A Summer of Extremes

I don't know about you, but this summer has been like no other; between weather and politics, sickness and health, and triumph and tragedy, it is almost more than a mind can take.

To name just a few:

• Pulse tragedy!
• Carol's MAJOR surgery, which is likened to rearranging the abdominal organs!
• Crazy dry July in Florida, with accompanying major heat.
• Only partially soaked August.
• Brexit.
• Presidential election, which I'm sure came to mind instantly.
• Summer Olympics!!!
• C-diff. 
• Terrorism both near, and far.
• Child eaten by gator!
• Up and coming young singer shot at the Plaza Theater!
• Sewing....a good obsession to have.

You probably have your own list, or so I suspect.

During this crazy summer, while I've been holed up in my sewing room, I've let the flower beds run amok. Seriously, they were going to hell in a hand basket, as my late Mother would say, while I happily played with fabric. Talking to Pam in the driveway, I noticed just how much the side bed needed attention, so I forced myself to do just that before mowing the lawn. Trees, weeds, ferns, and vine,s all made their way into my garbage cans. I was delighted that I had two swallowtail butterflies keeping me company while I was sweating like nobodies business.

Normally I would begin working outside earlier, but for some reason, oh yeah, I know the reason-- I wanted to get the binding on my quilt, so it would be ready for the hand sewing I plan to do later today while watching college football. I am crazy for this backing fabric--so soft and, well, just plain awesome.

Anyway, the pool temperature has dropped way below 90 degrees, and instead of my usual routine of getting wet before I begin my outdoor chores, I waited until I could stand the heat no longer. Stripping off my shorts, headband, gloves, shoes, and sunglasses, I jumped in before I passed out .

That is but one of three jam packed garbage cans I filled. Then I mowed. Whew--sitting at my sewing machine is so much easier, but when was I the type to take the easy way out? Right about now I'd say. :)

Wednesday morning I went to the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild meeting again; me and 67 other folks, and I use that term because there were several men in attendance, including one who won a prize for becoming the 100th member of the guild. So, it's not just me that is obsessed. I am in good company! Sitting beside me was a woman named Mary, who just so happens to live nearby, doing embroidery on wool during the meeting. See that pink and black thing on her finger? It's a thread cutter she can take on an airplane in lieu of scissors.

She was one of quite a few that took home Pulse quilts to finish on her longarm quilting machine. As I mentioned recently, the response has been overwhelming. Alissa, the president, is so enthusiastic it is hard for that not to rub off. She brought along three huge binders filled with all of the notes attached to the donations, including one from a woman who teaches sewing in a jail. She wrote that the eight women meet once a week, for three hours, none of whom have sewn before, but by golly they made a quilt. Tears from not only the president, but others during the reading of that letter!

She showed off a few of the completed quilts, many so very creative. How about this beauty?

Yup, Orlando skyline, and 49 hearts....

Three members from the guild in Sarasota brought quilts, as did a woman from the Sheriff's office.

That would be a pile of more quilts destined for someone's comfort. It is my understanding that there are 850 identified recipients to date. So, apparently the meetings are for both updates on charity projects, and inspiration. Do I need more inspiration when there are not enough hours in the day for me to try everything I want? Well, apparently I do. 

One of the women made a quilt using fabric she dyed using the ice method.  Looking it up online later that day, I came across a woman who used snow and dry Kool Aid powder to dye yarn. What the heck...let's get it on. I bought some quality muslin, cut it into strips, and raided the ice maker bin. Let's take a look at the process.

Using an old chlorine bucket, that is the start and I'll show you a few more of the process.

That would be Strawberry Kiwi, Peach Mango, and perhaps Tropical Punch. Now I started this around four in the afternoon, not the best time as the temperature was still hovering around 90 degrees, allowing the ice to melt fairly quickly. About twenty minutes later it looked like this:

An hour later:

Ice is completely melted after about two hours.

Hanging it on the line, I had high hopes,

for something interesting. The truth is, it was not. Once rinsed, the fabric was mostly pink; in other words, blah. Both muslin and Kool Aid are cheap, so there's nothing stopping me from trying again, when I hope I will have better results.

