Journal: Finished Quilt -- and an 'I'm Bored' Lecture

Last Monday, I carried an armload of winter sweaters upstairs to one of the dressers in the little office.  Tuesday, I brought some summer clothes downstairs. 

It rained, sleeted, iced, and snowed two nights later.

I knew it would; it always does, immediately after I exchange winter clothes for summer attire. 

In the fall, if I remove the cotton quilt and thin fleece blanket from the bed and replace them with the flannel quilt and fleece blanket with Sherpa on one side, the temperature will rocket up past 90° within hours.

It’s one of Murphy’s Laws.  It has to happen.

The kalanchoe in my laundry room is blooming.  Each of these little buds is about the size of my little fingernail.

I peered out the front door one afternoon and discovered... a potted cat.

A friend and I were discussing how people treat each other, especially in difficult times such as we are having now, with the COVID-19 pandemic making its way around the world. 

Some people immediately go out of their way to do whatever they can to help.  Others push their way to the front and take advantage in every way they can.

I recall my father preaching from the Epistle to the Philippians, using the verses that say, “Look not every man on his own things, but on the things of others.” 

Imagine what a different world this would be, if everyone was that concerned and caring about everybody else!

I’m sorry for those who have it rough, without the bare essentials... and for those whose loved ones have fallen victim to this disease. 

In answer to a few questions from those wondering why some took issue with my machine-stitched bindings, I think some quilting ladies believe that bindings must always be hand-stitched, never mind if the machine stitching looks nice or not.  In the not so distant past (and sometimes, even now), people believed one wasn’t really quilting unless it was all done by hand.  Finally, most accepted that quilts are quilts, even when put together by machine... but it was a long time before some got over their outrage at the actual quilting process being done by big quilting machines!  Preposterous, they thought.  🙄

People who think like that should be forced to give up their cars and ride in horse-drawn carriages.  And they should have their stoves and ovens removed from their homes, to be replaced with open fires that vent up through holes in the tops of their pointed roofs.  Oh, and take out running water and plunk down outhouses instead.

Some of those same people use computers, tablets, and smartphones.  I say, rip those electronics right out of their hypocritical little fingers and give them a swatch of buffalo hide, the better to create smoke signals over their campfires!   

((evil sniggle))

It was a beautiful day here Tuesday, with temperatures around 70°.  I had all the windows and the patio door open, and could hear the birds singing like anything in the surrounding trees.  I even heard a woodpecker over in the little woods on the hill to the northeast.  I like springtime!

Somebody wanted to know, upon seeing my pictures of a blue jay last week, if we grow them smaller here in Nebraska. 

It’s a regular-sized blue jay, and they’re the same size here as they are anywhere – but the jay was concerned about the business end of the camera that was sticking through the curtains at him, so he pulled his crest down hard against his head, and scrunched himself down low, the better to be invisible to that giant eye of whatever animal he thought it might belong to. 

They really do that, when they’re uneasy.  Funny to watch.

Also, it’s hard to tell how much bigger the jay is than other songbirds, because all those other songbirds go flittering away when the jays show up.

Too bad one of the prettiest birds is also the nastiest!  They eat other birds’ eggs... and we have even seen them raid nests of recently-hatched wrens.  My mother used to have a can with a chain in it which she would shake while out on her deck if she saw a blue jay getting near her wren houses.  One bold blue jay ignored her, bent on getting to the babies he could hear in that house.

At that point, Mama didn’t just shake the can, she threw the can.  If the jay had not seen it coming and flown from his perch, he’d’ve gotten ka-walloped good, because Mama’s aim was true.

Mama was about 83 or so at the time.  For a while after that when Loren and Janice came visiting, Loren would hide around the corner and peak into rooms before entering, to make sure Mama didn’t have a can or other weapon in her hand.  😂

Socks once, one early morning, went galloping down the piano keys in hot pursuit of a blue jay he’d brought into the house through the pet door and then released.  You can be sure that brought me wide awake and straight out of bed!  

(I opened the front door, closed all the other doors and pulled curtains over windows, and eventually the blue jay got his wits together enough to fly out the door and into the Great Blue.)

