned to wear to church that evening, I thought maybe if I turned the steam pressure all the way down, the iron itself would at least still be usable.

Wrong.

Soon the same song, second verse, was playing at top volume.

I pulled the plug and then trotted down to the basement, pausing to apologize to poor ol’ Tiger kitty for using up one more of his nine lives.  He magnanimously forgave me, offering the underside of his chin for a bit of scritch-scratching. 

Downstairs, I pulled my old Rowenta iron from a closet.  It still heats just fine, but the steam/spray mechanism is broken.  I filled a mist bottle, and was back in business.

But I need a good iron!  Not a broken one.  I want hot steam! – and not shooting all over the room uncontrollably, either.

Steam stations like mine are close to $300 these days.  I got mine slightly used about five years ago on Sew It’s For Sale (a Yahoo group), and only paid $75 for it.

I’m sure glad that thing didn’t blow while I was standing there!  When I was standing near it, feeling apprehensive above its integrity, if it started making any noise in the reservoir, I quickly released pressure with the trigger on the iron.  Still, I knew I really needed to get rid of it.  Almost waited too long, didn’t I?

That night after our midweek church service, Larry and I went to Wal-Mart to get an iron.  Our store had no Rowenta Steam Stations on the shelves, though they can be ordered online.  I chose an 1800W T-fal iron.

Hey!!! – I just discovered that that very iron is on sale for $31 online, and we paid $44!  Aarrgghh.  Second time that’s happened in a week, and the last item, from Cabela’s, was marked down to $49 from $119.  We’ve been robbed!  Ripped off!  Pickpocketed!  Fleeced!

Anyway, while I especially love the steam station, and hope to get another one someday, I really do like my new iron (other than the auto shut-off function – it’s always, always off right when I want to use it).  At least it heats up quite fast.

We got a birthday gift for Maria, whose birthday was the next day.  While we were there, we got a gift for Ethan, too.  He’ll be 14 on the 11^th.  We got Maria some lotions, lip balms, and soap in the Burt’s Bees cosmetic line, and a set of three colorful little ceramic dishes.  For Ethan, we got a fishing pole and a filet knife.

As we walked down an aisle, my phone rang.  It was Victoria, wondering where we were.  They, too, were in the store, and had seen our Jeep in the parking lot.

Soon we were having a family reunion in the Iron and Laundry Essentials Department.  Victoria decided it was the perfect location for an announcement.

Did you guess?

Kurt and Victoria are expecting another baby!  Since she had a rough time when Carolyn was born, I will now consider it my job to worry about her for the next few months.

When we got home, I put the rest of the borders on the elk panel quilt.  It was ready to be quilted.

Nearly every day for the last couple of weeks, one or two packages arrived with either a skirt or a jacket or top.  This, because I was trying to get a skirt to match the lightweight Pendleton wool jacket Lura Kay gave me for Christmas.  Half a dozen skirts arrived, and only one really matched.  Two, if you squinted and backed clear across the room.  Especially if you pretended you were colorblind. 

Next, I ordered a couple of suit jackets and tops to go with the skirts that matched neither the Pendleton jacket nor anything else in the closet.

I wound up with an entire new wardrobe, I think.

Fortunately, I got these things from eBay, paying no more than $6 to $15 for most of the items, though I just had to have this $25 sweater jacket.  Mind you, that was a spectacular bargain, though! – it had a price tag on it of $398.00.  😲  

Thursday afternoon, I did some more work on Emma’s and Elsie’s gray/lavender dresses, adding sashes that would cross their waists in the front with a cummerbund effect.

Next, I loaded the elk panel quilt on the quilting frame and got the top two borders quilted.  The backing is thick fleece, so I thought I’d skip the batting; but because the panel is printed wonky and curves outwards on one side, I’ve put in a layer of high-loft batting to help take up the excess fabric.  So far, so good.

Friday, I went on working on the elk panel quilt.  Gotta hurry, hurry… a customer quilt is on the way, and should be here tomorrow.  Three more will be following shortly.

I’m really pleased with how well my machine is quilting through all this thickness, much of which is polyester (batting and fleece both).  Fancy quilting always looks so nifty on a fleece back.

That night, I reached the halfway point.  I’m doing light custom quilting in the borders and heavier custom quilting in the panel, working from the front of the frame and using my hand and/or rulers to push the excess fullness into subjection.  Wherever there’s too much fullness, I’ll just do more quilting.  But the thick batting is doing the trick quite well.

In the end, it’s just a soft, cuddly throw with a pretty picture.  Sooo... if it’s slightly wonky, ... oh, well!  😉

I spent most of Saturday at the quilting machine, quitting earlier than usual since we would be going to our Sunrise Easter Service at 7:00 a.m. Sunday.  The central panel was done; only the borders are left to quilt. 

More pictures here.

A week ago Saturday when Larry and I went to Kearney, we took his pickup.  It’s tall, and something of a chore for me to get into.  I hurt a rib climbing in, a rib that I once broke and have hurt a few more times through the years – and then I really hurt it reaching for the seatbelt, which is attached to the seat instead of the side of the pickup wall – harder for me to reach, in that location.  That wasn’t a good thing to do, since I was still coughing and sneezing from that long-hanging-on cold.  Aarrgghh.  Sore ribs don’t like coughing and sneezing.

By Wednesday, it was getting better.  By Thursday, it was sore again from clambering into our too-high bed.  It hurts to breathe!  It hurts to blow my nose.  I try not to cough.  Ugh.

My alarm went off at 4:30 Sunday morning.  After a reading from the wonderful old resurrection story and singing some Easter hymns, we went to the Fellowship Hall and had breakfast:  scrambled eggs with cheese, hard-boiled eggs, doughnuts, muffins, sliced ham, sausage, milk, juice, coffee, tea...

We went home, changed clothes, and then returned for the morning service at 11:00 a.m.  The band played for the morning service, and the orchestra played in the evening.  The regular choir and the men’s choir sang, too.

After our evening service last night, we had a luncheon, enjoying the chance to again visit with family and friends.

Today some online quilting friends and I were discussing various types of quilting that we once thought we’d never do.  One commented on paper-piecing, and her difficulties in getting the fabric pieces where they belong.

My first attempts at paper-piecing were similar to when a toddler tries to sit on a small chair:  he looks at it… turns around… backs up… sits – and, to his great astonishment, lands smack-dab on the floor. 

When I called Loren this afternoon for our usual chat, he was wanting to go on a short drive somewhere with his Wrangler.  I mentioned the Sandhill cranes (there is a whooping crane amongst the mob, and it’s still hanging around) and the Crane Trust Gift Store and Museum west of Grand Island.  Loren decided that was just the ticket, and off he went.  It’ll be approximately a three-hour excursion.

We’ve been issued a winter weather advisory which will last until about 7:00 p.m. tomorrow.  There is a possibility of 2-4 inches of snow, with sleet and/or ice accumulations.  The wind could blow up to 45 miles per hour.  This would wreak havoc on trees.  But so far this winter, the weatherman’s dire predictions have proven to be overblown.  A lot overblown.

Hester gave her two-week notice at work today.  She’s a manager at First National Bank.  She’s been so tired... often nauseous... and standing all day isn’t good for her.  Three more months to go, and grandbaby #22 will be here!

The dryer just buzzed – the fifth (and last) load of clothes is dry, and ready to be folded and put away.  Now I shall get back to the elk panel quilt.  It’ll be done soon.

P.S.:  Now, here’s what you call a real mobile quilter.  And you thought that was a modern-day phrase!

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,