Circles. I've not tried anything before with circles. Now I have.

This too, is not great, although I'm still sold on the concept, just not my execution. There's always next time.

So, do you think that after the election things will settle down to a more even keel? Let us hope so because this extreme stuff is for the birds!!

Taking things one day at a time,

Gail

The Generosity of Friends

Oh my gosh...huge thanks to both Pam, who is donating her old sewing machine to DFG, and Sam and Mary who purchased one at an auction last weekend!! It takes a village alright.

I met Sam and Mary at Clemons to pick up the machine, a Kenmore 1231 made in 1972, it is still in the original box and works like a champ! While I was there I bought a bag of lemons just because they were so prett,y and of course I had to set up a photograph of them sitting in a pretty bowl on some awesome vintage fabric Mary also brought me.

About two weeks ago, lemons were priced at 50 cents apiece, whereas yesterday this whole bag was only two dollars. Go figure.

I set up the machine, plugged it in, figured out how to thread it using the handy manual, and gave it a go.

The thing about sewing machines is that although they are all fancy now, they still share the basics. Thread from the top, with a bobbin full of thread in the bottom, stitches created by looping the two together. One great thing about an old machine is it is made of metal, and sturdy as all get out. Then too, if they are kept clean and oiled there is no reason they can't work forever.  There is definitely something to be said for less is more.

Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself...on Sunday, driving home from church we drove through a few gorgeous streets in Winter Park. Oh my, are there some hidden gems. Reminded me of Savannah.

Bruce caught up with some much needed sleep by napping on Sunday afternoon while I wrote my last blog post. Once awake, he sat down to catch up on email only to discover one of the managers had emailed him regarding the "proofer" not working. I suspect there is one amongst you that knows what that piece of equipment is, however, for the rest of you, it is a box for allowing the bread they make onsite to rise.  He asked if I wanted to accompany him, and I agreed, anxious to see how things were going. If you ask Bruce, he'll say things are terrible, but to my eyes it is just wonderful, especially now that they have moved in, giving life to the place.

We should of known that there would be rain by the look of the sky as we were driving the six miles to the mall. I actually took this because of all the perching birds with the dramatic sky as a bonus.

While he was discovering that the outlet didn't work, as well as trying to figure out a new rack system for the mug freezer, I read my book, took photos and chatted a bit with the young team of managers.

It is so exciting seeing all the glassware in the bar, and the furniture in place, soon to be ready for guests. Notice the televisions placement please, as I will add more on that later.

I told you Earls is great to their employees, and I saw evidence of that in this display for the management team.

One of the sweet young ladies told me this was for them to keep up their enthusiasm throughout the long days of preparation for opening day. When I think of our pathetic employee lounge at the hospital compared to this, I am pretty much left speechless. So when the designers were here last week they had a few requests, one of which was to change the heights of the tubular lights pictured above. Not shown that way on the plans, Bruce called in the electricians to make it happen. This is the sort of thing that happens at this stage of the game. Changes are not welcome by the construction team, but they are there to serve, so serve they do.

Finally he was done, but by that time it began to rain, and rain, and rain! I forgot to mention that I was shocked at how full the parking lot was...rarely do I go to the mall on the weekend, but apparently loads of folks do. My, oh my...you would have thought it was Christmas. After waiting thirty minutes for the rain to subside, Bruce finally ran to get the car. I took this while waiting, and am delighted to see the Earls sign reflected in the car window.

What a weekend of college football! Once home, and after I fixed some sort of supper, the Texas vs. Notre Dame game came on, and what a doozy it was. Trading touchdowns, I eventually went to bed in the third quarter. Pretty much the only team I will stay up until midnight for is Florida State who was scheduled to play in Orlando the following night.

Labor Day was just that for Mr. Peck. While he was working I began the day on a bike ride; I'm still about 60 miles short of 4,000, and it feels like at this rate, I'll never cross that mark. Anyway, seeing the eagle for the first time in ages was one of the highlights of that ride.

Our sister-in-law, Ruth oftentimes gives us a garden stone, a place for butterflies to rest and soak up some heat. It is an interesting behavior to me, and every now and again I see it happen while out and about.

