One for the Record Book

For the first time ever, the entire state of Texas was under a winter storm warning Sunday night.  In addition, we had a wind chill warning, another first time event for our immediate area.  Depending on which report you choose to believe, it was either 5, 8 or 9 degrees when we woke up Monday.  Tuesday wasn’t any better. 

So far, we have been among the fortunate few who have mostly had power.  Close neighbors have had almost none since Sunday night.  Today it is in the 30s, so some melting should happen, but more winter precipitation is expected early tomorrow.   

Our community is pretty much shut down and the state’s power grid has been seriously threatened.  I confess, we Texans don’t know how to deal with this, but experience is a great teacher. 

When I opened the Washington Post web site this morning, I saw these headlines.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blames wind turbines, Green New Deal policies for outages. Critics call that ‘a lie.' -- By Katie Shepherd

Volunteers race to save thousands of cold-stunned turtles washing up in Texas -- By Teo Armus

Texas mayor tells residents to fend for themselves during power outage: ‘Only the strong will survive’ – (NOT our mayor! I understand this person has since resigned.)

The Texas grid got crushed because its operators didn’t see the need to prepare for cold weather -- (The back story is our wind turbines froze during the ice storm and solar panels were blanketed by snow rendering them ineffective.)

And in quilting news…

Unit 5 of Esther’s Bloomers is complete. Unit 6 has a lot of applique including 180 leaves. It also requires more than 230 1 ½ inch squares. So, there is a lot of work left to keep me busy while we thaw.

Live -- My 2021 Word

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.  Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. -- Thomas A. Edison

 

 

 

A Quilt for the Season

I worked on the hanging sleeve for this wall quilt while watching Super Bowl commercials last night.  I wish I could take credit for the quilt, but it was made by a friend and I acquired it at our Guild’s Silent Auction last February.  I guess I’m ready for Valentine’s Day now.

 

And in other news….. Mr. Innocent….

 

Appears to have had some fun in the guest bedroom.

 

Live -- My 2021 Word

When life as you know it is torn into a million pieces, it makes perfect sense to tear up perfectly good fabric into a million pieces and sew it back together again. -- Mary Fons

 

 

Not Sure Where the Week Went

I’m rather disappointed by how much time I didn’t spend in my sewing room last week.  It got off to a good start with being able to quickly die cut more than 500 1 ½ and 2 ½ inch squares for Unit 5 of Esther’s Bloomers.  Then the week seemed to dissolve into interruptions and distractions.  I don’t understand how that can happen when we’re pretty much homebound due to the pandemic. 

 

Here is the stitching I managed to complete.  There are several more steps in this unit including flying geese.  At least this unit does not have applique.

I also managed to complete five anti-ouch pouches for the January drop off and have five more in the works.

Live -- My 2021 Word

God invented love, and it is therefore perfect, and dogs are better at celebrating this perfection than we are. When in doubt as to how we should feel, we could do far worse than trying to live life like the dogs. -- W. Bruce Cameron