In Fits and Starts
Yesterday was one of those days when I just wanted to finish something—anything—but I kept getting derailed. I don’t do well in those situations. I get cranky. The interruptions, although minor, were urgent, so I had to keep dropping what I was doing. I finally finished the big items on my to-do list just before dinner.
Our conversation over drinks, where I was lamenting my frustration with the day’s progress:
The husband: Did you make a ridiculously long to-do list for yourself that you couldn’t possibly get done in one day?
Me: Isn’t that what you do?
The husband: Sometimes.
All the world is queer, except for me and thee.
Both Bear Paw baby quilts are basted and ready to quilt. I used one layer from the roll of thin quilt batting in my stash; the Essex Linen is thick enough as it is that putting a thick quilt batt inside would make the whole thing too stiff. I am letting the tops marinate for a day or two while I decide how to quilt them. I’ve been looking at various custom quilt patterns for bear paw blocks, but the larger scale of these blocks means that some custom quilting designs just won’t work.
I did find this pattern, though, that I am itching to try on a quilt. This is by Christina Cameli and she calls it Bear Claws:
It might work on one of these Bear Paw baby quilts, but I plan to practice with it, first.
I got the backing sewn for the Churn Dash quilt. I went with a small red-and-white paisley print. I am pretty sure I’ll be switching between red and white/cream threads on the top and I don’t want to have to worry about what color is showing on the backing. It’s a very busy print that will help to hide the thread.
And I pulled out these blocks in an attempt to get this top moving along again:
This is the second iteration of that purple-and-green quilt from last spring in which I thought I was using Kona White for the background but actually ended up with a combination of Kona White and Kona Bone. For this version, I cut as much as I could ahead of time and kept all the fabrics together in their own bin. I had four of these star blocks left to assemble. Those are done. Now I need to cut the units for the alternating chain blocks, assemble those, and finish the top.
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In other news, the husband has created a list of all the damaged/destroyed tools that were on his truck when he was in the accident. I need to type those into an Excel spreadsheet and send them to the claims adjuster. And weird things still keep falling into place. He needed a bumper guard for the new truck, so he stopped at Currier’s Welding in Kalispell to see if they could order one for him. They had the exact bumper guard he needed because the factory had sent it to them by mistake. (They ordered one for a smaller Dodge but got the one that fits the 4500 and 5500 models.) The bumper guard on the gray truck was largely what protected that truck’s engine in the crash.
He also asked them about getting a new Warn winch for the front of the new truck, because the one on the gray truck was destroyed. They had one in stock, which turned out, apparently, to be the only one left in the whole United States. Sixty-four of them are on backorder.
The insurance company needed to know the replacement value of the gray truck, and used work trucks are so scarce that the current value of that truck, even at 8 years old, is more than we paid for it. The way all of this has worked out has been very weird, but I am not about to look a gift horse—or truck—in the mouth.
I picked up his new computer yesterday morning and got it all set up.
Today is supposed to be the last day of wet weather. I am itching to get out to the greenhouse and garden and start making plans. That’s on the schedule for tomorrow. I will do as much set-up as I can by myself and make a list of the things I’m going to need his help with. I’ve started buying supplies as I see them in town. Yes, it’s too early to plant anything, but if I wait until it’s time to plant, things like tomato cages and landscape fabric will be sold out.