Binding In The Done Column!

It's done!

And it was well worth waiting for.

I had cursed this quilt, I had cursed the quilting machine having issues and the 2 months that it sat partly quilted, unable to go further -

And I cursed myself for not having the knowledge or the know-how to just jump in and fix everything myself.

And yes - all of that was exacerbated with worrying about Jason and the brain tumor surgery and recovery and everything that came between the quilting machine malfunction and last week when I was finally able to resume quilting. 

Sometimes we truly ARE our own worst enemies.

It's okay to admit that we don't know everything and leave it to the people who do know what we don't in order to move forward again.

If you missed participating in this challenge, it's not too late.  You'll find the tutorial for Four Patch Fun under the Free Patterns tab at the top of the blog.

You can use whatever colors you wish.  You can upsize the pieces if you want bigger blocks. It's super fun (hence the name!)and easy and would make a great baby quilt, quilt of valor, or just a couch snuggle gift for someone special.

I know this is a pattern I will revisit again.  It just goes together flawlessly.

Just to recap - I quilted with a golden beige thread in an edge-to-edge design called Field of Dreams by Patricia Ritter of Urban Elementz.

I did scale the size of the pantograph down as I wanted a tighter pattern.

I love the texture - it's just fun!

Alternate block progress!

I posted on Thursday that I had dug in to cutting out and kitting up the alternate block that is going to accompany my little cracker blocks.

Sewing is ongoing!

I have cut the center squares from an odd assortment of charm squares - mostly ones with larger prints that don't cut into small pieces well.

And if you are a regular consumer of charm squares, you know that they are typically NOT square, often don't measure what they should, and large prints can tend to look a bit funny when randomly cut into 5'' squares.

You may end up with an animal body off-center and missing its head!

Oftentimes charm packs have duplicates or triplicates of the same print in the same colorway, and also the same print in multiple colorways also having their own duplicates.  It makes them hard for me to use because of their size, how the print is cut, and all of the same thing and the same thing and same thing.

So THIS is a win in the use-up-the-odd-ball-charm-square effort.

I'll be working on these through the weekend...we'll see how far we get.

Things you may have missed if you don't follow on other social media -

Our power went out due to high winds yesterday morning just about the time I was finishing up posting Part 5 of Lupine & Laughter.

Generac kicked in, no problem. That's why we have it.

The inn and QPO studio aren't in the affected area, so power was on there while I was at work during the day. No problem.

Before coming home we checked the power company website for projected restoration of said power - 11pm.  Not great - but okay. It is what it is.

We ran to town for dinner and a stop at Lowes for more paint for Jeff, and got the notice that the new expected restoration time was possible by 3pm TODAY.

Our propane tank is set to be refilled next week, and it's been extremely cold here so we've been running the gas fireplaces to heat the place.

Do you remember me mentioning that while I was in Vancouver caring for Jason that we were having a new "more efficient" gas fireplace insert installed in the living room at home??

Well - we decided we needed to conserve propane last night so we turned the Generac off.  The gas fireplace should sill run for heat, right?

NOPE.

It has an electronic igniter and the whole thing turned off the moment the power was cut.

This is NOT GOOD.  When you have propane for heat, and a gas fireplace for heat - we need the fireplace to work when there is no power or what good is it?

A call will be made to the company on Monday - of course this is a weekend.

Oh, and the power came back on shortly before I sat down to write this post.

The silence when the Generac turns off is wonderful.

Anyway - the house is now heating up again.  It's a good thing there are plenty of quilts on hand for sleeping warmth, and yes - I did sleep with a hat on my head.

When the power is out, the Wi-Fi is also out and the cell data repeater is also out - and the Hubster decides it's a good time to clean windows?

Shhhh!  Don't say anything.  Just let him.

Roses aren't always flowers. Today he gifted me roses in the form of clean windows.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

This about says it all -

Oh, and we have a new back entry door on order.  It takes 6 to 8 weeks for special orders to be made, but I'm excited.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!