Journal: Ladders & Leaks, Taxes & Hexies

Last Tuesday, a friend wrote to me, “I’m sitting here listening to the impeachment trial...” 

So I wrote back, “I’m having a much more pleasant time than you are, because I’m listening to 1) a fresh pot of coffee brewing, and 2) Teensy crunching food in his bowl.  And soon I’ll be listening to my quilting machine whirring along.  😃”

I complimented another friend on a quilt she had made, an Irish Chain, of sorts, that curves in various sizes of blue squares over a white background.  She told me that she entered it in her guild’s quilt show and the judges didn’t like it (although she did get a ribbon).  They said it needed ‘more of the pattern’ (she had cut it down a bit, so that it would fit in a particular spot on her wall).  “They are too critical on most of the quilts that are entered in the show,” she told me.  “One judge even uses a jeweler’s eye piece to look at the stitches.  Good grief, give us amateurs a break.”

A jeweler’s loupe!  Yikes.  I hope that judge stays far, far away from any quilt of mine.  When I look at close-ups of quilts that have garnered Big Ribbons at Big Shows, I think that my quilting is not nearly precise enough to reach such heights. 

And it needed ‘more of a pattern’?  The pattern is fine!  It’s perfectly symmetrical. 🙄

That afternoon, I glanced out the window and discovered – it was snowing like everything.  And the bare branches of the big lilac bush just outside my kitchen window were teeming with birds:  Northern cardinals, both male and female, English sparrows, dark-eyed Juncos, American goldfinch, house finches – and there was a Harris’ sparrow out on the snow-covered lawn.  This is our largest sparrow, and we only see it in the wintertime when it migrates from the Far North.  A little farther away, in the cedar tree and the cottonwood, there were blue jays and Eurasian collared doves.  We didn’t have those big doves, only the smaller, darker mourning doves, until shortly after Hurricane Katrina.  They’ve been here ever since.

We wound up with an inch or so of snow by the time it petered out.

I quilted another section of the Atlantic Beach Path center panel and several hexies that day.  More pictures here.

A fellow quilter asked, “How were you inspired to create that background design??”

I get a lot of my ideas from pictures of other people’s beautiful quilting.  I combine what I like, give it a try...  and sometimes it goes right.  😉 😁

After our church service Wednesday night, I put my Bible and purse on a pew in order to hold little Violet.  We wandered out to the coatroom, and then I headed back into the sanctuary to get my forgotten Bible and purse – and nearly blundered right into the background of an ongoing photoshoot of teachers and principal and pastor in the front vestibule. 

I backed up fast, saying to a friend standing nearby, “Whoooaaa!  I nearly photobombed the teachers!”

She laughed.  I waited ’til I thought they were done... marched forward — and they were doing it all over again!

So once again I skedaddled backwards, exclaiming, “AAAaaaaaaaaa!!!  They’re at it again!” and that time she really laughed.

I decided to enter the sanctuary through a side door to retrieve my belongings.

I got a little more quilting done that day.  In this hexagon, you can see where the triangles are not quite identical, as they should be.  See the two little strips around the central area that are supposed to be darker blue, but are not?  The fabric strips must’ve slipped slightly as I was cutting them into triangles.  (When cutting One-Block Wonders, one cuts six strips at a time).  Upon spotting this irregularity as I was quilting it, I got out my Inktense pencils and ‘fixed’ it.  

In this photo, I’ve colored them in and touched a hot iron to them to ‘set’ the dye.

Thursday, a friend sent me this ‘Getting Directions’ comic:

“That’s funny,” I responded.  “’Course, you know people who think stuff like that have probably traveled I80 straight across this 430-mile-wide state without exiting once, except for fuel.  Or Rte. 30 between Columbus and Fremont.  That's the flattest stretch of land in the state, I think.  I love the Sandhills (that aren't very sandy, really)... the Pine Ridge area out west...  and the high bluffs all along the Missouri.  We stay off I80 if possible, and take the scenic route.  😊”

The kids had a cute ‘Airport Game’ on our first computer, back in 1999, where someone asks directions, and the man at the counter says, “Oh, you go about 2 miles, turn right, go about 2 miles, turn right, go about 2 miles, turn right...”

The inquirer’s eyes spin around, and he, discombobulated, says, “Thank you!” in a pompous tone.  We've given those same directions ever since, every chance we get.

A few days ago, I posted this drawing on several quilting groups, writing, “For those who get discouraged trying to do fancy-schmancy feathering, this is what happened immediately after I got my first longarm 9 ½ years ago.”

Then, in spite of my abundance of posts showing pictures of my New and Improved Quilting, dozens of nice, helpful, sympathetic ladies (who evidently can’t or don’t read captions) (or names, for that matter) came out of the woodwork to console me and tell me how best to learn to quilt.  hee hee 

Ah, well.  Perhaps some new quilters found some helpful advice.  😊

Larry brought home his W-2 form Tuesday night, so Thursday I gathered up all the necessary receipts and documents, and got to work on the taxes.

