No I am not talking about a cartoon. We had lightening strike near our house, real near, on Friday evening and it ruined a few things and other things are not working right.
The power to the house went off then on twice, then on for good when the lightening hit. We don't think it was a direct hit as we can't see any burned spots but it was mighty close. I saw a large flash of light between the house and driveway when I was standing at the kitchen window that evening.
The strike knocked out our Internet service and has made our desk top computer do some odd things since then. The Internet service guy came out yesterday and had to end up replacing everything but the cable from the roof top to the computer. He had to test all the things individually so he was here a couple of hours.
The Direct TV (satellite TV company) repairmen came out yesterday afternoon too as we had not been able to get any TV since Friday. They too had to test all the cables etc before determining that both our boxes were no good and had to replace them.
After the electricity came back on that evening I ran to my sewing machine and turned it on and it seems to be OK. I sewed on it the last few days to make sure. It was turned off at the time but so were the TVs. From now on it will be unplugged when I am not sewing.
Lightening is a strange thing as it made the garage door opener not work, one phone, and turned a lamp on in the basement. Everything else seems to be working so far anyway. The Internet repair guy said to watch as sometimes it takes a week or more for some of the damage to show up - great! :-(
Will see about the computer tomorrow as I am taking it in to be looked at. The Internet guy thinks there is probably damage to it too as we can't get sound, can't print as well and the Ethernet connection to it doesn't work. Thank goodness we have the lap top computer now. I sure was lost this weekend with out TV and Internet. Good for me to have to do something else but sure depend on getting emails and being entertained by the TV, especially in the evenings.
We asked about stronger serge protectors as the Direct TV units, Internet, and computer were plugged into them. The power company said with lightening strikes it is hard to find any serge protectors strong enough as there is such a big burst of power rushing through and it is strange that it just goes certain places and not all over the house at times.
Working on sewing some of my scrap 3" squares into half square triangles the last few days. Not getting too far but it is nice to sit down at the machine. Am wondering if I should take my machine in to have it checked out too? It needs it's annual check up anyway so will probably call soon to have it done.
Lynn
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Nebraska State Fair 2009
Quilts, quilts and more quilts at the fair. There were 456 quilts entered this year at the Nebraska State Fair open class. There were probably at least 100 in the 4-H dept. and an around 18 in the best of County category.
My friends and I arrived bright and early last Wed. morning to white glove the open class quilts and had time to spare so we could look at the quilts a little while before the public arrived. Wow what a display!
The top quilt was made by Sandi McMillan. Sandi is known for her beautiful machine quilting and is a prolific quilter finishing and entering several winning quilts this year alone. She has deservedly won top quilt honors for several years with her wonderful quilts and this year is no exception.
The second place quilt was made by Sharon Armstrong and I believe it was in the professionally quilted category. It is a beautiful quilt.
The quilt below won the hand quilted category. It was made by Kim O'Grady. Her applique was beautiful and her stitches were so small.
This last photo is of my quilt at the state fair. It was in a glass fronted case so the photo is not very good. It won the special occasion quilt category. I was very pleased to win the first place award and it was fun to have a quilt at the last fair in Lincoln. I plan to enter quilts in Grand Island and hope the rest of the exhibitors will do the same.
The time went quickly while we white gloved as it is always fun to visit with people as they view the quilts. We are looking forward to doing the same thing next year in Grand Island.
Lynn
My friends and I arrived bright and early last Wed. morning to white glove the open class quilts and had time to spare so we could look at the quilts a little while before the public arrived. Wow what a display!
The top quilt was made by Sandi McMillan. Sandi is known for her beautiful machine quilting and is a prolific quilter finishing and entering several winning quilts this year alone. She has deservedly won top quilt honors for several years with her wonderful quilts and this year is no exception.
The second place quilt was made by Sharon Armstrong and I believe it was in the professionally quilted category. It is a beautiful quilt.
The quilt below won the hand quilted category. It was made by Kim O'Grady. Her applique was beautiful and her stitches were so small.
This last photo is of my quilt at the state fair. It was in a glass fronted case so the photo is not very good. It won the special occasion quilt category. I was very pleased to win the first place award and it was fun to have a quilt at the last fair in Lincoln. I plan to enter quilts in Grand Island and hope the rest of the exhibitors will do the same.
The time went quickly while we white gloved as it is always fun to visit with people as they view the quilts. We are looking forward to doing the same thing next year in Grand Island.Lynn
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
State Fair Quilts
Today is going to be a fun day. Five of my friends and I will travel to Lincoln to help in the quilt department of the Nebraska State Fair. We have done this for many, many years and look forward to getting a chance to help out plus the added bonus of spending time with the many wonderful quilts on display.
There are more quilts on display at the State Fair this year than for many years. This year there are 456 quilts entered from 177 quilters. I entered one quilt and have learned it got a first place ribbon. Will get a photo of it and others. Will post some of the winning or quits that catch my eye.
