Friday, January 8, 2021

The first week of 2021!

 



Good morning, or afternoon, to everyone!!!  I have been working on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, "Grassy Creek.".  The final pattern has been revealed, and you can still find all the steps for free, here, until February 12th.


Quiltville's Quips & Snips!!: Grassy Creek Mystery - the Big Reveal! (Part Seven)


Now this is the reveal post, keep in mind, so if you want to do it as a mystery, go to quiltville and start from the beginning!  

I am sewing connector corners on the above blocks...that is just plain fun, with some fun music playing and toe tapping going on!
Here are my little pansies...I love them.  They thrive in our cooler weather...which did you know they are saying we will have snow on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!????????  Whoop!  


My iris are confused.  They are blooming again, in December.  I love them for their plucky spirit in the winter!!!  These belonged to my mother in law, and I have divided and spread them to all points of the backyard.  I rescued them, because her little garden was paved over just a few days after I dug up the original iris, about 15 years ago.



OK YOU LOG CABIN LUNATICS!!!!!!!  READY???  We made our centers last week, so this is a cutting week.  I used 1 1/2 inch wide strips, light and dark.  Cut a whole bunch.  How many?  Well I don't know how many blocks you are making, but I can always use them, so I cut a lot of my strings into this size.   I use my strips from my scrap user system, too.   I find I can go either with bright clear colors, or browner colors...but if I mix them, it just looks like mud.  Hahaha!!!  Cut a lot of red 1.5 inch squares, too.    


Maybe you want to treat yourself and change your rotary cutter blade...I did, and wow, I love how much fun it is to cut with a new blade!!

*******************Health*****************************************************

This is my challenge to you this week.  Before you get up...stay in bed a moment.  Contract your abs, hard, hold for a count of three, then release.  Repeat x 20 times.  Many of us ladies have a condition called diastasis recti, which is a condition that is common after childbirth, where the muscles of the abdomen separate.  It makes it really hard to support those internal structures, and makes us look a bit potbellied!  This exercise helps these muscles get back in place!    It doesn't matter if it has been years since your kids were born...do this.  It helps, but you need to be consistent and do it each morning.  It feels really good to get those muscles energized!


Then?  Go and drink a glass of water first thing!  This helps lubricate joints, and also your brain, and helps us not have bad clotting, etc.  Now if you have congestive heart failure, or kidney failure,  you are going to do exactly what your doc says about fluid restrictions, but for most of us, we don't get enough water, and this is a healthy good habit!!!  


So what healthy habits are you doing?  Please share!  It helps us all!

*************************Nurse's notes**********************


I received my second vaccine! It really kicked my toot for the first day, but now I am fine, no tiredness, no fever, no body aches.  I pray it gives me much needed immunity and a small step to a return to normality...or maybe we will have a new normal?


At one point, we had 90 patients in the ER.  90!!  40 were holding for needed beds upstairs in the hospital  We,  in the hospital, were full.  Wild!  The charge nurse of the ER called me, and begged me for beds, and said he was marching up to administration and making them come down and take a look in his ER.  wow!!!  I have never heard him so upset!!!  People were furious with the waits...but what could we do?  The docs were running frantically around trying to see everyone!  


Even our women's service floor is completely overwhelmed with covid patients today...so no hysterectomy patients or others are getting their surgeries. In fact, all elective surgeries are cancelled, period.  FULL STOP...it is all covid patients.  


************************Decluttering challenge!!!!!!!!!!***********************


Food banks are very low right now. So can everyone maybe take a look at your pantry?  Do you have good, non-expired food that you may not eat?  This is my challenge to you, for this week!  Clean your pantry and take what you do not need to your local food bank.  I did, and it was crazy how many people were there to get food.  They always take cash, too...


Your pantry will look so good for 2021!!!


So my theory in starting a weekly de-clutter thing is....I think most people need to do this in our homes, and it will be fun to share our efforts and just think of what we can do if we focus on an area every week!!!


**************************The 1930's********************************


I have been doing a lot of reading about the 1930's, for myself, to learn more than my skimming knowledge obtained at school.  I love history, but in my school, this era was not studied in depth, like the civil war era, or the revolutionary war.  In my university studies, I was all about chemistry, mathematics, biology and nursing.  This era profoundly effected my family, so I want to know more. So!  Here I go!  


