Just One More Joe Story

A few years ago, Joe got into his car and promptly dropped his keys.  He looked everywhere, couldn't find them, and called me at the shop, demanding I come home immediately to give him my key to his car.  Grumpily, I did so and offered to look in his car for his keys but he insisted if he couldn't find them, no one could.  When I came home from the shop later that day,  I found he had continued his search and had decided they must have somehow slipped into the seat itself and he had cut the side of the seat open with a knife.  Of course, the keys weren't there.  I again offered to look for the keys and was refused.  A few days later, Laura was over and exasperated with her Dad, went out to the car without his permission and found his keys.  They had simply fallen in the passenger side well and were hiding under the passenger seat.  Although he was glad to have his keys back, he was a bit disgruntled that Laura could find them and has never admitted that if he had let me look in the first place, there would be no slash in the seat of his car which he still has in part because of this story.  This car was the one and only car he ever leased.  Since he abused the mileage and the interior of the car, he had to buy it.  So he still is driving a 1998 Chevy. 

This car does not like him and he continues to abuse it.  He has duct tape on various parts of the interior just to hold it together and to keep the above mentioned seat from ripping his jeans as the springs are coming through.  You might wonder why he doesn't buy a new car.  Long story short, we have another vehicle which I drive and keep in good shape, and it seems senseless to buy another one until this one dies.  It refuses to die but it continues to annoy Joe.

Last night when he couldn't find his cell phone, he admitted that it had been in his coat pocket and probably fallen out somewhere.  This coat is notorious for losing things but he continues to put things in the pockets.  Of course, it's in the car; the phone fell in between the seat and the seat belt mechanism on the right hand side of the driver's seat.  Having wedged itself comfortably there, it refused to be pryed out.  Joe tried, I tried; our hands are too large.  I tried a screwdriver, pliers, tongs, duct tape, with no success.  Probably he will have to ask either Laura or Quinn, our 8 year old granddaughter, to please reach in and pull it out.  These things happen to no one but Joe.

Red Work Raffle Quilt!

The Heart of Ohio Quilters Guild Raffle Quilt 2013

Winter Jubilation

 

After months of work, the individually hand embroidered red work blocks have been carefully put together in a gorgeous setting and will soon be hand quilted by Ohio Amish quilters.  I can't wait to see the completed quilt.  Raffle tickets will be available from guild members and the winning ticket will be drawn at the Heart of Ohio Quilters Guild Quilt Show, at Bryn Du in Granville, Ohio, in October.

Disappearing 9 Patch!

My fascination with the disappearing nine patch continues.  This was made for a friendly challenge among the BFG's (also known as the Bodacious Fabric Goddesses).  I was given some lovely Batik fabrics, a request for an off center star, and some size limits which I forget exactly but which I'm sure I met. 

I added a few batiks from my stash and began making nine patches using Eleanor Burns' method which gives you two nine patches from one procedure.   Then I cut all the nine patches on the diagonal once.  I played around with that and didn't see what I wanted, so I cut all the diagonal pieces again.  Basically, each of the nine patches was cut twice on the diagonal.  I laid them out to get my star and surrounding blocks.  The side and bottom border of the blue grounded the piece I thought.  It's finished with a simple black border and binding of one of the blues.

It was a fun project even if I did procrastinate and had to finish the top, quilting, binding in one marathon day, which, of course, was the day before we met at Bon Vie Bistro in Easton to exchange.