This is going to be a nostalgic fair for me and a lot of people. The fair is being moved to Grand Island next year. Won't get into a discussion about all the politics of the move but it is the last year. The fair has been in this location since it started. My mother showed at this fairgrounds, I showed, our daughters showed and our granddaughter has an exhibit on display this year too.
Grand Island is working hard to get everything ready for next year and I am sure it will be nice but not the same. We plan to attend support the new venue but will miss the old one which always brings back great memories of years past.
John and I will be going back on Sunday, like always and I plan to take lots of photos of buildings, streets, activities, etc. These photos will preserve those memories or at least trigger memories. I want to make a CD of those photos for my mother so she can stroll down her own memories.
She really would like to go this year but just is not able to anymore. My brothers and sisters and I did get mom to the State Fair in 2005 and we all had a good time and she enjoyed seeing everything again but it really wore her out.
Until Later,
Lynn
There are more quilts on display at the State Fair this year than for many years. This year there are 456 quilts entered from 177 quilters. I entered one quilt and have learned it got a first place ribbon. Will get a photo of it and others. Will post some of the winning or quits that catch my eye.
This is going to be a nostalgic fair for me and a lot of people. The fair is being moved to Grand Island next year. Won't get into a discussion about all the politics of the move but it is the last year. The fair has been in this location since it started. My mother showed at this fairgrounds, I showed, our daughters showed and our granddaughter has an exhibit on display this year too.
Grand Island is working hard to get everything ready for next year and I am sure it will be nice but not the same. We plan to attend support the new venue but will miss the old one which always brings back great memories of years past.
John and I will be going back on Sunday, like always and I plan to take lots of photos of buildings, streets, activities, etc. These photos will preserve those memories or at least trigger memories. I want to make a CD of those photos for my mother so she can stroll down her own memories.
She really would like to go this year but just is not able to anymore. My brothers and sisters and I did get mom to the State Fair in 2005 and we all had a good time and she enjoyed seeing everything again but it really wore her out.
Until Later,
Lynn
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Right - Left - Right
Right, left, right ......No I am not marching, I am cutting fabric with my rotary cutters.
I have had the original Olfa cutter for years but recently purchased one of the ergonomic cutters when I found them on sale. It works wonderfully but I do have a problem with it.
The problem starts because I cut with both my right and left hands even though I am left handed. The original one worked easily with either hand because I could flip it over to use with the opposite hand but I have to make a choice with the new one. I can put the blade on one side to cut left handed or the other side for right handed cutting.
I decided to make the new one a left handed cutter. What I am doing is laying my fabric out, trimming the right hand side to straighten it with the old cutter, then I position the ruler for the size of cut I want to make and grab the new cutter to slice off the pieces. So far it is working even though it might seem a little strange. I lay one cutter on each side of my mat so it is handy to grab with the corresponding hand. Could just use the old one but I like the way the new one handles and don't want to flip my mat around. I have one of the rotating mats but am cutting some larger pieces of fabric and they don't fold that small.
Not a lot to blog about lately when all I am doing is cutting up scraps. I could show my shrinking fabric box and my growing piles of squares and strips but in actuality you can't see much difference. I am not spending all my time cutting so the box is not getting empty too fast nor the piles of cut shapes getting bigger very quickly either.
I do the newsletter for our quilt guild each month so spent a lot of time today getting it done as much as I can until I get the rest of the information. It takes more time than one would think to get the information and put it in newsletter form. I like to get it out the first of the month so it gives members time to gather supplies if needed for the meeting, etc.
Happy Quilting,
Lynn
I have had the original Olfa cutter for years but recently purchased one of the ergonomic cutters when I found them on sale. It works wonderfully but I do have a problem with it.
The problem starts because I cut with both my right and left hands even though I am left handed. The original one worked easily with either hand because I could flip it over to use with the opposite hand but I have to make a choice with the new one. I can put the blade on one side to cut left handed or the other side for right handed cutting.I decided to make the new one a left handed cutter. What I am doing is laying my fabric out, trimming the right hand side to straighten it with the old cutter, then I position the ruler for the size of cut I want to make and grab the new cutter to slice off the pieces. So far it is working even though it might seem a little strange. I lay one cutter on each side of my mat so it is handy to grab with the corresponding hand. Could just use the old one but I like the way the new one handles and don't want to flip my mat around. I have one of the rotating mats but am cutting some larger pieces of fabric and they don't fold that small.
Not a lot to blog about lately when all I am doing is cutting up scraps. I could show my shrinking fabric box and my growing piles of squares and strips but in actuality you can't see much difference. I am not spending all my time cutting so the box is not getting empty too fast nor the piles of cut shapes getting bigger very quickly either.
I do the newsletter for our quilt guild each month so spent a lot of time today getting it done as much as I can until I get the rest of the information. It takes more time than one would think to get the information and put it in newsletter form. I like to get it out the first of the month so it gives members time to gather supplies if needed for the meeting, etc.
Happy Quilting,
Lynn
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