Detour

No, this hasn't turned into a quilting blog. It's just that I'm not in the mood to sew clothes for me. But I don't want to finish up the last scrub top for my sister either. Part of my lost garment mojo is still not having my machine. Part is a need to clear out Stuff Taking Up Space. Yes, I'm aware of the irony of that statement vs. the lone scrub top.

The good news is that my machine should be done early next week and I think it's going to cost a LOT less than I was anticipating. Fingers still crossed on that one because there was also a bit of a misunderstanding as to what they were supposed to look at. How, I don't know, since I had a big list stapled to the work ticket. But I digress … Right now I've been told it has working Reverse and Fix buttons again and supposedly the light problem is fixed, and the price quoted so far is $140. But I'm unclear whether the bobbin winder was even looked at and the saleslady at the store didn't know either, since service is done off-site. I hate that about this dealer, but I have no other good choice. However, if the total bill is going to be under $300 when I was expecting at least double that, I guess I can live with it.

Anyway, back to the photo above. These are quilt blocks I've had kicking around the sewing space for years. I didn't make them. They were part of an Ebay lot of other things and I couldn't just toss them. They are completely not my colors or style. But there's still something about them that I like and the workmanship is excellent.

So, off to Joann's today to buy fabric for borders between the blocks, fabric for sashing, and fabric for the backing and binding. It was so crazy in there that I totally forgot about batting so I'll have to go back for that.

I was also a little crazed myself by the time I got to Joann's since my car battery died and with the men all gone this weekend, I had to deal with it myself. Not that I can't, I just prefer not to. After a couple of tries in the driveway with only clicks, it did let me finally start the car so that I could take it up to the place that sells and installs batteries. Whew! There are 4 other cars here but (1) who knows if they would've started either and (b) they are Guy Cars. 'Nuf said.

And why did the battery die? Because it's FREAKIN' FREEZING here and cold kills batteries. I'm not kidding about the freezing - it was in the 20s overnight and never even reached 36 today. Oh, and guess what I saw last night during the dogs' last piddle of the night? Snow. Yes. S.N.O.W. In Valrico, Florida. WTF. No, it didn't stick, but it was sure coming down from the sky at midnight. And today while driving around, the "rain" was bouncing off my windshield. I'm a northern girl by birth. I know sleet when I see it.

I know many of you have to deal with terrible cold all winter, but you pretty much expect it where you live, right? I live in West Central FLORIDA. I think I'm allowed to whine when it's like this for days on end. I'll be whining again next month when my electric bill hits the mailbox. Whoever's idea this is for a joke? Well, it's just not funny anymore. ;-)

Off to pull the new fabrics from the dryer and start cutting strips while watching the Cowboys beat the Eagles. I'll see how far I get tonight and tomorrow before I decide to go racing back to crazy Joann's for batting. I'm hoping the fabrics I picked will make the whole quilt more Me. But what I'd really like is a quilt that I won't cringe over if we kick it around the TV room and snuggle up in it. That's all I'm hoping to get out of this.

(And yes, Donna H - I know I still have the Stars & Stripes to work on, but I need my D1 for the applique blocks, plus working on making a top/quilt out of the blocks above will help me ease into wanting to work on those applique blocks. Shoot me if I ever pick something with multiple applique blocks again.)