A little rusty

Hi all, and happy heat dome! It's hotter than blazes here. We are okay, but I think we're locking ourselves down again voluntarily. Virus cases seem to be rising here and it's probably not a good time for us to be out. Also, it's supposed to be 100 degrees today, so I might as well be in the house. I'm pretty bummed about this, but at least this time there are some better survival strategies for us. And I'm not giving up curbside grocery pickup even when this over, just so you know. Or Target pickup, either! Although you have to go inside to buy toilet paper, which defeats the whole purpose of curbside pickup, doesn't it?

This weekend I finally got around to making the July blocks for the Color Challenge at Patterns by Jen.  This was challenging, all right, though the block was super easy to make.  The color for this month was rust. Rust? How would you describe that color? Some people have gone toward the oranges, but I think of rust as a red brown. Even if it was an orange brown, it would have been extra challenging this month. Why? Because I have none of those colors in my stash. None. I have a few browns, some happier reds, plenty of bright orange scraps, but no red browns or orange browns. Yeah... In the spirit of using things up, though, here's what I settled on:

It's a red that tends a little towards burgundy and is a much more muted shade than I would usually use. It also has polka dots, which makes it at least a bit festive. Not much like a robin, but definitely not a cardinal!

As I said, the block itself was quite easy and I think it is one of the nicer blocks that we've done this year.  I'm really looking forward to next month, which is pink. I could use some bright happy colors! A little while ago someone posted on Instagram about the "corona coaster--" some days you're up, some days you're down. I am definitely feeling that way! I'm trying to do something every day to keep my spirits up, even if it's just eating some really lovely peaches that we had this weekend.

The only other thing I've worked on so far this week is to pull out this old serger and get it running again:

I bought this at least 20 years ago, and it served me faithfully through many years of clothing and home decor sewing. I haven't used it in a long time, and it needs some cleaning, some oil, and some general tuning up. Fortunately, this generation of sergers (which are a nightmare to thread) are all mechanical and easy to rehab. If I let it sit overnight with some oil in the important parts, it should be just fine.

Why am I rehabbing the serger now? I need it to alter some clothes because folks, I have lost about 85 pounds. The quarantine has slowed me down some, but otherwise, I hope to be to 100 pounds down by my birthday in September. Maybe I'll post a picture. In the meantime, though, I'll need something to wear, because clothes that are too big are actually more uncomfortable than clothes that are too small. (Before you ask: I did this with the help of a great therapist, so I'm sorry that I can't offer you a magic bullet. It's taken about 15 months now, and every bit has been hard. But worth it!)

Hope everyone is having a good week! As usual, wash those hands and wear those masks! And since it's so hot, maybe get some ice cream or other cool things delivered, too. I read that even epidemiologists will get takeout, so I am seriously looking forward to more of that. I miss restaurants soooo much. . .

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