Those of us on the Easty Coasty have been experiencing incredible heat indexes over the past week.
I even gave up on my morning driveway walks because by 10am it could be 80+ and I just wasn't feeling it.
This is so uncommon for us in the mountains....usually our HIGHS don't go above 85 mid afternoon, but this was definitely over the top.
And the thunderstorms my weather app kept promising?
Fizzled.
When it is this hot out we just stay in and sew! How Hazel is dealing with all of this fur, I have no clue.
She has "free range" to go outside during the day time, and I bring her in when it is time for me to head home in the evenings.
(Actually, bring her in is a misnomer. I call her, she comes running. She knows treats await!)
But I can't even get her to want to go outside with this heat. And thus was our holiday weekend.
My fourth of July attire!
Picked up this t shirt after a trip to Scotland, got one for my dad, too.
By evening time we were at our mechanic friend's place.
Every fourth (sometimes the fifth - it depends where the day of the week falls) He and his family host a customer appreciation cookout complete with so much good food, friendly conversation, lots of kids running around catching fire-flies and of course fire works.
The temps had cooled off once the sun went behind the mountain and we really enjoyed ourselves.
You won't catch me going to a big city fireworks extravaganza....who wants to deal with parking and getting out of there at the end?
But this small neighborly thing? Love it!
Loved it so much that I didn't take any other photos of our night than these burgers on the grill.
Yesterday - Sunday the 5th. I took a day to putter in the studio and do a bunch of cutting.
A couple of hours in....that spot between my shoulder blades roared back into angry pain and I shut it all down and returned home by early afternoon.
And I WAS feeling better. I guess too much rotary cutting exacerbated the whole thing once again.
I spent the rest of the afternoon evening on the couch with the tens unit attempting to calm everything back down.
Rotary cutting. Between the shoulder pain. Lightbulbs are going off.
I spent a lot of time over the past many months doing a lot of paper piecing, which means a lot of unit trimming before removing paper. Could that be the culprit that started this whole flare up??
I'm looking at YOU Hello Gretchen quilt!! (*&@#$(*&@#(*$& I think it all started there. I really do. Because it was when I was loading the Hello Gretchen into the long arm and reaching for the take up roller that I felt that first twinge of "what the heck is that pain?!"
Breaks. I need more breaks. I need to stand up and move in between rounds of sewing, trimming cutting - I need to minimize the marathon trimming of 1000 units activity.
So it was this last night.
Please notice. Tula is half on my leg. Not quite in my lap, but she chose to just lean on my leg. YAY!
This motif is FINISHED!
Only two more to go -
The beginnings of one that looks like fourth of July firecrackers.
And I admit it. I'm thinking of starting another one. I'm playing with hexie graph paper - because sewing these in the evenings has been so enjoyable.
I don't have anything I want to hand quilt available right now.
And I'm going to need a travel project by the time I head to India in September!
There are still some openings in our Christmas Market Tour through Switzerland, France and Germany in November, right after Thanksgiving. I'd love to have you join me.
I'm also looking forward into 2027 with a tour to Thailand in JANUARY for my birthday! (I'm going to need loads of hexies for this one.)
I always try to go somewhere fairly warm for January - it makes a great winter break. Have you ever wanted to visit Thailand? Let's go!
I'm returning to Bali in July of 2027 on a fantastic batiking expedition. Are you interested?
And yes, we are going back to Scotland in September of 2027. Where are my Outlander fans? It's going to be an exciting travel year.
Today? More taking it easy. Time out to rest, stretch, relax.
It doesn't give me as much progress on anything to share here, and besides the continuing blocks for my Romania quilt - I really NEED to find that sewing machine stitchery I finished just as we were learning about Jason's brain tumor issue in October.
I put it away, in a fog. I don't know where it is...and it needs to be the travel project for our 2027 trips! WHERE IS IT?
Send all of the good juju you can so that it turns up somewhere and I can add borders to it and finish it.
What's up for you today?
Are you continuing your holiday into today, or is it back to the grind for you?
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Can we extend our 3-day weekend to 4 days?
And did the 3-day weekend go Friday Saturday Sunday, or is that Saturday Sunday Monday in which case I'm still on my weekend?
And did the 3-day weekend go Friday Saturday Sunday, or is that Saturday Sunday Monday in which case I'm still on my weekend?
