Public Service Announcement

 I had plenty of time this week, but I got very little sewing done. Why you ask? Well, I was a little off after taking a Covid test and having it come out positive. I was NOT sick, and it was a breakthrough infection, so the vaccine did just what it was supposed to do. The only symptom I had, I didn't know could be a symptom of Covid, and that's why I'm writing about it. I had cold sores around my mouth, which I have a life long history of having. They come and go, and I've pretty much learned to ignore them. I had no idea cold sores can be a sign of Covid, if I had I would have taken a test before I had people here on Thanksgiving and the weekend after. 

I only found out because DD#2 casually said, "Hey, Mom, you don't think it could be Covid do you?" I told her I had never heard of it being a symptom, and I felt perfectly fine, so I kind of blew it off. After everyone left, I mentioned it to DH. We looked it up and it's not listed as a symptom on any of the big medical sites like the CDC or WHO. BUT, when I googled "cold sores and Covid", there it was! I found several articles mentioning the link between cold sores, canker sores, and Covid. I took a Covid test, and it came out positive, DH took one and his was negative. The thing is, he's had his booster shot, and I haven't, because I was out of town when he got his. 

So at that point I knew I had exposed a large part of my family to Covid, which I never would have done had I known I was sick. It's been about a week now, and to my knowledge no one is sick. My cold sores are gone, and I've tested negative for Covid now. I think since I didn't have a cough or anything, and I was washing my hands constantly because I did have cold sores and I was cooking a LOT, the chances of someone catching it from me was low. 

I had an appointment to get my booster shot this week, and you aren't supposed to take the shot if you actively have Covid, so I cancelled my appointment and I stayed home until I tested negative. The information on when to get a booster shot after having a breakthrough infection is conflicting, but I saw a couple sites suggest waiting four weeks, so that's what I'll do. 

I didn't write this because I wanted to debate whether to vaccinate or not. I was vaccinated, and even though I've got a history of pneumonia, and obesity makes me more likely to have a serious case, the only symptom I had was cold sores. I didn't lose my sense of taste or smell, I didn't have muscle aches, fatigue, cough or anything. I had NONE of the frequently listed side effects. I did have several cold sores, and a couple canker sores, but that is not unusual for me, so I ignored it. Looking back on it it was more sores at once than I usually get, but not the worst breakout I've had. I felt fine, I was only emotionally upset about exposing other people, not all of whom were vaccinated. 

After I tested negative, and it looks like no one caught anything from me, I started to get my mojo back. I've quilted half the Marvel baby quilt, and I just sewed up a couple units from clues one and two of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt.

If you are following this year's mystery, you'll notice I've gone rogue on colors. I'm using a burgundy solid for my neutral, and I'm using men's shirts for my colors. I'm going for an autumn vibe. 

Bonnie's colors                                                My colors

neutral                                                              burgundy

pink                                                                  green

garnet                                                               brown

yellow                                                               yellow/gold

aqua                                                                 orange

Since my background is a solid, and hers is scrappy, I feel comfortable going scrappy on all the other colors. 

Some of you tell me my sewing rooms are so neat! That's just because I don't usually show the messiest bits! I decided if I was going to try to fit in the mystery quilt to my already packed to do list, I needed to try to die cut the whole quilt, at least everything I have dies for. This morning, after FMQ for an hour and getting half the baby quilt quilted, I decided to see what I need to do to start cutting for the mystery. First I needed to clear off the die cutter, because there was a bunch of stuff piled on it, then I pulled out the solid I'm using as a neutral, and the colors of shirts I needed for clues one and two. Well, the shirt pieces all needed to be ironed, and my ironing station is buried! Rather than unburying the ironing station which is in my sewing room, not the fabric room (which I'm thinking of changing), I decided to make room in the fabric room for an ironing board. Well, that meant I needed to put away my last HUGE purchase from Marshall Dry Goods. The best place to put that, which is mostly quilt backings, was in the closet in the sewing room, which is where I normally store quilt backing fabric. Now, I haven't taken the time to clean up that closet in months, and that really needed to be done first, so THREE HOURS later, the closet was clean, and all the fabric was neatly put away! 

By then I was exhausted, way too tired to iron or cut, even with the die cutter. I ate lunch and watched some TV, taking a LONG break, and then I went back downstairs to set up the ironing board. I pressed a few shirt pieces, along with some of background, and cut what I had pressed. I'm not done cutting for those two clues by any stretch of the imagination, but I had enough to sew up some units, and I've got a pile of pieces to use as leaders/enders while I assemble a quilt or two. Now that I've got the Studio cutter unburied, and an ironing board set up, I can just press and cut a little each day, in between doing my other sewing and housework. I might be able to get caught up before clue 3 comes out. 

Sometimes I really love doing sew and flip corners, and getting those bonus HST's, but right now, cutting the exact shapes I need and having nothing left over is exactly what fits into my schedule. Die cutting is a LOT faster than rotary cutting too. 

I may not have sewed much this week, but I did finish Christmas shopping for the hardest person on my list, whom I had saved for last. I may pick up a couple more stocking stuffers, but I'm basically done Christmas shopping. I've even wrapped everything that is here. 

DH and I also took the time to plan out our epic train trip for next year, and we bought our tickets! He's got all the dates to try to set up scooter events in the different cities we're going to, and I'll work on hotel reservations once he's got some of that sorted. We aren't going until autumn, but when you are trying to plan events in multiple cities, and you have to order merchandise for giveaways and such, you need a long lead time. He also had to get permission to take three consecutive weeks off his day job, which can be tricky. As of right now it's a go, and I'm super excited! It's definitely something to look forward to.