Machine problem

I was sewing away, getting my scraps used up--and when I looked up to change my needle position, everything on the sewing machine screen was "8.8", in all the different categories. Hmm, can't get it to change. Maybe if I turn off the machine and wait a few minutes? . . .. . No, everything's just the same. Oh, well, maybe I can just keep on sewing with the old settings. Oh, No. Machine will not do anything.

Unfortunately this looks like a computer chip problem. Took it into the Pfaff shop for analysis on Saturday, but there were no mechanics on duty. Waiting to hear their diagnosis.

Thank goodness my friend Dianne is once again willing to loan me her Featherweight, the one that travelled to Florida with me.

Therefore I am able to keep sewing on these leftovers I found from a much earlier project. I have been combining and then cutting them into 3.5" squares. I have 21 blocks, and I don't think there is enough left for any more. At this moment my plan is to make placemats for the deck meals.

Meanwhile, the temperature is up in the 80's, and a long-haired dog has to find someplace that is cooler to lie down. Zeke finds that ceramic tile in the shower does the job. Or curling around the toilet.

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Sara

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Gratitudes:

Michigan strawberries at a roadside stand

Jazz at the Zoo

Ice maker in the refrigerator--remember when we had to re-fill those trays all summer?

Working hard in Florida

The line-up for the Cardinals-Astros game. Wow, Albert Pujols actually played for the first half of the game.

So here is my motel room work station. They intend it for a desk and computer, but the Featherweight machine fits it well, and the rounded end holds a cutting mat and rotary cutter.

And above that are two of the 12" blocks I made in this set-up while Charlie was doing the laundry or going to another ball game.  I am working toward more "Wonki-ness" in the blocks as I go along.  The sample blocks, made to get the sizes right, were fairly regular until I got to the smaller sizes.  Now I am cutting more strangeness into them as I go along.  I also need to make a total of six 9" blocks before the Bee meets in March, so that is my next task--tho I'm staying in Florida and not going back to Michigan for that meeting!

Tonight I have packed everything up in preparation for another move tomorrow.  We will spend one night in Bradenton and see a Pirates game.  Then on to Ft. Myers for three nights, so I can get the machine out again there.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Pet friendly beach meant that Zeke could come with us

Dolphin was fishing just off the beach

Martha helped me with computer problems

Doors in the Squares

Today I finished the companion baby quilt to the one in the previous post. This time colored squares and black "doors". What I had available for batting was fluffier/taller than I usually have/use, but there it was and I needed a batting. So this has ended up a little stiff, even after washing. The backing is this fun print that looks rather African.

Because we are going to Florida for the whole month of March, I am going to count this as my "March" UFO completion, in case I don't even take a UFO with me. So May Britt, this is my OPAM finish for March!

And just for fun, here are some wildlife photos.

Deer, right on the driveway, about 50 feet from the house. They don't seem to be interested in using the bench!

And then here is the view I got coming out of the den, walking toward the kitchen.

Nutsy, Zeke's stuffed squirrel, which has the same coloration as said dog. How he ended upright I don't know. Right in the area where Zeke is usually lying so that we can't move anywhere without his knowledge. Zeke? He was downstairs with Charlie getting ready for Obama's speech to Congress.

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Sara

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Gratitudes:

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Lunch with Bob Miller in Holland, MI

Dutch butter crisp pastries

Doctor now approves of my blood pressure

Zeke makes snow angels

Snow fell yesterday, and last night, and now during the day. Zeke was inside all morning.

When I let him out at noon, he went through his usual activity: sniff the snow, push his nose along the ground under it, flop on his shoulder,

and then roll and wiggle back and forth,

lie upright looking all around, and then roll some more.

Can you see the "snow angel" he has made in the snow? Charlie and I say "He made another dog angel."

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Sara

Swim, Snow, Sew

30 minutes of Swimmercize this morning, and then another 27 minutes of aerobic laps under direction of the coach, Sandy. So I reset the Ticker for this next week.

We have had a light dusting of snow off and on since last night. Since 11:00 when I was home from the swimming pool, Zeke has been in and out of the house about five times. I let him out the front door when he "asks". He finds his favorite place in the front yard and rolls and rolls, wiggling on his back. He just loves the snow and wants to really get close to it! I give up on watching him and go back to the sewing room. About ten minutes later I hear a "Woof". He is waiting on the deck by the slider to come back in. Dark photo because of the clouds.

Zeke feels that after every outing he should get a treat. Dad agrees, but I don't.

Yesterday and this morning I made some of the extra mini-blocks for Carolina Crossroads so that I can make the quilt top longer to fit our queen bed. I have constructed the 20 railfences, 20 and 35 of two kinds of 9-patches, and the 4 half 9-patches. Tomorrow the 20 Hourglasses! I want to get the extra Onio Star blocks made before Bonnie's new clue on Thursday.

I have been working on Secret Sister stuff again this afternoon, and having fun with it. Our Bee, SpoolSpinnners, will meet on Thursday evening, so I want to have something ready then.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Mango for breakfast

Granola bars, all set for needed snacks

Zeke at play

Quiggle Lake

This is the view from our dining room slider (and the living room)in winter and in fall. There are no houses on the opposite side of the lake, where there is now a golf course. Luckily the lake is so small that no one tries to put anything motorized on it.

We have a rowboat, which Charlie uses to survey the number of turtles basking on fallen logs around the lake, and we have the permanent loan of a parishioner's canoe, which doesn't get used as often, partly because Zeke's antics make it unstable.

The view is to the westsouthwest, so we get good views of the sunset, especially in the winter. Yes, we do have snow on the ground now. The plowing service has been here once already, missing the edge of the driveway in one place and scraping the lawn.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Feather duvet,

hot shower,

faster internet connection than yesterday.

Zeke tries to eat sprinkler water

Amazingly, to me, I have already received a request about my blog! Lori wants to see my dog. He is really Charlie's dog more than mine, though we all live in the same house. And Zeke's cage is in my sewing room.

Here he was in the summer . After an initial attack each time the sprinkler starts, he settles down to try to get a drink out of it. This results in a VERY wet dog.

Zeke's back comes up to about my knee, so he is a mid-sized dog. We got him at the Humane Society, where they claimed he was a cocker spaniel. Doesn't look like one to us. He is very protective of our house and yard, not pleasant for visitors.

Lori, you will have to wait for a picture of the lake. Somehow I can't get Blogger to put more than one photo in each post.