Three years ago I tried to cancel my blog that is hosted by Bluehost. At the time I was talked into continuing with the service by the “helpful” representative who spoke with me when I called. She was quite persuasive and signed me up for three years.

I fooled myself into believing that I would would actually get back to using the service.

Boy was I wrong.

Three years later I got billed for another three years of service after only posting two blog entries in the past three years.

I called up to cancel and to see if I could get my money back for the three years I paid for by mistake. I was told that they only give refunds within the first 15 days. I explained that I had not known that I had been billed. It was not until I got my credit card bill that I knew that I had been charged. I explained that I had previously paid for three years of service that I had not even used, and that if they looked at my records they would see that.

I couldn’t get them to see reason, so I asked to speak with a supervisor because I felt that surely someone in charge would realize that this is not the type of ill will they want to create. And surely this is not the way they wanted to make money. I sat on hold for over an hour waiting to speak with supervisors that were in a meeting and could not speak to me. Eventually the person dealing me with me took my phone number and promised that a supervisor would call me after an hour had passed and the meeting had ended.

I made it clear that if I could not get a refund that I did not want my service to be cancelled because if I had paid for it and would not get a refund I wanted to at least continue to have the option to use it.

It has been well over two hours now, and no one has called me.

I’ve discovered that the renewal notice and the notice of payment that I should have seen were missed because noreply@bluehost.com is not marked as a VIP. It is marked as such now.

It appears as if I should get back to blogging if for no other reason than to periodically restate my disappointment with the way I was treated by Bluehost in this matter.

This will be my first post in nearly three years.

This is the closest I have come to working with fabric in the last year and a half.

I cut some yardage into 6 by 6 inch squares to use to turn on the faucets in the bathroom after unloading groceries, bringing in the mail, bringing in packages, or doing anything else that might contaminate our hands. We drop the pieces on the floor after use, and launder them periodically.

I have the fresh pieces crossed for easy access to one piece at a time.

My next post will be about how I am going to jump back in with needlework.

This is my first post in nearly a year and a half.

This was going to be a post about how I was planning to move my web site hosting back to WordPress.com because it is cheaper and more simple. It might have even been a post about how I was going to stop blogging about quilting altogether. However, all of that changed after I got on the phone with Beth from Bluehost.

I poured out my heart to Beth about how I had not posted in over a year, and that I had never really made anything out of my blog. It’s just a vanity site that no one cares about but me. I explained that I felt as if I may have made a mistake when I moved my site from WordPress.com to Bluehost, and that I was considering reversing that action.

Beth listened and offered to go over my products with me to make staying more attractive. I had a bill for over $700.00 looming to cover three years of service with domain renewals, backups and some other services. We started by downgrading my plan to one that would still meet my needs. We eliminated some services I did not need, and Beth applied an additional discount which brought the price to $436.67 for three years with domains renewing on a yearly basis. Comparing that to going back to WordPress.com I was paying only a little more, and saving a lot of inconvenience.

I sought additional reassurance from Beth by asking if I could get a per rate refund on unused time if I changed my mind in the future. She assured me that I could.

I am so rusty with writing on the blog that I am doing this on my iPad using the WordPress app because I can not remember how to access my site on my Mac. That is the first thing I need to brush up on.

Beth is subscribing to my blog because she wants to quilt. Welcome to Beth. Please leave me a comment. And Beth, I am not sure that my survey at the end of the call went right. If not please show your supervisor this blog post.

Bluehost, be it known that Beth is the greatest and deserves the highest rating. She retained a customer today.

Anyone else who subscribes drop me a comment. I could use the encouragement.

I spent my week finishing the Yellow section.

I am enjoying the green making its appearance along the edge of this section.

I had mixed feelings about the blocks with the color Daffodil in them. Those three blocks are pictured here. In comparison to the other colors, Daffodil appears ultra subdued along with the two other colors that are less intense in those blocks. I considered making those blocks over again, but decided instead to normalize the less intense colors by using Daffodil along the edge of the quilt so they will look as if they belong. At least I hope they will. I pray I did the right thing because at this point it is too late to change my mind.

