Saturday, September 6, 2008

Miserable allergy day (AGAIN), but progress on OTR successful

The day started with DH leaving early to get to work, which meant I was off my typical "allergy-season" schedule. Ya see, whether it's just "in my head" or whether it really works, I have a routine I typically do during allergy season.
As soon as I wake up, I take my allergy medicine and then take a nice warm shower to "steam out" any allergens in my system. (*chuckle*.....gosh, I hope a doctor isn't reading this, because s/he'll think I'm a looney!)
BUT-----it seems to work! By the time I'm out of the shower, hair done and dressed, I'm usually doing great---very little sneezing, eyes having very little itch, and minimal congestion and runny nose.
Hmpf------and today just goes to SUPPORT my crazy routine, because.....I DID NOT FOLLOW IT! Sure, I took my allergy medicine, but I didn't shower....and the result.......MISERABLE, MISERABLE, MISERABLE! I seriously used up an entire box of Puff's Plus w/lotion kleenexes. (which is the ONLY brand I'll buy----they are softer than any other tissue I've used, and my nose appreciates it during this time of the year.) My eyes didn't itch at all, but I was contemplating calling a plumber to come and fix my leaky nose! UGH!!!! And for some WACKY reason, by 4:00 (FINALLY), my nose stopped running. Golly---I would THINK so---I was getting almost dehydrated from how much "fluid" I was losing.....*crinkling nose*.....ewwwwwww That was a bit gross to think about, huh????

Anyway....regardless, I had ONE goal today-----THE OTR!


By 8:00, I was downstairs piecing away the millions of pinwheels crazy-minded Bonnie requested in part 2 of the OTR! I was motivated (ummm...for about the first two hours), and then, the pinwheels were starting to turn my mind crazy! My goodness!!!!!!!!!! There were soooooooooo many of them.

BUT----by about 10:30....success! The last pinwheel was put together. I headed upstairs for a morning snack with the girls, printed out step 3, and was back downstairs a bit after 11:00. Step 3 was going together FAST----MUCH faster than 2! Whew.....it was a nice change of pace. However, at 12:00, I was back upstairs to make up some lunch (pizza). DH arrived home about 12:30, I tucked Candace into bed by 1:00 for a nap, and by 1:15 I was downstairs again. All of step 3 was complete by 2:00----yup----it was a fast one!

So...what next? DUH! Step 4, or course. I had already pulled SOME fabrics when Bonnie first posted the Original Information, but wasn't really sure if I wanted to use THEM or to use more plaids for the 3.5x6.5 bricks. After a few tryouts of the plaids, I decided----it was TOO MUCH PLAID! So, I started throwing more and more darks, rusts, blacks, greens, etc into the scrap pile and started cutting away.

This and that, this and that.....some time later (maybe an hour????), I was ready for the layout. I've been reading many emails stating that many ladies have now called this one their favorite, EVEN over the CC AND OC...... well, when I saw Bonnie's layout on part 4, (I hate to admit), but my mind said....."eh.....not my fav, but I've done this much work already, I might as well finish it."

I started laying out a few diagonals at a time......getting a bit lost due to the large-eventually-to-be-cut-off bricks, and the fact that SOMEHOW SOMEWHERE I didn't have enough half-4-square blocks????? I still need to look back and figure out what happened there. But.......well.....golly......by the time I had the entire quilt laid out..........sheesh.........it actually started GROWING on me! And I can only imagine that once I piece it all together, it most likely will join the "oh yeah I like this one!" list.

I am most likely going to make this for my brother, and I only want a snuggler for him. BUT.....I peeked ahead to part 5, and I agree with many emails......WOW! The flying geese borders POLISH it off! So.......he'll be getting a LARGE snuggler! :0)

I came upstairs at 4:30 after laying out the blocks, and I haven't been back down. I'm tired! I didn't get to bed until after midnight last night-------duhhhhh! After blogging, I flipped thru the channels and came across "A Few Good Men" which I haven't seen in a long time and I hadn't remembered a lot of the plot....soooo..........ya, ya.
It's just a bit after 10:00 right now, so I am going to wrap this up and get to bed! I know it's only Saturday night and it's still "early," but I NEED to get out running by 7:00 tomorrow so that DH can get to work by 12:00. I am planning for a nice-n-easy 16 miler, which will take a "strong" 3 hours.

Happy sewing!

7 comments:

Amanda said...

Oh, what a shame that you had a miserable-with-allergy day again, you must have been thinking that you had it beaten. But wow, such a lot of sewing - your girls must be so well behaved not to get up to mischief, my boys fought so much that I'd have ben forever having to sort out their problems! Having seen a few OTRs coming together I think I like it rather more than the OC. I need a snuggler for myself with the winter approaching, so might have a look at the pattern. Have a good Sunday - Christopher is marshalling at a race, so won't be running today.

Calidore said...

I sympathise with the allergies. So far so good for me but Spring has only just begun. Love the colours your used in your OTR. The "furrows" really stand out. I agree with you on the pinwheels though - I could have sewn them in my sleep by the time I was done with them...grin. Ohh and the rows go together really quickly now you are at that stage. I admit I piked out on the flying geese border - plain ones did it for me.

scraphappy said...

I guess the only good thing about allergies is that they can't last forever -- and they give you a reason to stay inside and quilt more. Your OTR is looking great. Those dark colors in the solid brick really ground it and make the pieced blocks pop. I can't wait to see the geese border, only 94 blocks to go (insert evil giggle here)! Maybe Bonnie does this to us because we'd never volunteer if we knew ahead of time what we were getting into.

Candace said...

Sorry the allergies were acting up, but you sure got a lot done anyway. Your OTR is wonderful. I think adding the other fabrics made it more interesting, I really like it a lot, I'm anxious to start mine, but am still working on my CC. What to do, what to do.

Candace said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cornfield Quilter said...

I feel so bad for you! I have never had alergies so to get done what you did was amazing! I love your quilt, it is so cool. I finally got started cutting my 4 patches yesterday while helping grandaughter sew.
Hope you get feeling 100% and can hardly wait to see your final pix of your quilt. :D

Chris Daly said...

I just found your blog today through quilting bloggers. I love this quilt top. I'm not sure where you are in Wisconsin, but you might be interested to know that Bonnie will be giving a lecture in Spring Green on Monday Nov 10th. See the latest post at my friend Patsy's blog:

http://patsyquiltretreat.blogspot.com/2008/09/bonnie-hunter-coming-to-area.html