Tuesday, I went on sewing pearls and square glass beads to the Atlantic Beach Path quilt.  The upstairs window was open, and the breeze was rustling in the maples and pines.  I like that noise.  The little brown bats are back; we have seen them swooping about in the dusky evenings.  I don’t mind bats at all – if they stay outside where they belong.  But they have a penchant for getting into my house.  Last year, they outdid themselves at this venture.  We cut short the ‘catch and release’ program and went straight into ‘Kill!  Kill!  Kill!’ mode.  Don’t waste your time lecturing me about it, all you bleeding-heart types.  I’m not listening.  “La-la-la-la-LA-LA-LA-LA!!!”  (fingers in ears)

Here’s a meal schedule that should appeal to some of you.  (A friend posted part of it; I did not think it was complete, and added to it.)

Quarantine Meal Schedule

7:00 a.m.:                Breakfast, with chocolate

7:15 a.m.:                Dessert Breakfast

8:30 a.m.:                Panic Snack w/news

9:45 a.m.:                Chocolate

11:30 a.m.:              Snack while standing up staring

12:30 p.m.:              Lunch w/small dessert

2:00 p.m.:                Post nap luncheon

3:00 p.m.:                Chocolate

4:30 p.m.:                Trail Mix

6:00 p.m.:                Dinner while reading weird emails about virus

8:30 p.m.:                Chocolate

10:00 p.m.:              Ice cream

11:00 p.m.:              Bedtime snack

11:30 p.m.:              Chocolate

Wednesday, I swept and vacuumed floors, cleaned the kitchen, rearranged the vitamin cupboard whilst hunting for new bottles of Vitamin C and calcium (yep, I found them), filled the bird feeders, and then headed back upstairs to sew beads onto the Atlantic Beach Path quilt.  Again, all the windows and doors were open, and it was 72°; but I had to prop all the doors so they wouldn’t blow shut, because the wind was whipping through at 32 mph.

I carried more summer clothes downstairs, further ensuring a winter weather advisory.

Thursday, WeatherBug sent me a notice – there was yet another flood warning for Paducah!  (You’ll recall, that’s where my New York Beauty quilt is having a holiday, reclining indolently in a large temperature- and humidity-controlled warehouse somewhere.)

By late afternoon, we were issued the expected winter weather advisory.  Soon the rain started, and it wasn’t long before it changed to sleet and ice, and later, snow.  We got a coating of approximately ¹/₅” of ice.  And Larry was driving on that stuff with the boom truck and pup! 

Fortunately, both truck and trailer were fully loaded with forms, giving him fairly good traction.  However, the cattle hauler he was following was empty, and could only go 30-35 mph before his trailer would start sliding all over the road, threatening to jackknife. 

Another cattle hauler, fully loaded and not having too much trouble on the icy road, passed both Larry and the empty truck, traveling at a speed that was really too fast for conditions.  The vortex he caused nearly sent the hapless empty hauler into a tailspin.  😬  Larry stayed well back, so perchance he would have time to stop if the truck went totally out of control.

Eventually, he made it back into town safely.

Friday, the Schwan man brought me a big order of frozen foods; my freezer is full now. 

We had Schwan’s loaded baked potato soup for supper, along with a little bit of leftover macaroni and cheese with hamburger from the night before, peaches and cottage cheese, with monster cookies and Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream for dessert. 

That night, I spread the quilt out on my bed, decided where to attach the 40 hexagon-shaped Swarovski crystals, and marked the spots with curved quilting safety pins.  Before hauling it back upstairs, I weighed it:  15 pounds.

Then I took it back up to my quilting studio and sewed the crystals in place.  It was done!!!  All but the label, that is.  And the hanging sleeve, if I ever happen to find a quilt show that will accept this large of a quilt.

Here’s a video of the crystals:  Crystals are on!

Saturday afternoon, a friend from Texas wrote, “Winter is back!  Here in Central Texas, the high for today is 52 degrees!  Had to turn the A/C off and heat back on.  Tomorrow, however, we begin the climb into the 80s only to drop back to 60s next Saturday.  And rain, rain, rain all week.  Good ol’ Texas weather.  Like a roller coaster!”

