Malfunction Junction

I like to listen to the news on TV in the morning and in the evening. I'm usually doing something else, but this is an ingrained habit acquired over decades of life. I enjoy the Today Show in the morning, at least for the first hour. I also enjoy the local news. So, I listen to a Tampa station,  that's as local as we can get! Tampa is 80 +/- miles away. I guess one should call in local-ish!

This morning, as often happens, a cute young gal was describing traffic situations, pointing out delays and areas to avoid. 

She cautioned drivers to avoid "malfunction junction". I almost choked on my coffee! What a fabulous name for 'those' types of highways. In our RV travels back and forth across the country, we have seen more than our share! 

For haha's I typed "malfunction junction" into Google search and was surprised at the results. Mr. A-I-nstein reported that "malfunction junction is a common nickname for severely congested, poorly designed, or accident-prone highway interchanges in the United States. The most infamous, current example is the I-4 and I-275 interchange in Tampa, Florida. Wow! My "local area" is famous for something!!!

Here's a Google map image of malfunction junction

So, lesson for you...when you come to visit me, avoid this intersection! Message me and I will suggest alternate routes of travel!

Sping in my Step

 We have had gorgeous weather for a few days. (The shoe will be dropping next week, with more evenings below freezing.) The spring-like weather has filled me with enthusiasm. I've woken up early, and I've enjoyed time in my sewing space over the past few days. 

I pieced together some raw edge scraps on my long arm a while back, intending to make some sort of wall hanging to show the guild ladies an example of something you might make for the State challenge if you were making something representative of Florida. Then I put it up on my quilt wall and stared at it, trying to decide what to do next. 

Of course, since it is Florida it needed palm trees. But, how would I make them? Thursday I pulled out some brown fabric and a product called "Texture Magic". After stitching the texture magic to the back of fabric you use a steam iron to shrink the product, which produces interesting textures in your fabric. Much has to do with how you sew the product on, how close your stitches are and whether you put batting on it too. This was the end result for me.

I love it! (If I do say so myself!)

When I first pulled my backing off of the machine I didn't realize how

out of place the blue orb on the right looked (see above)

I had intended it to be the crest of a wave....I didn't exactly nail that! 

One thought I had is that it could be an island in the distance. 

I can add some green to it, perhaps.

I next thought the maybe I can cover the orb and make a sunrise.

I made a large fabric "yo-yo"

(If you sew, you probably know!)

It kinda looks like the sun, but I'm not sold on it.

I may try half of a Dresden Circle:

This is a Dresden Circle sunflower, 

you can imagine how a small piece in various yellows or oranges

might work as a sun. It's something to think about!

Below I have pinned the trunks of three palms made from the textured fabric I created on the piece.

One still has clips where I glued the raw edge under. 

I have yet to stitch these on the backing as I am still not certain of placement. 

I have a wild idea for the palm fronds. 

Some day I may get those done and post it here!

(If my idea works!)

A few days ago I mentioned the start of a bag,

and that I had to rethink how to use what I had.

I had some bamboo rings. I pulled the sides through the rings and tacked them down.

I made a handle of folded fabric, splitting the bottom 

so I could but it through the rings and tie it around the handle.

Eh...it's done. 

I did make the missing piece for the Bonnie Hunter "Lupine & Laughter"

mystery quilt yesterday, and I have assembled two rows out of seven.

It's a start. 

And, I assembled the pieces of San Francisco fabric

AND quilted them! I will be putting a zipper in,

then I can put the pieces together for a pillow.

I will also show this to the Guild ladies as an example of 

a quilt you could make for the State challenge.

I have also found a source for state-related fabric,

which I will share with them

Now, I'm heading out on my bike to enjoy our sunshine. 

Going Solar

 We are off the grid....well, at least when the sun shines!

The Mister and I decided to have solar panels installed at the Hacienda. We had solar when we lived at Babcock Ranch,  and enjoyed our minimalist power bills. When we contemplated going solar there we had a friend who worked in the solar industry for thirty years. He doesn't work in  residential solar,  but he is very knowledgeable, and conducted seminars for local residents to guide them in making smart decisions about solar. There are a lot of less than reputable companies hawking solar out there! 

Our panels were installed in early November. 

And here we are in February....and up until a few days ago...

we had no benefit from them - frowny face!

The first obstacle was that the Mister wanted battery back-up for the solar. 

The batteries were going to be installed on our garage wall.

And the hold-up? The garage wall was not yet built!

