I Am Electricity Woman

Because I replaced a wall socket all by myself and didn't even get a shock.  You know how they get loose, how you have to jiggle the plug to make it work, well, I got tired of that so I talked to my electrician friend, TD.  He drew me a diagram and even ran out to his truck and gave me a new socket.  When I offered to pay him he said, "buy me a burger next time."  So I will.  I asked if I should turn off the electricity to the plug first and he said, "I wouldn't but you should."  So I did.  Durwood said it was very hard for him not to come into the bedroom to watch over my shoulder but he restrained himself and I'm so glad he did.  I did it all by myself.

DD arrived around noon, just as I was finishing up cleaning the bathroom.  Whew.  We had some soup for lunch and then she and I went right down to the sewing machines to sew up our jelly roll race quilt tops.  See you need 40 strips of fabric around 20" long that you sew together into one looooooong, 1600 inch strip.  Then, and this is the fun part, you grab each end and sew them together.  Yes, you sew an 800 inch long seam, cut the fold, and then join the ends again (400 inches), cut the fold, and seam again (200 inches), cut the fold, and seam again (100 inches), cut the fold, and seam again (50 inches).  Those last two go really fast, and then you have a quilt top which is a solid piece of fabric that you can border (put flat strips around like picture matting), sandwich together with batting (the fluffy middle stuff) and backing fabric, then quilt or tie them together so that the batting doesn't shift, bind the edges, and you have a quilt.  We were both careful how we joined our strips and got completely different designs than we thought we would, we like 'em but they aren't as random as we thought they'd be.  Too much fun.

Today I get to work (oh, yippee skippy) although it's my own fault as Mr. Boss offered to work for me but I can't face having a one-day paycheck next week and DD's going to spend the day with a certain someone she's anxious to meet for the very first time.  Tomorrow, however, the fabric, craft, and Goodwill stores in town need to be on guard because we are planning a shop hop.  Mwa-ha-ha-ha.

You have to see the cool quilt blocks DD is embroidering.  It's called redwork because you embroider only with red on white or black fabric.  She's chosen white-on-white and her designs are Sunbonnet Sue but a Sunbonnet Sue like you've never seen before.  This one's Pirate Sunbonnet Sue.  I love them.  She's dynamite at doing outline stitch.  I wish my Grandma Angermeier and Great-grandma Stephan could see her work.

March 12--Seymour Joseph Guy, The Contest for the Bouquet: The Family of Robert Gordon in their New York Dining Room.  Will stood on the chair next to the terrarium trying to reach the bouquet.  Bert still had his schoolbooks in his right hand; in his left one he held the small bouquet he had picked out of Mrs. Hastings' flower beds.  Hattie had dropped her straw hat and was reaching for the flowers too.  Even baby Ella squirmed to get down from her mother's lap to join the fun.  Alice tried to remember how Robert had talked her into having four children and why she had fired the latest nurse governess.  Even with Bert and Hattie in school most of the day it took a lot of mothering to get through until Robert came home for the evening and bedtime brought peace.

Okay, now I've chatted with DD and fooled around enough so that I need to make tracks if I'm going to work in more than my sweats, a stained hoodie, and yesterday's underpants.  Toodles.
--Barbara