It seems that I cannot learn more about the 1930's without first knowing more about the 1920's.  What a wild ride!  After World War 1, there was a general sense of well-being...the men returned from the war, then the women got the right to vote!! Many people moved from an the country (agrarian based) to the cities, to work in factories.  There was a general sense of well-being...and lots of spending!  I figured out that that is why so many upright pianos still exist from the era...the 1920's!!  One of them sits in my living room...100 years old.  Maybe you have one of these!  Lots of cars were also purchased...big ticket items, with newly earned money.  I also found that many people bought things on credit. I found a phrase, "The run up" to the stock market crash...and it seems like it was a wild ride...the "roaring twenties."  The flapper era!!!  


The colors of quilts lightened...with textile mills churning out brighter fabrics, the colors changed from browns and darks, to more happy, lighter colors, and I see this in the antique quilts I have admired.   Although, purchased blankets were also much in use, instead of quilts, too!!  Lots of penny squares were embroidered, although this seems to be a little earlier in history...but lots were made in the 1920's, too.  Perhaps you, as a child, embroidered some of these...I know my mother sure had me do that, to learn to embroider. I found redwork quilts, attributed to the 1920's. 



It seems that these may have been pre-printed squares?  Or heat transferred to fabric...we did that when I was a kiddo.  Or hand traced!  Are these made in the 1920's?  Hard to tell, but they are attributed to that era.  













I could be wrong about this, and please let me know what you know, but it seems that quilting was huge in the last 1800's, then waned a bit, then when the 1930's hit, it had a renaissance. There is a totally different look to the quilts in the 1930's, compared to the 1880's! At least this is what I am reading and seeing.


Stay tuned for more on my exploration of the Great Depression era!!!!!!!


******************************************************************


Julie



Roaring Through the 20s : Paper Pieced Quilts from the Flapper Era - Walmart.com - Walmart.coms



20 comments:

Julierose said...

O HOW DID YOU FIGURE THE SIZES OF THE LOGS WITH THE ADDED RED SQUARES SIDES? IS THERE A MATHEMATICAL WAY TO DO THIS? JUST ASKIN' ;)))) [as I am not good with math...(!!)]
--I am still cutting centers here, thinking I'll make quite a few...slow but steady...

I am trying to drink more water --every time I pass through our kitchen I grab a glass.
the abs idea is super--I will give that a try...thanks...
hugs Julierose

Susan said...

So glad you got your second shot! Yay! Hopefully, it will soon be out in the community, and cases will slow down, and your hospital can get back to it's normal business! I drink tons of water. It's probably one of the few healthy things I do. I always have a bottle of water next to me, in the car, the bedroom, the living room, the quilt room - bottles everywhere. I just refill my son's empty soda bottles from the refrigerator door. =) Save plastic, save my health, all at once! =)

I think you are right about the waning of quilting at the start of the 1900s. Having to depend on homemade quilts instead of store-bought blankets was a sign of poverty. I personally would have ignored that, as I've ignored trends of the 20th century, but that's how many people felt at the time. The thirties patterns and fabrics are some of my favorites, though I love almost every era of fabric. I have several antique quilts I bought from that era, and I treasure them.

Loris said...

It was fun to see the mystery reveal this morning. And fun to read of you having a good time with yours :-) I'm so glad to hear of you being able to complete your vaccine process. We are making a headway in the county getting the healthcare workers and then the nursing home residents vaccinated. I'm enquiring about volunteering to help with the vaccinations.
As to health...this past year I started measuring the water I drank and making sure it was 2 quarts and the world almost stopped....when I cut down on diet Coke. HA! Not zero yet but way down. And my knees are healing so I've been able to walk more again. Praise God! Walking dogs is my favorite thing :-) Thanks for sharing the history. I'm interested!

Quilting Babcia said...

My health habits especially in this renewed covid surge are my daily regimen of extra vitamins D and C, zinc, and melatonin at night. Zicam at the first sign that my throat might be getting scratchy. No two quarts of plain water but some, plus green tea. I'm glad to hear you've been able to get your second shot. There are very few shots to be had in our rural county, it will likely be at least six months before it becomes available to the general public even elderly in our area.

