I'm off the Island!!!

...Triangle Island, that is.

Yup, that's right, I finally finished Triangle Island Feb 5th.

These are the two quilts I ended up with:

These were a joint effort between my ca 1915 Davis New Vertical Feed, 1893 White VS III, and 1906 Singer 15-30. Oddly enough, it was the Singer 15-30 which gave me the most problems. I don't blame the machine, it's me. For some reason, I seem to get along better with my vibrating shuttle machines. I had a much easier time doing free-motion quilting on my White than with the Singer.

They aren't professional work, but I like them, and more importantly, so do my kids. However, I don't want to see another triangle for a long time!

Update and Apologies

So here it is March, and I'm just now getting back to blog. Internet problems have been part of the problem. The rest was a computer virus that I'm still recovering from. Well, OK, honestly, the rest is below.

I've been working on Triangle Island, and I'm nearing photo stage. I spent a really ticked-off Sunday afternoon kicking out the majority of it. Then I discovered that it was 4 rows too long, so I took 4 rows off which is for another quilt (because I just can't work on one at a time!)

For two years in a row now, I've spent March 16 planting my tomato seeds. It's kinda early here, but I've had enough success that I'm not too worried. Besides, as nice as the weather has been here (60s today) that I'm about crawling up the wall waiting for the last blast of Winter. I love winter, but I love Spring, too! Fall is my favorite season, but that's because I'm a Fall baby.

Somewhere along the line I've discovered something very disturbing. My life mirrors that of my favorite comic strip Foxtrot. To those who know me, that shouldn't be much of a surprise. I mean, Jason Fox and I have a lot in common when it comes to science and math. (Sorry, the only iguana I like is Quincy -- and that's because he's a cartoon.) I lived vicariously through Jason in 1998 when he was at Camp Bohrmore (where you go to get more Bohr!), but then there's that disturbing part. In an effort to forget the things going on in my life that I can't blog about, I went to Bill Amend's old site (I'm probably the only person left to go there) to play Foxcentration and Burp-a-long Fox, and I somehow got it in my head to do Jason's Nerd search (which I did when it first came out). And that's when I found out it's been so long since I did any calculus that I forgot how to.

Do you see where this is going?

That's right, my old calc book is back out and I've been reviewing. I have to. I have very few things I can be proud of, and my calculus ability is --- WAS --- one of them. Besides, I have great memories of Calc at Macomb Community College, back when it was still Macomb.

And now you know where I'm at if I'm not here. I'm studying calculus!

Happy 90th to my grandpa today!

P.S. I've really got to get "Math, Science, and Unix Underpants" to keep my sanity.

P.P.S. If you didn't know it, Bill Amend is really a nice guy. I once sent him an email in support of the math notation he used (which a bunch of weenies objected to) and he sent me a really nice email back.

Of Triangles and seed catalogues

Today was quite productive. I cleaned the sewing room and I finished 3 more rows on Triangle Island, for a grand total of 5 rows. Of course as I'm sewing I got an idea for layout that's completely different, but we'll have to see what I decide to do once I've got all 20 rows finished.

Monday's mail brought an unexpected surprise -- the brand new Seed Savers catalogue! Woo-hoo! So yours truly has already got a list ready of what I want to order, but I have to sit on it until December when the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange's catalogue comes. I mean, what if they have something that Seed Savers doesn't, and I run out of garden room? Which is entirely possible in my garden. Seed starting is only 2, 2-1/2 months away.

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, it's good to remember to be thankful -- and I'm thankful that there is a Spring coming, D.V. In these days as our country is taken over by political correctness and the Constititution is despised, it's good to be thankful and to think about the little things in life. You know, those good things like treadle sewing machines, quilted petticoats and long johns (you know, Michigan winters), and gardens. Well, and I have the best husband in the whole world. I might have tagged him on at the end, but he's no second thought. I'd have a miserable life without him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I leave you with this thought from Abraham Lincoln from his Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1863:

"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. "

Triangle Island

Yes, I know it's been awhile since I posted, but, well, let's just say you haven't missed much. Frost killed my seed beans, the boys have been in full swing, etc., and I've gotten myself into another project. Yes, I'm still working on Christmas presents, but I needed the side trip to Triangle Island.

See, our Benevolent Despot at Treadle On did a "Rectangle Island" mystery quilt back in Feb-March. Since it was a blast with appearances by the Evil Twin (not the one that looks like Tom Selleck, the other one) and clues to hunt down on the site, when "Triangle Island" was proposed, I jumped right on ship. I needed something to think about besides the holidays coming up, our first round with Grandma gone. Little did I know I was going to get marooned on the Isle and the cruise company would go bankrupt. Full story here: http://www.treadleon.net/quiltshop/triangleisland/triangleisland.html

To make a long story short, I finished Row 1 tonight. Well, OK, there's that little matter of squaring the row up, which I can't do until the Corner is open on Monday and I get fabric. It's as done as it will be until then, so here's what it looks like:

I don't think it looks too bad, but the true test will be what happens when I join the rows........

For those of you wondering, I obsessed over the color placement until I listened to Mr. C. and did the olde "52 card pick up in a paper bag". My only rule is that no color repeats next to each other.

And so I'm off to work on Row 2......... assuming I can find a plug for my boom box so I can jam to Nickelback (there you go, now I'm dated.....)