Above we see the Yellow section alongside the upper left section where they meet. The transition between these two areas is a bit less subtle than I would have liked. I could have used more Orange in the transitional rows.

I’m glad to be done with the Yellow section. I doubt that any of the remaining sections will offer as great a challenge.

This week I will pickup work on the Violet section now that I have a greater variety of blue fabrics and blue threads with which to work.

There are no new blocks this week. Instead I put my efforts toward assembling the yellow section. Three rows are assembled, and two rows have yet to be joined. That will be my task for next week.

I need to purchase some blue thread to continue with the Violet section. I may just purchase it through Craftsy.

I had hoped to have two blocks to show this week, but I only have one.

#62 Old Windmill

Kona solids used are Lemon, Bright Idea, Duckling, and Sunny.

This block looks less like a Windmill and more like a Flock. I really hated the layout of the original block. I decided to keep with the idea of using one color, Lemon, for half of each square. I chose four colors for the block, and I designed a quarter to repeat. After making all four quarters I tried them out in a few layouts, and decided on the one above. Alternative layouts are pictured below.

After finishing this block I decided to go back to my Violet/Blue section to finish a second block for the week. I got one partially basted and then discovered that I have no blue thread. It’s time to head to the LQS.

I was not at a loss for work to complete, however, as there was much to do to get ready to assemble the Yellow section. That may be all I do this week.

I laid out my blocks on the front porch. The first row actually needs to be pushed down one space, but I’m not going through the pain of laying this out again. This is good enough to guide me for now as I begin assembly.

In addition to getting my plan in order, I removed as many papers as possible from each block, and organized them into bags for each row along with their respective paper piece bags.

My organization failed me early on in the project, however, since I am unable to find the paper piece bags for the first three rows of the upper left section. I might need to purchase the first set of papers again if I can’t find them. I’d really like to reuse a few of these blocks.

How are you liking the green? I love it.

I had every intention of attending QuiltCon this year.

I reserved a room, and registered for the event. That was back in June when registration opened, which is planning quite a bit ahead for a late February event. Since then I’ve decided that attending QuiltCon is probably not the best use of my quilting event budget. I go to quilting events to get to interact with other quilters. I’m not even sure that any of my guild members are attending. I can certainly fend for myself and have a good time, but I get more from local retreats with my Guild members than sitting through lectures and walking through displays alone. I also get a lot from the yearly retreat I attend in Lancaster with friends I met at the first Slow Stitching Movement Retreat with Mark Lipinski. Plus I’m not really a modern quilter.

So I’ve cancelled my hotel reservation, and I’ve decided to bite the bullet and take the $172.00 loss on my All Access pass to lectures that I purchased when I registered for QuiltCon.

The thing that really clinched the decision for me is that my husband has been willing to start a Whole Foods Plant Based No Oil eating regimen with me. This is the first time he has been willing to do this, and I did not feel right about leaving him to fend for himself so early in the journey. I’ll be figuring out how I can accommodate him when I go to my Lancaster retreat in April though. Nothing will keep me from that.

I had every hope of finishing the last yellow block in time for this week’s post. However, it remains unfinished.

The good news is that I have four blocks to show this week.

#61 Northern Lights.

Kona solids used are Daffodil, Sunflower, and Citrus.

This block was designed to be made with two colors. I threw in one extra color. However, Daffodil and Sunflower are very close to each other in value, hue, and intensity, so it almost looks like to colors after all.

It is not one of my favorite blocks, but I think it will work well with the others.

#84 Spool

Kona solids used are Duckling and Sunny. These are the two darkest and most intense colors in my Yellow palette.

This block was borrowed from the central area because I wanted nothing to do with #59 Night and Day.

I like the simplicity of this block.

#85 Square Dance

Kona solids used are Citrus, Acid Lime, and Chartreuse.

