Dear Jane Evacuates

When we evacuated for Hurricane Matthew I was too busy moving precious items upstairs and grabbing the essentials to think hard about what to take to keep myself entertained.  I could not find my Dear Jane Busy Bag, so I just grabbed a bit of this and a bit of that along with the Dear Jane book and figured anything I got done would be a bonus.

We stayed at the home of a friend of my sister about 45 minutes west.  Far enough to miss the worst of the storm surge that was expected, but still in the outer bands of wind and rain.  We evacuated Thursday night while it was still light.  We were a mix of three families - 7 people in all.  We did not lose power the first night and took bets on when power would go out on Friday.  Unfortunately I won and it was lights out before noon.

Turns out the homeowner, who had evacuated much farther west and was not there, is also a crafter.  So early on I was able to use her iron and then when I needed a different color thread she had it!  I made a bit of progress and enjoyed the process.  Which turned out to be good, because there was a lot of waiting around time in which to do handwork in the weeks to follow.

My Matthew blocks are:

F 13  My circles are not too bad for a start, but the melons need work.

G 3  During the hurricane I only got the pink center done because my fabric was too wrinkly to cut the outer ring and by then the electricity was out.  I finished the outer ring on the latest road trip and I was very glad I waited to get it ironed and cut straight.

B 7  This one I finished completely during the hurricane, but looking at it up close like this I am not very pleased.  With all the hand sewing I have done recently I think I can improve it considerably.

 
J 11  This was the last one I started during Matthew and I got it nearly done.  At my next hand sewing opportunity I finished it.  I am mostly pleased with it.  The lower right melon is not quite uniform, but for now it is staying as is.

I have to say that for not having worked on them - or any applique - at all for over a year I was definitely out of practice.  But I also have to take into consideration the relatively primitive surroundings while I worked on these particular blocks.  Maybe I'll leave them as a memory of hurricane Matthew.  Or maybe I'll need a quick hand project in the future and I'll fix them up a bit.

Coming up:
Dear Jane Goes to Districts, Regionals and States!!