quilt do and re-do, ants, fingers crossed for rain

Jade has been here the past several days to work on refurbishing her quilt. 

You might remember that a while back we freed the intact quilt top from the torn backing and batting. She found a cotton tablecloth at a resale shop that had the same colors as her quilt top that she thought was big enough for the backing. So on Friday we started to put it all back together only the tablecloth was not big enough so we used the part of the old backing to cut two 6” panels adding one to each side and a narrow strip across the bottom. Very patchwork which I guess is apropos. Yesterday we taped the backing to the floor, spread out the batting and cut it to size, spread the quilt top on top of that and pinned it all together. Then I started sewing the three pieces together around the edges, got two sides done before we quit for the day. 

Sunday I finished sewing the three layers together and then the bias tape binding on three sides. When I laid it out to pin the tape on the last side it became apparent that our calculations on the size needed for the back and the batting was short by about 1 1/2” on the width and about 3” on the length. How the fuck did I miscalculate so badly? We started out by taping the top to the floor and measuring it. So the top is bigger than the bottom which is going to make quilting it a pain in the ass. My anal and perfectionist self wants to take it apart and start all over. When first made we didn't quilt it, I just sewed knots on a 5” square grid which worked fine until a boy and his dog moved into Jade's room at home after she left for collage (my daughter had a habit of taking in stray kids) and didn't take her quilt with her. The boy and the dog loved her quilt though, loved it to pieces so this time it really needs to be quilted.

Edit: When Jade arrived Monday I told her that since the top was 2+” longer than the bottom we should probably take it apart and add on to the back because otherwise when it was quilted it would probably pleat the top. She told me she dreamed last night that I was going to want to take it apart. I guess she knows me. So of course we did. Not perfect but better. Today I'll sew the bias tape binding on the edges and we'll call it done. Much easier to make a quilt than to take one apart that has been used and washed and apparently shrunk a bit from use and try to remake it.

Still having ants in the house. Saturday they were trying to come in under the threshold of the door to the garage so I laid a line of cinnamon along there. It's a good thing I bought the big jar at Costco. And Sunday they were on the stove and a small trail heading under the refrigerator. Killed those with the orange oil spray, the house smells like oranges and cinnamon. There was an article in the Saturday Chronicle about ants invading people's homes so I'm not the only one being plagued by them. Seems to be a common problem from the heat and drought. Their recommendation on dealing with the ants? Seal up the places where they're getting in. Gee, that never occurred to me. Monday and so far today we are ant free.

Now that I'm having to water my pecan trees in the hope that it will stop the trees from dropping the green pecans I'm sacrificing some of the stuff that I can't seem to water enough anyway. I've cut back all the white butterfly ginger, the coral butterfly ginger whose growing tips have turned brown and dry since they won't grow anymore or bloom (the rest will probably go soon), pulled out the zinnias, cut back the toad lily growth as it was all dying anyway. Haven't cut back the yellow butterfly ginger yet though I imagine I will in the coming days as they are starting to suffer and only a couple look like they are putting out bloom buds and they should have started blooming last June anyway. The leaves on the pink plumeria planted in the ground that gets the most sun are getting sunburned and turning yellow even though I water it every day. AccuWeather is still predicting rain for today and it is overcast from the tropical storm Harrold which is right now pounding Corpus Christi and Rockport, two or three hours down the coast from us. Whoa! It's raining, a quick little downburst of hard rain lasted less than 10 minutes but hopefully just the first of many today.

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Another MAGAt has responded to the republican hate machine against LGBTQI+ and calls for violence and murdered a woman in California, a shop owner and mother of 9 kids, because he didn't like her pride flag out front, was carrying a gun, and wasn't content with just venting his spleen vocally. The armed suspect fired on police and was killed when they attempted to apprehend him.

And former Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis, also indicted in Georgia, is shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn that Trump won't be paying her legal bills. I find that kind of hilarious. I mean, come on, Trump isn't even paying his own legal bills. That money is coming from the chumps who donate to his campaign.