Tag: sewing

Not Going to Camp (or anywhere)

~ JodiLea

Since hubby and I meet all the “keep your butt home” directives – we are. It’s easier to dig in and isolate when there are massive quantities of snow everywhere.

Here I was looking forward to being at home, working on my projects. Alas, Both of my sewing machines are not cooperating. That’s correct. BOTH the old and new one refuse to sew. Since each has the same problem, it has got to be me. Usually, I can figure out what is wrong, however, I can’t see inside the threading mechanism enough to figure it out.

OK, so who is going to be my hugger?

I have a ton of sewing to work on. After hours of troubleshooting, cleaning, maintenance, and lots of groaning and growling – I plan to move on to hand sewing. If I tire of that, I’m moving on to yarn projects.

What I Should be Doing

What I should be doing is editing my novel, so I can start my next one during April’s “Camp NaNoWriMo”. With all the lessons learned from last November, I should be able to crank out a suitable first draft. One of the key elements I need to do before camp starts are work on a specific and tight outline. Loose outlines do not work for me – I keep changing things (including the ending) a bunch of times. Then I get “lost.”

“WAhaaa!?!” Did you hear that? That was my loyal readers figuring out why my first book is taking a decade to finish. They will be happy to know that I am editing and NOT re-writing the thing! I finished it in November. Very time-intensive to get it proofread & the bad parts cut out. Some of the first draft paragraphs don’t make sense – even to me.

About The Virus. I’m tired of saying Coronavirus and COVID-19. We all know which Virus we are talking about, right? The one declared a Pandemic. The reason all public events are canceled. Including the Quilt Guild’s meetings and classes. Restaurants & Bars are closed. (Explains the reason booze shelves are empty.) Schools sit empty. I know my granddaughters must be having a blast playing in the snow!

The fact that churches and places of worship are shut down made me sit up and take notice. This is getting scary. Each state and county are putting out announcements and declarations to their local residents. All over this world. This is not a random illness isolated in China or Africa. If you live on the planet Earth – it is affecting your life as I write this. We’re being told that we should not gather in groups of more than 10 people. I wonder if that includes family reunions. Ha!

Schools could be closed down for the rest of the school year. If cases keep increasing, we could be under this “self-quarantine” that long as well. Lord, have mercy! my grandma would say.

If the news doesn’t make you gasp – you are not paying attention. Look around your community and see what the new normal is…

Hoarding behavior has reared it’s ugly head. Major store chains are out of T.P., alcohol, and hand sanitizer. The stores in Calaveras & Tuolumne Counties are barren of hand sanitizer, alcohol, and Bread. T. P. is stolen before it can get out of the market parking lot. Keep your eyes on your cart! We are doing OK. I know how to make bread and I was blessed that our little local store still had eggs and milk on the shelf. I was relieved to find produce (no potatoes though!). Now, we won’t get scurvy. Don’t laugh! People still develop scurvy.

Another winter storm system is due to arrive later this afternoon. Who cares? Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

It’s time to dig out your Oyster Cult album, guys.

** TTFN **

Monster Quilt

~ JodiLea

The first 2 rows are quilted and put together. From the beginning, this effort has taken 5 months to get this far. I almost have the other 3 rows all prepped and ready for quilting and connecting to the first two. It probably will take me another month.

THEN… The Borders are sewn on. The front sashing is all cut, but I must also cut the backing fabric to be sewn also. Maybe part of the month above or a week extra. I will have to keep you posted on that – it all depends on the things that always pop up and take my focus elsewhere.

So, I will be positive and estimate the quilt will be king sized and finished by April 15th

Progress so far:

Zoomed in
Left-Side

If I start feeling better (I have a sinus infection) I will do maintenance on my sewing machine then change the needle to a new sharper one, before I begin to free-motion quilt each block before joining them to the quilt. I also need to decide whether or not I will quilt the sashing between rows. I will need to experiment with scraps because this may be the answer to my dilemma about securing the backs of the sashing. I am hopeful.

I hope you are following this and still reading – Ha! This post is more suited to a Quilter’s website, however, I want to surprise my quilting friends in person. And because I’m stuck inside the house, under a “Winter Weather Watch” – this means it will start snowing any minute now. I am hopeful about this also. I LOVE watching fat snowflakes falling outside as I snuggle up by the wood-burning stove.

TTFN