if you use it a lot - it wears out

I think the saying goes "If you don't use it you lose it".  I think that  applies to body parts but it definitely doesn't apply to my stove.

I chose this range with double ovens back in about 2006 when we had the kitchen remodeled. Since then, I've  used the smaller upper oven 99.9% of the time.  It would heat quickly  and was easy to see into and easy to put in pans and take them out.

A few months ago, I noticed a difference in things I baked in there and discovered the bottom element wasn't heating.  I ordered a new element and replaced it but still, it didn't work.

Meanwhile I started getting in the habit of using the bottom larger oven which was working fine. But look...it opens way down at floor level.

Just before Thanksgiving, I decided to have an appliance repair company take a look at it...even though it seems like appliances aren't meant to be repaired.

Sure enough, the repairman found that it was a "board" that needed replaced - but it was no longer available.  Even if it was, I was told they usually cost around $300.  I'm not sure if I would have chosen to have it fixed for that price or not.

Anyway it still works for broiling or keeping things warm.  So I will hang on to this stove for now.

The large oven worked fine for Thanksgiving. I just had to get down on my knees to baste the turkey!

Just kidding...I always use that oven for the turkey anyway.

I wanted to mention something new we tried this year...Cranberry Orange Relish from Trader Joe's.

It's fresh and sweet and tangy.  I bought one and we ate it before Thanksgiving so I went back and got two more!

It's not perfectly smooth like the canned kind but it's not quite as chunky as the recipe I normally make with fresh cranberries.  But it's much better than both of those.

Ingredients are simply cranberries, sugar, and oranges.

They also have it without the oranges but I can't vouch for that one.  The clerk at the store said they normally run out of both before Thanksgiving.  I am going to mark my 2020 calendar to buy it in early November.

the quilt has been delivered

Once I finish a quilt I am ready to  clean up the sewing room, put away the scraps, clean and oil my machine, and get started on a new project.  

Here is the recipient of my last quilt, my sister's husband, Don.   They are a great couple and are always finding fun things to do from cruising to motorcycles to camping to building and piloting their own plane.

I have made quilts for all my immediate family members over the years and I wanted to include one for Don as well.

I really had to put my thinking cap on to figure out what design to use for his quilt.  I knew I didn't want to make a "grandmaw" looking quilt, but something more modern instead.

I searched Pinterest for "man quilts" and I found this pattern called "Gentleman's Agreement".

I ordered the pattern but wanted brighter fabrics (Don likes things colorful).

I ordered these fabrics...ombre blue and yellow and the bubbly looking one for the background.

When the fabric arrived, I realized it wouldn't work for the pattern.  It requires the shading of the fabric to graduate from dark to light to dark again...and these only went from dark to light.

I couldn't find any appropiate fabric in colors I wanted so I scrapped that idea.

But I did use a lot of the blue and yellow in the final quilt.

Next I saw this pattern below online and thought it would be a good quilt for Don.  He is also a helicopter pilot so I pictured the arrows pointing up, down, and sideways being like a simplified toggle stick in a helicopter...although I'm quite certain there's a lot more to flying a helicopter!

I ordered yards of yellow fabric for the background and planned on the arrows being bright primary colors...then I decided this quilt would look too childish, and I scrapped that idea.

But, I did use up nearly all that fabric for the back of the final quilt. (That strip in the photo is all that was leftover.)

I considered a quilt using this"Magic Squares" pattern, which I already had, but I doubted that the 3D effect would look as good if I used brighter colors.

I was starting to feel hopeless about finding the right thing...then, at the Paducah Quilt Show in April, I saw the sample quilt that the quilt I finally made was based on. 

I knew that was the one I wanted to make! The pattern was included in this book. The pattern name is "Color Junction".   I did figure out some shortcuts on piecing but stuck with the original size and colors.

Every quilt has a story.

finished the quilt

I finished up the "Y" quilt and took it outside one sunny afternoon for photos.

It's sort of an unusual size...96" long and 64" wide, but the person it's going to is tall so I wanted it to be plenty long.

It was a fun quilt to make. Different than the usual quilt piecing.

I would like to make this pattern again...next time maybe trying to make each "Y" a different color?

That woud be tricky and I would need somewhere to lay out the whole thing where the cat wouldn't bother it.  That will definitely not be my next quilt.

Speaking of the cat...she absolutely loves this quilt.  "Get off of there you little varmint!"

Lot's of work with the lint roller ahead.

Fortunately the recipient has spoken fondly of past pet cats so I'm pretty sure there are no allergies.

Anyway a bright yellow for the back with a strip of some of the leftover scraps.

 "No Puss, I can't have you underneath there either!"

   That's the name tag there in the corner.  It's sewn down with the binding but I still need to stitch that one side down by hand.

I wanted a photo of the quilt from a distance but the sun was too bright for hanging it up there.

One more...

Changing the subject but I'm having a hard time adjusting to the time change. Once it gets dark I can't seem to get involved in anything...even sewing.

Then, as I was coming out of Lowes the other day I happened to glance down and notice something didn't look right...

I don't know if anyone else noticed or not.  It was sort of a relief that I didn't know I had on mismatched shoes before I went in...not sure if I would have driven home to change or not.

It was morning but I'm still blaming the time change!