The Lighthouse is in Sight

Ahoy Mateys,

Here is an update on my journey "Crossing the Pond".  The borders are on, and I'm doing a happy dance across the main deck!

The corners ended up being total serendipity.  I didn't have enough fabric for my border, since I changed my idea mid-float.  In the beginning I had no intention of using these two fabrics together in the border, so I didn't request a lot of it.  I worked with EQ8 software for a long time, and came up with this idea.  Both Mr. Joe and I liked this layout a lot. 

My plan was to put just a square of fabric in each corner.  One day when I finished appliqueing one of the border sections, I just tossed it up on the design wall, and the end of the border ended up next to one of the pinwheels in the quilt.  Bingo! My corner issue was solved.  Serendipity?.....YES!

My goal is to finish pattern writing this week.  This is a complicated quilt which requires a lot of detailed directions.

Here's an update on the cabin staining.  One of my friends suggested we wear shower caps while the cabin is being power washed.  This is not a bad idea.  We almost broke out the umbrellas on Friday. We already figured we were in a streak of bad luck, so we didn't want that to intensify.

The painters do a thorough job removing the old stain with a combination of HIGH water pressure, and a "stripper".  Not the kind of stripper doing a pole dance, but a combination of who knows what, to remove the old stain.  Fifteen years of pollen, dirt, chemicals, bat poop, and dirty water found its way into the cabin through the cracks.  We ran out of towels Friday while mopping up and plugging leaks.  I'm sure we looked like the Little Dutch Boy with his finger in the dike. Except we ran out of fingers. I would have used my toes, but I'm not very limber.

To make matters worse, Mr. Joe decided early last week that he wanted to re-build the front porch before the staining started.  He finished that project yesterday just in the nick of time before the staining starts.  This is the same, dear man, who hired a crew to remove all of the popcorn ceilings in our city house just prior to a bridal shower.  The plastic came off of the walls the day before the guests arrived. The mess was monumental! I repeat, MONUMENTAL! That was the closest we've come to divorce court. 

Tomorrow the crew will start covering all of the windows.  Since we don't have to physically be inside the cabin cleaning up the water, we may plan a lot of day trips next week to escape our "cave".  We have another week and half of this to live through, since they are applying two coats of stain. It will all be worth it in the end.  I'm just looking forward to that end.

Soon,
Lynn