Sunday, July 26, 2026

Hot Times ~ Sew & Tell - 7/27/26


Welcome back to Sew & Tell!  It's been a cooker here and I have been hanging out with the AC on.  My mind was buzzing with the sound of fans, but I am not uncomfortable because of heat.  "This too shall pass," is what I keep telling myself.  

The constant sound of fans has interrupted my sleep, and I may have been just a little grumpy for a day or two. It was on the second day that I decided that something had to happen...  I pulled out the violet cross-stitch blocks that came from the sister of a friend... similar to the vintage rose blocks from January.  


But first!  Let's take a look at this week's Sew & Tell feature.  Sally at Crafts, Cavies and Cooking shared her Hundred-Acre Wood quilt.

The original ask was for sage green fabrics.  Sage green covers a lot.  At the time my sage bush had mostly silvery-green leaves.  At this time of year, they are far darker green on top - more like the darker greens of the quilt.  My Russian sage still has that silvery color. 

While green is not my favorite color, I do love using green fabrics in quilts... and the varying shades Sally used in this quilt are right up my alley.  The pieced backing is a treat as well!  Make a visit to her blog to see it and learn about how the name of the quilt came about.  I love hearing the stories and "process" of decision making that one goes through from start to finish.  

The landscape in Southern Colorado doesn't have even a hint of green currently... that's how bad the drought is.  The water restrictions have been increased, including no use of a hose in the yard except for watering 3xs a week for just 1 hour each.  No filling pools of any size or spas (good thing our hot tub {set at 90-95 deg f} is good for now!

As I trimmed the violet squares and sandwiched the top, I kept hearing Dave's fears that the restrictions will become even more severe echo in my mind... meaning that any extra-territorial water users (that includes our small water association) can have service cut.  YIKES!  I certainly hope it doesn't get to that, but he is taking steps to be able to utilize the well we have.  We need to upgrade to 200-amp service (whatever that means) to be able to use the pump we have for the well.  While at the same time... we can get central AC installed.  (I am not looking forward to the cost to do this... but I do look forward to having a quieter house.)

While he worked on that with a friend some credit card thief was enjoying the use of the business cc. Grrrr... Thankfully, it was a quick resolution, and we appreciated the cc company's attention to the matter.  


After a few hours of quilting I realized that my frown had turned upside down and my mood was much improved!  To drown out the worries in my head I turned on my audio book.  I finished two this week.

Both of the historical fiction genre.  I enjoyed the story of how Clara Kelly, an Irish maid and how she influenced Andrew Carnegie.  I know it is fiction but still loved Andrew’s transformation from ruthless industrialist into the world’s first true philanthropist.

Our local library bears his name - Trinidad Carnegie Public Library.  Speaking of which... my quilts get to remain on the art wall for a second month! I've not had as many sponsors of the quilts slated to go to the two pregnancy centers I have chosen to support but there's now even more time to gain support for the cause.


A Pair of Aces was a story set in New York City in the 1930s and wove the story of a black, female assistant DA and a well-known Madame who was a Russian immigrant together to bring down a mobster.  I was surprised at the end when the two authors shared the fact that both women's characters were based on real people and actual names.  

I am still waiting for the shipment and delivery of the main fabric for Lala's Irish Chain quilt and sew Along.  I have found a comfortable place in the living room - at the computer - writing up the posts with directions for each step.  I'll be honest... the shortage of fabric has kept me from dashing ahead of everyone.  If not for that I'm not sure I would be able to hold back. And... if I get all of the posts and stories written out before the fabric arrives... look out!  I'll be dashing off in a sprint.  LOL!

Last week we sewed squares to rectangles to create corner stone units.  Are you ready for the next step?


One last quick 100-day thing I created was one final aqua block for the RSC.  A new color will be selected soon.  I'm guessing thinking purple since we haven't used that one yet.  Technically, it could have fallen into the "pastels" realm of the challenge.  I think it will be a good transition block.

I've been keeping with the 100-days of creativity challenge... baking or cooking (breakfast) on the grill has qualified as "creative" a couple times... and I have a crock full of pickles on the kitchen counter currently.  Somedays I consider the time of writing here on the blog as my creative time...  It all keeps me going!

How is "voice of creativity" expressed?

I just read a thing on-line about how fabric has been used as political statements for centuries.  I learned during the Pieces From the Past sew along that the Double T block was such a statement. It was quite interesting!

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Keep Piecing,

Melva

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