After supper, Larry went to work on a friend’s Jeep Wrangler, over by Genoa.  He got home a little before midnight – and he was all bunged up, because a ladder had slipped out from under him, and as he went down from about ten feet up, he got scraped and cut and bruised from nails and boards and metal shelves.  He landed on a board on his chest, and hit his knee and hurt his wrist and fingers.  He had blood running down his face, didn’t know it, and stopped at the convenience store in Genoa before coming home. 

“I wondered why the girl was staring at me so funny!” he laughed. 

“I’m surprised she didn’t send the police to track you down and inquire into whether you were victim or perpetrator!” I exclaimed.

His jeans were ripped, his sweat jacket sleeve was torn half off, and his glasses had flown off, though they were none the worse for wear, thankfully.

“But my teeth stayed in my mouth!” he told me.

He’d been hanging a silver tarp in the large building so the light would reflect better and the heat would be corralled in the area where he was working.

He finished the job, this time tying a rope from the ladder to the wooden pole he was leaning it against.

At about 1:00 a.m., I finished the taxes and e-filed them; it had taken about six hours.  I itemized everything, as we had a lot of deductions.  As expected, we will receive a fairly nice-sized refund.

We worked hard for this refund! – I spent a lot of hours cleaning, sorting, and piling the Jeep full of stuff to take to the Goodwill and the Salvation Army, and Larry gave away his teeth. 😁😏

I’m glad that’s done.  Doing taxes doesn’t so much strain my brain as it does my attitude, never mind the pleasant fact that we’re getting a refund.  Part of this refund is going to pay for a Bernina Artista 730 sewing machine, newer and nicer than my 180 Artista, that a quilting friend, Sue, in Belton, Texas, is going to sell me. 

I sent the lady an email to tell her that yes indeed, I would be able to buy her machine, and that we would probably be able to come and get it as soon as we got the refund.

I no sooner clicked ‘Send’ than an audio notification on my computer set to playing ‘Happy Trails to You’ by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.  hee hee  Time and again, my computer plays one of hundreds of such audio notifications, and it really does seem like the silly thing is cognizant of my conversations and whatever I happen to be doing at the moment. 

My washing machine is leaking – I discovered this when I went downstairs and found it raining from the ceiling onto carpet, vanity, mirror, and upholstered vanity bench.  😝  I’ve decided that what this means is...  I don’t have to wash clothes!  Right?

Friday, I was happy to get back to quilting.

When I rolled the quilt forward that night so it was ready for quilting the next day, it was alllllmost to the halfway point.  More photos here.

Saturday, I did a bit of housework, then headed upstairs to the quilting studio. 

You know, if I could quilt 12 hours a day like I used to do, I might be done by now!

Saturday’s photos are here.

Sunday, Kurt and Victoria invited us for lunch after church – Swiss steak with chunky salsa poured over mashed potatoes.  We contributed the dessert – sorbet in two different flavors.

Violet is learning all sorts of new words these days.  My sweater had pearls all over it, my blouse had a big ornate silver and gold button at the neck, and I had a bow-shaped silver and gold pin on, too.  She pointed at each in turn, and I told her what they were, and she mimicked me, carefully and (somewhat) precisely.  It’s sooo cute.  Have you ever noticed how delighted babies are when we figure out what they’re saying, and say it back to them, or answer them?  You just can’t mistake that glad smile.  😍

We stopped at Wal-Mart after church last night to get a present for Justin, who will be 8 on February 8^th.  We chose a remote-controlled Thunder Tumbler.  And I even remembered to get a couple sets of batteries for it.

Do you remember schooldays, with things that began like this? – “If a bulldog buries 5 shoes per hour...”

This is me, with story problems, despite the fact that I always loved algebra, fractions, geometry, trigonometry:

It got up to 31° this afternoon – one degree from the projected high of 32°.  Tomorrow, the high will be about 25°.  These temps are a little above average for this time of year, but snow is heading our way.  When I hear of big snows out in the mountains, I always wish I was right there in the middle of it.  The nice thing about temperatures like this is that I feel absolutely no obligation to go outside and work on the flower gardens.  😄

I need to order some things from Wal-Mart.  Those pictures of various products one can buy online are surprisingly deceptive, both ways.  Sometimes I wind up with a one-gallon jug of cooking oil when I thought I was buying a quart, or a gallon-sized can of peaches when I assumed it was a normal 12-oz. size, or a 0.5 oz. tube of hand lotion when I expected an 8 oz. tube.

Note to self:  Read descriptions; don’t just look at pictures.

One final word of helpful advice:

If you ever get lost in the woods, find a possum and follow it.  You will be in the middle of a road in no time.

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