Google is everywhere

 

So far, the day is going great, except that I put SKIM milk on my oatmeal instead of almond milk. I just grabbed the first carton in the fridge and didn't pay attention. No big deal, you say? OH YES -- it is a big deal. The almond milk tastes so much better. I know M is probably running around saying, "I told you so!". She was the one who suggested I drink almond milk, and I balked big time. Now - well, I will use other milk, but almond milk makes such a difference. 

To support our local dairy farmers, I do drink a small glass of chocolate milk every day! That's a refreshing reward from walking in the heat!

Speaking of walking, every morning, I check my progress on my virtual challenges. And I use the little yellow Google guy to check out the view around me. Well, let's just say that nothing is private any longer. Look at this obscure little road that is mapped by Google. 

An image from Google Maps

That looks like a dirt path to me! I'm shocked at how much of the earth is mapped. It appears that nothing is NOT mapped. WAIT  - I checked back the rural area where I grew up. Even the small ghost village near our farm is on the map. HOWEVER, none of the grid roads are mapped. So can you tell me why this obscure road in New Hampshire is mapped, but the grid road system is not? It's weird. 

I'm reading (listening) to a book about cyberspace, and well, the bad guy who is running a porn website has access to a LOT of information. I'm not sure if someone could have access to all that information, but I suppose it's possible. Can you really get a phone contact list just from talking to someone on the phone? Anyway - it's a pretty scary world, and if you want to protect your children, you'll have a very informative conversation with them. 

I want to know how a perfect stranger can put the fear of God into children - "don't tell anyone," yet a parent can't have the same impact?

OK -- I confess that I had another look at that paper pieced quilt block. Why were those angles so weird? After studying it one more time, I realized that it didn't really matter and has to do with the angles on the outer sections of the block. So I forged ahead and worked on the paper piecing. 

You have to love paper piecing as you start the assemble process; those pieces are a mess. 

Working on the paper pieced block

Once I got the colors sorted out, it was easy enough to put together. OK -- so that looks much better, and I'm happy with my coloring. Keep in mind that the original was 18", and I reduced it to 9" finished. 

My paper pieced block

Then I laid it on the floor with the other blocks and realized that the background was supposed to be WHITE!!!!  I did have white on the papers but changed it yesterday morning. I think this one is destined to give me grief. For the moment - it's done. I may redo it, but I'll see how it goes. I did mean to have a round of black, then red, then grey on the small diamond, and I mixed up the grey and the red. It doesn't matter - it's done, and that's all that counts. 

But you see, the angle in the outer parts of the block means that the inner angles won't work. But it doesn't really show in the picture. 

My barn blocks to date

I'm not making any of the applique blocks. The one applique block I did make is going to be the label. 

I got another customer quilt done. It's a T-shirt quilt, and it required a wee bit more babysitting than usual. 

Customer quilt - DONE

One of the shirts had some crystals on which I was certain the machine would skip over if the crystals ended up being in the path. Everything in that section worked fine, but I monitored it just in case. 

Crystals on a quilt

Some areas were a bit of a challenge, like the pink neckline on this T-shirt. That neckline is super thick and wasn't stitched in place, so it pulled a wee bit. 

A neckline on a T-shirt quilt

And for the first part, the top thread wasn't happy. I had to fiddle with the needle to make it happy, and then it was good to go. 

This is the back of the quilt. Yes -- in some areas, there was a LOT of thickness. But once I got the needle and the tension worked out, the machine was happy. 

The back of the quilt

What are those little bits on the back? They are "fabric postcards!".  You can find them at Zebra Patterns. 

A fabric postcard

I will confess that I did NOT get any writing done. That's for today!! I really wanted to get that paper pieced block done, and I had to stick close to the long arm while that T-shirt quilt was on. The next quilt is loaded and ready to go AFTER I get my writing done for today. 

I did get a smidgen of work done on the double wedding ring quilt. Two of the four blocks in this photo are NOT completely stitched together, but this is a general idea of what the quilt will look like. I was worried about the three different colors she was using for the background. It's busy, but it'll be fine. 

One large block for the double wedding ring

I'm not sure how many of these blocks I need to make. I've got to start working it out, which I'll do next week. Those blocks are on point, which complicates the process. But I really need to be sewing four blocks every day to make one big block like you see above. It has to be done! I need to get this quilt off my plate. Another magazine quilt is now on the schedule; actually, two and both need to be done by the end of August, which is not that far away. 

And as quick as that - I've run out of time this morning. Good grief - where does the time go???

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!