Matt's friend Liza posted a photo of chocolate cookies on fb, giving me the idea to make some myself. I used this recipe, adding both oatmeal and coconut, in addition to the chocolate. I have a drawer full of kitchen tools that rarely see the light of day, but when they are called upon to assist me, I am always thrilled that I have the room to store them. One such tool is this cookie scoop, and should you ever think about purchasing one for yourself, I can assure you they are fantastic. Using the two spoon method for most of my life worked just fine, but this, my friends, works even better!

Bruce called, asking me to pick up a hanger for an ironing board, as well as a small vacuum cleaner, think Dustbuster, for the restaurant. Heading over to Target, I realized I could purchase some little bags for the cookies I wanted to deliver to some of our new neighbors. I am not really a Target girl, but I have to admit, they do have some pretty cute things. You would have thought I'd been there lately because there were loads of products using coral. Count me surprised. Picking up some twine, I originally thought I'd be using it to tie the bags, that is until I discovered there were some handy ties included with the bags. Still, I liked the twine, and now I found a use for it, adding it to the quilt I've been working on.

The pattern is called, Friendship Star. I am taking my time on the quilting, and as you can see, for now I've abandoned the idea of free motion quilting. Lest you think I'm much good at this craft, notice how the points of the star are not pointy. I have no earthly idea how this happens, but it does, in spite of my practice!

I took a bag of cookies over to Scott and the children, with him asking me where I live. Duh!! Right across the street. Anyway, the children told me that their outdoor cat brought them a rat last week!! Score!! Keep em coming please.

Unfortunately, this cat has been known to kill birds as well as rats, but I'm having that attitude of gratitude, being thankful for whatever happens next.

So, I told you to notice the televisions in the bar which is another thing the designers wanted changed. Too high, they claimed. Bruce set up the folks to come to lower them, expecting them first thing yesterday morning. Didn't happen quite as planned, and it was most definitely not the piece of cake they claimed it would be. Bruce called saying he would be late. I rode my bike around 7, expecting he'd be home by 7:30. There is a reason photographers call that time of day, "the golden hour."

Just lovely. To the left of the photograph is our empty driveway and it remained so until who knows what time...I finished my book, which was gripping should you care to know, and went to sleep. Good grief, having a "baby" is hard business.

The Florida State game kept me up past midnight but it was well worth it!! Oh my goodness, what a game.

I've got some awesome friends, don't I?

until we meet again,

Gail

An Attitude of Gratitude

It is easy enough to slip out of the mindset of having "an attitude of gratitude" and I must confess I'm ashamed of myself for being so public about it. I mean really, instead of focusing on the potential good that taking Flagyl would do for me, I kept whining about what I did not like about it. Instead, now I feel just fine again with nary a problems since I've finished my dose. Forgive me will you?

I confess that I have an abundance of reasons for having a good attitude although I am struggling mightily trying to find something good when this sort of thing happens.

And I thought squirrels were bad! Remember how I told you I had Bruce remove my kitchen window screen for now so that I might have a better view for taking bird shots? Instead there are not one, but two of these dreadful creatures stalking my bird feeder! The nerve of them!!! The funny thing is , I was looking on the ground under the feeder while preparing dinner, grateful that there were no rats. Then, eyes moving upward, and lo and behold, this!! In spite of Bruce's best efforts with a rat trap, they remain. Should you think of anything to be grateful about regarding this situation, I'd love to hear from you.

I am seriously grateful that the promised storm had very little impact in our area. The wind blew sort of hard, with the palm fronds swaying wildly. Good thing they had been trimmed earlier so there was no associated mess.

Rain was little more than passing showers, much less than a typical afternoon rainstorm, however, it was gloomy and humid. No slug was seen by either of us, however, a trail on the door was evidence that a slug was on the premises.

Mostly I sewed during the day; I think of it as my job to improve so with that it takes practice. I don't know about you, but I have grown fond of the look of an extra blanket at the end of the bed. A nap blanket if you will. So I'm working on one for the guest room, using this fabulous coral color solid I bought during a sale at Wandering Stitches. There is a clever way to make what are called half square triangles and that's what is going through the machine in this photo.

