Monday, July 25, 2016

Rainbow Rose QAL

Saturday was sunny, hot and muggy, and I had the day open to work on my Rainbow Rose top and hoped to complete all the quilting.  The ditch quilting was finished and I had just begun the FMQ in the white areas.
A bright flash of the overhead ceiling light, then darkness descended over the needle area and the sewing machine stopped humming ... a power outage ... for the next six hours!   When the power was finally restored it was time for dinner and our daily evening watering chores in the gardens.

There won't be another six-hour block of time to complete the quilting this week before the final link-up ends, so I'm linking up with Modern Quilters Ireland today to show my progress to date.
The completed top before quilting

The back, ditch quilting completed

Progress to date!

I've had fun working on this little quilt so far and hope to have it finished soon.  Looking forward to seeing how the other participants have finished their versions.  I'm still mulling over how the star segments will be quilted.

According to our local weather forecasters the last time our area had more than one inch of rainfall in a single day was October 15 of last year!   Our last soaking rain occurred before the last snowfall this past spring.   We are currently in a severe drought, as are other major areas of the country.  We are fortunate to live in a valley and have a fairly deep well that has no recent history of running dry, but we are still watering our three gardens very sparingly, hoping to achieve at least some harvest.  Many others on the hillsides are not as fortunate, their wells are running dry.   Many of the farms in our area are small subsistence farms, and it is heartbreaking to see the crops so withered and their growth stunted by the relentless heat and drought.  We are praying for several days of slow soaking rain to replenish the earth, fill the streams and begin to restore the water table.  



13 comments:

Ruth said...

It looks beautiful so far - such a shame you were rudely interrupted! I really like the skinny border framing your block too!

Needled Mom said...

Oh man....just when you were really having fun with the quilting too!!!!! It will eventually get done. ;-)

I hope you get your rains soon. We are experiencing the same thing here.

Janet O. said...

And I love your beautiful feathers!
Power outages come at the most inconvenient times.
Hope you get moisture soon!

Dana Gaffney said...

Hopefully you'll get some rain soon and it will be spread out over days not hours. Your star is looking beautiful, the feathers are perfect.

Lena Pugacheva said...

The feathers for white areas are a great idea! Love how every quilt in the link up has its personality)) We'll try to send a couple of rainclouds your way, there are more than enough here in Ireland))

Ruth said...

I love the rainbow rose! And the quilting is looking great so far. Too bad about the power outage - what a pain! No time is good for that - it seems like everything we use is electric these days!

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

Your Rainbow Rose is lovely and happy! I just know that the time will be right to finish it up before too long, your progress so far is wonderful. Prayers for relief from the drought in your area.

Lara B. said...

The power outage with no good rainstorm must have been especially frustrating. We are in a drought here too, but did get some rain on Monday. What an odd year weather wise this has been.
Your Rainbow Rose is beautiful and the quilting you've done so far is wonderful Pat!

Lisa J. said...

Your quilt looks really great and it's further along than mine. I thought we were in a drought but we've had more rain than you have.The city I live in get's it's water from an aquifer which often gets low in the summer.

Susan said...

It looks great. I love the different colors you used but still kept the rainbow idea. You are so close to being done!

Sandra Walker said...

Oh that is a bummer, both 6 hours without power JUST when you're needing a big chunk of time for quilting, and also regarding the drought. We are super dry here too, grasses just brown and a Catalpa tree I noticed today with lots of yellow leaves...we did get a downpour for a good 20 minutes today yay. Love what you've done so far. I LOVE feathers; nearly put some on my RR but actually did not, which is a surprise as they are usually in nearly every quilt.

Martha said...

Your quilt is looking lovely, getting close to a finish!! I am so sad for your lack of rain, how hard for you and all your neighbors. I will keep you in my prayers for a gentle rain.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Your quilt is coming along so well; I'm sorry about the rude interruption of progress!