Balmy Days
Oh yes, we are having balmy days and we do so deserve them. The bitter cold is a mere memory right now. Even the snow that piled up so quickly a time ago is sinking down. How can I tell? Not many days ago when I would back out of our driveway, the alarm would sound and the yellow light would blink in the side view mirror on the driver’s side of the car. It caught me off guard and I would stop on a dime only to realize it was the snow bank that had caught the security system.
As I was putzing in the sewing studio this afternoon I realized I have only one project going. One that has no time frame and it is no one else’s for the end times but . . . me. I have had Dennis cut fabric for me in past. Save the shoulder, wrist and hand for more important things that might need doing. When things were set up this afternoon that I would have called Dennis in to help, I decided to swap out the blades in the rotary cutters. I have two that I like to use and I realized they had done due diligence in cutting all the fabric for the 49 scrappy eight point blocks that are now done. It is amazing how dirty older cottons are when cut in to. But . . . this is to be a scrappy quilt and much was used that had a lot of age to it. I do plan on gussying the blocks up with some choice fabric as a border that is called a flange. The sashing and corner stones will also be of a better quality fabric.
The cheap cotton fabric that is incorporated in some of my stashes is from friends who shopped at Walmart and a few are also from Mom’s stash. That could very well have come from a Ben Franklin store or a Dueber’s store. Those types of fabrics are printed on a grunge base. They were notorious to fray and not keep their vibrant colors. The fraying was very evident as often as I had to clean under the face plate of the sewing machine.
As I got involved this afternoon, I was ready to cut several strips of fabric. Oh my gosh! It was better than slicing through melted butter. The combination of the new cutting blade plus the new cutting mat . . . yes, it felt like Christmas morning. I, in my wildest dreams, had never realized how worn out the Olaf cutting mat was. When looking at it with the light hitting it just right . . . there was not one square inch that was not showing trenches of more than 20 years of wear. I believe I will be able to cut quite a bit of my own fabric without feeling a hitch in the body. I am a believer of not cutting more than two layers of fabric at one time. Man oh man, when Aunt Lorraine was here, she had as high as eight layers of fabric. Talk about seeing the strain on her arms and trying to keep the ruler from not skidding off of the ideal mark. No . . . that’s not for me. I really taking my time and thus enjoying what I am doing. As I said I have no time clock to punch.
Hmm. I just remembered that when the kids were here last Sunday, out of the blue Kevin asked me if I was tired of doing the blog. I know I said “No” immediately and I was on to working with the dinner. I most likely should have thought about it and in hindsight I now wonder if Kevin is weary of being the host of this site. I think we need a few more words on this subject. After all . . . I really am never short of words as some of these blogs attest to. I am now chuckling as I am about ready to get supper going.