Sherrill said...

You're so funny with the iris. I LOVE purple iris and when a house was leveled not too far from me several years ago, I hollered at my DH and said "we need to go get the iris!!". The ground was scraped flat but we found a couple of leaves and dug em up. I'm so mad I left them and my mom's daylilies at my old house when I moved here. :-(( I saved Bonnie's clues but when I saw the reveal, I was like 'nah, it ain't happenin'. When I got my vaccine, I only had just a wee bit of soreness at the site. Hopefully it'll be the same with the 2nd!! That hospital situation is SCARY! Sure hope this is at least somewhat controlled soon! I'll have to try and get in the habit of the ab exercising--I had a c-section which makes it worse. ugh

Jane Dallmeyer said...

Thanks Julie for your updates. What town or state do you live in??

Kristy said...

Julie- Thanks so much for all of the information today! I did my first set of ab exercises. Yay! I will add these to my routine. I am still working on my strings for clue 6 with the reds to still cut and the triangles to cut. I keep adding to my grey! I love the string piecing. Glad to hear you have gotten both shots. Hope you can stay safe. Thanks for all of your encouragement! K- lkw2x6-apq@yahoo.com

Chookyblue...... said...

just did my ab exercises.....
glad you have had your second jab........sure hope it protects you. how long until you get tested after this second needle to check coverage??
please still stay safe and take care

Lori said...

What a great post to read this morning!
Still no explosion of Covid in Oregon, thank goodness.
Sorry you are still struggling though it at the hospital!!

QuiltGranma said...

Beginning in June I began taking 2 B3 softgel capsules daily. and they help increase our immunity to anything out there. In our small town that I grew up in we had 2 5-and-dime stores that had preprinted embroidery items to sell in their store. This was in the 1950-1960's.

Janet O. said...

Love seeing your flowers blooming. Not warm enough for that here, but I did bring a hanging pot (that an elderly neighbor, and dear friend, gave me last Spring) into my solarium. It will bloom all winter there. It has special meaning because she passed away in September.
I've heard that the second dose has stronger side effects, but still worth it!
My health measures are taking B complex, kelp (low iodine around here and a family history of Thyroid issues), algeacal/strontium boost, a prebiotic, and trying to get in my steps each day, along with a good night's sleep--oh, and plenty of water to drink.
I am praying that this Covid craziness can be brought under control. People who don't think it is a big deal need to spend a day at your hospital!!

susan q said...

New to your blog. Keep the health tips coming. Unaware of the diastasis recti condition. Is the exercise similar to kegels only lying down? I had an elective hysterectomy in 9/21 in a women's birthing center in South Central PA with very excellent results. Will have bladder PT next month and am looking forward to preventive care. Covid is here but under control. I walk daily with a mask. I agree if anyone thinks this is a hoax needs to visit(which fortunately they cannot do) an ER or speak to someone who has tested positive. Why take a chance of getting the virus when one does not know how it will effect you. Also enjoy your quilting and other tips. Waiting patiently for the vaccine here probably in May. Thanks again.

Jennie in GA said...

Girl, you are off on 2021 with a huge bang!! Most of all I am glad you are vaccinated!!! We old folks are hoping to get ours soon.

Shah Sazib said...

Happy new year, I love your quilt very much! I found another fabric store which is Broadway Fabrics.

AnnieO said...

Julie, you are the sweetest, helping us older ladies stay healthy. I hope the COVID situation improves at the hospital, how scary and awful. It is pretty bad here in California too. I got my first shot with no bad reaction but have heard the second one is harder--I'll get that one tomorrow. Our medical group is starting to reopen more offices late this month and early next month. I really don't want to have to wear a mask and shield all day long, but so be it!

Randy D. said...

Your log cabin blocks are adorable.... what sew along is that? how could I have missed it?? VBG
The story about the situation in your hospital is so frightening. It is hard to imagine!
So glad you got your vaccines! I heard that the second dose is tough but I'm so Glad you are now protected.

Stay safe!
xxxx

Quilter Kathy said...

I'm going to try that morning exercise routine!
Glad you got the vaccine! My sister had her first dose and was really tired but didn't miss a day of work. Hospital staff are just starting to get their shots here.

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