Sunday, March 16, 2008

National Quilting Day

I hope you had a great National Quilting Day yesterday. I spent the day making 144 HSTs. I spent the morning marking the squares. Then after an early nap and lunch I sewed them together. DH is home from 12 days in Europe and I didn't want him to feel left alone. So I brought my cutting mat, rotary cutter, ruler, ironing board and iron downstairs so I could work in the dining room and living room while spending time with him.

The HSTs with the tan fabric are for my Football Depression quilt. These are all that I need to make for the quilt. There are enough HSTs for four Depression blocks and then I'll be able to finish that quilt top.

The HSTs with the white, paw covered fabric are for my mom's Churn Dash quilt. There are 80 HSTs done and I need to make another 56 so I have enough for the quilt.
I have had my license for using sharp objects in the kitchen revoked. Yesterday afternoon I was slicing cheese and apples for a snack and sliced my right thumb with the apple slicer. This morning I was cleaning up some odds and ends from last night's dinner and sliced my left hand just below the thumb. Neither cut required stitches, but I am feeling a little stupid. DH is going to have to cut the squash for dinner tonight. I am refusing to touch any sharp objects in the kitchen.

Miscellaneous, off-the-wall, question of the day. Do you have a double basin kitchen sink? If so, which side do you use for washing dishes? Our new condo has a double basin sink and I haven't had one in years. The house I grew up in had a double sink and the dishes were washed in the right side, rinsed on the left side and then left to drain on the left side counter. In our new kitchen I use the left side for washing and the right side for rinsing. Clean dishes are put away immediately. So tell me, how do you use your kitchen sink?

26 comments:

Nancy said...

So tell me, how do you use your kitchen sink?

I wash in the right side, rinse on the left side and drain on the right. Sounds like a lot of work, but usually I don't fill the sink with water, I just add soap to my sponge and have the water running. My disposal in on the right, so I can rinse plates and all.

Beth said...

I do it just like Nancy! My disposal is on the right..But I have two drainers. I used one for dishes and the other for miscellaneous: sponges, stuff to recycle that is drying...plants I just watered and are still dripping. I had to move the extra drainer tho when we put in a new counter. There was not enuf room for it on the left! ..I hope you are healing fast. those cuts can be annoying!

Anonymous said...

I mostly do what Nancy does too - wash in the right (with a soapy sponge with running water) then rinse, but then I have my dish drainer in the left side and the dishes stay there to dry and then are put away. I'm a lefty, so I'd like to do the reverse, but my disposal is on the right side. I am a klutz with knives and sharp implements! Not usually with the rotary cutter though (thank goodness), only in the kitchen. I burn myself a lot too - ouch! Denise in PA

Anonymous said...

I'm like Denise in PA - a lefty who was quite upset with my righty DH who insisted that the disposal HAD to be installed in the righthand sink... So I, too, wash on the right with soapy sponge, rinse on the left and drain on the left. Maybe I should have married a leftie plumber :0) Nah.... I think I'll keep this one!

Anonymous said...

I really miss my double sink. Our current house only has one sink, but when I had two, I washed on the left and rinsed and dried to the right. When I am at my mom's house, we wash on the right and rinse and dry on the left. My dad refuses to have a disposal, so not a concern for them.

Anonymous said...

My MIL does hers - wash on the left and rince/drip dry on the right and the dishes storage is on the right.
That means the person wiping doesn't have to walk around the person washing the dishes.

I don't wash dishes in the sink
The dishwasher was "my gift to me." GRIN

Colleen formerly of South Africa said...

I wash on left side.... something about really supposed to be left handed...but the nuns took my pencil out of my left hand and turned me to the dark side!wash on left...then dry on left on a towel...hate dish drainers!Know idea why. Just catching up on your blog. Thanks for comments on new baby. All is well.

Paula, the quilter said...

I wash on the right and rinse and dry on the left. I'm ambidextrous so it really doesn't matter which side, they both work.

Patti said...

When I had a sink in which the two basins were the same size I washed on the left, had the dish drainer in the right and worked from left to right. When we remodeled my new sink has one very large basin and one small basin. I wash in whichever one is appropriate according to the dishes I'm doing, and then drain on the left counter. Because of the appliance garage the right counter is way too small.

tami said...

I have a double bowl sink for a couple more days. I have a new silgranit super single bowl that I am waiting for DH to install for me. I have never liked double bowls as neither side is big enough for my frying pans or lasagna pan. Our last house had a double bowl until we moved in and changed it to what all my other sinks have been, a large bowl on the left with a small bowl on the right. I washed the dishes in whichever was right for what I was washing, but I hate doing dishes so mostly I use the dishwasher. :cD

Lindah said...

