3/10/13

Sewing on Sunday

Today I'm feeling a little more human after my nose episode of Friday.  When I got up this morning, it was noticeably less swollen, although it is still fairly sore.  I'm taking less Tylenol and none of the stronger stuff, which is clearly an improvement.  The weather was beautiful yesterday, but we're back to our Portland gloom today.  And that means it's another sewing day around here...not that I need gloom to sew.  I can sew on the sunniest of days, although I feel guilty if I'm not outside enjoying it.

Here's what I did yesterday.  I made the block for my guild meeting tomorrow.


It's a pretty block.  I can imagine a whole quilt of these would make a nice secondary pattern.  Does anyone know the name of this block?  It wasn't on the instructions that were provided.  

I'm trying to remember (in my Tylenol haze...or maybe it's just pain) what the purpose of these blocks is beyond making them for the sake of making them.  After all, one does not need a reason to make quilt blocks.  One makes them because one cannot help oneself.  To the best of my recollection, each person who makes a block is entered in a drawing for some prizes.  And then we are to keep our own blocks to make a quilt from them at the end of the guild year.  I'm coming in with the year more than half gone, and so I'm not sure what I will do with mine.  Quilting Babcia used her block from last month to make a baby quilt for donation to one of the local hospitals.  I probably have some other orphan blocks around I could add to this one and do the same thing.  So, that's my block for tomorrow's meeting.  I'm also taking my Two Grandmother's quilt for show and tell.  

Then I made my orange block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I had forgotten how much piecing is involved in these blocks.  If you'll recall the first two blocks I made didn't turn out very well.  I was ready to chuck the whole project into the trash when two fellow bloggers came to my rescue and made paper-piecing templates for me to use to make the dress sections of the blocks.  (Thank you Denise and Andra!)  For the last two months, I've just been remaking the dress sections of the blocks I already had.  This month I was back to making the whole block again.  Here's this month's block with my little ladies dressed in orange this time.



I'm not sure why their shoes are showing as construction cone orange because they aren't that bright in person, but there you go.  They'll definitely be safe crossing any street.  And here are all the little ladies I have so far:


I'm thinking of calling this quilt "We Are the World".

So with all that piecing, I used up my sewing time for yesterday.  Besides, my nose was tired by this time.  But it's feeling all rejuvenated now after a relatively good night of sleep...even with the missing hour.  

And that reminds me...Mike was awake last night and looking at the clock when this happened: 

The clock said


And then it said



Whoa!  That hour vanished right before his very eyes.  

Mind = Blown

I figure that has to count for something, right?  I hope it's something good, but who knows.  He might have angered the Gods of Time by being awake while they worked their magic.  I'll keep you posted on any untoward (or toward) consequences.

So just as I typed that I wondered about "untoward" and "toward" in the same way I wonder about "overwhelmed".  This has long been a topic of dinner conversations between Mike and me.  (Yes, romance defines us.)  If one can be "overwhelmed", can one just be "whelmed"?  Well, as it turns out, the two words mean precisely the same thing.  To be "whelmed" is to be "overwhelmed".  I'm guessing this is one of those occasions where we have used a word inaccurately to the point that the inaccuracy becomes accurate...like my pet peeve, "deja vu all over again".  You see, "deja vu" already means "all over again"  And so to say "deja vu all over again" is simply saying "all over again all over again", which is redumbdant.  And that clearly has driven me crazy or I wouldn't be spending so much time telling you about it.  The phrase is simply "deja vu".  I'm looking at you, Ira Flatow.

But getting back to my original point, when I typed "untoward" waaaaaaaaaay back there before my mind went spinning off in all directions, I wondered if "toward" actually was the opposite of "untoward".  Turns out it is.  Here is the definition of "untoward":


And here is the definition of "toward".


I'm thinking the "apt, propitious, favoring" part of the definition qualifies as being the opposite of "untoward".

So, there you go.  Another imponderable pondered.  For you new followers, aren't you glad you signed up now?  Just leave it to me to fill your head with useless information...which gives you some idea what fills my head.  And I haven't even told you the stuff I don't write about.  It's a dark and stormy place in there.




28 comments:

Kate Brown said...

LOL ok well the word things would definately mess with my mind and I am going to spend the rest of the day trying not to think of them!!
Your blocks look fabulous and I am glad your nose is feeling better!!

Kat Scribner said...

The title is perfect "We Are The World" and I now hear it dancin in my head. Hey, is that Michael Jackson, I see?

Babbellotta said...

wondering about words... something i do all the time! you play tennis with a tennis-ball... you play rugby with a rugby-ball... why do you not play football with a footballball????? just something that can keep me awake all night.... love your blog, hugs from the Netherlands!

scraphappy said...

What lovely little ladies -- they look so sweet in all their happy colored dresses.

scraphappy said...