By the end of November we had a garage, 

and, as you can see, we had a bank of batteries on the wall. 

The next hold up?

Wiring. 

By mid December our panels and batteries were wired.

We had wire installed from here to there, 

and everywhere. 

But...

We also needed to have the power company move the main feed for our house.

That took forever, and a day....

and another day...and another! 

Some time in January their crew finally came to move that wire.

Where it used to go to the house, it had to be moved to go to the box on the side of the garage.

And, it had to go underground because trees were in the way of going overhead.

And then, we wait.

There are forms that have to be submitted to the power company.

The power company didn't care for the way the solar company 

dotted their I's and crossed their t's.

The forms had to go back,

and forth,

and back again.

And, the inspector did not care for the way they had wired one thing to another,

and the power guys had to come back to change pieces out and connect things in a different way,

even though what they had done was approved by a different inspector at a different house.

Finally after the ball was tossed from one court to another, and back again, and forth again....

a figurative volleyball game that we 'enjoyed' from the sidelines,

we were approved to turn on the solar and have any excess power that we produce

go back to the power company as an eventual credit. 

As of last week, our system is up and running. 

The Mister's new morning routine, as the sun begins to hit the panels,  

is watching the app's display showing how much power we are producing, 

how much we are currently using. 

It's nice to have one more project checked off!

Terrific Tuesday

 So, it was sunny, which always elevates my mood! (Remember, I said that I think I have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)?! And, it was reasonably warm....I didn't even need a jacket this afternoon.

The first thing I attacked this morning (by 7:30 am) was laying out the Lupine & Laughter blocks I completed yesterday. I don't have a large quilt wall, so I put them out on my bed. 

OOPS!

That green and gold block you see toward the bottom center is the quilt I have on the bed,

not one of the blocks of the quilt I am making!

I am missing a block. So, back to the cutting board, machine and iron!

I've since cut all of the pieces and only need to piece the block together. 

I pulled out a few UFO's (UnFinished Objects) or, with a more positive spin, "WIPS" (Works In Progress), to decide what I might work on next. 

These were some placemats I put together a few summers ago. I wasn't feeling well and was 

a member of a sewing group. I wanted something to do so grabbed some 'brights' at a shop in NC 

and put together these "Stack the Deck" placemats. 

I don't like them!

I don't want them!

I'm not gonna finish them!

A recent pod cast I listened to suggested that we sewists go through our WIPS/UFOS and 

decide if we still LIKE them. If not, it was suggested that we pass them on.

My partially finished placemats will accompany me to the next guilt meeting.

They will be placed on the 'freebie' table! 

The 'other' grandmother (in Berkeley, CA) loves to collect castoff items set along the curb.

She found a remnant of San Francisco motif fabric and gave it to me.

I made a small pillow with it when I was in California a few years ago,

and brought the remaining pieces home with me. 

I cut the fabric in squares and began putting on some sashing.

I was planning to make another, larger pillow.

But, the project was shoved in a bin, so it didn't collect dust, but there is sat...

I need to get back to it and finish it. It needs to be sent back to the 'other' grandmother

as a finished, quilted pillow for her house.

Next, I pulled out a quilt I've had finished for a while. 

It needs to be quilted and I want to use the computer to quilt it,

but I want to do "custom quilting" on it. I want to have the computer avoid the larger stars, 

which will then be quilted differently. 

After some practice on the computer I think I am ready to tackle this quilt now.

It will be going on the long arm shortly!

This has been a WIP for many, many years.

I finally have sewn all of the hexies together (hand stitching).

This will be a WIP for a while longer as I still need to put borders on it,

then machine quilt the white part,

then quilt the 'flowers',

then hand quilt flight paths for the bees,

(the individual yellow and purple blocks are a printed fabric with a bee on each.)

and finally, bind the quilt. 

I have a long ways to go....

I'll just take it step-by-step!

Finally (now, around 9 AM) I pulled out a bag I had made, 

but never finished. 

This is a fun Japanese bag that is supposed to tie onto the handle.

I made a poor choice in fabric, it's too heavy for this purpose.

I need to rework the bag. I played around with it a bit,

and I think I have a plan.

Perhaps by next week we'll see if that plan worked!

The rest of the day was spent with the "Piecemakers", a small group of ladies who 

meet weekly to sit and sew. Once a month we also go to lunch. Today was the day,

so off we went to Red's for burgers and wraps,

then back to sew,

and day is done!

Monday, Monday

 Today was a great day. I think I finally caught up with traveling and entertaining exhaustion, and I was ready to rock and roll. 

