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

Chinks in the Armor

Hello Everyone,

Here is what I worked on yesterday, the border on my new pattern called "Crossing the Pond".  I have three sides done, just one to go.

Today I will attach the borders to the quilt.  I also have to make the corner squares.   The entire time I've been making this quilt, I'm contemplating just how I'm going to quilt it.  I have a lot of light space to fill in addition to complex blocks.  My brain has been working overtime in addition to my hands.

Now let me tell you about yesterday, and explain the title of my blog post.  We contracted with a well-respected painter to stain our log home. Our logs are very thirsty and need to be stained.  This is not a trivial matter, and I feel like I'm hemorrhaging money. This is probably going to be the last time in our lifetime that we will have this done.

So, let me set the stage at 7am yesterday morning.  The painters showed up and immediately started working.  We listened to the drone of the power washer from 7:30am to 3pm. The 2-man crew worked so hard all day long.

Our job was to stay inside and wipe up the water that "may" come through the logs.  Well, now we know why it is so hard to keep this place warm in the winter......it's full of gaps between the logs.  We don't have your normal "chinking" like most log homes.  Our logs fit together like Lincoln Logs.  It's a post and beam cabin, so where the beams meet the logs, there are some gaps from the cabin settling over the years.

We soon discovered we had an immediate problem around the front porch area.  I now know where the term "bat sh*t crazy" comes from. The bats enjoy the comfort of our front porch, and poop in the cracks.  That poop was catapulting into the house from the shear force of the power washer.  The poop was coming in from all angles along with the solution of water and bleach.  It was all hands on deck with towels, and the vacuum cleaner.  Mr. Joe always thought I had bats in my belfry, now it's confirmed.

We also had an issue in the master bathroom.  Mr. Joe got a shower without even stepping into the shower.  Twelve years of dirt and dirty water coated him from head to toe.  I now have a very clean bathroom inside and out! Mr. Joe is clean now too.

The painters will be back today to finish power washing the rest of the house, so we will be manning our mops and towels.  The logs will dry over the weekend, then first thing Monday morning the first coat of stain will be sprayed on.....then coat number two will be applied during the week. 

On a positive note, if a fire came along this weekend, our logs are too wet to burn!

Soon,
Lynn

Season of Fire

Hello Everyone,

Here is my progress on my newest pattern called Crossing the Pond.  It fills up my entire, large design wall, and the borders aren't on it yet.  I'm making the borders as we speak.

I want to thank you all for your outpouring of support and prayers for my state which is on fire.  The immediate threat to my home in Livermore has past, but the fire is still burning.

The warnings Sunday about a dry lightning storm with high winds for my mountain location were quite ominous.  All day long, we prepared for evacuation in case the dry lightning sparked more fires.  Our neighbors call their "go" bag a "bugger out" bag. 

I was in a very weird space for all of Sunday and Monday. I felt as though I couldn't concentrate, and would flit from one room to the next trying to make rational decisions.  All day long we felt like we were waiting for the other shoe to drop. How do you decide what goes and what stays?  Well of course you are limited by the space in your car.  We decided we would only take one car because we didn't want to become separated.  After we saw just how much we were going to take, that decision had to change to two cars.

Mr. Joe gassed up both cars, and got cash from the bank while I flitted around the house wringing my hands.  The first things I packed were important documents that I didn't want to have to recreate after the fact.  All of them are now packed in one bin.

All of the quilts that I designed, and made are packed in huge bags that hold about eight quilts.  The quilts that I made, but didn't design were going to be left behind.  This wall hanging made by my friends Lynnette and Barbara, was one of the first quilts packed, and was going to go with me!  The girls presented it to me at my retreat last October.

Mazey's bag is packed with a favorite toy, treats. kibble, water, and leash.  Mazey takes up a least half of the car, so that's why we are taking two cars.

We were also contemplating the potential evacuation of our Livermore home.  My granddaughter called and asked what we wanted to have them save.  She wasn't amused when I said the Grandfather clock! 

My mountain girlfriend Kaaren and I were comparing notes on what we were going to take.  She's created a list of items room by room that she is going to take.  I thought that was a good idea.

So Sunday night at 10:30, the thunder and lightning storm arrived.  Boy did it arrive with fury!  I was reading in bed, and saw the entire sky light up. My heart fled down to my toes.  Mr. Joe was sound asleep.  When the first crash of thunder hit, Mr. Joe nearly jumped out of bed.  For an old guy, he can move pretty fast!  I swear the storm was directly over the cabin.  We both breathed a collective sigh of relief when it started to pour.  The storm was brief, yet very intense.  By morning, the storm had cleared out some of the smoke, and the wonderful smell of mountain air was back.

We are still packed and ready to "bugger out".  All of this preparation led to organization and sorting.  I finally felt normal yesterday, but what is normal?  Well, normal for me is being able to concentrate on quilting longer than a nanosecond. 

My heart goes out to those who have lost everything.  My thanks go out to the thousands of firefighters trying to put an end to the devastation.  I have a horrible feeling this is going to be a long season of fire.

Soon,
Lynn