Tuesday already.

Monday was a long day! We left the house at 6:15 and got home after 1:30 PM. The procedure went well, and my FIL is back to his room at the Assisted Living facility. They were great there, coordinating getting the antibiotics sent there (instead of where they sent them to the old pharmacy near his house an hour away!) They were going to check on him every 2 hours and make sure he had dinner tonight - brought up if he didn't want to walk down to the dining room.  We got to the hospital well before 8AM and they got him processed and ready..... to wait all prepped for a couple of hours before they brought him back around 10:30 for the procedure. Done for another year.

I was mostly on my phone but did get these 4 hexagons stitched up while waiting. Shout out to the nurses in pre-op - they were awesome!

After we got home and relaxed a bit, I did head out to Publix to get a script and a couple things needed for meal options - roasted veggie and hot italian sausage over penne (Monday) and chicken enchiladas for Tuesday. I just needed the flour burritos for that.

I was relaxing with some stitching on the cross stitch...after searching twice through the bag of floss for a specific number that I had but could not find. It was the next one I wanted to stitch with...and I did manage to find it. I'll have to search again for the other number I need to start stitching inside that quilt border after. It's sideways, sorry about that! I need to try the rectangle hoop on this and see if that works better.

Saturday and Sunday I did find the strips cut out for the alternate block - and got them cut and made into the 31 blocks I need. I noticed the book instructions (from 1990s) does not list the unfinished or finished block sizes..... in a beginner book! I can calculate what the finished size should be on the nine patch.... and will check all their sizes and cut the alternate block to match when squaring it up. Me now making this.... wished I used a cream instead of the stark white as it would go better with the print. I'll put it together and see how it looks as a top.

 

The other fun that happened yesterday.... Emily got home from school and right after, I got a call from Aidan. He needed a pick up at school with someone to drive his car home. Seems the first try out for tennis and running a lap..... got him feeling light headed and he passed out! The medic on site would not let him drive home. Took a bit for his color to come back. So... Emily went with as Greg's back was aching from the morning hospital chairs. Got him picked up and he came home with me. Em drove his car back. Seems he always wondered what it was like to pass out.... well, he found out it is kinda dreamlike and surreal, with a fuzzy tv screen interference when you wake up out of it. He's my kid... I've passed out multiple times. It is not a fun experience. He was joking as they were trying to get his color back. He needs a medical clearance to go back. I'll try and get him in with his current pediatrician to get the ok to go back... then will swap him to an 'adult' one for next month when he turns 18. Always something happening at my house! After a great nights sleep (did not sleep well Sunday as I knew I had to be up early Monday) it is off to work I go!

 

Slow Sunday

 Someone turned 60 today in my household (it's not me - hubby is 6 years older than me)! His Mom is coming up for a lunch out at a local restaurant. 

I'll be adding some stitches to the new cross stitch I started this year. It is the November design from Paula Vaughn's Quilts for all Seasons.

I'll also be glue basting a bunch of units for my Brimfield Awakening EPP I cut out earlier in the week. 

I'll take both with me tomorrow as I'll have waiting time at the hospital with my FIL as he has a procedure. Hubby's back is hurting, so I'll go with and handle the waiting inside so he can go to the car comfy seats if needed. He has to be there for 8AM... so we need to go pick him up for 7AM and bring him there. A very early start for a Monday. 

Another option- the QAYG hexagons I prepped last week as well. Plenty of options to keep my hands busy as I wait. I need to find our masks to wear while there. I know flu is running rampant and I did get my flu shot back in September. I managed flights over the holidays fine, but figure hospitals are even more of a germ area and don't want to be down for a week with the bad variant that is prevalent now.

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Blue UFO/RSC

 I do plan to join the RSC 2026 again this year. I will continue on with some old projects like the chickens and alternate BITA blocks. I'd like to add a couple of new things to the mix. I made house blocks years ago and gifted that quilt away (my daughter was not happy but it went to a good home with one of my girl scouts) so I will plan to make another one of some sort this year. I also liked the 16 patch star blocks, and have lots of cream bits leftover from my flowering snowball cut offs so will use those to make the stars in RSC colors of blocks this year. So, that is the plan before I go see what everyone else is making!

These are the 'leftover collections' I hope to be adding to this year.

The chicken blocks. 

The alternate BITA blocks so far.

The 16 patch blocks with 2.5 inch squares.

These were the houses I made - free pattern from Bonnie Hunters Quiltville blog. Might do another like this? We will see.