I promptly retorted, “‘Winter is back!’ she says.  ha!  Yesterday, it was 22° here, with a wind chill of 9°!  Brrrrrr.  The low temps for the last couple of nights were in the teens, and it was windy, so the ‘real feel’ temp was around 0.  Right now it’s 38°, but it’s bright and sunny, and there’s only a 13 mph breeze.  Practically summertime!”

Many of my quilting friends have been making face masks.  There’s a lot of information about them, and quite a variety of opinions.  Some say that non-woven material is better than woven; however, I saw a video where tests were conducted with various fabrics and filters by spraying a heavy mist of some sort of chemical through them.  It showed that the best homemade masks were made of two layers of heavy-weight quilters’ cotton, such as batik:  Best Masks

But, as I said, there are lots of differing studies, opinions, and dogma.  Facebook quilting groups have had some rousing debates and arguments over the matter.  I declare, had they not been practicing ‘social distancing’, they would’ve all come to blows!  

There are so many sad stories, including some where doctors and nurses were terminated for insubordination when they bought and wore their own PPE, and superiors ordered them to remove their gear – and if they refused, they were suspended.  That’s horrible.  The ones who treat others like that ought to be the ones who are suspended.  Compassion and kindness would keep people from trampling all over others, but those commodities are so often in short supply.

One supervisor said that the reason a doctor was suspended for wearing his own mask was that ‘he was unduly alarming the patients’!  She also said that ‘it wasn’t fair to the other employees who didn’t have their own masks’.  That socialistic supervisor ought to be out on her tin ear.  (And not be allowed to purchase toilet paper, kleenexes, or paper towels.)  Nasty ol’ bully.

That day, I steamed the Atlantic Beach Path.  The quilt, that is.  When that was done, I took photos of it outside on the back deck.

My first One-Block Wonder quilt is done!  Soon I will attach the embroidery module to my new-to-me Bernina Artista 730, and embroider for the first time with this machine.

Quilt Details:

Ø  Quilt size:  123” x 124”, and it weighs 15 pounds.

Ø  Technique:  One-Block Wonder, with the hexagons appliquéd to the center panel and to the borders.

Ø  Batting:  a base of 80/20 cotton/poly, with Quilters’ Dream wool on top.

Ø  Fabric:  Center panel:  Call of the Wild series by Hoffman Fabrics, Atlantic Beach Path (hence the quilt’s name).  I used 7 panels; 6 were for hexagons.  The majority of the hexagons were from the Countryside Floral line by Maywood Studio, with many cut from the outer border fabric.

Ø  It took 186 hours to piece the quilt, and 34.5 hours to sew the twisted tucks in the light blue border.  There is a narrow navy flange on one side of the tucked border, and a wider flange between the gold and royal blue borders.  The wider flange is ruched every 2”, with a square glass bead sewn on, creating the scalloped effect.

Ø  Thread:  Bottom Line #60, So Fine #50, Omni #40, King Tut #40, Signature #40, Mettler #50 – all these, because I used a variety of colors, and these were what I had on hand.

Ø  There are 439 hexagons in the quilt.  No hexie quilting designs were repeated.

Ø  There are about 1,000 pearls, about 250 square Czech glass beads, and 40 hexagon-shaped Swarovski crystals in a ‘spray’ configuration at the top above the panel.  It took 52 hours to do all the beading.

Ø  Hours in the quilt, not counting the label:  510.5, with 242 in the quilting alone.

Ø  The quilt will be for our youngest son and daughter-in-law, Caleb and Maria; but first I plan to enter it in our County and State Fairs.  I hope to enter it in other shows, but I must find some that do not restrict the width of a quilt to 112”.

Ø  As for my next project, since many have asked, I will be making quilts for a nephew who is suffering from colon cancer, and for a niece who is suffering from breast cancer.  They are brother and sister – my brother-in-law and sister’s oldest and youngest.  Their second son was killed when a drunk driver rammed into his beautiful house in the middle of the night.  So to have two children struck with cancer is hard for them.  (And no, I will not be spending 500 hours on these quilts; I hope to get them done quickly.)