Have a good Monday, however you spend it -
I'm on a 365 day per year retreat/weekend...... also known as retired. However, I do know what day it is when I wake each morning :-)
ReplyDeleteI can relate! I recently had to lower my rotary trimming station by 6” due to much paper piecing. Problem much better. Hope that helps you too!
ReplyDeleteYour T-shirt is great! Maybe take more breaks to heal.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to address the ergonomics of your cutting station. I was having similar pain in my neck/back a few years ago. I found that elevating my cutting mat to a position where I can rest my forearms at 90 degrees while standing, helped a lot. My cutting station next to the machine is the same height as my machine bed, which also puts my forearms at 90 degrees while sitting. Little things like having a sharp blade, palm flat on ruler, and adequate light help too. I can't say as I have ever done a 1000 piece cutting marathon, maybe half that LOL.
ReplyDeleteTracy- this is what I did too; raised my cutting table 6" and it has made such a difference! But I still have to watch my sitting and sewing time at the machine.
DeleteI have arthritis in my thumb from all the trimming. I feel your pain- Carol
DeleteMy SIL had arm and neck pain and uses this rotary cutter. Dawne
ReplyDeleteSet a timer that forces you to remember to get up, stretch, switch projects. It's too easy to get sucked into working on just one thing for many hours without realizing it's been many hours when all the pieces are falling into place and nothing dramatic creates breaks. When I'm sewing the machine will be nice enough to occasionally jam or spit out weird clumps of lint and thread so I have to pause but when I'm cutting? No interruptions unless my mind wanders and I lose a finger.
ReplyDeleteScotland would be amazing. Even more amazing would be touring Scotland with crafters/quilters who are also Outlander fans.
We started our holiday on Tuesday last week, By flying to Dallas, Texas. The we includes me as the grandma of 3 (2 live in Oregon near me and 1 in Dallas) and great grandma of 6 (4 in Oregon and 2 in Dallas). We flew home on July 5. This grandma feels truly blessed to have had all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren together at the same time.
ReplyDeleteVal J
That pic of your Hazel! Reminds me so much of my dearly missed MrB: looks like she's clever enough to get where the cool air can flow up her fur. So pleased your kindness is overcoming Tula's fear. You are both so lucky. Have to agree with changing height to table so arm can be better positioned to keep irritation to nerve - saved my quilting life. Had to trust someone else to cut my bits and pieces for blocks for a while and still had to set a timer to remind me to go play with something else for an hour or so
ReplyDeleteI think hexagon designs are very addicting to sew together. The first one that I sewed was a Grandfather (I'm a grandfather) flower garden. Then a couple other epp designs. At one point I saw on the internet a floor design made with hexie's and decided to copy it. (Wish I could document where I saw it.) I drew it out in my eq8 program, so could send you the design if interested. Just need to decide how to finish the edges. Would love to get it hand quilted when ready. Still love all your other quilts. Robert, from Northern Iowa.
ReplyDeleteUse your browser to search for "tech neck". Also for computer work, seriously consider a sit/stand desk; then half hour sit - half hour stand. The "head down" may be more the source of the problem than the actual cutting process.
ReplyDeleteBrowse for "tech neck". This is more the source of your issue than the actual cutting/trimming. Also consider a sit/stand desk - sit ½ hour; then stand hour. Set a timer. Sure made a difference for me.
ReplyDeleteRepetitive actions do bring on pain. Hope you feel better. My weekend ended today. Sewing with quilty Friends downtown. Fun times!
ReplyDeleteHi Bonnie, a couple of suggestions for your pain, do you have Electric Accuquilt? Also, Martelli has an electric adjustable cutting surface and I only use their rotary cutters.
ReplyDeleteHazel reminds me of the saying, " the dog days of summer!"..... Only change it to cats! You get the idea!! 🤣
ReplyDeleteToday I quilted on the longarm machine. Custom quilting is a doozy. I don't do it often but when I do I feel it for the next day or 2.
I hope you take care of yourself and don't forget to take those breaks. We're just rolling along trying to freeze time a bit. Happy quilting!
Bonnie, maybe if you go back to the posts written at the time you were learning about Jason’s tumor, it will jar your memory of what you may have done with the Stitchery.
ReplyDeleteNothing like small town July 4th celebrations! I think it is so easy to overlook how physically demanding piecing, quilting, etc can be. I learned this from Holly Ann Knight when I took her FMQ class, after first seeing her on one of your videos! It is just critical to drink plenty of water and move around regularly, along with stretches and setting short bursts of time for various activities. Henriette
ReplyDelete