Memory, ain't what it use to be... on a Slow Sunday Stitching...

Hello all - I truly intended to post last Sunday but my cable company had other ideas... we had lots of high winds, I expected that we might lose power but instead the wifi went out... after several calls to their automated number they assured me it was an area outage and they were taking care of it... about 18 hours later (which now makes it Monday morning) they changed their story and told me the problem was just with my wifi...HUH?? A customer service rep instructed me to go down to the basement where the cable comes into the house and unplug and re-plug in the connections... another HUH??   The box we are talking about is mounted right up to the top of the ceiling ... it is tall... I am short... and there was a bunch of stuff up against the wall... Well, I managed to use a little step stool and on tippy toes unplugged and replugged the cables... still no wifi... service rep says they'll send out a repair guy between noon and 4pm... okay... I'm not getting a lot done without my laptop... I can do things on my phone but the pictures and the text is itty-bitty...

So I sat a stewed and tried to occupy myself with other stuff and the hours ticked by... at 3:20pm  for reasons I will never know the wifi came back on  all by itself... another HUH??? Decided I would wait for the repair guy to call and when he did about 10 minutes later, I informed him that him that the wifi was back on... he insisted on coming anyway and gave me a new cable box ... smaller ... with a smaller display of the time... not thrilled... and he informed me that if a customer service rep ever instructs me to touch the box on the wall in the basement I am to inform them that I was sternly warned to NEVER touch it... he said I could have gotten a shock if I plugged things back in the wrong way and it is strictly a repair man's job... I will obey...

So that was how the week started, along with a mammogram on Monday and babysitting on Tuesday and I forget what happened on Wednesday and coffee with a friend on Thursday and errands on Friday and some sewing on Saturday... 

Well, I had hoped to report that I had gotten the bindings on the two Christmas quilts that are languishing in my sewing studio... but it didn't happen... every time I went downstairs I got sidetracked by some other shiny thing... and while I could have finished something instead I started something else, actually 2 something elses.... I saw a cute pattern on IG and downloaded it...Lucky Log Cabins by Quilty Love... you can see it here... I thought it would look good in Christmas fabrics and I remember  I had some jelly roll strips which would be perfect for a this pattern ...well there weren't nearly as many strips in the bin as I remembered (like I said memory ain't what it use to be)  but there were 2 other projects in the same bin... and I have no recollection of either one... memory issue again... There were what appears to be all the pieces for a Jingle Jangle quilt by Seamed to Be ... you can see the pattern here... I have them cut, stacked and labeled... no recollection of doing that. .. and then there were the pieces for a quilt by Thimbleblossoms called Piece of Cake 3... again check it out here... the fabric collection was Very Merry by Sandy Gervais... and while I didn't remember starting this quilt I did remember that the fabric had been gifted to me by my friend Stephanie ... so perhaps there is still a little memory ... LOL... 

Anyway I got this totally sewn together!!  I had about 5 blocks done and the other 20 went together fast... I love this collection because it is non-traditional colors... turquoise and a brick red and an olive green and a minty green and that peach... OMG.. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that peach... and it is peach ...not pink... there is always so little fabric that is peach... about 30 years ago when I lived in Modesto peach was my friend Marcella's favorite color... it is so pretty...oh, where was I??  (Memory wander off ...) Oh yeah, the quilt...

And some close ups...

I love that this pattern only has a top and bottom border... so easy... and speaking of easy the only time I pinned was when I was sewing the rows to each other... Oh, I went out to Joanns Friday night to find a back for this quilt... I know, I know, I have hundreds and hundreds of yards of fabric but nothing I liked that was big enough... but  I went to the small location nearest my house... and I was tired ... and hungry (not sure what that has to do with my decision process but I'm throwing it in there)... and this is what I bought...

GIANT RED DOTS... somehow they seemed Christmas-y in the store... but when I got it home and shared it with my friend Darlene she pointed out that it would make nice Christmas-y clown pants... ROLFMAO... yep, it probably would ... but instead of making clown pants,  I sent it off to Quilting by David... it is nice fabric... it just kinda vibrates when you look at it for more than a couple of seconds... something else to remember...don't pick fabric when you are tired... I'll try to remember that, really I will. 

So, I'm definitely making this pattern again... I'm thinking of doing it in some of my vintage Debbie Mumm fabrics... the pattern starts with a layer cake and you get nice chunks of fabric that don't chop up the pattern a lot... would be good for some of those cute novelty Debbie Mumms and I'd like to play with them... there are some good memories packed away in those bins... 

And while I remembered that I wanted to play with the Lucky Log Cabin pattern I opened another bin of Christmas fabrics and found leftovers from a quilt I made back in 2018.... which you can see here... I loved those Heather Ross fabrics... the collection was called Sugarplum and I was smitten because it had a yellow print with peppermints... and you know how I LOVE yellow, which is not traditionally thought of as a Christmas color... but I do... in fact I've made  2 Christmas quilts that feature yellow and now I've started a third one...

