Nervous Energy

Thursday I caulked all the windows and sealed stucco cracks in the outside walls of the house.  I was detailing the mini van when Anna wanted to know if I was going to be OK.  With two extra days off of school, it seemed like I should accomplish something.  Friday I washed all the laundry and cleaned up the inside of the house.  

That left enough time to finish one quilt.  

 So this morning I went for a run to replace the 5K that cancelled for obvious reasons.  Anna didn't take the ACT either.  Then I went to the store one last time and bought lots of junk food that made the kids so happy.  Sydney is in favor of hurricanes if it means that she can eat pop-tarts and Cheetos.  That left plenty of time this afternoon to finish another quilt.  I will get some better pictures in the morning.

There were two more flimsies hiding in the closet waiting to be quilted.  Those should keep me occupied in the morning.  They are both pretty small.  

Then tonight we had a family movie night and I finished the hand quilting on the orange peels quilt.  It rained a little bit today, but it wasn't particularly hurricane rain.  The wind has just started to pick up a bit.  We have been lucky I think with the westward shift that the storm seems to be taking.  It is still too early to know for sure, but it doesn't look nearly as bad for those of us on the east coast as we had all feared.  Of course, all of that means bad news for folks on the other coast.  I'll stay up for a while longer and watch some more weather.  That seams to be what I do most these days.
Many thanks to all who sent prayers and well wishes.  I appreciate them all more than you can imagine.  I will try to stay in touch as long as power and internet are going strong.

ScrapHappy Saturday -- Hurricane Edition

I'm scheduling this post ahead of time.  Just in case.  Irma is currently headed this way, and though she shouldn't be here until tomorrow, she is pretty big, so it is best to plan ahead.

 I spent some time earlier this week getting my orange scraps organized.  Here are the biggish sized pieces.

 I cut a nice stack of 2.5 inch squares for the leader and ender basket.

There were a few strings to add to the mix as well.
As long as the power holds out, I'll be working on more machine sewing.  I've got plenty of handwork set aside too, for when the power goes out.  Hopefully you are all staying safe and busy as well, let me know how your orange blocks are coming, misterlinky is below.

Irma

Twinkle Stars is fresh off the frame.   I think that I will call her Irma.  I quilted it with some nice simple undulating U curves, and it went super quick.  It just got some purple binding and is sitting in the hand work basket waiting for the power to go out.  It is so very strange to sit here knowing that the hurricane is headed toward us while it is still calm and clear out there.  Sydney saw a movie with friends this afternoon and we are headed out for a quick dinner out before all the restaurants close.  After that, we will all snuggle up to wait it out.  

To Stay or to Go?

Knowing whether to stay or evacuate during a hurricane is never easy.  There are people in mandatory evacuation zones and flood plains of course.  Families in ancient houses with questionable roofs or mobile homes have an easy decision.  Our house has windows rated to 150 miles per hour.  We had 28 inches of rain during tropical storm Fay and stayed bone dry.  The ocean is 6 miles away with two causeways and a two barrier island as buffers.  Still, we watch and wait.  The highways are packed with the people who have to evacuate.  We have friends who left for Atlanta or north Florida yesterday, they are still on the road.  So for now we are staying put.

 Yesterday was busy getting the outside ready.  Extra caulk on windows, sealed cracks, taking care of potential projectiles like the trampoline.  We still need to drain the pool and fill the extra water jugs.  That brings me to other important plans.  Hurricane sewing.  I have several quilts hanging in the closet waiting for a turn to be quilted.  Fortunately, I found lots of good backing fabrics while organizing last week.

Twinkle Stars was a Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt of last year perhaps?  It is now freshly pressed and ready to be loaded onto the frame.  First though, I'll take a few minutes of my new favorite hobby, bouncing back and forth between the weather channel, tropical tidbits and wunderground.  The 11 am update should be out soon.  

