Lots of driving....

We headed out on Monday morning and drove up to St. Augustine. Aidan had not seen the inside of the fort and wanted to stop since it was just a little off our path north. We ate at The Burger Basket (yummy) where this was on the wall! Yikes - I had been out of college 3 years already in 1995.. feeling a wee bit old!

Lots of driving through Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina before we stopped for the night. The next day we headed to Virginia - Richmond and the Civil War Museum. We also drove by the capitol building.

We headed north to the Stephen F Udvar Hazy Air and Space Muesum. The observatory was entertaining watching planes land - Aidan could have done that all day! He got to see the Discovery Space Shuttle up close - Wow - bigger than I realized despite seeing Columbia Space Shuttle in Titusville. He also wanted to see the Concord, Blackbird and another fighter jet. It was a huge hanger and they really showcased lots of planes, beginner and military, hot air balloons and lot of space shuttle and orbiting things. We also got to see into the hanger where they are restoring things. $15 for parking was the only cost on that one as it was associated with the Smithsonian. 

We are in Pennsylvania and will visit Philadelphia tomorrow before continuing on our way to Vermont.

 

Sunday....

Well, I was planning on driving all day today, but we pushed off the leave date to Monday. There will be lots of driving time for me this week as we make our way north up the east coast to visit Vermont and family. We will be making some stops along the way to break things up.  The kids have only done this drive once when we moved here when they were 3 and 2.

Am I packed? Well, technically no but I do have all the clothes pulled in a pile, the drinks are ready for the cooler - waters and Gatorade and some snacks for the car. The first thing I did pack on Friday was my hand work bag from Thirty-One. You know the important things get packed first! I love my bags - I have 2 like this, a lunch cooler that is great for the car in Florida and a few of the Utility totes for shopping. I knew someone who was a consultant and got invited to a few parties' years ago. Anyway... what's in the bag you ask? There are 6 pockets on the outside and one on each end - great for water bottles and little things. I remember having 8 labeled water bottles at a parade with the girl scouts in there at one time!

Let's take a look! On the left we have the EPP for the Brimfield Awakening block with all the papers, templates and things needed to work on those. In the middle is 2 Harmony blocks that are in process for hand piecing from last year. I do have one 28 inch block completed but was planning to make 4. Hopefully I make progress on this the next few weeks. I threw in a sewing kit I got at Aldi's last year - just in case I need something there is a good variety of things in there. I'll also tuck my Vera Bradley coin purse where I have thread, scissors, pins and my needles but that is by the recliner still.

Inside we have yarns! I grabbed a skein of each of the 3 blues for the granny squares and the hook, some scrubby yarn and some dish cloth yarn. I know I have knitting needles in the car as well.

I have 6 dark blue and 8 medium blue granny squares so far.

I'll also bring the RSC Squares quilt to finish off hand stitching the binding if it doesn't get finished tonight watching the hockey game. I have one 64 inch side hand stitched. 

Last night I finished hand stitching the binding on the Baby Masala Box quilt. This will travel up to VT with us so I can show my Mom and then I'll ship it to Cece in Wisconsin.

I'll probably bring the Endless Diamond quilt that I am hand quilting. I have 4.25 blocks left to quilt. I think I might make and attach a binding today in case I finish quilting it then it will be nearly done. 

I think that should keep me busy for the 2.5 weeks we will be gone! Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Hubby is staying home to care for the animals (chickens, dog and 2 cats) and continue with his college classes. He starts 2 new ones tomorrow as he finishes up 2 today. Every 8 weeks he gets a new set of classes toward his degree.

I'd better finish breakfast (I just pulled blueberry muffins out of the oven) and grab a shower before I take the car through the car wash and give it a good cleaning inside and top off the gas tank for tomorrow. It got a check and lots of fixes at the dealer earlier this month and a new battery last Saturday so we should be good to go with my 2014 Honda CRV. 

RSC Blue and stripes....

 I pulled some things out of the scrap bins and they happened to be blue strips. I did a quick quilt as you go and added the strips to make a 18x14 table mat. Slightly too big but oh well, it will catch more crumbs and spills! I attempted binding by machine. I should have changed the top thread to a blue to blend in better, but it went pretty well for a first attempt. I'll give it a try again as it was so quick to add a binding this way.

The backing is some extra sewing fabrics I had on the fabric wall. 

I'll link up Friday with The Joyful Quilter and her RSC22 Scrap Challenge and Saturday with the RSC Challenge.

Progress.... RSC Squares

Finally some progress in the sewing room! I finished the quilting on the RSC Squares last night. I just did diagonal lines on this one. Nice and easy.

Then I made and attached the binding. I do need to hand stitch it down still. 

Progress!

 Linking up Saturday with the RSC.

Happy Monday

I did not get as much done in the sewing room as I expected Sunday, but I did make some progress before needing to sleep for a while to stop a headache. 

I cut out triangles in dark blue and purple and made 2 more garden path blocks to add to the pile.