Now there wasn't enough of the Heather Ross yellow peppermint fabric to do all the sashing so I found some yellow polka dots in my stash... and there weren't enough Heather Ross prints to do all the blocks but there was enough of the polka dots to include one square in each block and then there was that plaid border print... there wasn't enough of it either to do the full border but my cutting smaller sections and inserting a spacer it is gonna work!! 

Here's some close ups of the blocks...

See polka dot sashing and peppermint cornerstones...

And some Riley Blake Prints from Jill Howarth...

And that border print with a spacer...

In rummaging through my stash I found fabric that I remember getting at a quilt shop in Louisville... or was it Lexington... it was definitely in Kentucky... that's the best my memory can do... it was years ago and I was happy to include it in this quilt.. it was an odd color for Christmas ... a bit of a tomato-y coral-y red.. but it works great for this quilt... there is a light pink... almost a flesh... and aqua... and of course yellow... lots and lots of yellow... I'm calling this one my  3 P quilt... Plaid, Polka Dots and Peppermints .. I still have to cut the border pieces for the bottom and then sew it all together... but I won't have to deal with a separate border as I can sew it in rows... I think I'll like that... It has been quite enjoyable to sew the last couple of days... haven't been this into my fabrics for a while... I like it...

And I have my Thanksgiving decorating done... a couple of new items, lots of old stuff but in new places and some nice memories of where things came from...

The Grungy Gourds quilt ...

The tier tray...

The little yellow cabinet ...

The shelves...

Close ups of the only new pieces I got finished... Turkey one... a freebie I don't know where it came from...

Turkey 2  ... a snippet from a larger Prairie Schooler chart...

I so enjoy my Fall and Thanksgiving decorations... with the sequence of Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving it doesn't seem like we have enough time to fully enjoy each one... rushing onto the next... I know I lot of people have leaped ahead to Christmas but I'm content to pause here for a bit ... 

And speaking of the holidays, I know that many people are not having the Thanksgiving Day we would like. I've spoken with several friends and we are all weary and not too thrilled with the arrangements other family members are putting in place... I know that their children and mine are concerned about our health and safety but not a one seems to have asked if we are okay taking a risk... some of us are... not a huge risk, we're good with wearing masks and keeping our distance, but we'd like to see as much of our family as we could... spending the day in your house, by yourself is just like all the days in the last 8 months, nothing special about that. My family is doing a modified celebration... each side of the family for my son and daughter-in-law is meeting separately with them... Chris' side of the family on Thursday, Jenny's side of the family on Friday... I will miss seeing her parents and her grandmother... such nice people. 

And speaking of weary ... and anxious... every friend I've spoken to has mentioned an episode of crying over seemingly nothing... except it isn't nothing, is it?  I know I've had my crying bouts... I'm tired, not so much physically, I'm trying to eat right, exercise and get plenty of sleep, but an emotional tiredness that has settled into my bones.  Some days are better than others, but not having much to look forward to is wearing me down... I'd love to plan a trip to Disney World with Nick, but don't want to walk around all day wearing a mask... I'd love to go to a quilt show, but I don't know of any that are scheduled right now, I'd like to go see a stage show but nothing is booked till August 2021... I'm doing my best to keep myself busy. I'm happy my sewing mojo has returned... my new sewing room furniture makes the whole room seem brighter and more inviting... I've been working on some Christmas cross stitch and have some crafty projects I'd like to get to... but some days while I have the time, I don't have the motivation.  I'm trying to spend less time on line, I can lose hours reading articles or scrolling through Instagram... I find inspiration but don't get anything done... and I don't think I'm alone ... I worry that we've made some changes in our outlook and behavior that will be hard to shake... I don't want to feel apprehensive being around other people... and I want to see people's faces... I want to see their smiles... 

So I continue to pray and whine and complain to my friends... oh and I have fired off some emails to certain politicians, although I doubt they actually read them. I have gotten a reply or two, which I know some low level staffer sent, as the questions I asked were never answered, and in every case I was directed to  certain websites... the same websites  that I mentioned in my email having looked at for the answer to my question. I've got a thing for statistics and have been stymied in finding certain data for the current year... eons ago I worked as an economist and scoured government publications for data... it should be easier in this day and age but it isn't... I've found out that a lot of what I'd like to know isn't being aggregated in one spot... and compiling the figures takes quite a bit of time... which accounts for some of those hours I've lost ... and I've ended up with more questions than what I started with... 

Okay - I'll drop that right now... going to link up with Kathy's Quilts... doing brunch with Chris & Jenny & Elliott... maybe some more sewing today... started another Christmas quilt project... a couple of bins of fabric have exploded all over my cutting table... need to cut some more pieces and tidy up a bit...

Hope that the week ahead is not too trying for you... I know that it is going to be a long day on Thursday for a lot of people... I'll be saying extra prayers for you...

happy stitching-

carol fun 

PS ... and speaking of memory... I realized that 55 years ago today JFK was assassinated... and I remember exactly where I was and how I heard about it... I'll bet you do to...