Hurricane Survial Kit

School has been cancelled for Thursday and Friday.  The hurricane, if it stays on the forecast path, should arrive on Monday.  That leaves plenty of time to sit and stare at the weather channel.  Good thing that I have plenty of hand quilting to keep me busy.

Honestly, I think that I will go and get in some machine sewing while the power is going strong.  Sitting and waiting is not easy, especially knowing what is headed our way.  They usually turn.  Almost always.  I'm hoping that this one will do that too.   We have water and food.  The cars have gas, the house is strong.  The next update isn't due until 8.  I'm sure I can get plenty of sewing done between now and then.

A Labor Day Finish

 After a day and a half of nonstop stitching, OMG is done.  Hoping to get something other than the traditional receding rectangle photo of a quilt on the ground, I enlisted a couple of quilt holders with a ladder.

 They were happy to hold it for a split second, long enough to snap a quick photo.

 And then, they were off again!  We were lucky to get in the quick photo shoot before the rain started to pour.

Here is the back.  A nice paisley print with some pink peacocks.  One end was just a touch short, and needed to be stretched out with a tiny bit of extra border fabric.  

Things are not looking good for Irma.  As soon as the rain lets up, I should head out and make sure the hurricane supplies are restocked just in case.  

Borders and Binding

I am so close to finishing off the border for the orange peel quilt.  So close!  I decided to go with a simple zig-zag to contrast with the curves of the center part.  I marked the points in from the edge so that they don't get cut off by the binding.  I love this rectangular PVC quilting frame for borders.  So nice and straight.  

 I got the binding for OMG sewn on yesterday.  I couldn't find a lime green that would work, so I just repeated another pink from the inner border.  

Then I stared to worry about having hand work ready when all of that was done, so I put together a couple more months of Leap Year.  There is another month sewn and on the design wall which means just two more months to applique.  So I should be done with the 2016 block of the day quilt before the end of 2017.  

I'm sure that not all of that will get done today, but it is a long weekend, so making serious progress seems likely.  I feel amazingly well after my long run yesterday morning.  It is remarkable what bodies adjust to with just a little practice.  Next weekend is 11 miles, so hopefully I will still be feeling good then.  

I'm linking up with Kathy and Oh Scrap! today.  Be sure to visit them if you have extra time today.  

ScrapHappy Saturday

Now for something entirely different.  Ready to put away the low volumes and grab some high volume oranges?  I'm looking forward to something bright and happy.

Binding Time

I just pulled the OMG quilt off of the quilting frame for the last time!  Finally!  The colors are way off, but it is very dark now.  I'll take a better photo once the binding is all done.

I was completely bogged down on the border.  I used a stencil, but the quilting was too uneven and looked really bad.  I thought about ripping it all out and starting over.  Instead I piled it in the corner and ignored it for a few months.  

Then, I filled in the background with a stipple.  It evened out the quilting density with the middle section and camouflaged some of the imperfections.  Not perfect, but better anyway.  It is all ready for binding now.  I am thinking lime green.  I wonder if I have some of that?

I've been organizing my fabric stash.  There seems to be some green in there.  I've been stocking up on backgrounds, can you tell?

 This cabinet is full of backing choices and fat quarter sized pieces.  Most of my stash in in scrap drawers, but sometimes scraps need to have friends.  Without slightly bigger cuts here and there it gets hard to find borders and bindings and such.
I'm not long for the world tonight.  Kurt came home from work sick and has been passed out in a chair most of the evening.  I'm supposed to run 10 miles in the morning so I'd better schedule the morning post before I turn into a pumpkin.  Sitting and hand sewing binding will probably give me a great excuse to rest my legs tomorrow afternoon.  A nap always feels good after a long run too.

New Month -- New Color!

I'm always so excited for new months.  Not that I don't love neutrals, but they just aren't quite as zippy as orange in my opinion.

 Maybe I will finish the quilting on my Orange Peel Quilt this month?

Hopefully I'll be able to put some of these orange scraps to good use.  With a three day weekend to look forward to, I'm sure to make excellent progress.