We had an intense thunderstorm here on Friday that caused a multiple power surge—lights out, then on, then out, then partway on, then out again—resulting in a fried modem and a mysterious loss of power in the master bathroom only. The modem was fixed last night by a hard-working and very friendly Tech Guy who gave us a whole new one, but the bathroom remained a mystery. There is no reset switch on the outlet, so the obvious answer was unavailable. With the modem repaired, I was finally able to go on-line this morning and research possible explanations and solutions to the problem. And I soon discovered that reset switches are "often located in the basement or garage," rather than in the bathroom where you'd logically expect them to be. Down to the basement/garage I went and, yes indeedy do, there's a reset switch just below the circuit breaker box. Who knew?!? A simple push of the red button and, voilá, power in the bathroom! I'm SO glad we didn't call an electrician to come push our little red button… Thank God for the internet!
On a whole different subject—this is for all the quilters among my friends and family:
High Hopes and Higher Math: A drama of the first-time quilter
Scene: A young couple approaches the cutting counter at Jo-Ann Fabrics carrying a pile of fabric bolts and a hand-drawn design for a patchwork quilt. Dianne is staffing the counter.
Dianne: What can I get for you?
Young Woman: (lays down the bolts of fabric and spreads the crumpled drawing on the counter) I think I need… a yard?… of this one… (sets one bolt in front of D)
D: One yard? OK. (measures a yard of fabric then waits before making the cut)
YW: (to the young man with her) Is my math right?
Young Man: I don't know. I didn't really look at it.
YW: (exasperated sigh and look of frustration) I asked you to check it!
YM: Well, here, let me see. How big are the squares?
YW: 14 inches.
YM: (after a few seconds of scribbling with a pencil on the crumpled paper) Wait, is 14 inches how big these squares are when they're finished or before they're finished?
YW: ???
YM: I mean, you have to allow for the edges around it, so if the finished size is 14 inches, then you'll need 15 inches for the edges.
YW: Each of these (jabs her finger into diagram) is 14 inches square.
YM: When it's finished? Or before it's finished?
YW: ??? (glares at YM) Finished, I guess! I don't know what you're talking about!
YM: Don't get mad at me, I'm just checking your math like you asked me to.
YW: I asked you to do it before and you didn't, so now you're suddenly asking me all these questions… (!!!)
YM: (in a calm, measured tone) I just need to know what the finished size of each of these squares is.
YW: 14 inches. I figured all the areas of the squares, and that's how I came up with the amount of fabric I need.
YM: OK, but you can't just figure the area. If you need 15 inches across, and you have 44 inches in width of the fabric, you'll only get two 15-inch squares and then have a 14-inch strip left that you can't use. See?
YW: (clearly doesn't see)
D: (hands a calculator to YM and waits while YW & YM discuss the intricacies of measuring fabric amounts for pieced quilts, not wanting to get involved. D finally gives in and tries to come to YW's rescue:) You have to figure in the width of your fabric so you know how many of each square you can get across it. See? (demonstrates concept visually on fabric)
YW: Oh, I see what you mean. (to YM) Well, ok then, how much will I need?
YM: (more scribbling and use of calculator) About a yard.
People who've never quilted think that as long as it's all straight lines and right angles, it should be easy to do. Until they encounter The Math. And then when they try to get those four corners to come together in a nice pretty point… As I said to the couple, "This is why I'm not a quilter—you have to be too precise. I'm more of a free-form sewer myself." Me and rulers have never gotten along.
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3 comments:
And that's what patterns or EQ are for! I don't like doing the math either so I rely on others or on my computer to figure it out for me. Or my handy-dandy QuiltCalc (a calculator for quilters that helps you figure out yardage needed for various types of things). New quilters often don't realize that very few quilters enjoy doing math so there's all sorts of tools and techniques out there to help us avoid it!
But kudos to the guy to even think about "finished or unfinished". I've made that mistake before.
I hope she has a good experience making the quilt if she got that frustrated over the math. Just wait until she starts trying to figure out how to cut her pieces to get the best use of the fabric... :-)
We have a QuiltCalc at the store--it's actually the calculator YM was using--but it would take a lot more time than any of us ever has available to figure out how to use it! I'm thinking of taking the manual home with me to try to get a handle on it because it seems like it could be really helpful for all the First-Time Quilters who come through if we could just punch in some numbers and come up with fabric amounts for them!
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