August flights of fancy

 

  Hello friends,

I'm almost 4 weeks in to life without legal work, and I can see that this is going to take some adjusting. All good, I might add. I have worked from home for many years, so I am used to powering up my laptop first thing in the morning, working for much of each weekday, and carrying the constant knowledge that there  is always more to do. My daily life has involved balancing work-at-home and home-keeping chores (laundry! Housecleaning! cooking! shopping!) and the sudden absence of work leaves a very pleasant, large gap in each day. More important than the freeing of time is the freeing of mental energy. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted. And I am amazed at the prospect of having a whole day -- or two! or three!-- to work on a project. 

So far, the biggest problem is remembering what day it is. Such a lovely, vacation-like problem to have! I will confess that I have been acting like a squirrel in a field of acorns. So many options of fun things to do! So many tasks that I've had on my list for "when I have time. I've been darting between starting some, and then remembering that there is no rush, and I actually can sit and read a magazine or even nap in the middle of the afternoon. And then something else occurs to me that I want to do, or try, or read about.

There are all good things, you understand. And I expect that I will settle down into some sort of normal pace. I think I do need to focus on finishing one thing before I start another ... but to be honest, the love of starting new projects has been an issue (ahem) for all of my life. 

So what have I been doing? 

Well, I finished that quilt up there, which I am calling "By the Sea." There was a bit of delay while it was in progress because my long arm machine needed servicing, but I finished quickly once it was all fixed.

 

One of the things on my to-do list is to get reacquainted with the machine embroidery abilities of my main sewing machine. It has a lot of fancy embroidery features and aside from a few small projects, I've never become conversant in using them. So, I've signed up for an online machine embroidery class (in the "everything you need to know" vein) and my first project will be a quilt label for this quilt. 

Oh, I forgot to mention that I tried a new binding technique on this, which involved doing everything by machine with the help of some washable Elmer's glue. You can see Camille Roskelly demonstrate the technique here. It worked well and made for a speedy and neat binding. I will use it again.

My friend's recent visit caused me to finally unpack the boxes that had been sitting in the guest room. I used fabric to pad a lot of moving boxes, so of course the unpacking meant ironing and putting away still more fabric. That, in turn, has led me to spent a lot of time down in the "workshop" room that is attached to the house and which I am using as an extra storage space and workroom. And look what I did: 

 I made a rolling batting holder! This idea came straight from some genius in a longarm quilting group. I found an inexpensive office chair at a thrift store, disconnected the rolling base from the chair, and now have the perfect upright holder for my roll of batting. I'm quite pleased. 

Sorting fabric reminded me that I have a lot of batik fabric from my art quilting days when I used them because I loved the painterly effect they create. Folding and sorting those batiks led me to start another project. I've had an Accuquilt die for the "Crossed Canoe" block, and I spent a happy afternoon cutting blue and green batiks. 

 

 

That cutting process turned into these blocks this week --  and later today I plan on finishing assembling the blocks into a top. It's a kind of odd size - 45x63 -- in order to suit the requirements for donation to a local oncology unit that provides comfort quilts to chemo patients. I'm hoping that someone will be soothed by these peaceful, watery colors.

 I really wanted a batik back for this but didn't have any large pieces -- so while out running errands one afternoon I did some further exploring and found the "Quilter's Workshop" in Oak Harbor. I was told by the proprietor was Whidbey Island's only remaining fabric shop. They had a bit of everything, and I found a suitable blue/turquoise batik for a backing. So that was a fun discovery. 

Ok, friends, I'm off to have a quick lunch before doing some sewing -- and maybe some reading outside on the deck later on. So many fun possibilities!

 

 

One of Those Weeks

  

 Well, friends, it has been one of THOSE weeks. You probably know the kind. Way, way, WAY too much work. A lot of things around the house that need to be done, but no time to do them. Clouds of dog hair wafting around the floor. Laundry needing to be done. Christmas stuff needing to be put away. And that cranky, tired feeling of being laden with too much stuff rolling around in my head.

So I will start with a highlight from yesterday. I had a list of errands to accomplish (recycling center, grocery store, etc.). But I'd not eaten before I dashed out, so I decided to treat myself to breakfast out, and I stopped at Whidbey Donuts. 

 

This little cafe and donut shop is maybe 5 miles from my house, behind the field where the weekly farmers' market takes place in spring through fall. It was raining yesterday, and it turned out to be the perfect spot to sit, relax for a bit, and enjoy a yummy breakfast.

