Oven Woes...and Moving Right Along

I have a double oven. About a year ago, the lower (larger) oven stopped working. Since I use my oven nearly every day at least once, sometimes for a good part of the day, this was very difficult. We couldn't afford to fix it, though, and I consoled myself with having the upper oven, small though it is. Last week, our oldest got home from work and put a frozen pizza in the oven, 15 minutes later he went to check it for doneness and it was still frozen. Darn. Oven number two is gone, also.

I was pretty sure I knew what was wrong with the bottom oven, and the same thing appeared to be wrong with the top one. While I had hoped that we could get a repairman out, since working with electricity and gas is not usual for me, I was having a really hard time knowing it would cost such a large amount of money for something I might be able to fix myself. I poked around online and found the needed part, and read the comments from others who bought it. I was encouraged and, with a quick check with my husband about the budget, placed the order.

Imagine my surprise when it arrived the next day! Of course, that meant I had to take the plunge and make the fix! Since both ovens needed the same part and the bottom oven was more useful, that's the one I chose to fix first. I read the directions, turned off the circuit breaker and disassembled the bottom of my oven. It took a few minutes to figure out which wires were for the igniter and where exactly they needed to be cut (re-reading the comments helped me figure it out, the directions that it came with were rather lacking) and cut them I did. I spliced in the new part and put the oven back together. A flip of the circuit breaker and turn of the oven knob and a minute later we heard the gas hissing. I cautiously opened the oven door and it was already warming nicely. I had fixed it!

Sometime in the next couple of weeks or so we're going to order the 2nd part and soon I'll have both ovens in working order again. I'm feeling pretty spoiled now just having the bigger one back!

On to quilting!

Block number 3 of my new Posies and Celtic quilt is nearly done, but not finished so no picture, yet. I did get the purple flower quilt done, though. I promised myself I would not start quilting on the strip quilt until the purple quilt was finished and, had I known how quickly it would go once I got rolling on it, I would have finished it sooner!

I got the first needle full into the strip quilt and it's fun to quilt on so I anticipate that one not taking too terribly long unless I get taken over by the Posies and Celtic quilt. I've decided the strip quilt will go with Rebekah to her boyfriend's house, giving me a reason to make another (or two.) I LOVE how that one came out and now I know what to do with scraps too small to save, but too big to toss...they will get cut into 1 1/2 inch strips for strip quilts. These will be great for down in our family room, which tends to get cold in the winter. While I have a few quilts down there, I don't keep the "fancier" ones there as I want the kids to be able to use them without worrying about something happening to them.

It's going to be rather warm this weekend, so I'm not sure how much hand quilting I'll be able to do. I'll get some paper ready for strip blocks and cut some strips if I get tired of applique. I can also cut and mark the last 8 background pieces for the Posies and Celtic quilt or baste some posie or leaf pieces so those are ready to go. My husband has a bunch of things he wants to get done around the house, which should leave me quite a bit of time for quilting.

I made homemade pizza for dinner, we've eaten, and, since we're a small group tonight, cleanup will be quite easy. My posie block is calling me and I have an evening stretching ahead that can be devoted to quilting if I just get to it.

Ruthie hasn't napped today, hopefully that means a good night ahead. She sometimes ends up falling asleep around dinner time and that means she's up late...or if she goes to bed on time it means waking up in the night having difficulty going back to sleep. She's outside right now and Jonathan is having a friend over so she's likely to stay awake late enough to make for a "normal" night. Which means ample rest for me and, hopefully, abundant energy tomorrow!

Happy Quilting!

Sue and Ruthie