Are you as aggravated as I am by people saying that they’re ‘bored’?  People complaining about being bored make me want to tie their ears behind their heads.

I was never allowed to say such a thing, as a child.  Not that I ever wanted to; I always had way more things I wanted to do than there was time to do them all.  But I was taught that such an attitude reeked of unthankfulness, and an unwillingness to help others, too.  After all, if you run out of things to do for yourself, there is an unending number of things you can do for others.

Yesirree, there are always things to do.  I used to know a person who was always griping about ‘having nothing to do’ – while her carpets looked like they had not been vacuumed since the day they were installed, and her counters looked like she was doing experimentation with prehistoric food on them.  It wasn’t that she ‘had nothing to do’; it was merely that she was too lazy to do what needed to be done.  Furthermore, being unhappy with one’s circumstances is no excuse for not doing – or finding – things that can and should be done.

The Apostle Paul said, “I have learned, whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be content.”

I would not have let my children say they were bored, either – but I don’t recall ever having to tell them not to say it, because they were always extremely busy all the time, either with their own homework and chores, or with playing and doing crafts.

There are so very many hobbies and crafts one could do, things that would even benefit others.  Learn to play an instrument!  Print some staff paper and compose songs!

Another good thing to do is to turn on a cleaning video – here’s one I like:  Clean with Amy Darley – and then clean the house while the video is playing. 

Would you believe, I found her channel when I was looking at hoarding videos one night (there are some real horrors out there) ... (those hoarding videos make me get up and clean my house!) ... anyway, in the youtube list under the video I was looking at, I spotted one of her housecleaning videos and thought, Okay, this will be much better for a before-bedtime video; I won’t have nightmares, like I might from these hoarding videos!

More things to do:  get seeds and little containers and start an herb garden.  The sprouts can be transferred to bigger pots later.  Herb plants can sit right on your windowsill and be used in things you are cooking.  If you plant flowers, you can transfer them to pots and set them outside later.  Read up on plants and flowers and composting and landscaping.  Interesting reading!

You can paint... color... read a book... or take the time to listen or read your Bible all the way through.  Here’s a link to get you started at Genesis 1:  Audio King James Version Bible

Another thing to do in these times:  write about your life, starting at childhood.  Or your parents’ childhoods, if you know about them.  Exercising is good, too, especially if you can’t work outside.

A steady diet of electronic games or TV shows is not at all the answer; both are so detrimental.  TV is a timewaster and a scourge.  It’s well known that it can cause emotional and mental problems even in those who don’t have problems in the first place.  I can’t watch two minutes of TV without seriously objecting to the content, either on grounds of morals or beliefs or sensibilities.  My opinion of TV:  UGH, UGH, UGH!  And card games such as Solitaire are total wastes of times, too.  Why would anyone want to do things with absolutely no benefit, or things that are actually harmful? 

As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ... Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

I’ve heard a handful of people say this pandemic with the ‘stay-at-home’ order is ‘the worst thing they’ve ever been through’.  Be thankful, if this is the hardest thing you’ve ever gone through.  There are many things in this old world that are infinitely worse. 

God has everything in hand, no matter what happens.  I trust Him through it all.

Remember what Paul and Silas did, when they were thrown into prison, and their feet were even in stocks?  They sang! 

The old gospel hymns have the best words; they help a lot in times like these.

Some are not getting along with other members in the family, namely, their spouses.

Even this can be improved on by just getting busy and doing things.  Contrary to what some say, there are always plenty of things to do.  One just has to be willing to do them. 

If finally by reason of health and age one is unable to do much, one can read, offer cheering words to others (as opposed to criticism), or listen to an audio book (did you know listening to a book stimulates the same part of the brain reading a book does?).  And don’t forget to pray!  The Apostle James wrote, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

We can say this about any trouble:  it brings the godly closer to God, and sometimes even turns the hearts of the unbeliever.  Most of those who turn to God in times of trouble are temporary help-seekers – ‘foxhole religion’, as it were.  But every now and then, someone truly has a change of heart. 

