Terror and Reprieve

It's been a topsy-turvy week.

While I was still shaking from the June 6 car wreck, I got some REALLY upsetting news. Remember the house block, the sum total of many sleepless hours and a good deal of angst in May?

Because of the DeSoto quilt retreat, I knew I'd miss the hand-off of the house blocks at the June 6 Milwaukee Art Quilters meeting--and I sure did, as I spent a good part of that evening sitting in a bowling alley parking lot in Madison, in my bashed-in SUV, waiting for my son and husband to rescue me--so I had dropped the block, in a Priority Mail packet, in the mail June 2 before leaving for DeSoto. About June 8, I got an email from the house quilt organizer saying my block had not arrived.

Carumba. Now THAT is real terror. I started shaking all over again.

I sweat bullets for days and realized I had transposed a couple numbers in the recipient's address. I was hoping, hoping, that my precious packet wouldn't get ground up in the teeth of the U.S. Postal Service. And I was frantic at the thought of having to remake that block. I dug the patterns and diagrams out of the recycling bin, just in case. Despair...

Finally, good news--two days ago, the packet with the block found its way back to my own mailbox. And last night I drove into the city to rendezvous with the intended recipient. Very relieved and happy to have placed the block in her hands.

Yes! Over and done with, this time for sure. I hope...

Lessons learned:

• Always confirm and re-confirm the address.
• Always spring for Delivery Confirmation.

So with that crisis averted, it's back to happyland for me.

Tonight I spent pressing HSTs, prepping to begin block construction on Nellie's Wedding Quilt.

I need 1152 HSTs for the blocks of this quilt. By my count more than 1000 of these little soldiers are finished and ready to go. Almost there.

DeSoto and Its Aftermath

My long weekend in DeSoto was fun and relaxing, with plenty of good food, wine, sewing, and retail therapy, all with great friends. The house where we stay, above, is comfy and filled with the necessary sewing accoutrements.

The surroundings, below, are sleepy but scenic. That's the Mississipi River in the not-too-far distance. It's the ever-changing but ever-constant perimeter to this little town.

Projects worked on: I had been looking at my kitted Nellie's Wedding Quilt all winter, and dug into this extreme piecing project--1152 one-inch half square triangles needed. Nothing much to show yet, but it's coming...

I had also brought a full bin of 1 1/2" scrap strips to start my own version of Weaving the Rails. Got 100 blocks made.

There were two more trips to the wonderful Olive Juice Quilts in Onalaska, Wisconsin. No doubt that shop enjoyed very good numbers for the weekend, thanks to us.

Monday morning, we all exchanged hugs and started back home. All was good until Madison, where I got involved in a chain-reaction pileup on the Madison Beltline at rush hour. The person behind me had been following way too closely. When I had to brake suddenly, he managed the evasive maneuver of heading down the shoulder, but took out most of the driver's side of my vehicle.

And I'm very grateful for NOT being rammed from behind at 60 mph...

Four cars in all were involved in the ensuing chain reaction pileup, and thank goodness, everyone walked away uninjured.

I think I'm glad I wasn't driving my Beetle and had opted to drive our brand-new SUV instead. I imagine it was much more stable in the crash. But oh, it was new just last fall and it hurts to see it all bashed in.

The man who hit me was cited, and he IS insured. But I don't think anyone ever really comes out whole on these incidents. And so we start down the road of battling insurance companies with a beautiful new SUV that will never be the same again...