Once lines are sewn on either side of the drawn one, you cut them in half and voila!

If I were really good, you would not be able to see any of the white fabric from this side. See why I am still practicing?  I am more than grateful for the time to do so.

Look at this sad state of affairs! I need Pam!!

In her absence I purchased a laundry basket from the Dollar Store to put under my table. This would be what quilters call my stash, a term we learned from Irene who has moved into her new home btw.
It used to be that I would purchase fabric as I prepared a project, however, learning from her example, I am now buying fabric I like, particularly when it is on sale! It is really great to be able to reach into the drawer, pull out my oranges and see what happens. Of course this photo shows that instead of that ideal situation described above, I am sometimes rummaging through a pile on the floor! Actually, it was piled up on my sewing table, taking up far too much room and now it is in a laundry basket. :)

Yesterday afternoon, after doing some weekly chores, it occurred to me that I was sewing away the summer. As in swim season will be over before I know it. I have been reading a novel, yeah, not a lot of that going on lately, that is really a good old fashioned story in that the characters are good, as is the plot. A complete page turner. I believe I bought it at a garage sale, although I can't be sure. I'd purposely avoided reading any reviews before now, but I am now delighted to learn of how The Kitchen House became successful in the linked  article from the Wall Street Journal. Word of mouth, my friends.

Speaking of word of mouth, one of the local news stations ran a feature on the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild's effort to have quilts made for the Pulse tragedy. Filmed nearly a month ago, they talked about their original thought of gathering 101 quilts, posting as such on Instagram. Well, I learned from a sewing friend that the total received is hovering around 1,000!! Quilters from 48 states, as well as 20 countries have sent their love in the form of fabric, creativity, and time. Can you say amazing?

Back to my original thought, I finally pulled myself away from the sewing machine and spent the latter part of the afternoon beside the pool reading, and in the pool when I got too hot. The water is cooling down, that's for sure!

I've had a visitor in the back yard for the last two days...

Swallowtails are so pretty, with beauty on the underside and the oute rside of their wings.

Another week at Knowles Chapel, and another visit to the rose garden.

I got a call early last week from a man who asked if I was the Gail Peck who sold photography and does quilting. That's me alright. He related that he and his wife had just moved into a new condo, already owning four prints from me, they were looking to add to their collection. Where could he see them online? I had to respond that I'd shut my website down, however, they could come to the house and see what I had. Well, that proved to be difficult for them, so he asked how else he could see my photos. Anymore looking through thousands of photos I took is not so appealing, so I turned to some online photo albums that, frankly, I had not seen looking this good before. Google Photos has replaced my trusty Picassa web albums and is it ever swank! Here's an old one I put together to study them as a whole, in order to decide what was fit for printing. I'd forgotten just how prolific I was!!

Working on maintaining an attitude of gratitude on a daily basis,

Gail

Keep on Learning

There will probably be no "truckin" in my future, but for sure there will be learning.  Speaking of songs, while working on the big hand sewing project, I watched a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers documentary made in 2007. While very long, it was completely engaged from start to finish because, well damn, they made some great music over the years!

So, isn't it just a wonder of the world how peaches are, no longer, so fuzzy? One of our local produce shops, Clemons, carries the most wonderful peaches from South Carolina in August. He drives up there once a week, bringing back a truck load of goodness to his customers in Orlando, and I thank him for doing so.

I still peel them though. :)

Is our neighborhood, specifically right around us, changing!! More new folks moving in across the street.

The children of Miriam wasted no time in turning her house over to a young woman (27) and her boyfriend! It never went on the market following the same pattern as Herb and Corrine's home. It is astonishing to think that last year at this time I had two sets of neighbor's approaching 90 years of age, and now those homes are filled with young folks, and children. I only hope Miriam's daughter sold the house for a regular price, unlike the other house that was purchased for way less than the going rate. How much less?  $100,000 less!! Not looking good for our little slice of heaven in the middle of the two, or so it seems. That said, we have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon.

I learned the other day that our former neighbor Elie, who moved to Southern Oaks where we go to Hill's Happy Hour, has suffered a return of the cancer that claimed his leg when he was only 16 years old. Such sad news. Speaking of HHH, here is part of the gang from Sunday night. Please note the cute little VW camper bag in front, a gift from Tom's folks last Christmas.