The striped squill is about to bloom.  I used to get mixed up and call it ‘striped squid’, which caused my disrespectful brats to call it ‘striped sea urchin’.  (But I did remember the correct name after that.)

Sunday morning, we listened to the morning service, streamed live.  I really miss the evening services, because Brother Robert was giving a series on the book of Mark, and I was looking forward to arriving at the portion of scripture speaking of the resurrection, right in time for Easter.

I wonder how people are going to make it through this COVID-19 trouble, when they lose their jobs, and have no more money coming in? 

If I have to wear a mask... ... I plan to be stylish whilst I’m at it:

Hannah, upon seeing these, remarked, “It’s like a hat for the face! 😅😅”

“It’s a... face-inator!  😃” I replied. 

Tiger just discovered that I put a clean blanket on the loveseat for him.  He walked back and forth on it a few times, smelling it, then came over to the arm of the chair nearest my recliner, and peered into my face all squinty, purring.  After a few seconds of that, he turned around, waddled back to a good spot, and ker-plopped himself down.

He really is the sweetest ol’ thing.  He waddle-scurries around with Larry every morning while Larry is getting ready for work, creating quite a bottleneck in tight spots like the hallway where the hope chest juts out into it.  And when Larry puts on his socks and boots, Tiger is right there to run under each foot as Larry lifts it up, completely muddying the process. 

When Larry gets home, if we stand somewhere talking, Tiger comes scurrying to do figure eights around our ankles, rubbing and purring... and if Larry doesn’t hurry up and pet him, he ka-thumps his head hard on Larry’s kneecaps and leeeeans against his legs.

Animals and little kids always love Larry.  That’s one of the reasons I decided I liked him, back when we were 13 years old.

Ah, here we go.  How about one of these face masks for Larry?

No, actually, here’s a pattern I’m going to try, if I make any:  Face Mask Pattern

It’s different from the pleated ones so many other people are making.  It should fit a little better.  I’m going to use this inside the masks:  Filters

Yes, ah haff destruckshuns! – you take it apart, flatten it, and cut it to fit.  It’s a better-fitting mask, and those filters should be every bit as good as the very best PPE masks.

Larry is still traveling about hither and yon, and then he sometimes goes to Loren and Norma’s... and he doesn’t want to make either of them sick (or get sick himself).  He has a couple of the good masks he uses when he’s painting or sanding or suchlike.  He informed me yesterday that the dirtier they get, the better they’ll protect him.  haha

The birds are singing like anything today.  There’s one out there (starling? grackle?) that sounds like a frog croaking away.  Here are some unique birdsongs:  Bird Calls

I spent nearly three hours this afternoon trying to find all the groceries and household necessities (and several birthday gifts) I needed online.  Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon – they’re out of one thing after another.  There’s page after page of ‘out of stock’ items such as sugar, canned tuna, peanut butter, picanté sauce, salsa, ...  

I decided to look for canned tomatoes.  I can make picanté sauce, after all.

The canned tomatoes of all ilk are out of stock, too.  😯

Amazon actually has some of this stuff – but a 28 oz. jar of peanut butter, for example, costs $15!  😲

Is this all because people aren’t eating at restaurants, but are making their own food at home??  Did they make practically nothing at home, before???  Or is it because there aren’t enough workers in the warehouses, and online ordering has increased so greatly?

I switched to Hy-Vee, filled the online cart with all those items I had not been able to order elsewhere for delivery.  Larry could just get them at the pick-up station.

Happy I’d managed to find everything, I clicked ‘Pick-up’ – and got the following notice:  “We are sorry, but there are no more available pick-up time slots.  Please try again tomorrow.”

Well, but, but, but, I needed my caviar TODAY!!! 

(Not that I like caviar.)  (Not that I’ve ever tried it.)

I tossed my hands up in defeat and emailed Larry the list; he would just go to the store.

He said he would wear his painting respirator:

I told him to be sure to sneak up behind someone who was not practicing proper ‘social distancing’, or who was being greedy with the merchandise, and yell “BOOOO!!!”

