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Friday, July 24, 2020

Rainy Afternoon Sewing!


Blossom Time blocks are back under my needle!

I am sure I am not the only quilter who has an on-again-off-again love affair with a project they really like that keeps being shoved aside due to other things.

The quilty heart is a fickle heart!

Yesterday I found myself sewing back at the cabin – because – you guessed it – the old A/C unit at the QPO conked out again.

The soonest that Blue Ridge Heating & Air can get to us is TUESDAY.

The thermostat was set for 73, and when I walked in yesterday morning at 9:30am it was already 77 in there.  Air blowing hot.  Unit frozen again.

The saving grace was that temps did not climb all that much higher.  At one point in the QPO it was 79, but rain was on the way.  I opened up the side windows and put the oscillating floor fan on top of my long arm quilting machine table blowing the cooler fresh air from outside in.

It was bearable.  But barely.

And then the rain let loose, cooling things off greatly.  And I headed home.


Anyone notice anything oops here?


Yeah, well – upside down happens!

The thing is – the unit was already trimmed to size before I noticed that I had the stem piece upside down.  And in the scheme of things?  I’m not going to care. It stays.  Because it was just that kind of day.  I do variations.  They make the quilt more interesting anyway, right?

I will continue to work on these Blossom Time blocks – they are fast, fun and I have linked to the digital issue of Quiltmaker where it is found in my Addicted to Scraps column.  Click Blossom Time.

There is a mock up of what you can do with the blocks on the Blossom Time page – as for what I will be doing with them, you’ll have to wait and see.


Last evening hand stitching while the rain poured -

I love rainy rumbly summer nights!  And I was okay with just getting ONE block appliqued, with a second about 3/4 done.  Little by little my stack is growing.


If you want to give your hand a try at these, the instructions for the English paper pieced star (and printable PDF page of diamond shapes) can be found in my Rishi pattern in the digital patterns section of the Quiltville Store.  

It’s the same star block as you see in the pattern, same size papers and everything, only instead of sewing them to each other, I’m appliqueing them on top of string foundation blocks.

So my plan for today?  I’m really not wanting to, but for the sake of Lola, it looks like I’ll be making a return trip to Wallburg to get the spare window a/c unit to install in one of the QPO windows.

And it isn’t just for Lola.  The high humidity, left uncontrolled by the non-functional A/C unit can curl and damage the books stacked on the shelves in my mail order section of the QPO.  Not to mention what humidity does to fabric.  Yuck.

Of course, that also gives another opportunity to load up more stash fabric. 

I should be back by dinner time!

*UPDATE*  The AC is now working enough that I am going to try turning it off at night (to keep it from freezing up) and if that works, I'll see what Blue Ridge Heating & Air finds out on Tuesday - so I'm in a holding pattern for now, which means more sewing today!

How are things shaping up for your Friday?

There is still time to get your entry in on our IronEZ Gift-Away.  Enter to win ON THAT POST.  Drawing to happen SUNDAY!


Quiltville Quote of the Day

Vintage Periwinkle Star quilt found in Verona, Virginia.

Truth sometimes slaps you in the face.

This is one of those. Read it 3 times. Out loud.

Hang in there! We will get through this!

Have a wonderful Friday, folks – 




21 comments:

  1. I frequently do that too--sew the "wrong" side up. But hey--I bought both sides of the fabric, so I'm going to use both sides! (It took me 3 attempts to figure out the "problem"!)

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  2. Drive safe! Can't wait to see which colors you bring back this trip. Eating the elephant one bite at a time.

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  3. my Amish quilter friends also tell me to make an on-purpose mistake adds to the fun of your quilt

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  4. As for your frozen air conditioner, have you checked the filter? A clogged filter will cause a unit to freeze up.

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  5. I have done the same with sewing fabric right to wrong side and sometimes like yours it works. You paid or both sides of the fabric. I hope you get your AC fixed and back to you and Lola being comfortable. Safe travels today.

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  6. I appreciate your quote for the day...some folks are waayyyy behind in "class".

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  7. "Sticky" is miserable! My day started with a walk followed by news that a life-along friend off my husband's had passed away after dealing with cancer for many years. Even though it is sad, we knew he was given bonus time. So.....sewing will be good therapy today. It seems to take me to a quiet place and a sense of thankfulness arrives. Thanks for your daily blogs. Yes, my interest ebbs and flows for the projects I have going. I call it being creative. :)

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  8. I couldn't find the problem until I read it. It NEEDS to be there :-)

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  9. Hah, that oopsie is a common enhancement in my quilts. It adds a richness and interest that would otherwise be missing, dont'cha know.

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  10. I appreciate your quote of the day...some folks are waaayyy behind in "class!"

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  11. Some plants have different coloured stems and leaves. That is just a quirk of nature. It will look just fine in the finished quilt. Can't wait to see how many bins you fit in this time :)

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  12. My favorite scrap quilter said she sometimes uses the back of a scrap to get the right color. Made me feel better about using the “wrong” side. Her name? Bonnie Hunter.

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  13. Too bad we don't live closer. We could have someone out to help you before Tuesday.

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  14. I have a few “long term” projects that I circulate through. Most are hand piecing, English paper piecing and appliqué. One is going on 13 years! It’s a large EPP project. Hope you get the A/C sorted and have a wonderful weekend.

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  15. Did not even see it until you described the exact issue. No biggie. You are golden! Glad you have cooler temps to help get thru the night. Best wishes with the AC!

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  16. Treat others as we want to be treated and remember to walk a mile in their shoes.. Life is too short to hurt others... with this comes my gratitude for you and your simple reminders of life... bless you!
    vicki

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  17. I had to look really hard to see what was upside down. guess it wasn't too much of an error but a "humility block".

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  18. What a timely, and pointed, quote of the day. And one I quite agree with! Thank you, Bonnie!

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  19. I have just had that same a.c. problem and it turned out to be the coil. It was loosing Freon and living in Florida it is an emergency situation. It cost me $2,500 and that was $1,000 cheaper than someone else. Good thing I listened to people about checking around. P.S. the unit was only 4 years old. This part is only warranted for 1 year.

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  20. The quote for the day, hit home. I lost a good friend on Thursday eve. We had many different thoughts on various things though we chose not to dwell on those things, but on those things we enjoyed together. She will be greatly missed. We enjoyed quilting together, in several guilds and traveled to meeting together.

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  21. Love your quote. Too many people lately should receive an "F".

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