It looks cute sitting there doesn't it? The perfect size for a bottle of wine.

Monday was Days for Girls, and was it ever a super day of sewing. Sharleen began the session with an update on our chapter, inventory, and the big news is that she was able to purchase an amazing tool to cut the liners due to the generosity of two sisters; two of whom you know!

A special die was made in the shape of the liners and not only can it cut six layers of fabric at once, it also cuts the waterproof material, which before this, was very labor intensive. Happy Days!

There were loads of happy sewers, well loads as in 23, including several new ladies who are very enthusiastic about the cause.

As I was leaving I told the shop folks, see you on Wednesday, the day I was scheduled for my next Bernina class. Nope, I had the wrong day...back again on Tuesday morning. Mickie is the Bernina instructor, and is she ever a talent.

Particularly when it comes to embroidery...she made all the cool stuff on the walls; my favorite being the awesome Florida bag although those dish towels are pretty amazing.

Mostly that is what we talked about, decorative stitches, although I did learn more about machine maintenance which was quite helpful. Following the class I wandered around, managing to only buy a few small pieces of fabric, as well as watching Lisa, the shop owner, using the longarm quilting machine.

There are classes on how to run this machine, and once you've learned, rentals are $20hr. See how much I have yet to learn???

Hobby Lobby is going to custom frame these posters sent from the headquarters in Vancouver.

Slated for the "back of the house" they spell out the mission statement, as well as highlighting the rights of the staff. This project may be quite difficult, however, it is good to know, in the long run, how great the folks at Earls treat their employees.

I did stop by the project to see Bruce, whom I found with the tile guy, and the Project Manager from the construction company that is doing the project.

After the big construction wall came down,  Mr. Peck was not thrilled with the revealed tile work. He is, however, pleased with how the patio ceiling looks. Can you blame him?

I suspect that most folks will forget that this massive structure was not there before. I need not remind you that this project has been anything but easy. The furnishings are all in place,

and are they ever cool. The blue booths are really more like little love seats, sitting adjacent to windows that were also never there before. Yesterday was the turn over, meaning the chef and his team are getting deliveries, and will begin putting the amazing kitchen to the test. Woo hoo...the end is in sight!!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch home, I sewed. Well, not all of the time, but a bunch. After making another project I had a fair number of 2" blocks left over. Hmmm...well, I put them together, then I framed them, then I set them in a sea of off white fabric courtesy of the recent garage sale haul. Beginning in the pieced panel I started with traditional straight lines. Using diagonal lines on one of the sides, I thought, what the heck, this is going to be a little blanket for Baxter, Ielt's go for broke and practice free motion quilting. Clearly this is going to take a ton of practice before I am any good!

What is free motion quilting? Doodling with a needle and thread is what it is! Actually, people are capable of creating amazing designs using this technique, but for now,  I'm going to learn to be a doodler. Maybe.

It is all about rhythm, of which I have very little! Nonetheless, the more I did, the more comfortable I felt. I've tried it on small swatches before, but there is nothing like the real thing, learning how to cover large areas. The front looked a mess, but the back was even worse!

Because you are moving the fabric around, this sort of thing happens when you don't have a good bond between the layers. All part of the learning process is how I'm looking at it!

Baxter will never even notice.

And now, ladies and gentleman, I must do some tidying up in my sewing room. The day is slated to be rainy due to a tropical storm in the Gulf. I'll put on some music, and whistle while I work. Not really, I'm terrible at whistling, but perhaps I can hum...

Oops...I nearly forgot. I came home the other afternoon, finding a UPS box on the front porch. SunDance sent me two plaques that have been made by a Christian gift retailer in Indiana, one of which is this:

There's that.

Secondly, and way more importantly, I have a feeling there are those amongst my readers that have a sewing machine sitting idly in a closet. I also know you are a generous lot, and I'm asking that you consider donating that machine you will never use again. Days for Girl's long term goal is to teach the young woman to make their own kits, and if you are so inclined, you could be a part of that effort.

Thanks much,

Gail