I did just go search to find a UFO in blues that I cut out ahem.... over 25 years ago! I think it might be time to finish this one off. It took a bit to find... and I might have found 3 other projects along the way. It looks like the nine patches are all sewn (I wonder if they match the correct size? My seam allowance was way off back then.) I'll be reading the instructions and figuring out how to make the alternate blocks. It looks like a more difficult way from what I expected but we will give it a try and see how it goes. 

It is called Sunrise Surprise and I'm not sure why I chose the colors I did but we will sew it up and see how it turns out this month!

This is the book that the pattern is in. One of the first I purchased back in 1992 when I graduated from college and started playing with a sewing machine. I did the four patch baby quilt and you know that friendship one still calls to me. I guess some likes never change over the years!

Currently my sewing table is being used by hubby to build some new shelving storage units. I hope to get it set up again tomorrow to sew and will start making those alternate blocks and see how this one goes together. 

Brimfield Awakening

 

This one was started and then sat, and sat and sat. The issue was I started without a plan and the colors were not 'matching' what I had in my mind and were not working.

With that in mind, I pulled the baggie of Liberty fabric cast offs I picked up 20 years ago at a guild meeting. Just enough to make either the tall or small house. I cut out a bunch but they are multiples of the same fabrics. I did a couple peels as well. 

I was not feeling it for this project. It was also hard to hold the template and cut around... I looked over and saw the rotating 10 inch cutting mat I got on a daily deal at MSQC last month. OMG! This thing rocks. Love it for this purpose.

I then opened one of the 4 charm packs that I had tucked with this project. Not solids like the originals but read as solids in a variety of colors. 

I remembered I needed twice as many small houses than the tall or fat houses this time.

I have quite a bit of the houses cut. I'll need to do more peels, but will wait and see what colors I want to use as I make the little sections - 2 small houses and one fat house go together and then a peel goes underneath. The tall houses connect 4 of those sections together for a circle in the pattern.

All prepped with their papers. Now do I use the glue stick or tack them with thread? So many decisions.

I was able to add in some of the other reds to the border of the quilt. I was missing a few of the DMC floss colors needed for this pattern and stopped at Michaels after work yesterday before hitting Sams Club for those pesky TP and Kleenex that were running out! I miss when floss was 20 cents each! Good thing I have a good slew of them from the other months I have done out of this book - August, September and January the 3/4 done one.

 

I had this photo marked as one of my favorites for the possible patterns I wanted to make next. I went with November, and was able to find all but 2 of the needed floss. I'll work around it until I am able to get those two at some point. 738 and 814..... just so I have it noted somewhere.
 

August, which needs to get reframed as the original fell and broke.

September.

Hexagons QAYG prep

 

I had enough clips to prep 16 hexagons yesterday.  I have one more in teal from a previous set. I was lucky and had all the batting cut already and most of the cream backing. When I decided to do cream for one set, I pulled larger pieces in red, blue, yellow and green for some pop on those. I liked having some color on the back of the quilt in other rows. These quilt as you go blocks will eventually be part of the last 2 rows I want to add to my existing quilt I finished a few years ago. I have 2 strips read to add to the quilt but will wait and add all 4 at the same time.... hopefully in the next few months. If I can stitch one or two a day, they should be done fairly quickly. It takes longer to prep them than to stitch them. I pulled a 10 inch stack of fabrics and actually cut into it to make these. I decided, time to use things up and move things out! 

This is the original quilt. It wanted to be a bit wider than the 66x88 it is. Adding 4 rows should make it 88x88 I believe. The link to more info on this one is here which is one of the tabs up above.

Cross stitch

 A little progress on the November design quilt.

After work yesterday, Grandma stopped up to fill out some paperwork Greg printed so we could witness her signing it. Her younger brother passed away Sunday.  She filled out paperwork to donate his body to the local med school in Ohio. Greg e-mailed it back to them and confirmed they have all they need. 

After she left, I hit Aldi after clearing out the fridge.

Lazy dinner of frozen meat ravioli with Rao marinara sauce. I have things for salads for my lunches now. The kids did not request anything saying they'd find things for lunches starting tomorrow for school. I did get more bread for pb&j as their default. Emily made pasta as her lunch around 3pm. I picked up the mini wonton freezer bags she likes. That was her dinner around 8pm. When you wake up at 11 you have a strange eating schedule!

I also did a few hexagons, so will need to prep more of those. I have plenty of clips now for them.! I'll also cut some charms for brimfield later today. The pantry needs work so that is on tap for clearing and organizing.  

I need a Sams club run but might do that tomorrow afternoon.  Depends if I want roaster chicken for dinner tonight or a clean pantry.