This is the first of the yellow/green blocks.

#34 Flock (revisited)

Kona solids used are Acid Lime, Duckling, and Kiwi.

This is the second of the yellow/green blocks.

I had previously made this block with a mix of yellow and orange fabrics to use higher up in the Yellow area. I did not like those choices, however, and I have repurposed the paper pieces here.

I’ve got one more block to complete for this Yellow area and then I will start to assemble.

After a very prolific Last week I am back to my more usual production level of three blocks this week.

#60 Noon and Light

Kona solids used are Lemon, Mac and Cheese along with Duckling.

I’m hoping that the Duckling will pop in the final quilt layout. Duckling is the color that is being used as an accent sashing color in the upper right corner of the quilt in a similar way that Rich Red was used in the upper left corner.

#49 Honeycomb

Kona solids used are Mac and Cheese along with School Bus, which is one of my favorite colors for this quilt.

I was not sure I wanted to do this block. There were so many tiny triangles. I found this block challenging because it was very difficult to get the tails working together.

The first quarter was hit or miss as I ended up redoing the gluing to get things to work properly. I finally realized that it mattered which side I started gluing from depending on which way the triangle was facing.

I came to the conclusion that edges needed to be glued in the following order. I had to glue the edges in a counterclockwise direction with the hypotenuse being the second side glued.

If I did them in this order the tails would nest properly.

It was a great deal of work, but I learned a valuable lesson, and I think the block turned out well.

#75 Rosebud

Kona solids used are Bright Idea and Duckling.

This block uses the two brightest yellows that I have in my Yellow pallet. I have ordered a few more yellows, and, even though I am nearly done with my Yellow blocks, those fabrics might prove useful in providing variety for sashing.

It is my goal to have all Yellow section blocks completed by next Friday. The last two blocks will involve some yellow/green colors.

This week I have an unprecedented seven blocks to share. Yes! Seven blocks!

#46 Hill and Valley

Kona solids used are Mac and Cheese along with School Bus.

This block is destined for a place in one of the first two rows of the Yellow section.

#37 Flower Pot (revisited)

Kona solids used are Mac and Cheese, Orange, Nectarine, and Tangerine.

This block is making a second appearance in this quilt top. It originally was used in its rightful position in the Violet section. I’m going to be using it to replace #35, which is a basket block. I don’t do Basket blocks. I’m fine with flower pot blocks, but not Basket blocks. No rounded handles for me, thank you very much.

This block was much easier to make the second time around. I really learned a lot about the need to pay attention to the direction of tails the first time I made this block. It is important to pull back the first end of the first edge to tuck under the last end of the last edge to keep tails properly oriented on those odd shapes pieces.

The Tangerine is dark for this section, but it will be facing the Orange area, so it will be fine.

#74 Ribbons

Kona solids used are Bright Idea, Daffodil, and Mustard.

I was not sure about this block until it finally came together. I did not think the ribbon colors were going to contrast enough, but they contrast just enough. I also was afraid that the background would be too bright, but I love it.

#73 Rainbow Flowers

Kona solids used are Lemon, Daffodil, Bright Idea, and Duckling.

This is a very easy block, and it was a pleasure to make.

#47 Homemaker

Kona solids used are Bright Idea, Duckling, and Papaya.

I was not sure I wanted to make this one given the Y seams involved and the unusual shapes. I used what I learned from the Flower Pot blocks and paid close attention to my tails.

Look at those points and corners, will ya?

#108 Windmill

Kona solids used are Papaya, School Bus, and Orange.

This block was plucked from the ninth set of blocks. I was looking for an easy block to replace the Flock block, which I had already decided to reject. I love this block.

#45 Grape Basket

Kona solids used are Mac and Cheese, Nectarine, and Orange.

That’s it for this week. I am well on my way with the Yellow section.

Earlier today I ordered 24 half yards from the Fat Quarter Shop, mostly blues and greens. They should be here in six days. I will show them off soon.