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I'm coming to the end of an ambitious outdoor cushion project. (And no, I don't want any more cushion jobs, please don't ask.) For this project, I'm taking out the zippers on the previous cushion covers and reusing them while using the fabric pieces as a pattern.
I have to admit that I wasn't paying attention, listening to the Reds game, while I took this zipper out. On the previous six cushions there was a fabric stop, like in the picture above, at each end of the zipper. On this cushion there wasn't one at one end and I heard a clunk as the zipper slider slid off and on to the floor.
This was not a happy sound. I wasn't able to find internet instructions for this kind of zipper trauma, but I was able to learn enough to get that slider back on. I'll lose about an inch of zipper but no one will ever know that. The new zipper is in place and you'd better believe there are fabric stops at each end.
You may be thinking that if this is the excitement at my house then it must be pretty boring. You'd be right. I keep thinking that if (when) I get these cushions finished I can go on to more creative projects.
Tomorrow is Opening Day 2020 for my Cincinnati Reds. On July 24. No fans in the stands. Playing the Detroit Tigers.
I am beyond ready. This week there were a couple of exhibition games with the Tigers. I heard the fireworks. Started to learn the names of new players. Bottom line - I love baseball.
When I was growing up in Ohio, my brother and I would listen to the Cleveland Indians double headers on Sunday afternoons. A special treat was getting a pack of baseball cards and wishing, wishing that there would be an Indians player in the pack, or at least a few American League players. The National League was kind of mysterious to us.
My in-laws lived in Sarasota in the winters, back when the Reds did their spring training there. They became Reds fans. On summer evenings, they would sit on their screened-in back porch in Detroit and listen to the Reds games. For my father-in-law, there would be some sipping whiskey. I lived in Detroit then, got to sit in on some of those summer evenings with them.
Oh, my goodness, I wonder what they would think of this season. I can't even imagine.
Nor could I have imagined that one day I'd live so close to the Reds ball park, way up on a hill, in a little house, by myself. Life takes mysterious turns.
Yes, it's an iron. And yesterday when I plugged it in, it just didn't work. No little light, no heat.
Those of us who quilt use an iron a lot. And we burn through irons a lot. This one lasted probably three years, which is a pretty good run.
I've learned that it doesn't seem to make a difference how expensive the iron is, the longevity is still about the same. I've learned that the dollar store is a good source. But, I've also been reading that dollar stores aren't good about enforcing mask requirements, so my new one will be coming tomorrow from Amazon.
The new one checks all my boxes - auto shut off, non-stick sole plate, steam (although I rarely use steam.) I had a moment when I seriously considered one of the fancy Oslio irons with the little legs that come out when the iron is set down. It was only a moment, though.
Maybe tomorrow my replacement order of mask elastic will come too. The first order seems to have disappeared while out for delivery in a town south of here, way too far away to be my delivery truck. Fingers crossed.
My daughter's family is on vacation this week and I am dog sitting at her house. The dog is sweet and well past puppy years. She misses her family but it always happy to see me come in the door. She also goes for walks with a neighbor.but is not happy about the heat.
We have a mask mandate in Kentucky, or at least I think we do. It is to go into effect at 5 p.m. today, but a judge has issued a temporary restraining order about the governor's future COVID-19 orders. It makes no difference to me, I'll wear a mask regardless.
In the Ohio county where the dog lives, a mask order also goes into effect today. It is a 'red"county, meaning increasing cases. No restraining orders there that I know of.
I don't even want to talk abut the politics involved in all this. It makes my stomach hurt.
I ordered more 1/4" elastic last night, for mask-making. I ordered some previously but wasn't happy with it. I also have a Creative Grids template for cutting out three sizes of masks.
My add-on project for the next month or so won't be a hand project after all, but a table runner using a Cup Cake Recipe. Without getting all technical, it uses a patterned charm pack, a solid charm pack, and little papers that show you where to sew and cut. Pretty mindless, as long as you pay attention to the sewing and cutting lines.
A charm pack, by the way, is stack of 42 5" fabric squares. People enjoy them because they usually have all the fabrics in a design collection in an inexpensive format.
I'm realizing that I didn't show you the beaded snowman I finished, so it will show up one of these days. It's pretty boring, actually.
The delayed Kentucky primary election was today and it looks like we will set a record for voter turnout in a primary election in the state. A few things could have gone better, but overall it was ok. There were a huge number of the no-excuse absentee ballots requested and returned. No excuse means just that - a voter could request a ballot without having an excuse like being sick or out of town.
We also had early in-person voting as an option, and people who didn't want to mail absentee ballots could drop them off. Not much of complain about, but some people missed the news that they wouldn't vote in their usual precinct. In our two largest precinct there were lines. But still, excellent turn-out with the coronavirus in the background.
And so, I am 75, plus a couple of days. I love this.
I hope I remember this birthday, when things were out of whack and there was no in-person singing of Happy Birthday, since singing is one way the coronavirus spreads. No lighting and blowing out of the candle, possibly spreading virus germs on the cake.
My ever-so-stoic grandmother used to say, "Things can't always be the same." I have this hope, though, that a year from now there will be singing and blowing out of candles and lighter hearts.
A year ago - I wonder what I worried about. Whatever it was, it wasn't worth worrying about since I can't even remember what it was. I think that we, as a collective society, will carry the memory of this year's worries in various ways. So much sickness, so much hurt. So much longing, so little comfort.
A year from now - I hope we have more unity, more striving for social justice, no worry about a lurking virus. I hope we can sing with abandon (and I'm not even a singer.)
I'm taking an online class called Five Things from Liz Lameroux. It includes journal prompts each day, plus inspiration to go with them. It was part of a birthday gift to my best and only niece and I decided to do it too.
Of course it took me awhile to get started and most days I don't get my list finished. I figure I can go back again next month and redo and revise and enjoy the class all the longer.
What I've learned: it makes me happy just to have the pencils and markers and scissors out and ready to pick up. That shifts how I think of myself. Maybe, for me, that is the gift of the class, more than the journaling.
Those of you who who enjoy music and are peace and justice oriented should check out Stephanie Hollenberg's virtual-directed hymn My Soul Cries Out on You Tube. Stephanie calls it "A cry from Mennonites across the US for an end of white supremacy and police brutality against our siblings of color." This hymn is in one of our Mennonite song books, not sure which one. I'll share here just the first verse and refrain. Written by Darren Morehouse.
My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wonderous things
that you bring to the one who waits.
You fixed your sight on the servant's plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?
Refrain:
My heart shall sing of the day your bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears,
For the dawn draws near,
And the world is about to turn.
And, 6 - 3, you all. My soul rejoices whenever I think of it.