I spent the morning juggling things in my sewing room. By the way, did you know that I can juggle? When I was in my 30's a young man taught a juggling class at the rec center, I think he may have been 14! I had always thought juggling would be fun, so I took the class. I refused to pay for juggling balls, so I filled some of my kids' baby socks with rice and used rubber bands to close the ends. I folded the 'cuff' over the ball and ta-daaaa - I had juggling balls. I finally got so I could do it. I had my mishaps. I clearly recall practicing in the kitchen and having a ball (sock) plop into a cooking pot on the stove! I entertained my 5th graders by juggling eggs. Juggling them was not problem. I didn't drop any. But, when you stop juggling, two objects end up in one hand.... and catching an egg with one already in your hand is a certain disaster! I finally bought a set of "joggling balls". These each weigh one pound and the idea is that you work your upper body by juggling, while you work your lower and get cardio by jogging. Hah! I can barely do either one of the activities by itself, let alone trying to do both!

I worked on piecing one of the larger squares of the Bonnie Hunter

"Lupine & Laughter" mystery quilt.

I ironed more pieces of the mystery quilt.

I put pieces for the State Challenge quilt in a project box.

I've been experimenting with colors and patterns,

and I'm very excited about what I will be putting together. 

I need to collect a bit of fabric before I can really dig into this project. 

But...it's a secret! I can't tell anyone my state, 

or what my plans are.

The Citrus Crackers group has a mystery quilt project that is just beginning.

I collected the required fabric for that project

and found an empty project box to house it.

I still need to cut the fabric into strips before March.....

that shouldn't be a problem!

I played Mahjong in the afternoon and came out ahead, 

winning a whole $1.10 over the $3.00 that I began with!

You can tell that we play for high stakes! 

And, upon my return, I finished piecing the last sections of 

Bonnie's quilt, and will begin assembling it next!

I have two puppies by my feet that are trying to use their telepathic cues to get me to feed them. They are so very good about this. They rarely bark at me. (That doesn't mean that they don't bark!) They don't demand to be fed at exactly "this" hour or minute. They just wait patiently, staring at me with those deep, dark eyes! 

My Daily Reflection:

• What are you proud of?

• I'm most proud of completing the large blocks of the mystery quilt, and I look forward to getting them sewn together. 

• What did you enjoy?

• Walking the fence perimeter, checking for escape avenues for the dogs. It was sunny and so much warmer than the past few weeks.

Silly Things

Perhaps these ladies have watched too much of the Olympics!

I did have a chance to try curling when I was around 10. We took a vacation to the Hotel Chantecler north of Montreal. It was a grand resort with skiing in the winter and golf and a lakeside beach in the summer. 

Found on the Internet

There was an elevator from the hotel down to the curling club floor. We went a few times to try the sport. 

According the Internet, this resort was demolished in 2020. 

Home Again

 My time in California came to an end before I knew it, and there I was, sitting at the airport waiting to board the plane. (and writing this post to help keep me awake!) On my last few trips I have flown the "red eye". The plane generally leaves around 11 PM and arrives in Tampa around 7. Some people look at me like I am crazy for doing this....and, perhaps I am! But, I find that I am tired when I fly during the day, and I've wasted the whole day. If I fly at night, I'm tired during the day, but I don't feel like I've wasted a day. Another plus...the plane ride seems to be that much faster as I try my best to sleep most of the way. 

A friend who has traveled extensively recommended that other folks who anticipate long plane trips buy a "Trtl" travel pillow. I bought one and I'm a believer. I don't have to carry around a bulky neck-roll type pillow which still allows my head to flop forward. The Trtl is made of a plastic frame covered in fleece. The fleece wraps around your neck and attaches to the base of the brace with velcro.

And look what happens when you put the Trtl on: you are suddenly 40 years younger, 20 pounds lighter and beautiful! Hahaha!

The pillow worked its magic and I slept fairly well. Before I knew it, an announcement came on saying we would be landing in Tampa in 25 minutes. 

As the plane approached Tampa I spotted the sun rise. It was beautiful, despite the dirty window!

I was tickled by the plane's path upon our approach. Seriously?! 

It looked like we circled and zig-zagged all of the way up the bay! 

I took a quick jaunt through the Tampa terminal, 

passing the iconic flamingo art installation.

Last week I saw that the artist had returned to touch up 

the flamingo's toenails! 

So, despite my having slept "fairly well",

I'm thinking my eyes are telling a different story!

Time to head home and get a nap!