Filed Under: Things That Make Me Happy

It is difficult not to wonder whether that combination of elements which produces a machine for labor does not create also a soul of sorts, a dull resentful metallic will, which can rebel at times. –Pearl S. Buck

It got a delivery at work today: a brand spanking new Epson LQ-590 Dot Matrix Printer. Straight from 1989. It was completely awesome!

You see, the accounting manager and I share a printer. There has been more and more overlap of times when we both need the printer. She also works at a different location, so when I need it, I have to haul it back and forth. When she told me to order a new printer, I did a little happy dance, submitted the order at the speed of light and couldn't wait for it to arrive.

I knew that today was the day. I'd been watching for the delivery man all morning and into the afternoon, with no sign of him. I practically assaulted a FedEx guy walking through the complex. As the work day was just about over and I thought that perhaps the delivery truck had been knocked over by a gang of printer stealing hooligans, I noticed a big box sitting on a table in the front hall of our offices. This box was big enough to hold a printer. I don't know when it was delivered, how long it had been sitting there, or if anyone even signed for it, but there it was. I practically giggled as I took it into my office and pulled it out of the box. It is beautiful. My favorite part is the Energy Star Logo on the front of it.

I'm going give my new baby a serious test drive over the next few days. I have to wonder if it will be quieter than the other printer? And if it will take me way too long to get it all put together and installed and printing like it is supposed to? I suppose that is all part of the fun of getting a new toy. I hope the IT guy is in early tomorrow, in case I run into any trouble.

Baby Steps

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. –Walter Elliott, The Spiritual Life

It might be baby steps I'm taking with the Pinwheel Sampler, but at least I'm moving forward . Which leads me to say that what I'd like most for Christmas is about six more hours in a day to spend quilting. If only I didn't have to sleep. Anyway, I'm quilting this quilt one color of thread at a time. I've finished with the light pink and the tan and some blocks only have the ditch-work done and others are finished. I thought this was a fun start to the quilting in this block.

Here's another block in progress. I like the way the tan thread stands out against the ivory background. The swirls are a little wonky because I had to stretch them a little to get them to fit evenly around the pinwheels. Still, they're pretty cute.

You've seen this block before. I love the colors in it. This block is finished, unless I decided to spend some time with Mr. S. Ripper. I used the tan thread for the accent quilting around the star points and also in the star points. It matches the brown fabric perfectly, so you can't see the quilting. I haven't decided if I'm going to pull the quilting out and do the star points with chocolate brown thread and the flourishes in off-white. I'm not quite sure how I feel about my wonky stitching in the flourishes being so visible. I like the idea of the quilting, just, perhaps not the color of thread. Then again, I may just leave it as-is.

This is another block you've seen and another favorite among the blocks. Last time I showed it to you, it was missing the swirls in the brown frame. Love how this one came out, but the curlicues in the pinwheel are invisible because the thread matches the fabric. I'm thinking about pulling those out and doing them in dark pink thread so they will show up better.

This block was scary and fun all at the same time. The leaves are something I haven't tried before. Some are pretty OK and others are, well, not-so-great. It depended on the direction I was going how nice they came out and going certain directions required me back-tracking to get the vines right and others didn't. That is kind of noticeable, again, because of the tan thread.

I'm read to start quilting with the dark pink thread, followed by the chocolate brown. After that, I'll put the ivory back on and stitch filler patterns into several blocks and do the design in the sashings. Still lots of work ahead, which also means lots of fun quilting time.

Today's post brought to you by:

The Italian Delight

After the chills and fever of love, how nice is the 98.6º of marriage!
–Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Ingredients for the perfect date night:
Steak
Cream Cheese
Marinara Sauce
Mushrooms
Mustard
Mayo
Pickles
Tomatoes

Mr. Bug and I went out to dinner tonight. It was a pleasant, unexpected, impromptu sort of evening as Mr. Bug is usually sleeping during the dinner hour {his work schedule is completely upside-down from the rest of the world}. He called me just as I was getting home from work and when I told him where I was, he opened the front door for me and welcomed me home. Then he asked if I wanted to go to dinner. I have a menu all worked out ahead of time so I was planning on fixing something, but I would have been a fool to say no to a night off from cooking, and even more so to a date night. We got the Little Bugs a pizza from Little Caesar's and we headed to a nice little sandwich shop that is specific to Utah County. There are five locations between American Fork and Spanish Fork {a distance of about 25 miles} in this chain. The name of these resturants is The Italian Place and their sandwiches are super tasty. If you ever come to visit, I'll take you there for lunch. My favorite is called The Italian Delight and the ingredients are listed above. A curious combination to be sure; pickles and mushrooms? Marinara and Mustard? But it is really one of the best sandwiches I've ever had.

Certainly, the food was really great, but the company and conversation were even better. We talked about nothing in particular; our jobs, the interesting combination of music playing {SuperTramp & Van Halen, among others}, the sandwiches, freeway construction. Pretty much whatever was on our minds, we talked about it. It was fun to spend a few minutes together not worrying about anything, enjoying each other's company and a nice meal. It is moments like that which give you something to go on when the going gets tough.

Thanks for a lovely evening . . . looking forward to our next date night, Mr. Bug.

Sabbath Songs: Faith in Every Footstep

And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. –Alma 32:21

Spooky Quilt Top

Halloween is huge in my house and we really get into the "spirits" of things. –Dee Snider

I'm doing a little happy dance. I got the Boo to You! quilt top finished and I really like how it came together. I was worried that the row of Jack-O-Lanterns might not fit in with the rest of the quilt since I added it to the pattern, but I think the scrappy border brings it all together nicely.

I've also got the scrappy borders on one of the place mats, but my batteries ran out before I got a picture, so I'll just have to show you it later. It is kind of big , but I suppose that doesn't matter too much since no one will ever eat off the place mats. They are for decoration only.

Read more about this project:
About this quilt and blocks in progress
Small Witch in progress
Witch place mat and quilt top in progress
Happy Jacks
Ghost and Black Cat place mats in progress
Pumpkins and Bats place mats in progress
Candy Corn place mat in progress