Larry brought home all the items on my list (I know, I’m astonished, too), and a few other things besides.  We are fortunate to have everything we really need and quite a few things we merely want, even though the money tree loses its blooms fairly often and produces no fruit.  heh

Larry informed me that Walkers had some industrial face masks, and he brought me one, in case I need it.  Walkers is considered an ‘essential business’, so they continue to work.  

When he handed me the mask, I saw that it was labeled ‘N95’, started to exclaim in delight over it – then took a closer look.

“It’s dirty!” I exclaimed.

There were traces of black around the outside.  I looked on the inside.

It was dirty inside, too!  There were faint black smudges in it.

Larry looked sheepish.  “Well, it’s just welding dust,” he said reassuringly.  “I put it on under my shield and goggles when I went and asked Charles if he needed anything at the store.”

’Just welding dust,’ he says.  Of course I wouldn’t mind black welding dust all over my face and up my nose.  (Would I?)

That man.

Here he is in his get-up. He posted a video on Instagram in this gear, asking all his friends, relatives, and followers if they needed anything at the store.  He always gets a lot of funny replies, particularly from our daughters.

Larry got milk, almond milk, butter, orange juice, yogurt, cottage cheese – the usual stuff one cannot order for delivery.  And he found the stuff I could not find elsewhere, too:  peanut butter, sugar, salsa, syrup, tomato sauce.  He even discovered one package of toilet paper – the very last one.

I was hunting for an old story yesterday, and came upon this in a journal dated December 09, 2001:

Saturday afternoon, Larry put up the Christmas lights.  Yes!  He really did!  Victoria offered to help.

“Will you catch me if I fall?” asked Larry.

She tipped her head dubiously.  ”Well,” she explained apologetically, ”You might be too heavy for me, you know, so maybe...” she paused thoughtfully.  Brightening, she resolved, “I’ll catch your feet!”

“That’s good,” nodded Larry gravely, “Because they might come crashing down behind me, wham into me, and really hurt me.”  He frowned contemplatively.  ”But what if I come down feet first?”

“Oh,” responded Victoria quickly, having no trouble with that scenario, “Then I’ll catch your head.”

She trotted off to get her shoes and coat.  Back she came with a pair of shoes that were a couple of sizes too big.  “I couldn’t find my tennis shoes with the flowers,” she explained, “So aren’t you glad (that’s her favorite line: ‘aren’t you glad’) I have these grow-up shoes?”  

‘Grow-up’ shoes.  That’s what she calls shoes that are still too big for her.

Another memory, this one from October of 1964:

I well remember my first day of Sunday School, at age 4, when just as I slid off the pew to head for my class, my mother said very, very quietly in my ear, “Whatever you do, do not act like your coloring is better than anyone else’s; that would make somebody feel bad.” 

(I loved to color, and knew that at the end of the teacher’s story, the children were usually given the opportunity to color their Sunday School papers.  I could hardly wait.)

I was indignant.  My mother should have known that a great big 4-year-old girl like me would never, ever act like that!

But I never forgot what she said, and I’ve gauged many things I did from that day until this on whether or not it might ‘make somebody feel bad’. 

I mentioned to Hester this evening that I missed seeing Keira, “And you, even!” I added.

Hester said Keira misses her Grandpa and Grandma, too.  I told Hester to show her our picture and tell her, “Grandpa and Grandma say, ‘We love you!’” 

Hester then proceeded to send us a video of Keira holding our picture and saying ‘Hello’ --- cutest thing imaginable.  “She says ‘Dampa and Damma’ now,” wrote Hester.  “She’s looking at your picture saying ‘hug’.”

As I type, I’m drinking pomegranate tea with a couple of cranberry gel tabs thrown in for good measure.  I can’t swallow them; they get caught quite badly in my throat.  But they dissolve in the hot liquid, and give the tea a slight cranberry flavor.  Quite good, actually.

Time to see what I can do with the embroidery module and my ‘new’ machine!

(Oh, and the welding dust did brush off of the face mask.)

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