Then I pressed the RSC Squares quilt top, measured and cut the backing and pressed it. Both got rolled onto their boards and I cut the batting off the roll of warm and natural. That was all that got done on Sunday.

Monday I woke up and after a Gaterade and lots of water I took Emily to horses in the morning and did a little grocery shopping on the way home. I managed to get the quilt pinned in the afternoon and started the quilting after making veggie lo mein for dinner. I had to stop when Peanut decided it needed some cat napping in part of it.... and it was getting close to game time (NHL) so I stopped for the night. I have one side of the diagonal lines sewn. Just have to do the other side on Tuesday after work then make and attach the binding. Might this quilt get finished this month for a second finish of my UFO's for the Spring 2022 Challenge? Time will tell.

Peanut did inspections throughout the process!

Happy Fathers Day

 

Wishing all the Fathers out there a very Happy Fathers Day! I get to see my Dad in a couple of weeks and I can't wait!

I have made progress on hand quilting the Endless Diamonds quilt and have 6 more blocks to quilt. 

I'll be hand stitching the last edge of binding on the Masala Box quilt this afternoon while watching the F1 race in Montreal. Aidan is very excited his favorite driver is starting in second position!

First up for the day - prepping the top, back and batting for pinning a quilt for machine quilting.

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Garden Path

After getting the Baby Masala Box set yesterday, I pulled out the Accuquilt and the #5 die to make some dark blue HST's. I need 20 of the 'color' for each block with 4 - 2.5 inch squares. I also need an additional 8 HST's in a different color to finish off the block. I found my pile of odd and ends from making them last year so I had a head start. I need to make one more in dark blue... maybe after work today. I am running low on the print I use as the middle 4.5 inch square so I will have to get creative.

Linking up with the RSC on Saturday.

 

Baby Masala

 What did I do today? After that early rising for the 7AM annual blood draw, it was home for coffee, then walking the dog, then Emily wanted blueberry buckle cake made.... then I got into the sewing room! I sewed the blocks together, pieced a backing and got it pinned. I even managed to get it quilted today, a binding made and stitched to the top!  I just did straight line quilting along the 12 inch block edges and then down the middle of the purple squares. I used warm and natural batting so not too much quilting is needed. I didn't have enough of the more solid purples in stock for the binding so I used the flowered print on the back for the binding. Will CeCe get it before her 2 month birthday? We will see!

Time to start dinner - fish and chips (and onion rings with the leftover batter!)

Weekend wrap up

 Saturday was lots of time in the car. I headed out early to go pick up Emily from her week at camp. She had a great time and was oh so happy to see this fella when she got home! He was happy his girl returned and didn't leave her side very much on Saturday. His favorite snuggle sleeping buddy was home and they both had a good nights sleep.

Sunday was an early start again as the F1 race was on at 7AM. I got up a bit after 7 and put it on the tv and then checked on Aidan. He was watching it on his tablet in his room and smiled when he came out to the living room and it was on the tv already. I finally got dressed and moving around noon and headed in to see what trouble I could get into in the sewing room. I found some white and sewed up the 8 I had prepped and frogged the 4 I had made using the purple flowered print. I had all 12 laid out and decided to make another 4 so cut out what I needed. I think I will add a 2.5 inch white border all around just to offset those purple edges and then will work on getting it prepped for quilting. A 52 inch square quilt should work for a baby girl. This pattern is called Masala Box by Preeti at SewPreetiQuilts.

I saw this on Facebook and figured I would share as it is oh so true. 

 

Thursday...

Well, for my day off not a whole heck of a lot got accomplished. The morning was spent doing a little research after walking the dog. Then it was my annual Mammogram which went smoothly. I have my bloodwork next week and my followup with my doctor the following week. Doggie play time in the afternoon and somehow it was dinnertime! I pulled some carnita meat from the freezer for dinner and tried a package of mexican rice I picked up on sale a few weeks ago and some refried beans for dinner. I pulled out the briscuit we made a few weeks ago for tonights meal. Not sure what will go with it... but I'm thinking a salad of some sort and maybe some fries from the freezer?

While waiting on the Mammogram I added one more granny square to the pile and then did another one last night while listening to an audio book. I was curious how big they are and it turns out about 6 inches square!  I finished off Sue Graftons U is for Undertow. I have V is for Vengance borrowed as well as Killer Pancake by Diane Mott Davidson. I guess I like mysteries! I think I'll listen to Killer Pancake first since I just did 3 of the Sue Grafton books in a row (U,T and S ).

I started hand quilting block #12 of 20 last night as well.

A shot of the back of the quilt. A white backing and a thin hand quilting batting is showing the fabrics colors through on the back. It is easy to needle though.

Saturday - I get to get up really early for a Saturday and drive a couple of hours to pick up the girl from camp. I know a 4 legged dog that is going to be oh so happy to have his girl home again.

The boy is busy watching the F1 test racing today... despite the very early start times! Seems he is on teenager summer time where you stay up late and sleep in until 10 or 11 AM! We will see if he is up early on Saturday or just for the race on Sunday morning. 

