Tornado night

I finished this quilt not long before I got the crap scared out of me.  I'll tell you about that in a minute.  This quilt barely fit on the machine.  I get a lot of these. 

I did a leaf and curl design on the outside border and a swag on the inside border.

Circle lord fan on the center pieced area.

I wrapped the backing over the front for the binding.

Ok, about getting the crap scared out of me.  The grass was cut yesterday which made the weeds in my flower box look even worse.  After finishing this quilt I went outside to pull weeds from my front flower box so it would look nicer.  The Morning Glory vines are coming up nicely but were competing for space with the weeds. 

When I finished that chore, I heard the emergency warning sirens start to sound.  What's going on?  The skys are clear with just a bit of clouding.  I'm thinking it must be another factory explosion or something.  I turn on the tv and there was the weather guy saying a tornado is on the ground headed for Shively.....not a potential tornado but actual "on the ground" tornado..... headed right toward my daughter's house.  She lives in Shively.  PANIC!! 

I get on the phone to call my daughter because I know she doesn't have the tv on until later and she can barely hear the sirens.  Answering machine picks up.  Call again.  Answering machine picks up.  Call again.  Answering machine picks up.  I'm really getting frantic when she answers the phone. I tell her to get to the basement..... RIGHT NOW!  She turns off the stove and runs to the basement where Ladybug is already.  It's her play area when Mommie is cooking supper.

I keep my daughter on the phone while I listen to the news.  Then my tv goes blank.  It has the EAS (Emergency Alert System) light on but there is no sound and no words flashing across the screen.  Nothing but blank.  Now what good is an EAS system that doesn't do anything? 

I continue to talk to my daughter who tells me she doesn't hear anything and there's sunshine coming through the basement windows.  For several minutes neither of us know what is going on.  The sirens stop sounding and the tv comes back on.  The weather guy says the tornado is right near the street where my daughter lives and it's on the ground.  Then it starts to grow dark at her house with lots of rain.  After about half an hour of on again, off again, news and blank tv it's finally safe for them to leave the basement.

A few minutes after telling my daughter to get to the basement this is what I got at my house.  She  had the same thing there.  The is right around 7:30 in the evening.  It usually doesn't get fully dark here until about 9:30 at this time of year.

It is not a problem with the camera.  It really was that dark outside.

We had that stuff off and on until about midnight.  My daughter and Ladybug went to bed but I stayed awake to watch weather reports and would call her if she needed to get into the basement again.  Luckily we were ok the rest of the night. 

What I really want to know is why the EAS didn't work on the tv?  I do know the city has had problems with the system for a couple of months.  I'm going to call the city hot line to complain.  Or at least let them know I had problems here. 

Whew!  It scared me to write about it.  I heard we are expecting storms again later today.  With a possibility of the same thing we had yesterday.  You think I should go buy some depends.... just in case? 

It's finished

This quilt is finished and will be picked up today.  This lady really prefers minimal quilting which is why I do simple designs.

I did a leaf and daisy design on the outside border.

Line dancing on the pieced blocks and a loop design on the inside border.

A leaf design on the solid blocks to carry the leaf design from the outside border.

The photos are kind of dark because my batteries were getting low.  Here's the border from the back.

Another of the border.

The blocks.

Before I start another quilt I'm going to spend some time picking out the border of this one along one side. 

I had been working on it a few days ago but removed it from the machine because I was really unhappy with how the design was working on the border.  There is about two inches of extra fullness in one area.  There were too many little tucks and looked really bad.  I'm going to fix that area in a different way then quilt the design again.  The owner is in no hurry to get this one so I can take a little more time with it. 

Later today I'll put another quilt on the machine to keep on schedule but I also want to work in my backyard for awhile too.  Providing it doesn't rain.  There's lots of tree bark and small branches that need to be raked up before my raised bed can be made.  I'm so looking forward to having a small garden again!  It's been too many years since I actually spent time in my backyard gardening.

Busy busy

There were bills to be analyzed and paid.  An energy saving ideas seminar to attend.

* photo removed by blogger

Homework to complete.  I'm so loving learning to create portrait quilt patterns! 

A windfall of produce to preserve.  I got oranges, onions, grapes, potatoes, greens, and apples.

Cooking to be done.  Gee..... it gets eaten before there's time for a photo.  Actually, I gave both pies to neighbors as soon as they were cool.  He had picked taken one to carry home and return for the other.  He didn't want to chance dropping one by carrying both at the same time.

A quilt on the machine larger than the largest batting I had.  Time needed for adding extra batting.  It's stabilized and some of the quilting has been done.

A cabinet shelf that decided to fall down in the back.  I took the time to repair it then changed what is stored there.

Clothing to be cut apart.

Then cut into squares for two large memory quilts.  Luckily I could work on these when the power was out a few hours.  The storms pasing through were pretty intense that morning.  One tornado touched down not far from the nursing home my mother lives in.

I had cardboard furniture to be worked on.  I wanted to test a recipe for homemade paper paste.  So far it's working.

There was a food inventory to be done before my next shopping trip.  I'm tired of buying stuff because I didn't know I already had dozens.  My grocery storage had gotten way out of hand.  I desperately needed it organized.  I don't think I will need groceries for a very long time. 

A couple of doctor appointments and friends to help moving things to higher floors in preparation for floods.  A Ladybug that's discovered the fun of hide and seek.  Ladybug sitting to do crafts doesn't last as long as it used to.  There was company spending the day sitting to talk about troubles.  So what's a great listener to do but to sit and listen? 

With all these things going on over the last few days...... when was there time for writing a blog post journal entry?  Or even getting near the computer except to do homework for that matter?  The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity around here.  I'm hoping now that I've gotten myself a bit more organized I won't feel quite so overwhelmed.  I can't say I won't be just as busy.  At least I do feel a little better knowing where my groceries are located and how much I have.  Now I guess I need to organize my craft stuff too?  Nah.... that can wait a little longer.  There are projects to complete and homework to finish and friends to listen to and pies to bake and a Ladybug to run after...... here I go again.   

Still here

 The last few days I've had to be gone from home everyday.  I renewed my mother's state medical coverage.  I filed the annual guardianship reports with the court.  I had a doctor visit and some tests run.  I left home each day before daylight to catch a bus.  By the time I got home in the afternoon, I was so cold all I wanted to do is get under a quilt to get warm.  Writing a post or getting on the quilting machine was the last thing on my mind.  I did dress in layers but the cold seemed to go right through them.  Standing at a bus stop is not fun when it's freezing and snowing outside.

It's also not a good idea to tell in a blog when I won't be home.  There might be a burglar checking out my blog to see when he can stop by.  Yes, burglars do check blogs and facebooks. 

Anyway, I took some small work with me because I knew I'd be sitting in waiting rooms a lot.  I got the pieces cut out for this small quilt.  I ironed them all down to the background last night.

This is a gift for someone I know who has started an exercise program and diet.  It's a 2004 Jane Wilson pattern.  It's raw edge applique.  I bought the pattern back then because I liked the whimsy of it but never had a reason to make it until now.  It just needs a border then I can quilt it.

I also have a quilt on the machine.  I'm hoping to get the quilting finished by Monday.  It's a very large quilt.  I barely fit it onto the machine.  It's hard to believe this month is almost half gone.  Time moves so much more quickly than it used to. 

Ok, short post today.  The machine is calling me to get to work.