I was taken with the donut art all over the restaurant, which I will have to inspect on future visits. 

And although I did not stop to take a photo, the breakfast was delicious. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and -- surprise - a grilled donut. A novelty experience, to be sure. They had cut a plain glazed donut in half, sort of hamburger bun style, and put it face down on the grill for a bit so the surface was crispy.

Google tells me that this is a THING. If you go look, you can find recipes and images of sandwiches and desserts featuring grilled donuts. Who knew.

 

Anyway, it was a nice morning break. I've been reading Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, so sitting, sipping my coffee, nibbling my grilled donut, and reading was a perfect pause. 

The novel, by the way, is quite enjoyable. The author has said it is loosely based on Fleetwood Mac, and is about the relationships between various band members as they become famous in the 1970's. It's told in an ongoing interview style that makes for interesting reading, as each character tells his point of view which is often quite different from the view of other characters. A movie is in the works, I hear.

One of my errands was a stop at a local appliance store to search for a replacement gas range. The one above (excuse the fingerprints and grime) is what came with the house and what we have been using since then. But on Thanksgiving, issues became apparent -- mainly, the vague smell of propane gas ALL the time in the kitchen. After various repair visits and gas line inspections, it was determined that the range had a leak in a part which was no longer available, so the range would have to be replaced. 

Along the way, I did get better acquainted with two neighbors who helped me pull the range out and shut off the gas line, which I greatly appreciated. I've also learned that the propane gas smell is from a substance called Mercaptan, a harmless chemical in and of itself which is added to odorless propane gas so any dangerous leak can be detected. I can not tell you how many times the gas company people have said the word Mercaptan to me over the last several weeks.

I will spare you the story of "how I lived without an oven or stovetop" from Thanksgiving to early January (which would include a deeply moving segue into the agony of not being able to bake the ritual Christmas cookies). Suffice it to say that I have become a lot more familiar with the benefits of my Instant Pot, and have used my crockpot, toaster oven, and microwave oven a whole lot. I can also report that in a pinch, Walker Shortbread will make a reasonable substitute when you are desperately craving the family traditional  holiday shortbread. 

I now have an excellent replacement range on order which is expected to be installed next week. Turns out that the tricky part was not choosing a gas range; it was finding one that would be available sometime before March. 

Oh, one more thing. See how that range up there has two ovens? I thought that might be a handy feature, and it turned out that the top part (broiler and shallow oven) worked fine for a lot of things. But if you're tall, like me, and pulling a casserole dish or roasting pan (say, with a big ol' turkey) out of the lower oven, then you are pretty much down on the floor ... with two dogs eager to investigate and thrilled to have delicious smelling food right at their snout level. So the new range will have one normal oven, with the typical storage drawer at ground level. I can hardly wait.

Meanwhile, in another break from work, last weekend I loaded another small quilt top onto the long arm. I have no idea when I made this. I vaguely recall that I had a small assortment of fabric that I'd bought because the prints were just too charming to pass up. Look at those pink clamshells! And the abstract seaweed print on white! And the little whale tail on navy blue! And starfish! Somewhere along the way I decided that I'd mix in some other things and cut them into equilateral triangles for a someday baby gift or donation quilt. I still love these fabrics and the unusual pink-navy-gold color combination. 

 So yesterday afternoon (instead of dealing with the laundry, dog hair, and Christmas decor) I started in with the quilting a bit. I like the quilting to emphasize the part of the quilt I really like -- and I realized with this, it was the triangles themselves. Plus I thought I needed to ease back into ruler quilting with something that is not too challenging. So, quilting straight lines to emphasize the triangles is now under way. 

If you've never quilted with a ruler, on the longarm you hold the ruler down with your left hand, and guide the machine with your right, keeping the ruler foot gliding along the edge of the ruler. I had forgotten how easy it is to just veer off away from the ruler, so what should be a straight line turns into a strange arc heading off for parts unknown. I've already had to do a bit of ripping. Ah well, it's what this practice is for. 

So, there you have it. The week ahead promises to be another crazy work week, but I now have the knowledge that I'll soon have a working stovetop and oven back in the kitchen. Plus Miss C is quite intrigued at hearing about grilled donuts, so I suspect there will be a return visit to Whidbey Donuts sometime soon.

Happy January to you all, friends!