Wednesday...

 I got a little time in the sewing room and made some squares using the strip cutter. I am still debating on that middle flower fabric and I think I will change it out... but have been searching and have not found something I like in the stash. Sigh. I will probably end up pulling some white on white to use for the middle and sides. That means unpicking the 4 blocks and then resewing with white. The next decision is the size. I have enough cut for 13 blocks.... I might make it 3x4 for a 36x48 baby quilt and use the flowered print on the back. That extra block will be a purple 16 patch for the pile I think.

After dinner (stromboli with salami and pepperoni) it was doggie play time and some outside time to get his energy out. I did add a couple of the granny squares to the pile before Aidan popped out of his room to chat. The dog managed to slip into the master bedroom area where the cats reside now when I was heading to bed. Lots of running and chasing and very unhappy cats for the rest of the night. 

The dog has been walked and I have a Mammogram scheduled for early afternoon so I'd better get busy working on those baby blocks. I do love my Thursday's off from work!

Tuesday....

Well, I made it into the sewing room for a little bit after dinner. I had to go pick up the car from the dealership after finishing work so that took the late afternoon and then fixing dinner - Chicken Tikka Masala.  I got out my Accuquilt and the 2.5 strip cutter that I had never used before. That won't be the case anymore... awesome for cutting binding strips in the future and I do love playing with 2.5 inch squares! I might have to try some of the diamonds it cuts sometime soon - 45 degree and 60 degree. I did get some purple strips cut out and I was then going to cut squares, but the dog needed attention and I was tagged. 

The dog just wants to be with people and I was people last night! So.... I got some hand quilting in on the Endless Diamond quilt since it was still too hot to be outside to get his energy out (feels like 99 at 7PM!) 

I started in on the medium country blue for the granny squares. 6 dark and 2 mediums so far. It will be interesting to see how many I can get out of a skein. I have a feeling I might need more yarn to make a usable size afghan.

Time to finish off lunch and then back to work for a few hours.

Monday

 With the girl dropped off to girl scout camp yesterday afternoon, I have pledged to spend an hour a day in the sewing room to see if I can make some progress in there this month. After work, I headed into the sewing room and got to work. 

I have to say... it turned into more than an hour, but I made great progress today! I cut out the green and dark blue ones today with the Accuquilt cutter and sewed them up. All caught up with the RSC challenge this year. I had cut out some extra yellow and pink ones... and have 2 of the pink ones together and part of one of the yellow ones. I need to cut a few more white parts out so I can finish the other extra yellow ones. I'll link up Saturday with the RSC.

I got to bring Aidan to guitar tonight so I had 30 minutes to do a little crochet on a medium blue granny square. It would have been done if I had not made a mistake and had to pull out 2 rounds. Oh well, it will crochet up quickly. 

Slow Sunday....

 Well, not really but I can dream! I relaxed yesterday with some hand quilting on the Endless Diamond quilt and I'm working on block 11 of 20. Progress. 

Some crochet has been started with a granny square pattern of blocks. I finished up the partial dark blue skein this week. I pulled a new skein of yarn (medium blue this time) and put it by my recliner last night. I didn't crochet last night but I was told the dog saw it this morning and thought it was one of his toys! It was saved and put onto a counter a little higher up. Silly dog. Linking up with the other slow Sunday Stitchers.

Today - the girl requested Blueberry Buckle Cake (coffee cake with blueberry variation from the Betty Crocker cookbook) for breakfast after Greg and I got home from walking Bear. It is in the oven - spoiled girl. Today I drive over towards Tampa and drop her off to Girl Scout Camp for a week at Wai Laini on the gulf coast. It is more of a water centered camp with paddle boarding, kayak and canoeing. So... I get 4 hours in the car today and Saturday when I go pick her up! It will be interesting to see how the dog does without her home. Grandma picked them up on Tuesday for lunch and an afternoon movie around 12:30 and they didn't get home until after 8PM! Around 6 he grabbed her pj bottoms and brought them to Greg.... who brought them out to me and I said 'I think he is wondering where his girl is!'.  Tonight might be an interesting one! I just need to remember to drop my car off to the dealership tonight for it's 8AM appointment. I figured I should get it checked out before our drive up to Vermont later this month. There are a few things happening that need to get checked out and fixed on my 8 year old car! 

RSC in blue

 I got into the sewing room this morning and pulled open the drawer of 2.5 inch strips. There were only a handful so I pulled in the scrap bin and got enough squares to make 2 16 patch blocks. They were added to the pile of colors this year. Linking up with the RSC.

I know it is not fabric but I have added some granny squares in dark country blue. I finished off this skein and will pull the medium blue to make some more. This is a new project and I am shooting for one every day or two.

The cats had their annual vet visit this week. All is well. They opted to ride together on the way home. Peanut lost a little weight and was 8 pounds 3 ounces. Ollie gained (he is on the right) and is up to 13.5 pounds.