What lovely little ladies -- they look so sweet in all their happy colored dresses.

Marei said...

"difficult to guide, manage or work with"? I had no idea that I was in the dictionary! Who knew? BTW..it's deja vu all over again is one of my favorite things to say. Yes, I am THAT person....see the above definition. PS...sorry about the nose, girl. USE YOUR SUNBLOCK! Like you haven't heard THAT before. :)

Stella Nemeth said...

Loved it. Loved the clock thing. Loved the word stuff. If you think you have strange things going on in your head, just imagine someone who loves this stuff!

The quilting was fun too.

make.share.give said...

I must say, your best posts come out of a Tylenol/ pain haze. that, or you're just a sillyhead.
The little orange girlies add to the mix perfectly!

KatieQ said...

I really like that block. It definitely looks like it would make a great secondary pattern. Please share the name when you find it out.
I love your Rainbow Rockettes. I can't wait to find out what next month's color is.

Sheila said...

Your little girls are so cute. Hope your nose heals nicely. have a nice week :D

Junebug613 said...

I like your block for the guild. I'm sure you will find a use for it. The ladies are looking marvelous! I am a grammar geek and always enjoy learning new vocabulary words. I also am peeved by the Deja vu redundancy. I think it was in a movie and spread, like the moronic word ginormous. Ugh!

Brown Family said...

Your little ladies are so cute!

Nan

Betty said...

Similar thoughts fill my head also. It is good to know I'm not alone!!

Kate said...

Love your block for the Guild meeting and your orange dresses, very chic.

I'm so glad that there is another family out there that discusses the meaning of words at dinner. We do it all the time. I'll have to show this post to DT, she thinks we are just weird.

Dana Gaffney said...

Deja Vu all over again would make me crazy too, although it may have it's place in the time space thing, like watching an hour disappear in the blink of an eye or Ground Hog's Day (the movie) where you're stuck in a loop. Your thoughts?

Margaret said...

Glad to hear your procedure went well and you are feeling better. Your mind works like mine. Several years ago on my way to work I had a fly in my car. When I got to work I chased it out of the car. All day I kept wondering if he would find his way back to my house or if he would be forever lost. Would he miss his brothers and sisters? His parents? My husband thinks I am totally nuts when I have these types of questions. He will roll his eyes and say " it's the fly all over again".

Snoodles said...

Haha! Great post...and I'm glad that your poor nose is improving. I may be looking at having that done; just been putting off the trip to the dermatologist..
And here I thought it was Yogi Berra that said that! Love all of his crazy quotes, like "It ain't over til it's over" and "when you come to a fork in the road, take it" !! Apparently the dejavu quote was after watching two of the Yankees' stars hit back to back home runs against his team several times in the season. LOL

Rachel said...

Glad the nose is feeling better! Love the fabrics in your block!SO jealous that your new guild gets to see Grandmothers in person!The ladies are looking good!Smart clock, LOL.I love words :-)Have fun at the guild meeting!

Lyndsey said...

I worry about all the stuff with whelmed and overwhelmed and the deja vu / all over again issue. John and I were discussing iterate and reiterate only the other night. People, especially politicians, are very fond of reiterating but iterate means the same thing. What a funny old language we speak.

Love the block but don't know what it is called. I hope the nose soon feels like new. What with painful knees last week you need some pain free time soon.

Sarah said...

Your little ladies are sooo cute. Can't wait to see them in lots of different colours!

Shepherdess55 said...

According to 365 Quilt Block Patterns by Judy Hopkins, the block's name is Farm Friendliness.

LethargicLass said...

My goodness! You are more verbose than usual today LOL! I can't remember half of what I just read... as well as making preemie quilts, orphan blocks make great pillows or table mats.

Faye said...

Your girls in dresses are so cute. What a fun idea. Looking forward to seeing 12 months worth!

Donna said...

I've been reading your block for about two weeks and I must say that I love your blog! The quilting and the humour are great!

Edith said...

I like the word stuff, I'm sometimes annoyed by the inaccuracies in language that I hear, often relatively speaking isn't relative at all. Love your little ladies.

Deb A said...

Love the little ladies! I'm guessing your clock was set to DST = auto on. We had my son's clock with that and it was smart enough to reset itself to the correct time. Hope you are feeling better.

Sarah said...

I have heard of the condition in late pregnancy pre eclampsia and its dangers. Then I heard a reference to the pregnancy condition eclampsia. I didn't know what that was so I looked it up. It's the same condition!

Sandra-Kay said...

In Australia we have Automatic Teller Machines (ATM's) where you can withdraw money, nearly everyone calls them ATM machines,which is Automatic Teller Machine Machine, and businesses have an Australian Business Number (ABN) for collecting sales tax and yep, they talk about their ABN Number. Grrrr, it's NOT an Australian Business Number Number OK.
Not that I go psycho about it or anything.