I only wash the pans that won't fit in my DW. They get washed/rinsed on the left and drip dried on the right. Neither bowl is big enough for a drainer, but I'm not fond of them anyway. In my dream house, I will once again have a nice, big, deep sink that will easily accommodate my large roasters and baking pan. ---Of course, by that time, I probably will be so old that I will no longer be using the large pans! Oh well!

Paula said...

I wash on the left and rinse and dry on the right. It has never crossed my mind to do it any other way...
Hope your cuts heal soon!

Rose Johnston said...

Ouch!!! Hope your hand is okay!!
I wash from the right....small kitchen, thats just the way it works!!!

Sandra :) said...

If there are too many for the dishwasher I call the kids in, and they can wash on whatever side they want! OK, in a dream world, maybe, LOL. When I do have to do some by hand, I wash in the left and stack/rinse in the right. There's more counter space on the left - thats how I decided which sink would be the washing up sink, lol. P.S. I saved you some coffee cake - when you get here I'll put on a fresh pot of coffee, hehe.

Libby said...

I work left to right - dirty dishes stacked on to the left, wash in the left sink, rinse in the right sink, drainer on the counter to the right, cabinets for dish storage to the right of that. With our galley kitchen it's important for no one to every have to cross another's path - this way we can do dishes together *s*

Shelina said...

I'm glad your ban on sharp things is just in the kitchen, and not in the sewing room! I hope your hands are okay!
Washing dishes? What's that? This house has a dishwasher. I used to let the water run like Nancy and use both sinks since they were both usually full - and put the clean dishes on the dish drainer on the counter. I only had a disposal in one apartment, and my baby daughter's toys would get stuck in them and they disconnected it.

Greenmare said...

144 half square triangles? Does the term overachiever mean anything to you???? ;-)

Anonymous said...

I have cut the end of my finger off with the Rotary cutter...pew...

I am appalled at the idea of washing on the right and rinsing on the left!!! Hoe do you people read books???? LOL
I am a wash on the left, drain on right kinda girl....if you set on the counter it is to the right of the sink. I never even considered that anyone would do it any other way so small my brain must be!!
Rachel in MN

Tracey in CT said...

Mostly I rinse and put stuff in the dishwasher, but sometimes I do hand wash a few things.

I have the dish drainer in the right sink. I wash on the left, and then put them in the drainer on the right and use the hose to rinse them there.

It seems logical to me, since I am right handed...this way I can use my right hand to move the dishes/glasses etc. to the right hand sink...I'd be worried about dropping things with my less coordinated left hand.

lcrr_khs said...

DEpnds on which side of the sink has more counter space! I ahve 2 dish drainers set up. One for drying things that are too big to go in the dishwasher and the other to hold rinsed out recycables. Right now the configuration works left to right. When I was a child, it went the other way.

DebMc said...

Hey, watch those knives! You need your fingers to quilt!!!!

I wash on the right, rinse on the left. My mother, who was left handed, did the opposite.

Sigh....there are always dirty or clean dishes around the sink. A never-ending chore....

Unknown said...

Glad to hear DH is home! You made some wonderful use of your time with the HST's.
OOOOuch! So sorry to hear about the kitchen mishap. I think I would be a little gun shy (blade shy) too!
I have a double basin sink and wash in the right side. It is just most convenient for me this way.

~Bren~ said...

Well you have enough opinions on what side of the sink to use for what!
Your apron is WONDERFUL!!!

sewnut said...

My kitchen has a deep large sink that I use for washing pots and awkward non-DW items as well as a double sink (more a sink and a half) that I use only for food preparation. I wash my veggies there, peel, store the interim-to-compost bucket, soak and drain. SO I guess I have what I like to call both a clean sink and a dirty sink. In regards to washing direction: I guess that is mostly dictated by right- or left-handedness and the way the space is used on either side of the sink.

Elaine Adair said...

The disposal is on the right, so my thinking is that any crud left in the water when washing things up should go down that drain, with a LOT of water to keep it clean. Mostly I use the dishwasher which is MUCH more efficient and GOOD at washing dishes. I've managed either way, but want to be efficient in hand/eye movements.

Susan said...

wash right - rinse left =)

I bought a nifty set of rulers for HST when I was at the quilt show last weekend. I gave the two smaller ones to my best friend, since I'm never going to make anything that small. Accurate and no paper to peel off - I'm happy!